I had never taken a cooking class in my life and have wanted to for a while. Hoi An is one of the best places for food in Vietnam and I figured it would be the perfect place for my first class. I did my usual thorough research online and decided on the Morning Glory Cooking School. They offer a variety of classes at reasonable prices and have excellent reviews. I wanted to take the culinary intensive course, but you need a group of at least 6. My only option as a solo traveler was the cooking for beginner to intermediate course. The class begins with a 1 hour tour of the market, then there is a 2 1/2 hour cooking class. The market tour was really geared towards beginners. Fellow classmates were seeing dragon fruit and bittermelon for the first time… The magic happened when we returned to Morning Glory restaurant. Our class was taught by 3rd generation chef, owner of 3 restaurants, and love of my life, Miss Vy. She was incredible. Her English was really good and she blended history and tradition with modern science when explaining her nation’s cuisine. I knew it was love when she started advocating pork fat. We got to make and enjoy four delicious dishes. The class was an amazing experience and I highly recommend any visitor to Hoi An to take a class from Miss Vy at Morning Glory.
open mind, empty stomach
travel, food, and fun
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HCMC is supposed to be big, fast, loud, and scary. My friend Mari, connected me with a Vietnamese friend that lives in HCMC to show me around. Tanaka san, was an incredible guide and host and made my experience in HCMC a great one! Tanaka has a Vietnamese name, but he is fluent in Japanese (and English and Mandarin and Cantonese) and works for a Japanese firm where he goes by Tanaka. The first touristy thing I did in HCMC was visit the Cu Chi Tunnels which are a 2 hour drive from the city. I organized the trip through the hostel I was staying at and it was interesting. On the way to the tunnels, there was an unnanounced stop to a factory of “victims” that produce handicrafts that we were supposed to by. I chose to wait outside of the factory as my threshold for such surprise visits had long been exceeded. Cu Chi was cool though. We got to watch a 20 minute anti-US propaganda film before going in the tunnels. My favorite quote was describing the Americans as “a bunch of flying crazed devils.” We saw a variety of homemade boobytraps that were used against the Americans and got to crawl through some of the tunnels that were used by the VC. At the end of the tour, you could shoot several weapons that were used during the war. The price of bullets was really high and I have shot more than enough guns for a lifetime, so I passed. That night, Tanaka took me for a tour of the city on his motorbike then we had dinner at his parents’ house. His dad was on the losing side of the war and had to spend 2 years in a “reeducation camp.” His parents, did not speak very much English, but were amazing, gracious, and warm hosts. The food was tasty. The next day I went to the War Remnants Museum, formerly known as “The House for Displaying War Crimes of American Imperialism and the Puppet Government.” As the original name suggests, there was a lot of propaganda on display. A great deal of the information was true though, and very tragic. Photos of civilian victims of the war, many of which were women and children, really hit home. It didn’t make me ashamed to be American, it just furthered my anti-war resolve. Tanaka took me to a local place and we had offal soup for lunch. It had coagulated blood, intestines, and various other pork parts. For dinner, we met two of his employees and had goat hotpot and yakiniku style. It was my first time having goat brain and liver. The next day, we went to a few museums and Tanaka was able to explain EVERYTHING. He has quite a bit of knowledge about the history of his country. We also went to a couple high end coffee shops for some great coffee and better conversation. We had lunch at a popular semi upscale restaurant that features cuisine from all over Vietnam. We visited several markets and department stores. I am an enormous hammock enthusiast and finally bought one to take back home with me. I also got to try balut, partially matured duck embryo. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be and the broth was quite good. For my last night in Saigon, Tanaka brought 5 beautiful young ladies to enjoy cocktails with us on the rooftop bar of a 5 star hotel overlooking the river. HCMC was incredible and even though I spent more time there than I had intended, it was still very difficult to leave.
