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Asia Cambodia South East Asia 2013

Soggy in Phnom Penh

Our first full day in Phnom Penh began with a lovely breakfast at our hotel underneath the palm trees. After that we decided to walk to a couple of temples along or near the waterfront. The walk started off well enough but then the rains came – slowly at first and then they were a full tropical deluge. By the time we were able to procure a couple of umbrellas we were drenched from socks to scarves. The thing is though, once you are that wet you can’t get wetter so we relished in it and enjoyed splashing though the puddles in our sopping shoes and smiling and declining the offered from tuk tuk drivers to take us dryly to our destination.

Our first stop was Wat Ounalom, which is the head of Buddhism in Cambodia. It is more that one building but a complex of temples and graves and shrines. One such shrine, guarded by an old man in sunglasses and chain smoking cigarettes, contains an alleged hair from the Buddha’s eyebrow. The sunglasses man beckoned us and unlocked the shrine and had us sit on the mat in front of the Buddha while he lit incense and candles and then mixed scented oil in a bowl and used some sticks to flick the oil on us while he chanted (prayers or blessings I assumed, but for all I know if could have been a curse). No sign of the eyebrow, but apparently it is in there.

After that wat we walked further north to Wat Phnom, which is a temple atop a hill. We climbed up the stairs which were pouring with water and spent some time inside, on the floor, admiring the gilded Buddhas and drying out.

The rain began to let up slightly as we walked back south to the Central Market (the Psar Thmei), a large, domes, Art Deco building which houses a large market. The inside sells mostly jewelry, clothing, electronics, and other goods, while around the market are the food stalls selling fresh produce and vegetables, eggs, fish and seafood, and meats – so many means being carved up, from chickens and teeny tiny birds to frogs, grubs, and who knows what else. It was smelly and colourful and fantastic.

We sat at one of the counters in the food selling area and ordered a couple of soups (mine without meat). They were very tasty and with some added spicy chilis, they were delicious (and about $1.25 each). After that we bought some tasty pastries and mangosteens and a small white coconut and walked back to our hotel, now in the sunshine.

After a bit of a rest we walked back down to the waterfront and had a tasty dinner of Thai food with a fellow we ran into who had been on our boat in Vietnam (an Australian fellow who was a jackaroo turned hot air balloonist – there are a couple of careers I never considered).

It was a satisfyingly full day and we slept soundly.

Asia South East Asia 2013 Vietnam

Journey up the Mekong

We left Ho Chi Minh in the morning on a minibus bound for a town on the Mekong river, where we joined about two dozen others on a small boat which took us out further onto the river where we boarded our proper boat – the “Mekong Eyes”, a lovely wooden converted rice barge turned into a fairly posh cruising boat. It was simply lovely. We had a well appointed room and the boat had a dining room and a wonderful top deck with places to sit and take in the view. It almost felt too fancy for me, but I guess sometimes it’s nice to travel in style.

We began sailing and we relaxed on the top deck watching the lush, green jungly landscape pass by, with its occasional small, ramshackle houses on the shore. Various other boats passed by – mostly fishing boats and small sampans rowed by women and men standing atop them and rowing with long oars. It was very peaceful and pleasant (and perfect for cigar smoking).

After a delicious lunch, we took small boats to a village along the river where we were able to wander past rice paddy fields dotted with above ground graves, tiny houses with open air rooms and families resting in hammocks, chopping wood for the stove, and cooking and eating meals, and past trees growing papayas, jack fruit, coconuts and bananas. After returning to the big boat we spent the rest of the day watching the shore slip past until it was dark and the sky was dotted with migrating bats.

We had a wonderful sleep on board, delayed only slightly by a fantastic lightening storm, which lit up the night sky.

This morning after breakfast we again took a small boat to the floating market, where countless boats crowded together on a wide part of the river to sell all manner of produce and hot coffee and tea. The boats, which ranged from small canoe-like contraptions to larger boats displayed their wares by way of tying them to masts on their boats – the pineapple vendor, for example, had a pineapple hanging from a stick, high above the boat so that others would know what was for sale. The market was so lively and colourful as the boats all paddled and motored their way amongst each other to connect vendors with buyers. Along the shores we had excellent views of people’s houses and could see people going about their daily lives on the water.

