Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam trip June 2015

Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam were short listed for our summer vacation and as usual all booking and arrangements were done by Ranjan in   no time. 

18 to 20^th June 2015:  Bangkok:

Kids were already there at Bangkok with their cousin Ranjan.  Arpit was doing internship at American Red Cross and younger Kshitij was taking lessons from brother.  We joined them on 18^th morning.  It was my forth visit to Bangkok. Therefore, the idea was to see something new. 

Bangkok offers vast opportunity to explore new things.  This time we opted for Siam Niramit.  Siam Niramit can be described as exhibition cum show of Thai’s rich cultural heritage.  The group folk dances, village environment, handi craft making, village cooking and rituals are all well displayed at this centre.  It uses special techniques integrated with drama to depict the history of each region of Thailand including depictions of hell, the forest of Himmaphan, heavens, and lands beyond imagination from Thai literature. There is also a spectacular performance of Thailand's arts and cultural heritage. The show is staged by more than 150 performers in a luxurious theater with a capacity of more than 2,000 seats.

We also took opportunity to visit new IKEA store.  It is a huge store created in around 1.5 lacs  sqft of space and you have everything which you can think for your house.  They suggest very standard design of furnishing.  You simply select the design and IKEA people will create samething at your door step.

Another location worth mentioning is Mall-21 Terminal, a place which always fascinates us.

On 20^th morning, we flew to Siam Reap, a historical town in Cambodia and checked in Hotel Crown Plaza.  The day was meant for City Tour and visit to villages located on bank of river.  The Town is a cluster of small villages along the Siem Reap River. These villages were originally developed around Buddhist pagodas (Wat) which are almost evenly spaced along the river from Wat Preah En Kau Sei in the north to Wat Phnom Krom in the south, where the Siem Reap River meets the great Tonle Sap Lake. There are three floating villages around Siem Reap - Kompong Khleang, Kompong Phluk, Chong Kneas, with Kompong Khleang considered the most authentic. 

In the afternoon we all went to see the floating village.  The boat negotiates through a shallow muddy river for about 45 minutes to takes us to middle of the lake and where you can see village life in midst of water.  We being vegetarian could only drink coconut water and nothing else was meant for us.

The main town of Siam Reap is concentrated around Sivutha Street and the Psar Chas area (Old Market area) where there are old colonial buildings, shopping and commercial districts. We took opportunity to visit this market in the evening and enjoyed some shopping experience.   

The next day morning, we went to Angkor wat (temple) at around 5 am to see the first glimpse of temple in Lake with rising sun.  The morning ambiance was awesome.  These temples were built in the 12^th Century by King Suryavarman and have gone through many turmoil over  last 900 years.  These temples are proof  that Hinduism spread not only in India but other part of east Asia and they left indelible mark for ever.  Angkor Wat (Wat temple) is the central feature of the Angkor UNESCO World Heritage Site containing the magnificent remains of the Khmer civilization. Thousands of feet of wall space are covered with intricate carving depicting scenes from Hindu mythology including Ramayana.   I feel international tourists come to Siam Reap mainly to see the glimpse of Angkor Wat.

21^st June was International Yoga Day and our women folk Beenu and Anju joined the yoga group near temple site attended by a few hundred people.

Despite  weather being hot and humid, we went to  Cambodian Cultural Village in the afternoon.  Though the village offers full day programmes, we  went to a Theatre where Show of Cambodian traditional Marriage was in progress.  The show was magnificent with both bride and bridegroom looked like real and all rituals were performed in the presence of parents of bride (of course parents were chosen from among the audience only). Opened on September 24, 2003, this village assembles all the miniatures of famous historical buildings and structures of Cambodia. There are 11 unique villages, which represent different culture heritages, local customs and characteristics of 21 multi races.

On 22^nd  morning, we planned for visit to an ancient village called Kulen where thousands of Shivlingam are carved on stone in the flowing river.  Besides this, one could enjoy the mesmerizing bath and natural massages from water falls.  The river negotiates through deep ravines and forest but we were not allowed to go beyond a point as our guide told us that there are still unexploded mines  there in that area. This is part of  Phnom Kulen National Park and is about 48 km from Siem Reap.

On 23^rd we  reached  Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia by night bus.   Located on the banks of the Tonlé Sap and Mekong River, Phnom Penh has been the national capital since French colonization of Cambodia,. Once known as the "Pearl of Asia," it was considered one of the loveliest French-built cities in Indochina^[4] in the 1920s. There are a number of surviving French colonial buildings scattered along the grand boulevards.

Phnom Pehn is a relatively modern city and is famous of its Russian Market and Genocide Museum.    Thousands of Skeltons of men, women and children are housed here which tell us horrifying stories of atrocities committed by Khmer Rouge  on their fellow countrymen during 1975 to 1979.  During Khmer Rouge regime, all  of its residents, including those who were wealthy and educated, were evacuated from the city and forced to do labour on rural farms as "new people"^. Tuol Sleng High School was taken over by Pol Pot's forces and was turned into the S-21 prison camp, where people were detained and tortured. Pol Pot sought a return to an agrarian economy and therefore killed many people perceived as educated, "lazy", or political enemies. Choeung Ek (The Killing Fields), 15 kilometers  away, where the Khmer Rouge marched prisoners from Tuol Sleng to be murdered and buried in shallow pits, is also now a memorial to those who were killed by the regime. The Khmer Rouge were driven out of Phnom Penh by the Vietnamese in 1979 and people began to return to the city.

One of the most popular areas in Phnom Penh for tourists is Sisowath Quay, alongside the Tonle Sap River. Sisowath Quay is a 3-mile strip of road that includes restaurants, bars, and hotels.