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Most people travel through Vietnam from north to south, then move on to Cambodia. I, of course, did the opposite. I went from Kep, Cambodia to Vietnam via the “Ha Tien Crossing.” Getting through the border was very easy and my first stop in Vietnam was Can Tho. Can Tho is the largest city in the Mekong Delta and is home to its largest floating market. Coming from Cambodia, Can Tho seemed like a modern, developed city. It was more of a capital city than Phnom Penh. There were neon lights everywhere, tall buildings, and people seemed wealthier. Food and drink prices were comparable to Cambodia. I stayed at LP’s pick for Can Tho, the Hien Guesthouse. It was decent and cheap, but they did not provide the advertised free wifi. I booked a delta tour through a travel agent, Miss Ha, that works with Hien. She was a real character and truly lived up to her name. The tour itself was enjoyable for its novelty, but not life changing. The largest floating market in the delta was not nearly as big as I thought it would be. There were maybe 20 boats, most of which were selling fruits and vegetables. They had poles on their boats with whatever was being sold attached to the top. Pineapples were $.25 each! After the market, we went to a rice noodle factory. The people at the factory work 14+ hour days, 7 days a week with a 15 minute break for lunch and get 3 days off annually. We cruised down the river to the second floating market that is for locals, not tourists. All of the tourists must receive the same information, because there were more of us at the local market than at the big one. After the second market we went down some small canals and got to walk around a neighborhood. Lunch was at a “home stay.” The home stay was a tourist trap and purely commercial venture that had mediocre food at 3x the normal price. After lunch, we cruised for another hour or so and finished the tour. The boat driver made a variety of animals and jewelry out of palms for us over the course of the trip. The tour wasn’t bad and was worth it, but was nothing to write (blog) home about. I only spent 2 days in Can Tho and it was good to get a taste of the delta. If you want to really experience the delta, I would suggest going elsewhere.
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Coming from Kampot, I was expecting a similar experience in Kep. Kep is an even smaller, seaside town less than 30 minutes from the Vietnam border. I stayed at the Boat House Guesthouse, which was a really beautiful place and a splurge at $12/night. Kep is known for its crabs and the signature dish there is pepper crab. Fellow travelers had recommended a place called Kimly and it was also recommended by the guesthouse. I went there and had the pepper crab, it was really good. They literally go out to the sea to get your crab, then cook it to order. I also checked out the crab market. It was smaller than I had expected, but Kep is a very small town. I got to see locals selecting their crabs and haggling over price. It looked like a lot of fun. I headed back to my guesthouse and things stopped being so fun. The sign at the Boat House restaurant says the kitchen is open until 10 pm. I went to eat dinner a little before 7 and it was a ghost town. The only employee who speaks English had gone for the day and the other 2 workers totally ignored me. I could see the kitchen from the restaurant and it was probably for the better that I didn’t eat there. I ate nearly a kilogram of mangosteens I had bought at the market in Kampot (for just $1.25!) and went to bed. I purchased transportation to Koh Tonsay (Rabbit Island) for $10 through the guesthouse. Rabbit Island is about a 30 minute boat ride from Kep and features beach bungalows and very few people. I would spend the day and the night on Rabbit Island, then head to Vietnam the following afternoon. I shared a boat with 3 very cool people that I spent my time on RI with. They paid $8.50 each for their transportation. We stayed at Yeay Orm koh Tunsay Guest House and it was $7 for a private bungalow with a hammock overlooking the beach. Food prices were cheaper than Kep, which was the most expensive place I went in Cambodia. We had lunch, then hiked around the island. It was pretty and scenic despite the overcast weather. I got a Khmer massage on the beach for $5 and had a very nice day on RI. My boat back to Kep was supposed to leave at 8 am and I called the travel agent to confirm. He questioned why I didn’t stay at the guesthouse