After the market we took in some other sights on foot and then after a meal of delicious fruits, we left our boat and travelled by bus about three hours to Chau Doc; a small but busy city near the border with Cambodia.

Our hotel in Chau Doc is ridiculously fancy. It is the Victoria hotel and is this posh establishment on the water with a beautiful outdoor pool, restaurant, and beautiful rooms. We went for a walk though the city, which was buzzing with motor scooters and has a bustling, colourful market. We walked though the market, looking with wonder at the many unidentifiable fruits and vegetables and taking in the sights and (pungent) smells. The evening has wound up with a cigar on the hotel grounds, looking out over the water.

In the morning we are catching a speed boat to Phnom Pehn, where the second leg of out trip shall begin.

Colombia South America

Mercado Bazurto

This morning, after breakfast i hailed a taxi to Mercado Bazurto – a large market well outside Cartagena’s centro historico where locals sell all manner of food and household items and operate shops and eateries. It is not a common tourist destination i am told and it has a reputation for being very dangerous. I don’t know how well deserved that reputation is, but to be on the safe side, i left my bag at the hotel and took just enough cash to get there and back, plus a bit extra, and my camera (and a few cigarillos).

The taxi driver dropped me off at the most chaotic, labyrinthine, dirty market i have ever been to. There were roads for vehicles, unpaved and soggy with mud and bits of rotting vegetable matter and scraps of fish and meat, all of which the birds and dogs were fighting over. Other than the main roads were dark passageways, covered mostly by tarps and lined with ramshackle wooden stalls. Everywhere people were descaling and gutting freshly caught fish, cutting up various animal carcasses, and selling all manner of fruits and vegetables. Cars and colorful buses, taxis, and donkeys pulling little carts made their way loudly through the streets with no sense of order. The shops played loud salsa music or less frequently, rap. Men walked around selling juice, cafe tinto, and lemonade, or pushed carts selling arepas, buns, and other items. The whole place smelled like garbage, wood smoke, fish, and rotting flesh and plant matter. Not surprisingly, i loved it. It was a complete sensory overload. I enjoyed wandering, though i avoided the darkest alleyways.

I attracted a lot of attention. People wanted to sell me things, but mostly they just wanted to say hello. I wanted so badly to take pictures of the market and the people and buildings which were crumbly but painted with bright colors and pictures of fruit and chickens, but i did not take a single photo. I felt very conspicuous and it seemed like it might have been rude to walk around and take photos, so i just walked, and smiled and said buenos dias. I did sit down at one stall where a woman was making cold drinks and had an orange and milk smoothie while watching people cooking up meat in a big pot over a fire next to a small shack that operated a single person hair salon.

It was a terrific place to visit; i’m so glad i went and did not allow the fear-mongers to convince me to stay away. It did not feel at all unsafe, but i certainly felt like it was best to stay to the busy areas. I walked out of the market, past lots of roadside eateries (basically, small wood stoves with a few tables and plastic chairs), and then through a fairly nice (and mercifully air conditioned) mall before catching a taxi back to the old town.

Today is my last day here as i fly back to Bogota tomorrow. I shall spend the rest of the day, walking and enjoying the beautiful weather before returning to the cold and misty Andes.

Colombia South America

Playa Blanca

Cartagena is on the Caribbean, so it is not surprising that it is surrounded by beautiful beaches. The ones right here in Caragena are fine, but the farther out you go, the more pristine and beautiful they become. About an hour away by speed boat is a beach called Playa Blanca: a stretch of powdery white sand along turquoise sea with palm trees and various places renting hammocks and grass huts for the night. I am not much of a beach person, but this sounded quite idyllic, so i decided to go.

There are 3 ways to get to Playa Blanca: take a tour (which involves also going to an aquaraium and has less than favorable reviews and costs about $50,000 pesos or more), take a 3 hour bus ride and then convince someone to take you to the beach the last half an hour by motorbike, or convince someone to take you in a private boat.

