PICTURE GALLERY PAGE 2

We landed in Cambodia's capital town Phnom Penh to stay one night.
Th civil war ended in 1997 and the country is one of the poorest in the world. Cambodia has 12 million citizens and it says they also have nearly 10 million land mines still in the country!
They are now restoring roads and buildings. There were not many tarmaced roads!
The soil was red and brown from sand and clay. There are a lot of holes in the roads, a lot of mopeds and motorbikes, wagons, cars - chaos, poverty and misery.
We visited the National Museum and the Royal Palace but we considered the town to be a little bit uncomfortable.

Siem Reap

After one night in Phnom Penh we flew further to our goal in Cambodia - Siem Reap. It is here most of the tourists come to see the fantastic tempels in the surrounding area. Here is the largest concentration of temples in the whole world. The history in Cambodia can be split in 3 epochs: 1) Before Angkor time. 2) Angkor time. and 3) After Angkor time. The Angkor time lasted from about 11th century to 15th century. Then Cambodia was on its top and the country was prospering. More temples were built at that time then ever. We started to look at the oldest temple, Preah Ko which was finished in 879. It belongs to "before Angkor-time".
	Preah Ko	The early brick temple Preah Ko.
During the time that the temples were built the religion was only Hinduism. At several places you can see groups of beautiful women called Apsara, and are according to the religion women that dance for the gods in heaven. During the 15th century they converted more and more to Buddism which is leading religion today.
	Apsara

The capital town and the largest town during the Angkor time was Angkor Thom which means "the big town". Here is the south gate to Angkor Thom which is bordered by gods at one side and demons on the other side. They have had (and still have) problems with theft of antique details and some of the figures are missing - for example the heads.
	South gate of Angkor Thom
	Gods and demons are bordering the entrance	Beautiful carvings in stone.
Here we have passed the porch and are behind the walls which are 3 by 3 km. During the Angkor time, there were about 20000 wooden houses here. These no longer exist.
	The entrance seen from the other side

Inside in Angkor Thom you will soon arrive to the 2:nd largest temple, Bayon with its smiling faces everywhere. The faces were carved in all four directions. There were in total 54 tower faces in the temple.
	Bayon
A later buddha statue has been placed as an offering place in Bayon.
	Praying time
The walls are full of beautiful inscriptions. Here you can see two dancing Apsaras (and two happy girls) !
	A window in the temple Bayon

The largest and the most famous temple is Angkor Wat ("the temple of the town") with its five temple towers. The temple area is surrounded by a 200 m. wide moat. Angkor Wat was built in 37 years during the 11th century by hundreds of thousands of slaves. It is mostly built in sandstone and the foundation is 23 m. deep. Everywhere there are inscriptions and imaginative histories are told in the pictures at the stones.
	The fantastic Angkor Wat		Monks in Angkor Wat

After climbing a staircase that can almost be equal to climbing a mountain (a slope of 70 degrees), we arrived at the highest gallery. Here we had a wonderful view.
Monk in sunset
The third largest temple is Ta Prohm or in common called "The Jungle Temple". It is most known for its terrifying tree roots that completely swallow the temple.
The entrance to the Jungle temple

French explorers found all overgrown temples in the end of the 19th century. They wanted to show the posterity what the nature can cause and therefore let this temple be without cutting away the roots. We felt like entering the "Jungle Book" and expected to see King Louie jump out any moment! Here some scenes from the movie "Tomb Raider" was shot.
	Tree roots at Ta Prohm		The Jungle temple

We also took a ride out to the countryside where the people were very poor. We took a boat out at the lake Tonlé Sap which is the largest lake in Indochine (Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam). This was called the floating village. The people were living on house boats around the lake. According to the dry/wet period they moved their house boats along the lake.
House boat in the floating village	In the floating village there was also a floating school. We met a boat full of school children on their way home from school.
Children on their way home from school
We owe a lot of appreciation to our skillful guide "Lorn" from Diethelm Travel. He was really great and also took very good care of our children - thanks, we will always remember you !

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VIETNAM

Saigon

Saigon, or Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) has 7 millions citizens. Add to that about 2.5 million of mopeds/motorbikes. One advantage with that is that the city is not as polluted as for example Bangkok. The traffic is very hectic. To go from one side of the street to the other side is a real achievement. You can not stay and wait for someone to stop and let you pass, you must go slowly forward without stopping or going back! This is what you can call "organized chaos"!
An ordinary day in the town
Here the people are literally living on the street - eating, having their social lifes, playing cards, having a siesta, reading and brushing their teeth. Saigon is a town that never sleeps.
Center in HCMC	Marketplace in HCMC

The contrast with our hometown Vadstena is huge and you can feel a little bit homesick, but after a day you slowly get used to it. We find our favourite café where we can eat fresh baguettes and French cheeses. We mainly sat at Kims Café (at the street De Tham). Besides the good food you can also buy tours and bustickets to the north. Another popular café is Sinh Café at the same street.