he recommended and let me know that the boat driver would meet me at my guesthouse. After waiting more than an hour, I went to the boat landing area at 8:30. Two French girls were waiting for any boat back to Kep and we were able to get a ride from a fisherman that was taking some rich Khmer kids back to the mainland. It cost $5 for the 3 of us! I paid triple the price through my guesthouse and their travel agency and didn’t even get picked up from the island. When we reached Kep, the tuktuk driver from the travel agency was at the pier. I had him take me to the agency so I could talk with the manager. I explained the situation and told him that I would like $5 back since they only fulfilled half of their obligation. He gave me $1.50 to cover most of what I had to pay to get back from RI after his guy didn’t show up. Things got a little ugly and we had a brief, one sided discussion about business ethics… After I had thrown the money back in his face, taken pictures of him and his business, and promised to blast him on my blog, lonely planet and trip advisor, the driver refused to take me back to the guesthouse to pick up my backpack. I guess I should have waited until I was about to get on the bus out of Kep to have that conversation… It was only about a half mile walk each way and I had more than enough energy to make the trip several times over. While I was waiting at the bus stop, which happened to be directly across the street from the travel agent, it started raining. A lady working at the bus stop restaurant was having difficulty moving an umbrella with a concrete base into place. I moved it for her and she invited me to come sit down in the restaurant so I didn’t get wet. She was sweet, kind, and nice. This was my last experience in Cambodia and summed up the country perfectly. There are people like the travel agent and people like the lady at the restaurant. The place itself is wonderful and you can’t let the scum pollute that. There is way too much scum for my liking in Kep and I do not see myself going back there.
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Bokor Hill Station was a French resort located on top of a mountain just outside of Kompot, Cambodia. It, like seemingly everything else in Cambodia, was used as a prison by the Khmer Rouge. I purchased a one day tour from my guesthouse and was joined by 8 other travelers. During high season, they typically have more than 100 people going up the mountain each day. Bokor Hill is located on a national park that was sold to a Chinese firm a few years ago. The new road to the top is still under construction and there are two halves with an unpaved gap in the middle. A Frenchman on a motorbike injured himself on the unpaved portion of the road and tourists are no longer allowed to drive (or be driven in the ranger’s truck) on the gap. Instead, we got to dismount and do a trek that took about 90 minutes at a painfully slow pace. The trek was scenic and jungly. Elephants, tigers, monkeys, and all sorts of other creatures inhabit the forest there, but not in the area we went through. We got back on the ranger’s 4×4 and continued the journey up the mountain. Just before we reached BHS, we passed by the resort being built by the Chinese firm. The laborers were Chinese and it was very manual labor. The temperature at the top of the mountain had to be 15 degrees (F) cooler than at the base. It was very pleasant after weeks of heat and humidity. The old hotel/casino was the main building of the BHS compound and offered beautiful views of the ocean and countryside. There were also smaller buildings, a watchtower, and a Catholic church. It was cool, yet eerie walking around the compound. Our guide gave us the history of Cambodia from the beginning of time up to the present day and spent considerable time talking about all of the bombs that Nixon dropped on Cambodia. I made sure to let him know I was from Canada, eh. The insurance liability apparently only applies on the way up the mountain as we were allowed to be driven all of the way back down to the base. It was sad to see more short term thinking by the Cambodian government. They granted a 99 year lease on the national park to the same Chinese company that has a similar lease on the Angkor ruins. When you look at the mountain from Kampot, you can see a giant brown scar resulting from deforestation used to construct the new road and resort complex. Despite this very recent development, Bokor Hill Station was still incredible and is definitely worth checking out.