I was not going to spend hours on a bus and did not relish the idea of a tour, so i opted for the private boat. I went just outside of the old city to the market at about 7:30am and found where the boats were. They were smallish, fiberglass boats with wooden benches and were sort of rectangular in shape. They were docked next to where men were repairing fishing nets and gutting the freshly caught fish. I found a man with a boat and asked if he was going to Playa Blanca. He was not going there, but just past it, and would drop me off for 20,000 pesos (about $10-$12 dollars). This sounded good. I hopped on the boat and waited. The deal is, you have to wait for them to fill up their boats before they leave. i waited nearly 2 hours but i did not mind, as men came by selling coffee and bananas and i really enjoyed watching the fishermen and the activities as the boats were loaded with supplies. Our boat was filled with water jugs, flowers, crates of pineapples, bags of plantains and coconuts, and other less exciting items and about 10 other people got on board. Then we left.

The boat sped along, leaping off of the waves. I have never been on a boat that fast and it was very exciting. We passed by green areas of trees, the new city of Cartagena with its modern high rises, and past tiny shacks along the water, where people were clearly living in great poverty. After about an hour we arrived in Playa Blanca.

I was the only one getting off there, so i hopped off the boat and waded to the beach (there is no dock area). The boat began to pull away and then came back with the captain yelling at me that i had not paid him. I argued with him, as best i could, that i had paid in Cartagena, but after some time, i realized that i may have paid the wrong man (ie not the captain). I saw others paying in Cartagena, but perhaps they paid the correct person, or maybe they were just ripping me off, but i finally gave in and paid 20,000 pesos, again.

Obviously, this is only about $10, so it was not the money that bothered me, but my pride was injured and i was a bit embarrassed as it looked like i was trying to get away without paying, which was not the case. Anyway, as the boat pulled away and i was left on this desolate beach, i regretted coming, did not want to be there, and realized…how was i going to get back?

I had assumed that there would be a dock with boats and that it would be easy to arrange for return transport, but once the boats drop of their passengers, they leave. The beach did have one end which was clearly more touristy, as there were lots of people (but still only grass huts and hammocks), but the end i was at was fairly deserted. I sat down on a chair feeling kind of upset and pannicky. There is no road, no boats, no electricity, no telephones (no motor cars)…i was already planning to live there forever Gilligan’s Island style, when some women wandered by and sat with me. They had been at the busy end of the beach selling massages. They tried to chat with me, but the language barrier made it mostly impossible, however they could see i was unhappy. They called over a man who operated the hammock, hut, and kitchen establishment at which i found myself. (El Paraisio de Mama Ruth – i highly recommend them for sleeping & eating.)

This man did speak fairly good English and i explained my situation. He expressed regret for my being ripped off and said he would arrange for a boat to take me back at 3:00 (it was now 11:30) for 10,000 pesos. He fixed me up with a hammock, and some lunch of salad, rice, and plantains (he brought out a platter of freshly caught fish for me to select from, but i explained the vegetarian thing). I felt immediately more at ease.

And so i hung out there for more than 3 hours. i ate lunch, smoked two cigars, lay on the beach, sat in a chair looking out at the sea. Occasionally people walked by selling jewelry, shells, or coconut drinks, but other than that, it was completely quiet. Nothing but wind and waves, and a few men who emerged from the sea holding long, bright silvery fish they had caught with their hands. I have to say that i relaxed very quickly and found it quite peaceful.

At about 3:00 though I got anxious. My English speaking friend was no where to be seen and there were no boats on the horizon. I figured I was going to have to spend the night, when a boat came around the corner, loaded with people and with a man sitting on the bow, waving his arms. It was the guy! I waded out to the boat, thanked him for his help, and we sped off back to Cartagena.

The day, over all, was a great experience but i must admit to being particularly happy when i set foot back on land in Cartagena, tired, sweaty, and salty.

I spent the evening walking around, grabbed a bit of dinner and found a another cigar shop where i sat with the manager and his friend and smoked and chatted for an hour of so. (This time I learned all about prostitution in Cartagena.) I had planned to go to a salsa club, but was nodding off by 10:00, so i just went to bed.

That was my Thursday. I can’t wait to see what will happen today.
d

Colombia South America

Rainy Afternoon in Bogota

This afternoon, after my trip to El Mercado del Paloquemao i set out from the hostel and walked up to the Museum of Modern Art. On my way i stopped for lunch at cute and charming little restaurant filled with plants and bric-a-brac.