West meets East

Vietnam affects travellers in a special way due to the Vietnam War. We visited the War Remnants Museum. The main part of the museum documents the American's cruelty. At the garden inside the entrance there are American tanks, bombs and airplanes. Inside the halls there are a lot of horrible pictures and it is difficult to explain to Matilda and Sara how this could happen when hardly we us adults can understand it. It was an interesting visit and it really touched us very deeply. Even if you are not visiting the museum you will be reminded about the cruel war. Beggars and cripples are everywhere. Who was complaining about the Swedish medical attendance?

Cripple at a rolling piece of board

Other places of interest in Saigon's area are the Cao Dai temple and the Cu Chi tunnels. The Cao Dai temple is located in Tay Ninh, 96 km from Saigon.

The Cao Dai-temple in Tay Ninh

Tay Ninh is the capital town in the Tay Ninh-province. The inhabitants are mainly followers of Vietnam's native religion, caodaism.
	Entrance to the Mass in the Cao Dai-temple		Mass inside the Cao Dai-temple

On the way back we made a stop at the Cu Chi-tunnels (30 km from Saigon. The tunnels were the base for FNL:s operations around Saigon. It consisted of tight paths (80 cm height and 60 cm wide) which connected the small villages together. In total there were hundreds of km of tunnelpaths. They were used in the Vietnam War but were started in the 1940:s during the war against the French.
	The local guide shows an autentic entrance		On the way down in one of the tunnels

There are two types of tunnels to test. One is a little bit expanded (100 cm height and 80 cm wide) and the other one is in its original (80 cm by 60 cm). The entrances are expanded to fit the tourists on both types. We tried to creep through both the expanded and the narrower tunneltype. They were about 100 m. long tunnels. It was very warm, humid and tight and you can't understand how people could live inside such surroundings. These tunnels were not residential tunnels like in Vinh Moc (see section DMZ) but were used in combat. We were creeping in different tunnelsections up and down in different height levels with the children as guides. They were creeping like small rats and wondered why we were so late! Their enthusiasm and curiosity were enormous.

Matilda and Sara inside the Cu Chi-tunnels

The local guide also showed us the Vietnamesian soldiers homemade weapons and traps in the jungle (tilting bridges and deep covered holes with iron spikes inside). A fascinating and interesting experience. In this strong realism you could feel the reality of the war.

Hoi An

We bought bus tickets in Saigon. These are "open tickets" where you decide your final destination of the bustrip. On the way to this destination the bus stops in different cities and you can stay there for several days. The night before you want to go again you just tell them and then you can go on further to you final stop the next morning. After some days we were staying in Hoi An in central Vietnam. The bus went mostly through rice fields but also passes some beautiful beaches and high mountains. Hoi An is a charming, old and very genuine town with 60000 citizens. We returned to Hoi An this summer (2002) - this is a place you can´t miss when visiting Vietnam!
Here the life is very calm	Life in the City center
Wagon	Old woman

Hoi An is one of the oldest towns in South East Asia. The Old Town has buildings that are several hundred years old. Everywhere there is small shops selling lamps.
	Lamp store		Lamp manufacturing

In the "old town" there are many lovely boutiques to shop in - like this one, inside a handicraftshop with stone and wooden carvings.
	Nice handicrafts
A well known symbol in the town is the Japanese bridge with a roof which was constructed in 1593.
	The Japanese bridge

There are also a lot of temples in the town.
Chinese temple	Figure cut hedges
The old quarter at Thu Bon-river	Fishing boat in the harbour
Fishmarket	Fruit- and vegetables market
Yet another market

The way to the exquisite beach is 5km long and passes along countryside and rice fields. The traffic is quite calm with a lot of bicycles. The nice beach in Hoi An is named Cua Dai Beach and passes 20 km at the north to Danang. There are some restaurants but the beach is noticeably deserted (so far).
	Cua Dai Beach at the South China Sea		The sand at the Beach is dazzling white
	The water is lovely		Fishing boats

Hoi An is wide known for it´s good clothes and efficient tailors. You can also see how the silk material is made through the breeding of silkworms.

Silkworms

In Hoi An there are about 100 tailor shops. We bought our clothes in the shop Gia Hung (Nhi Trung Stret 3) and Bao Khanh (Phan Dinh Phung Street 37).
	Inside the tailor shop Gia Hung		Inside the tailor shop Bao Khanh

We were very pleased with our clothes and the service in both shops. Make a visit at them and send our regards!
	In the shop with the staff		In the shop with Luc

At both of our visits in Hoi An we have stayed at the hotel Vinh Hung 2. They have both Vinh Hung 1 and 2, and number 3 is under construction. Vinh Hung 2 is located at Nhi Trung Street and we have really enjoyed the visit there. We can strongly recommend this.
	The owner of the hotel		The handsome staff at Vinh Hung 2

