Tuk tuk, misdirection and floating village

Posted on October 2, 2019 by wonko

We had a tour booked today in the afternoon, so after a sleep in and leisurely breakfast, we decided to head into town to see what we could see. It is clear this is a hotel and party zone, hundreds of hotels and a bunch of blocks dedicated to bars, more to restaurants. We had a “Tuk tuk” (a motorcycle with a passenger compartment as a sort of trailer) take us to a destination, sort of. I am not sure the driver spoke English and we seemed to go around and around until, by luck, we found something close to where we wanted to go. It was then that we realised we did not have our card of the hotel for the return journey, but assumed all would work out.

We looked around, firstly Genevieve’s Fair Trade village (on recommendation) and then various “made in Vietnam” craft collectives, community projects and the like. It is clear the Cambodian people are gentle, polite to extraordinary lengths and quiet spoken (except in markets and road stops where they are trying to hawk their wares.

We then went to cool off, and chose The Red Piano, a famous local location, Jo got an iced coffee fix and I got a lime tea – very refreshing and cooler under a fan in the shade. Nothing prepares you for the humidity here, it is like a wall that hits you when you enter it from an air conditioned room and saps your strength almost immediately. The early mornings are coolest, with the peak of discomfort in the afternoon. We have taken to carrying water – heavy but really necessary for rehydration. After Jo had her coffee hit, she decided a “fish massage” was just the thing, and dangled her tootsies in a tank full of attentive fish, who proceeded to nibble for a half an hour – she thought they did a good job. Let us hope they are fed more than tourist feet.

We then wandered around the central market, stiflingly hot, narrow passageways with fine silver jewellery right next to a pork butcher cleaving with abandon. Live fish beside durian candy, tea with tobacco, spices with patent leather shoes, Noisy, colourful, an olfactory assault but so interesting. We purchased some bits and bobs then caught a Tuk tuk to lunch at “Tevys Place”, a local restaurant that featured in Jos food research.

We have a list of Cambodian dishes we wanted to try, and lunchtime was Fish Amok time. Simple presentation in a banana leaf cup, a subtle blend of spices, fish, a green vegetable that was a lot like spinach and coconut cream made for the perfect accompaniment for rice and a delicious lunch. The local Angkor draft beer is excellent for rehydration also, great for me, with Jo having a fruit juice mix.

After lunch, the adventure of trying to get a Tuk tuk back to the hotel began. Our driver had no English, but tried to reassure us that he knew where to go, then took off in entirely the wrong direction, we saw a LOT of Siem Reap before we could convince him to head in the right direction, only to overshoot the road and go up the wrong one for another lengthy diversion. Eventually we found “concrete drain road”, named because …. and were deposited, windswept and over it at our hotel. Time for a swim and cool-off in the pool before tour pickup.

We chose “Community First: Kompong Khleang Floating Village Tours, because the tour fees go straight back into supporting “Bridge of Life” projects in the community we visited. The tour guide was originally from the village we were to visit, so had a lot of local knowledge and many relatives still living there.

We started on a bus (small comfortable multi-seat minibus) and stopped along the way to try typical Cambodian snack foods. First up was sticky rice, cooked in bamboo with black beans and coconut cream. The long bamboo cups were charred over an open fire, then peeled to remove the black so they were thin enough to peel back revealing a cylinder of rice “cake”. It was hot, creamy and delicious. I can see why it is so popular as a snack food, and was astonished to see how many vendors lined the main road selling it. I also saw vendors with bottled liquid I assumed was sugar cane juice or some form of hooch, turned out to be petrol for motorbikes and tuk tuks.

Next stop was a Khmer baker, and samples of Khmer donuts (little deep fried rice flour and coconut snacks soaked in sugar syrup, “worm cakes”, which were rice flour shortbread of sorts in the shape of grubs – delicious (my favourite), then some dried mango (sheets of fruit leather). Fortified with snacks, we then left the bus for a long narrow motorboat to begin our river cruise.

The area we explored was the waterways swollen by the wet season rains. Locals had 2 strategies for coping with the huge variation in water level: either build your house on tall stilts, or make your house float. We saw both. Most houses clustered around small fingers of dry land, but most were surrounded by water with boat the main form of transport. We visited an island that housed a monastery and public school (their computer lab was a Bridge of Life project), learning that class sizes were 50+ in a tiny room with one teacher. Interesting what we take for granted. We saw heaps of happy kids (everyone is so nice) and classrooms, temples and pagodas. We saw people washing in the water, drinking and cooking from it, learned that their plumbing emptied into it and figured people here have strong constitutions.