I managed to explain the vegetarian situation and received bean & barley soup, rice, beans, plantains, salad, potatoes, and lemonade for $3. The Modern Art Museum was small and the art was mostly only ok, but there were a few good photographs and paintings. It wouldn’t call it a ‘must see’ but it was decent and admission was only $1. (Generally, of all of the churches and museums i have visited, all of the churches were free and this was the only museum that charged.) I then walked farther north to the Museo Nationales, which had a good selection of Colombian prehistoric artifacts right up to 20thC paintings. None of the descriptions were in English, so it made for a quick walk through, but it was a good museum.

When i left it had started to rain and i was about 30 blocks from the hostel so i sat at the only cafe with outdoor seating that i found and sat under an umbrella and smoked a cigar until the rain stopped. Of course once i left it started to pour and i got soaked and have been cold and wet ever since. The first two days here were very warm and sunny but the second two days have had intermittent showers and rain.

On the way back to the hostel i was passed by a group of about three dozen soldiers in full combat camouflage, helmets and boots, and carrying machine guns. I don’t know what it was all about but the people on the street did not pay any attention, so i guess it is a usual occurrence.

After resting back at the hotel with yet another cup of hot coca tea in the kitchen by the wood burning stove, i went out for dinner. I think I’ll stay in for the rest of the evening, as it is warm here and i have an earlyish flight to Cartagena.

Bogota has been great. Four days was perfect. If i had any more time i would have done more day trips out of the city but i feel quite satisfied.
Buenos Noches.

Colombia South America

Mercado de Paloquemao

This morning i set out immediately after breakfast to the Mercado de Palequemao, a giant market selling fruits, vegetables, meats, fish, flowers, and other random food items. I walked from my hotel which was a fairly long walk. I stuck to the main streets so i would not get lost, which meant that the streets i walked down were busy, loud, crowded, and not particularly attractive. That being said, i really enjoyed the walk as it provided a good view of non-touristy Bogota.

Finally reaching the market i was overwhelmed by the selection of produce.

This might be the best market ever in that regard. They had everything i could imagine and things i could not have dreamed of. It was so colorful and loud and everything looked so delicious. As i had already eaten about 6 different fruits for breakfast, i ate only one thing: mangosteens. I have been wanting to try them for a wile and bought one. It is, and i am not exaggerating, the best fruit i have ever tasted. It defies description, but it is a hard purple shell with sweet white cloves of heaven inside. I went back and bought a bag and sat on the curb with some vendors and ate my through half the bag. Whatever you are doing right now, stop, find a mangosteen and eat it. You can thank me later.

I then walked through the flower stalls and the butcher area where whole cows and emormous pigs were being freshly carved up for sale. After wandering aimlessly in delight (attracting quite a bit of attention), i sat at one of the curb side cafes on a plastic chair on the sidewalk and drank some great coffee and smoked some cigarillos with the butchers who were on their breaks, eating and drinking in their bloody smocks. It was great.

I then walked back to the hotel with my remaining mangosteen and one other unidentifiable monstrous, green fruit that i will try tomorrow. (Once i figure out what all these exotic, tropical fruits are – and have the ability to upload photos – i will probably devote a post just to them.)

I would definitely recommend a visit to this market. It looks like it is in a sketchy area of town, but it seemed safe and offered a great look at daily life in Bogota.

Colombia South America

Hungry Vegetarian seeks Sustenance on Mountaintop

My first full day in Bogota started by a walk up Calle 7 to a Sunday flea market that i had read about. The walk was great, as the sun was shining, i had a cup of fresh mango and papaya slices and everyone was out on their bikes. On every Sunday, the main streets in Candelaria are closed to vehicular traffic and are taken over by cyclists, joggers and roller bladers. Every Sunday! (Take that, Portland.)

I stopped in to a couple of churches on the way, both of which were mid-mass. It is a bit like Portugal here in that every time i go into a cathedral there seems to be a mass underway. Seldom are they dormant.

The flea market was full of things that were not quite antiques, but junk that was fun to browse through. Lots of military accoutrements, old telephones, books, and toys. A man had a bucket of giant snails and was selling their snail slime as a skin care remedy. There i had a glass of lulo juice – lulo being a fruit native to the area. It is quite tart, but refreshing.

After the flea market i went to the Museo del Oro (free on sundays) and strolled through the impressive collection of gold artifacts and objects from Colombia history. It is a small museum, but impressive and worth a visit.