We stayed here at Hotel Queen.  Yes, we enjoyed our morning and evening walk at War Memorial and at the bank of river Mekong.  The Mekong is a trans-boundary river in  South East Asia and runs through China, Mynmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.

On 24^th morning, we took bus and set for Vietnam.  Though the distance between Phnopehn and Ho Chi Minh city is hardly 287 km, it takes nearly 8 hours to reach as bus runs on a regulated speed and also they keep a margin of two hours for immigration clearance at the border of Vietnam. 

Ho Chi Minh city was earlier known as Saigon City, but renamed after the first leader of  North Vietnam  Ho Chi Minh.   It is a metro city having population of around 15 million.  We had our stay arrangement at Somerset Serviced Apartments.    This city was earlier part of South Vietnam and has seen much of the action.  America was ally of South Vietnam and continuously fought with North Vietnam for over 20 years and finally back tracked without any result.  The important feature of this war is that USA used extensively chemical war fare, while it always preach the world war without chemical weapons.  The capture of Saigon by the North Vietnamese Army in April 1975 marked the end of the war, and North and South Vietnam were reunified the following year.  It is estimated that around 3 million people lost their lives in this bloody war. 

Today, the city's core is still adorned with wide elegant boulevards and historic French colonial buildings. The majority of these tourist spots are located in District 1 and are a short leisurely distance from each other. The most prominent structures in the city centre are the Reunification Palace, City Hall, Municipal Theatre  also known as the Opera House, City Post Office,  State Bank Office,  and Notre-Dame Cathedral. 

The city has various museums including the Ho Chi Minh City Museum, Museum of Vietnamese History, the Revolutionary Museum, the Museum of Southeastern Armed Forces, the War Remnants Museum, the Museum of Southern Women, the Museum of Fine Art, the Nha Rong Memorial House, and the Ben Duoc Relic of Underground Tunnels. The Củ Chi tunnels are northwest of the city in Củ Chi District.

Backpacking travelers most often frequent the "Western Quarter" on  District 1.

The night freak out is very special in this city.  The Central city is totally illuminated with modern shopping complexes and star hotels.  The morning walk was very special near Siagon River.  The city Admnistration has created open Gym for the benefit of people.  One can see old and young alike working out at the park.

One day was planned for tour to Cu Chi Tunnels.  These tunnels are located around 60 km from Ho Chin Min City.   During Vietnam War people created tunnel in jungle to escape from the American atrocities.  The tunnels are very very narrow and at a time only one person can crawl  in the cave.  However, at different locations they made provisions for Kitchens, medical care, sleeping rooms and other facility.  The tunnels were designed in such a way that enemy couldn’t dare to enter into it.  However, American spread millions of litres Chemical in this area, making the whole vegetation poisonous. 

Our next destination was Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam.   We flew from Ho Chi Minh city to Hanoi on 27^th June by Air Vietnam and stayed at Hotel Sun Vill in Old Quarter Area.

Hanoi is the second most populous  city with population of around 6.5 million.  The main attraction   in Hanoi is its old charm.  Though city is quite old, but it is planned.  So you can see well laid roads and lanes with same kind of shops in each zone.

Hanoi is located in northern region of Vietnam, situated in the Vietnam’s Red River delta, nearly 90 km  away from the coastal area. Hanoi contains three basic kind of terrain, which are the delta area, the midland area and mountainous zone. As the capital of Vietnam for almost a thousand years, Hanoi is considered one of the main cultural centres of Vietnam, where most Vietnamese dynasties have left their imprint.

Hoan Keim lake and its surrounding of Shopping Complexes, restaurants, hotels is a major place of tourist attraction.  During morning the place is crowded by the health conscious locals as well as tourists.  And in the evening this is one of the most happening areas where lot of music, dances, and cultural events remain in vogue.  Happiness on the face of general Viatnami is very usual here.  And if you want to see something more, go to Water Puppet Show.  We spent most of our time in this area.  Even the night market is at a walking distance. 

Some other prominent places are: The Temple of Literature,  One Pillar Pagoda,  Flag Tower of Hanoi.

The Lake Garden and Central Market were just at walking distance from our Hotel Sun Villa, a very beautiful boutique hotel.  We were initially sceptical about the quality of service in the hotel, but we were amazed at the hospitality of the hotel staff.  They were simply superb. 

On 28^th morning, we moved out to see the ancient capital of Hoa Lư which located in a flat valley between small but steep limestone mountains that created virtually impenetrable barriers to human traffic. Even today, many of the mountains are accessible only to the mountain goats that roam the area.   The boat ride in the river while crossing huge caves in between the major part of our excitement.  We also took opportunity to have cycle tour of village near Hoa Lu interspersed between line stone mountains and rocks. 

We planned one day Cruise stay and to see Halong Bay, a world heritage site.  We booked Bhaiya Cruise and alongwith other co travellers, we headed for Halong Bay on 30^th June, 2015.  

Hạ Long Bay,  literally: "descending dragon bay" is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and a popular travel destination, in Quảng Ninh Province, Vietnam

Hạ Long Bay has an area of around 1,553 km², including 1,960–2,000 islets, most of which are limestone. The core of the bay has an area of 334 km² with a high density of 775 islets.^[]The limestone in this bay has gone through 500 million years of formation in different conditions and environments. In 1994, the core zone of Hạ Long Bay was listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

The bay consists of a dense cluster of some 1,600  limestone monolithic islands each topped with thick jungle vegetation, rising spectacularly from the ocean. Several of the islands are hollow, with enormous caves. Hang Đầu Gỗ (Wooden stakes cave) is the largest grotto in the Hạ Long area.  

We returned to our hotel on afternoon of 1^st July, 2015.  This was last day and we kept it reserved for buying some souvenirs.

On 2^nd July, we boarded Thai Air and returned to Delhi in the late evening loaded with lot of sweet memories.