Home » Cambodia Vietnam » Odyssey Update 2 - S. Vietnam / Cambodia

Two more weeks and here I am in Thailand. It's hard to believe that I've been traveling for 1 month already. Since my last update, I've tasted the glory of an ancient empire and the horror of more recent decades. But there is more than history to see here and I was able to enjoy the sun too.

Odyssey Update 2 - S. Vietnam / Cambodia

Mark Morin
2006-04-29 14:34:44

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Two more weeks and here I am in Thailand. It's hard to believe that I've been traveling for 1 month already. Since my last update, I've tasted the glory of an ancient empire and the horror of more recent decades. But there is more than history to see here and I was able to enjoy the sun too.

SOUTHERN VIETNAM:

I was in Nha Trang when I sent my last message and, before leaving that city, I treated myself to a boat tour: $6 US for the day, snorkeling, dinner and all-you-can-drink wine (see Nha Trang photos).

It's been more than 25 years since the "liberation" of Saigon by the communists but the city's new name of Ho Chi Minh City doesn't seem to have fully caught on. A museum dedicated to the American War is interesting due its new (for me) Vietnamese perspective. The war photos were touching and troubling, particularly because I have developed over the last 3 weeks an appreciation for the optimistic, hard working and smiling people of Vietnam. The faces shown in wartime photos showed very different emotions: fear, sadness or rage. I even recognized some places that I have visited, except that tanks
and barbed wire replaced the fruit vendors I saw.

I spent two days in the Mekong Delta before going up the river by boat to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. See photos of the floating village where fish farming is done beneath the floating houses and the Cham (Islamic Minority) village.

The Mekong River boarder crossing into Cambodia is far from busy. There were 7 of us on the boat and we were the only ones at the boarder for the 3-4 hours that it took 7 Cambodian boarder guards to check our passports, one of us at a time and one agent at a time, while the other guards watched and waited their turns. Patience is important while traveling and can let you seen the humour in an otherwise frustrating situation.

PHNOM PENH:

Phnom Penh can easily be depressing. The buildings are still ...