After the museum i walked for a ways up hill past vendors of grilled meats, blood sausage, corn and religious artifacts to the cable car station to go up to the top of the mountain to visit Monserrat, mountain with a white church perched atop. The church is visible from everywhere in the city and accessible by cable car, funicular, or a steep hike. The church, although very sacred is not that special, and quite plain. What was great was the view of the city and mountains and the stroll through the market, which was selling various crafts and souvenirs. (Nothing that i wanted to buy, mind you.) At that point it started to rain, so i ducked into a hall of food sellers, all cooking up the same dishes, rice and potatos or soup with chicken, blood sausage, pig intestines, and other identifiable meat bits. I was looking to see if there was anything vegetarian i could have when i was approached by the waitress who said something incomprehensible to me in Spanish. I do not know what she said but i blurted out two phrases i know, liked together: I am a vegetarian and i am hungry. She understood and made me a plate of rice, fired plantains, avocado slices, potatoes, beans, and hot peppers. It was huge and delicious and about $3.

After descending from Monserrat i continued to wander, through squares, and down a street of vendors aggressively selling (almost exclusively) pinata fillings, past particularly run down streets where the amount of garbage, dog feces and dilapidated buildings increased, to an area called the Macarena. It is a quasi-bohemian, trendy neighborhood, about 25 blocks or so north, with lots of international eateries and pubs. More upscale by far than Candalaria. I had a cigar on a patio and then hailed a taxi to take me another 50 or so blocks north to the area called Zona Rosa.

Zona Rosa is a fancy neighborhood. The streets are lined with large trees, it is clean and the sidewalks are not filled with dangerous holes. Here i found stores like Zara, Ferrigamo, and Hugo Boss, a movie theatre, a mall, a Hard Rock Cafe, and many fancy looking restaurants, bars and hotels. It feels a hundred years away from Caldelaria. It was pleasant to stroll around and has a couple of streets (Zona T) that are pedestrian and only lined with eateries. It was a little upsacle for my liking, but i sat down on the patio of a middle eastern restaurant and smoked a hookah and had hummus and Turkish coffee until it got too cold to sit outside at which point i hailed a taxi and went back to my hostel, where the kitchen was filled with guests cooking dinner. I was fairly tired after all my walking, so after a good lie down in the hammock i went to bed.

And let me take this opportunity too dispel another stupid warning i received from people and books before coming here. I was told to only take taxis after dark (which i have established as nonsense, as walking is fine), AND i was told never to hail them on the street but only to call for them. This posed a problem as i do not have a phone. But as it turns out everyone hails taxis on the street. They are yellow and licensed and use meters and have GPS and are quite safe. So there, fear mongerers!

Ok, i am off for another day of exploring. Thanks for checking on me.
d

Europe Italy

Parma & Modena

After a few rather full days, including yesterday’s unexpected excursion to San Marino, we were pretty tired today and i woke up feeling a bit under the weather. That said, we couldn’t just lay about, so today we took the train west to Parma, which is about an hour away. Parma is known for its ham and cheese and there was certainly a lot of both. We walked the streets and through markets selling fruits and vegetables, meats and fish, and clothing and housewares. There were many more piazzas and churches to visit and they were lovely, although today I think we both felt a bit saturated with Italian splendor. It is not that we didn’t appreciate what we saw, but it didn’t feel like the first time we had seen it.

After Parma, we took the train to Modena (half way between Bologna and Parma), which is another gastronomic town, famous for its balsamic vinegar. It was quite attractive and was very quiet when we arrived – during lunch when the shops are closed. We settled in for a nice lunch on the piazza and waited out an afternoon thundershower before visiting Modena’s most famous site, its impressive 11th century cathedral, which we spent some time in before heading back to Bologna for a bit of a rest.

People in this part of Italy certainly speak less English than they did in the other areas we have visited.
In the other cities, we would attempt to communicate in Italian, but at the first error or pause, the other party would jump in with excellent English. Up here however we have had several encounters where we relied on our awkward Italian and sign language.

We are headed out now for a bit to eat or something. Tomorrow morning we catch a train to Venice – our final destination. We are pretty excited about this last leg of the journey, as it should be spectacular.

