Saigon or Ho Chi Minh City if you prefer...

Saigon is a giant Southern city in Vietnam, everyone still calls it Saigon...



Bac Ho himself, Uncle Ho to the people of Vietnam. Saigon was officially renamed Ho Chi Minh City in 1975. The same year the American war ended and the capitol was moved from Siagon to Hanoi in the North. Today there are definite trends in modernization mixed with flavors of France, China and memories of a profound history.....we tried to capture a bit of everything, but mostly we enjoyed the food. They are way into the customer prepare their own food, add your own, grill your own, roll your own......

Angkor Wat pt.2

The touring continued...Angkor Wat is Disneyland for Archaeologists and Photographers, it could be explored for weeks at a time;

Angkor Wat pt. 1

We made it to Angkor Wat, warmed up by the sites at Prah Vihear and Phanom Rung, we were ready for the crowning glory of the Khmer Civilization. There is no way to be really prepared for the experience, hundreds of architectural masterpieces built from 1100 to 1500 AD. Angkor Wat was the capitol for the Khmer kingdom, mostly Hindu, Buddha images started to emerge in later construction. Needless to say the site was very photogenic (we did our best to keep up).....

As is the fashion, we hired a tuk-tuk for 3 days of touring, Naron is just starting out in the business and enjoyed catching a quick nap while we explored....

Phanom Rung

Views from the train, as we continued toward Cambodia, via our Thailand ancient site route.

We arrived in the very small town of Nong Rang and immediately found a driver to take us to the beautiful, completely restored ruins of Phanom Rung. The site was occupied from the 9th through 15th century AD. The complete restoration has been actively in process since the mid 1800s. The site is way off the beaten path and definitely slow for our afternoon visit. We were inspired by the solitude and being able to experience a ruin so close to its original state.

Prah Vihear

We reunited with Cole in the Eastern Thai town of Ubon Ratchathani. Defiitely off the beaten path, but a gatweay to many treasures! Our main objective was visiting Prah Vihear, a 9th century Angkor Temple. The temple is rarely visited, it requires a two hour drive to a Thai National Park. From there we walked 150 meters over the Cambodian border. Then we started the 200meter walk up the hill to an ancient site with beautiful vies of Laos, Cambodia and Thailand (the Emerald Triangle).






The site was occupied during the Cambodian civil war, the land mine warning signs and heavy artillery reminded us. OUr guide did not seemed amused by the hordes of school children sharing the site with us (or maybe not amused with us....)



Views from the Mekong River.




Sally had a chance to enjoy a few of her favorite things; ancient artifacts and free aerobics in the stellar "Fitness Park" of Ubon Ratchathani (I know I'm a step off...it was because of the language barrier...)