We were further upstream, to learn that most of what we were boating over is actually their farmland in the dry. Locals have 2 jobs: fishing in the wet (the waters are incredibly abundant) and farming in the dry (the soils, when the water recedes is very fertile). Amazing to think that they experience a total change of lifestyle twice a year.

We visited a Bridge of Life year 1 classroom in a small but densely populated village, and a sewing school, all useful projects that suit the locals. Apparently local primary schools are the best way to educate the little ones before they can swim, and hence travel by boat to a primary/secondary school. Literacy is hard work, with a 50 or so letter alphabet, 20 vowels and a bunch of letter modifiers, the language is musical with tones making the same letter sequences mean different things.

Categories: Cambodia, travel | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Motorbikes, Markets and Making Pho

Posted on September 30, 2019 by wonko

As part of our holiday planning, Jo usually adds “rest” days, which are less frantic, giving us a chance to slow down and recharge. Today was our rest day, starting with a sleep in, leisurely breakfast then some low stress souvenir shopping. We are not much for souvenirs but decided to look for some uniquely Vietnamese bits and bobs. We also tried the AHA coffee house for a dose of caffeine and enjoyed people watching in the cool.

Jo had found a cooking class that offered to teach us how to make signature Vietnamese dishes (which have turned out to be some of our favourites) and our tour guide arrived and asked how we wanted to travel. Quick as a flash I said motorbike and the deal was done (much to Jo’s surprise). I was keen to try, Jo less so but off we launched into crazy busy traffic – in the end so much fun and mostly fatality free. “Grab” is south east Asian Uber, we have been using it for car travel but they also do motorbike, good to remember. The service is really responsive, you agree up front on the price, I do not know why people still use taxis.

We arrived windswept and exhilarated, and were greeted by Chef Peter who took us through the first stages in the preparation of Pho broth. Oddly the big marrow bones were washed, boiled in salted water for 15 min to clean/disgorge them, then placed in a large pot of clean water. We roasted onion shallots, red onion and ginger root unpeeled until blackened, then washed/peeled them and placed them in with the soup. We also dry roasted salt, black cardamom, star anise and cinnamon quills until quite toasted, but these would not be added to the broth for 2.5 hours (just the last half hour of cooking, else their taste is too strong). We also added dried sand worm for deep sweet umami (but were told we could substitute dried squid). 3 hours of cooking and the broth was seasoned before using.

While the broth was bubbling, we headed out on bicycle rickshaw to the markets.

In our research we had not really found a central fresh food market, but there was one and we headed there through crowded streets, the pedal cars are a fun way to travel for the passenger, could imagine they are a nightmare for the driver. Everything you could imagine was on sale, all fresh that morning, colours and smells were a sensory riot. Meat, seafood still alive, penned live soft shell turtles (I had to fight the urge to set them free), innards, eggs – some with unhatched chicks inside (local remedy for headache, it would replace headache for nausea with me). Everything fresh, nearly no smell, even in the corner they were making fresh shrimp and crab pastes.

We bought fruit, noodles (vermicelli and Pho), shoulder and belly pork, herbs, live prawns, pineapple, sugar bananas (wow are the bananas different here, they have flavour, and are not starchy, more juicy and delicious, and nothing like the boring cavendish or ladyfingers back home) and other ingredients for our coming feast. The chef talked to us about how to spot freshness and things to avoid. Most families visit markets each morning when apparently it is even busier but everything comes in from local farmlands fresh each day. It was a wonderful experience, so much to see as we walked back to the kitchen.

Back in the kitchen we learned how to chop and marinate pork for bun cha, make dipping sauces for bbq pork and spring rolls, how to stuff and roll fresh spring rolls and how to finish off the pho prior to service.

Then it was time to eat what we had cooked, so delicious, so abundant – probably the biggest meal so far, but fresh, familiar flavours (as in we had these dishes from street vendors and they tasted the same). Our host also poured many cups of his homemade rice wine (this one was darker in colour and sweet, a little like a Madeira). Stuffed full to exploding, we got a grab car back to the hotel for a welcome sleep, happy tummies and tired other bits.

We had a welcome sleep-in before a leisurely late breakfast, finished packing then went out to our nearest Cong Cafe for Jo to get her coffee fix – she has fallen in love with Vietnamese Iced Coffee, and we now have all the gear to make it ourselves at home. We have loved our time in Hanoi. The food, the people, the sights – just an amazing destination, and I think the perfect amount of time here to see it. Next stop Siem Reap in Cambodia…. hope you are enjoying the commentary so far as much as we are enjoying the trip.