We will blog again when we are able.
d&b

Europe Italy

Hams and Arches

Today we arrived in Bologna, a mere 40 minute train ride from Florence. We are staying at a lovely little pensione on the 5th floor of a non-descript building. We have a beautiful view of the red rooftops of the city – particularly picturesque at sunset we discovered.

Bologna is (not surprisingly) another attractive smallish city with cobbled streets lined with inviting cafes and shops and dotted with churches and piazzas. What sets Bologna apart is that most of the sidewalks are covered by arched porticos, apparently about 40 kilometers of them. This makes them particularly nice for walking in the hot sun. The other notable thing about Bologna is the hams, which are everywhere. Every second store seems to be a deli of sorts and the ceilings, stair rails and windows are all hung with enormous hams – the sort that an Italian Tiny Tim would have stared at hungrily through the window (had A Christmas Carol been Italian, that is). There are fewer vegetarian items on the menus and decidedly less pizza than in the other towns we have visited, but i think we will get by.

We arrived and did the requisite walk about to get our bearings. Betty-Lou encountered a group of jazz buskers with which she was particularly taken and we had lunch in one of the streets of the Quadriletero district.

Betty-Lou then took the afternoon to rest in the room while i pounded the pavement seeing what there was to see. I visited a few churches, including several simple, medieval ones and walked through the lively university districts which was crawling with students and lined with bookstores and noisy cafes. The walls of the buildings around the university were covered in graffiti, mostly of a political or economic nature (a lot of ‘occupy’ themed stuff). I picked up a book at an international book store and settled in the Piazza Maggiore with a glass of wine and a cigar and watched the street scene and began reading my new book.

reading ‘ham on rye’ while looking at arches, bologna

Just now we have returned from an excellent dinner of salad, risotto and pasta and are going to call it a relatively early night. The weather here is beautiful, as it has been all through our travels (except for that one night in Gubbio). With one exception all of our meals have been al fresco.

We are in Bologna for three nights, which is remarkable, because in slightly less than one day I have seen nearly everything i wanted to see. We will likely do some day trips in our remaining time here.

That’s all for now.

Europe Italy

Pisa & Lucca

Yesterday we ventured outside of Florence for a day trip to Pisa, which was about an hour and half away by train. Pisa was a pretty little town and had some lovely streets for wandering but the main focus of course was to see the famous tilting tower.

The leaning tower was surprisingly small and surprisingly beautiful. I did not think it would be so white. Set against the particularly blue sky yesterday it was striking. The tower does indeed lean at a very noticeable angle and we, like the countless other visitors captured numerous photos of it from every angle. (What we did not do was take photos of ourselves ‘holding up’ the tower, which many others seemed to be doing.) The queues were far too long to wait around in the hot sun to climb to the top so we visited the neighboring duomo and baptistry, which were splendid. (Also splendid was the fact that while walking through the tourist crowds Betty-Lou found a fifty euro note on the ground!) After the architectural sites, Betty-Lou spent her newly gained money on a relaxing lunch. Betty-Lou had mussels, which she assured me were delicious.

From Pisa we took a half hour train ride to Lucca, which is a lovely medieval walled city filled with beautiful churches and winding alley ways, each more perfect than the last. There are not any major sites in Lucca, but the town itself was wonderful to spend a few hours exploring.

It was also filled with tourists, mostly filling the shops, which lined the streets. We had planned to eat dinner in Lucca, but we were caught in the old problem of the restaurants in Europe not opening for dinner until late (i never will get used to that), so we took the train back to Florence where we had a wonderful meal out doors (as all of our meals have been so far). Betty-Lou ate wild boar sausage, artisanal cheese, and osso bucco, which she said was as good as hers. I had porcini risotto and asparagus and more than one glass of limoncello, which the waiter brought me in an admitted attempt to get me drunk. Limoncello isn’t bad, but two glasses is definitely enough.

It was a very long day and we ended it quite exhausted, but it was wonderful and we went to bed reflecting on the day and looking forward to the next adventure.

Wandering North

Tag: markets

Soggy in Phnom Penh

Journey up the Mekong

Mercado Bazurto

Playa Blanca

Rainy Afternoon in Bogota

Mercado de Paloquemao

Hungry Vegetarian seeks Sustenance on Mountaintop

Parma & Modena

Hams and Arches

Pisa & Lucca