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Ah, Kampot 🙂 Kampot is a town in southeastern Cambodia and one of my favorite places in the Kingdom of Wonder. Kampot is no Sihanoukville, but there is a growing tourism footprint. A local let me know of a new phenomenon he has observed in recent years: older western men marry Khmer girls and open businesses. Somehow, I managed to keep a straight face and acted as if it was the first time I heard such an odd concept. That is where Kampot is right now; on the verge of becoming another Disney Cambodia, but still a real place with genuine people. The tourist ‘strip’ is very small and most of the town is full of Khmer people going about their daily life. For the first two days, all of my meals came from the tourist area and they were all excellent. I had the saraman curry at Rikitikitavi, ribs at the Rusty Keyhole, and banana pancakes at Epic Arts Cafe. The food was all really good (and Epic Arts is a great cause), but I decided to go local for my last night in Kampot. I walked a couple km from the main drag, down unlit, unpaved roads and arrived at a place full of Cambodians having dinner. Most of them were having friend pork and pickles, so I joined in on the fun. This is where I met the man who let me know about the recent influx of westerners. He let me know that the traditional dish of Kampot is squid with Kampot pepper. He went on to let me know where THE place was to go for it and I quickly left for round two of dinner. Shops and restaurants close soon after dark and I was the last customer in the family operated dining establishment. The family had their evening meal while I was eating. The food was delicious and it was a fraction of the price I had been paying in town. While in Kampot, I tried to stay at the highly recommended Magic Sponge (which has amazing samosas), but they were booked and I ended up at the neighboring Orchid Guesthouse. It was decent, cheap and wifi worked in the room. I also did a day trip to Bokor Hill Station, a sunset cruise on the river, and visited the market while in Kampot. If you are planning on visiting Cambodia, I highly recommend checking out Kampot, just don’t tell anyone!
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There are many popular tourist destinations in Cambodia, and Sihanoukville ranks among them. It is not famous for its rich culture or history (the place was only created about 60 years ago), instead it is known for its beaches, close-by islands, and heavy party scene. Coming from a tropical island, a place like this is not exactly what I’m looking for on vacation. I had planned on avoiding Sihanoukville altogether, but the Vietnam consulate is located there and it is the fastest way to get a visa. After a 5 hour bus ride from PP, I arrived at the Sihanoukville bus terminal. As usual, legions of tuktuk and motorbike drivers converged on us as we got off the bus. They were especially aggressive and I decided to walk the 8k to the beach with my backpack on rather than reinforce their behavior. The walk wasn’t too bad and was reminiscent of my rukking days in the Army. The Vietnamese consulate was on the way to town and it literally took 2 minutes to get my visa. An expedited visa in PP costs an extra $10 and takes an entire day. While I was walking I bumped into 2 friends I met in PP, it’s a small country! I eventually made it to the beach and checked in at a guesthouse located on the waterfront. It was $7 a night for a rundown room, but I have stayed at worse for more money. I ate at the only place in Sihanoukville that had a hint of Cambodian culture: the market. The food was good and cheap and I ran into a couple I has spent several days with in Siem Reap, Al and Haze. They are awesome and I was very happy to cross paths with them again! We shared a meal and went for drinks after. The PP friends joined us and we all had a great time together. I had a pleasant time in Sihanoukville because of the familiar faces, not the place itself. It is packed with aggressive tuktuk/moto drivers, loud and obnoxious western adolescents and totally void of anything that makes a place special. I met people that stayed on the islands and they said they are really nice and nothing like the town. I would only recommend going to Sihanoukville as a launching point for a few days on the islands, it’s not even worth spending a night there. I checked out the following morning and headed to Kampot for some much needed R&R.