Our favourite restaurang in Hoi An is Thanh Than II. They have a wide menu with both Vietname food and also very good pizzas. Don´t mix up Thanh Thanh with Tam Tam Café, a café with delicious equipment which is own by a Frenchman. This is also worth a visit but the prices are a little bit higher.
Thanh Thanh II
The best starting-point for a one day excursion to My Son is from Hoi An. My Son is the most important place for the Cham-culture in Vietnam. The books say that it is Vietnam's equivalent to Angkor in Cambodia. Unfortunately a large amount of the monuments were destroyed during the Vietnam War, and we didn´t think that it can be compared to Angkor.
My Son	My Son

Hué

Hué has about 250000 citizens and is known as the old imperial town. Here 13 Emperors have reigned during 1802 to 1945. The largest places of interest in the area are the old Emperor tombs. In november 1999 the whole town was below water when a huge flood hit some parts of Vietnam. The city is split in two sections by the Parfyme River.
	Trang Tien bridge		Parfyme River

We really recommend a boattrip at the Parfyme River. The area surrounding Hué is beautiful with green hilly nature. The excursion includes lunch and stops at different Emperor tombs and the Tien Mu pagoda.
	Girl in a boat next to us		Lunch at the boat

The first stop was at the Tien Mu-pagoda. The 21 meter high octagonal tower has become an inofficial symbol for Hué. The tower is built in seven floors, where each floor is dedicated to Buddha.
	The Tien Mu Pagoda		Joss sticks

Among the tourists you can also see the Vietname women in their nationaldress "Ao Dai". Almost all Vietname women who work at offices, hotels and restaurangs wear these clothes.
	Women wearing Ao Dai

If it is too long to walk to the tombs from the boat you can always pay for a ride with a moped. Here Matilda is going with a moped to Tu Ducs tomb which like the most of them consists of pavilions, temples, ponds and the place with the grave.
	Ride with a moped		Tu Ducs tomb
	Minh Mangs grave		Entrance to a tomb

DMZ

We also made a one-day excursion from Hué to the Demilitarization Zone (DMZ). DMZ consisted in an area about 10 km width and located around the Ben Hai river. This river formed the split between South Vietnam and North Vietnam. The area around the DMZ is still not cleared by mines and everyday new mines are found. We made a first stop in a mountain district near the Laos border. Due to the fact that heavy chemical weapons were used during the Vietnam War (which ended in 1975), the harvests are still bad and the vegetation has not returned in all places. This visit was probably our most heart-rending of them all, you will really realize how good life is back in Sweden.
Woman	Old pipesmoking woman in the mountain district
Children in the village	Children in the village

The last way up to the American Khe Sanh base was to difficult for our bus. We were transported by a truck to get there.
	On the back of a truck to the Khe Sanh base		Tank at the Khe Sanh base

Late in the afternoon, we arrived at the Vinh Moc tunnels which the children had been looking forward to. These tunnels were the living places for the Vietname who lived in the DMZ district.The tunnels are beatifully located beside a nice beach. Many tunnel exits are located at the beach and inside the tunnels you could feel a gentle breeze sometimes. The tunnels are built in three different levels, from 15 m to 26 m beneath ground. They are about 1,2 to 1,7 m in height so you can easily walk inside. There are plenty of different rooms, for example a maternity room. 17 children were born down here during the War.
	Heading into the Vinh Moc tunnels		One of the exits from the tunnels

Hanoi

Hanoi with its 2 to 3 millions citizens is Vietnam's capital town. From 1902 to 1953 Hanoi was the capital town of the French Indochine, which from 1893 consisted of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Hanoi is a town with lakes and green parks and it feels a little bit more "umbrageous" than HCMC (Saigon). However, the pulse of life is just the same.
	Hoan Kiem lake		Traffic jam

The most visited area is the old town north of Hoan Kiem lake. You can walk along the streets - literally spoken, because the pavements are full of sales stalls. As in HCMC, the people live their lives on the street. Hanoi is not as touristic as HCMC and therefore the town is feeling more genuine. If we shall give a tip about a special place, it would be Little Hanoi Café where we took refuge when the chaos was too much.
We made a two-day excursion to Halong Bay with a stay at the island Cat Ba. Halong Bay is a big beautiful archipelago with 3000 islands in Tonkin Bay in the top of North East Vietnam. UNESCO have put Halong Bay at the World heritage list as one of the worlds most unique nature reserves.
	Halong Bay		House boats in Halong Bay

The Islands are reminiscent of Krabi in the south of Thailand, even if this area in Halong Bay is much bigger. The boat trips include visits in some of the thousand caves that exists at the Islands.
	View from the cave Hang Dau Go		Heading into the Hang Dau Go cave

The main reason to our stay in Hanoi was to visit our God child Anh. She lives in a children village in Mai Dich in the outskirts of Hanoi and the village belongs to SOS children villages. The children village in Mai Dich was founded in 1990 and consists in 16 familyhouses, assemblyroom, day care center and school.
	Inside Anhs house		Real buddies

There are about 150-200 children in the children village with around 10 to 13 children in each house. We were staying for a visit during 2 days and the children got to know each other and they had a great time together.
	Matilda and Sara are playing with Anh		Some of the children from the Lotus house

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