City of Lanterns; Heavy Weddings and Can and Ken Do Hai Van Pass

 I flew from Cambodia to Da Nang in Vietnam and then took a Grab (Asian Uber) to the popular tourist city of Hoi An about 30 minutes away.  Hoi An is an attractive small city dating back to the mid- 1500s, when it was a thriving trading port with China, Japan and Portugal.  In fact, its most famous site and symbol is the "Japanese Bridge" a long huge bridge whose vast span connected the distant Japanese and Chinese colonies of Hoi An back in the early 1600s-

 

 Hoi An's old town was named a World Unesco site in 1998 and since then it has taken off and become perhaps the biggest tourist city in Vietnam, receiving over 3 million visitors per year.  It is a very nice small city and is known for its lanterns-

Tailoring (there are custom tailoring shops everywhere for all types of clothing )-

And for its markets and food-

Part of the scene is to go out on the river at night and light a candle and mildly add to river pollution with all of the other lantern-lit boats-

It also seems to have perfectly captured the tattoo craze-

I noticed that Vietnamese weddings seem to be serious affairs-

On my walking tour of Hoi An I learned that the Buddhism of Vietnam is different than Thailand and others  it certainly seemed that the Buddha statuary was happier and better fed- 

After spending a pleasant day and a half in Hoi An, I hired a motorcycle driver by the name of Can to take me over the acclaimed Hai Van Pass and then onto Hue about 100 miles to the north.  While the pass was mostly obscured in mist (per usual, I guess), it was a fun trip with some interesting scenery along the way including a dragon bridge 

Can, while unafraid to pass on the twisty mountain (or other) roads, was a very good driver.  

Cambodian Wedding Traditions; Angkor Wat Sunrise

 On my tour of the lake villages, the guide mentioned that in Cambodia it was traditional for the groom to bring rosy cow, pig and chicken to the affair ( kind of a reverse dowry).  I think this is an excellent idea and while too late for my kids, certainly this should become a requirement for all male Kaulbach descendant grandchildren (currently 9).  Living on a farm, the Prill boys will have leg up but no excuses for the rest  A young woman has a right to expect decent prospects  

Angkor Wat sunrise is a “must do” so I got up at 445 and slumped into the Tuk Tuk for the miserable affair- 

Somewhere Jim Gallagher is smiling  At least I got breakfast (Asian style) on my return this time-

Strangely, the boutique hotel I stayed at was as good a hotel as any I have ever stayed at anywhere   Just wonderful and so inexpensive- $62/ night including a robust breakfast  

That ends my short sojourn in Cambodia   A very friendly and kind people but a bit pitiable from my interactions, which I think is unsurprising given their history with the Khmer Rouge (who murdered approximately 1/4 of the population) and even recent events (border war with Thailand)  

Angkor Wat: Tom’s Wat and What is your favorite-?

 I flew from Bangkok to Siem Reap the 2nd largest city in Cambodia and the gateway to the world’s largest temple complex, Angkor Wat (the Taj Mahal is a mausoleum ), which is about 30 minutes outside of the city by Tuk Tuk, my now preferred mode of transport   I again felt immediately welcome- 

Though I got an extensive tour of Angkor Wat and associated temples, including one apparently named after my brother in law, Tom (Angkor Thom), I found it quite difficult to capture the size and grandeur of the site in pictures. 

These are just the best I could do on my visit-

It was originally founded as a Hindu temple in circa 1150 and still has some Hindu statutory vestiges remaining-

But since the 1500s has been a Buddhist temple. It was abandoned to the jungle around 1600 as the result of local wars until rediscovered by the French in 1867. 

Close to Angkor Wat is the “Tree Temple” famous apparently for providing the setting of the movie “Tomb Riders” with Angelina Jolie and for its temple bound roots- 

My guide insisted.i get photographed wherever A Jolie stood, tho I barely know who she is and have never seen the movie 

Siem Reap is a lively city with a street with my mane on it (renowned in Cambodia)- 

Happy Hour apparently had a strict shutdown between 2-3 am   Maybe Happy Day is more accurate? 

The next day I visited a lake village on stilts (to be above the monsoon floods in the rainy season) in the countryside on stilts with a tour- 

The lake was huge (you couldn’t see across and is the largest in SE Asia) and evidently is one of the most fish producing in the world- 

We visited a local school there where the kids were learning English. They wanted to practice it so we were encouraged to engage and I did. The 10 your old girls were ready with their questions- 

What is your favorite fish? Sport? Food?  Bird? Movie?  Animal?  Etc. Not to be outdone I fired back what is your favorite movie?  Sport?  Food?  Bird?  Fish?  They had nothing on me in the English department.  No mention of Shakespeare by either of us.