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The capital of Cambodia didn’t really seem like a capital city. It’s big, but short and sprawly rather than tall and imposing. Most of the buildings are just a couple stories or less and there are even rice paddies and dirt roads on the outskirts of town. PP is home to the National Museum and several palaces/temples. I didn’t go to any of them. For me, the (extremely tragic) history of the past few decades overshadows the more ancient sites and stories. My first full day in PP was “Genocide Thursday.” I toured S21 and the Killing Field and blogged about the experience. Seeing what had taken place here just 30 years ago gave an excellent perspective of why Cambodia is in the state it is in today. It helped me to be a lot more patient with the constant onslaught of tuktuk and motorbike drivers soliciting tourists. Fortunately for me, my friend Greg hooked me up with an incredible tuktuk driver named Mr. Polo and he took great care of me for my stay in PP. Greg has made two films in Cambodia, about Cambodia and provided me with suggestions and recommendations for making the most of my trip. I also got to visit an orphanage that my friend Kyle worked at for a year. I blogged about that visit as well. I had planned on going to Oudong, the capital of Cambodia before it moved to PP, and to take an all day Khmer cooking class, but I went out for drinks the night before each… On one of those nights, I went to some clubs with 3 guys that were staying at the same hostel. The clubs are very interesting to say the least. First, there are the straight up hostess bars. They are full of prostitutes/semi-prostitutes and some very sleazy, old foreign dudes. The other clubs are full of very attractive Cambodian prostitutes, sleazy, old foreign dudes and gay guys with some backpackers mixed in. Despite the seedy underbelly, PP does have character and charm. I had lots of really good food, met some quality people and don’t regret spending 5 nights there.
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My friend Kyle worked at the Future Light Orphanage, which is just outside of Phnom Penh, and arranged a visit for me while I was in town. Upon arrival, I received a tour of the grounds by one of the project coordinators. I forgot his name, but he is responsible for helping the kids get into university, vocational training programs, and find jobs after graduating high school. The story behind FLO is a great one. They have been operating for 16 years and currently have over 200 children living there and provide English and computer classes for another 100 from the local community. The residents come from all across the country and there is a very strict vetting process for admitting them. They typically go to FLO at age 6 and leave at 18-20. The children are either orphans or come from extreme poverty. While at FLO, I got to help with lunch service. They serve rice and one soup/curry for each meal. All of the children sit at a series of large tables under a pagoda. Cooking, cleaning and serving is done by the kids and a rotational system is in place. If a kid wants more rice, they raise one finger in the air and if they want the soup/curry they raise two. I got to be the ricer. I’m thinking the kids had more rice because a foreigner was serving. They were really cute and nice. After serving, I had lunch with the staff. They get their food from the town just outside of the orphanage and eat family style. It was really good, authentic Khmer food. After lunch, I got to help teach a remedial English class for an hour. The kids were between 6 and 15. We covered numbers, capital and lowercase letters, and played some games. It was really fun! Because it was a Saturday, there wasn’t much going on after class got out. The only kids that were around were the troublemakers who were doing manual labor as punishment. There are a lot of disciplinary issues at FLO, but they rarely have to expel any children. The little troublemakers reminded me of myself. I walked around and took some photos, then headed back to PP. It was a great experience and I’m very glad I was able to have done it.
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Visiting places that were home to horrific events is not something I like to include in my itinerary, however, the Killing Field and S21 are “must dos” when in Phnom Penh. Our first stop on Genocide Thursday was the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek. It is a half hour tuktuk drive from the center of PP and, as the name suggests, is where a lot of killing went on. There is a Genocide Museum, a monument full of skulls, excavated mass graves, and bones and clothing from victims can be seen sticking out of the ground. Men, women, and children were executed and buried in mass here. There is a tree that still had blood stains from children’s heads. Soldiers would hold them by their feet and bash their skulls into the tree before tossing them into holes in the ground. This was really heavy stuff. After a very somber stroll through this eerie place, we went to S21. S21 was the detention center where 20,000 men, women, and children were detained and interrogated before being finished off at places like Choeung Ek. Only 7 of the 20,000 survived. The compound itself is a school in the center of the city that was converted into a place of terror by the Khmer Rouge. There was still blood on the floors, walls, and ceilings. Pictures of the victims were displayed as well as photos of pre, during, and post torture. We got to walk through the holding cells and interrogation rooms. The Khmer Rouge was primarily a bunch of teachers and academics that were well educated. Their stated intention was to create a self-sufficient agricultural utopia devoid of social classes and money. Somehow this resulted in S21 and the Killing Fields. The truly disturbing thing is that all of this happened recently. It was just in the late 1970s that all of this took place. Touring these places is something I am glad that I did, but would not want to do again.
open mind, empty stomach 