Categories: travel, Vietnam | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Ninh Binh, the Old Capital and the Dragon Stairs

Posted on September 29, 2019 by wonko

Today we had an early start as we were being picked up for a day trip to Ninh Binh, the district that used to be the site of the original capital city of Vietnam, in Hoa Lu. Otherwise known as “Halong Bay on land” because of the maze of limestone mountains found there. We boarded a small passenger bus and, after collecting the other passengers from their hotels we were off on an arterial and pretty quickly was in farmland. The journey of about 2 hours took us through rice farm land and other agricultural areas. It became clear why there was a smoke pall all around: rice in this area has just been harvested. We saw it spread out to dry on pavements and driveways, locals raking and sweeping it into piles. Apparently after 3 days drying it is ready to husk and winnow. Other places we saw fires, rice straw being burned and the smoke was choking.

Our first stop, a restroom break, was at a handicraft barn, where disabled artists wares were for sale. Glorious silk embroidery paintings, clothing, other bits and bobs and a welcome restroom. Suitable refreshed, we headed on to Hoa Lu, the old capital.

Not a lot of the old capital is left, certainly nearly one of the original city. It was Vietnam’s first capital city, a relatively small area, bounded by limestone bluffs, on a single river. It was deemed in-developable but was defensible. Population pressure and developing army meany they had other options, eventually settling in the area now known as Hanoi. We visited a temple for the first King, saw his “dragon bed” – a carved relief stone platform that I can o lay assume was padded to make it comfortable. Most of the remains were a result of a refurb in the 17th century, all of the original city had long been robbed as building material by the locals.

We learned that the biggest local industry was cement making. They use the limestone to make it, one wonders how they decide which mountains to grind up for cement, given the natural beauty of the area, but is certainly lucrative, evidenced by the largest and most extravagant private residence owned by a cement mogul in the area.

We then travelled to the main village in Ninh Binh and made our way through a cultural village to the base of a mountain containing Mua Cave. From there we began the 500 step climb up the dragon stairs to the T junction 2/3 of the way up the mountain. Here paths lead to either the pagoda or higher to the dragon and lady Buddha. I chose the dragon, Jo chose the pagoda. It was blistering hot, humid and the climb was really hard work for both of us. Uneven, steep steps, with a zig zag up and little shade, the comical sun hats we were lent seemed more of a liability than an asset. At my summit, the final clamber to get to the dragon was terrifying but the views were breathtaking (possibly because I was exhausted and out of puff), but I reached the dragon and managed to touch it (it felt like an achievement). I met Jo on the way back down and we staggered back to the bus pretty well on schedule, but hot, thirsty and totally done in.

The surrounding area was really picturesque, with a lotus pond planted and timber walkway woven through it. Really pretty Japanese lotus, planted for the flowers. Vietnamese lotus are used as a food source, with pretty well all of the plant edible.

We were bussed to our lunch venue, a large buffet style restaurant offering a myriad of Vietnamese dishes. There were cool drinks and aircon, this served to revive us, to an extent. We were then taken to Tam Coc and Jo and I boarded a boat as passengers, our driver skilfully paddled us up the river, under 3 mountains and between limestone monoliths that were amazing. The way the light filtered through the gaps, and the snaking waterway were magic, a real treat. Our paddler paddled with his feet – fairly unusual but typical for this area. We were on the water for about 1.5 hours, surrounded by stunning scenery, just amazing.

After our boat ride, we were given the option of cycling around the village. I decided I could manage it, Jo was tuckered out and found somewhere shady overlooking the river while I cycled. It was fun and fairly flat, so not too exhausting. I had not been on a bike since Lyon, so took a moment to get less wobbly then I was off. I had previously developed a technique of riding and photographing at the same time, which in traffic was hilarious (I have discovered I laugh in terrifying traffic situations, not sure why, must be a coping mechanism). We cycled past rice paddies, fish ponds, and through the back streets and the workings of a typical village – really interesting and a fabulous end to the day.

The trip back was long, dark (few streets are lit in regional centres) but punctuated by more rice straw fires (so do not expect a view tomorrow) and afforded some a nap. The night markets had once again closed many streets so we had to be creative finding our way back in to the city and our accommodation.

Totally buggered, but hungry, we decided to go street food, and returned to a family restaurant that served dried beef salad (so saucy, tangy, crunchy green papaya and more) and some crispy spring rolls from the lady in the alcove we visited on our food tour – so delicious. We finished off the evening with iced coffee/tea at a Cong Cafe (a local franchise) before staggering home for a shower and welcome bed. We expect not to be able to move tomorrow, our “rest” day …we shall see.

Categories: Vietnam | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment