Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam: Hey, you stole my dong!

Despite being scammed by a dong-hungry taxi driver within 5 minutes of arrival and getting openly robbed by a little girl with an assist from an old vietnamese man (don't worry, only 10,000 dong=$0.60), we were still stoked to be in saigon and had our eyes set on the famous Dam Sen waterpark. We got decked out in our swim suits and sunscreen, negotiated two moto drivers to take us 20 minutes out to the park, and paid the park admission fee...only to find the Dam Sen waterpark entrance barred off. It was like the scene straight out of National Lampoon's Family Vacation to Wally World - "sorry folks, we're closed". If that big moose was there, I would have punched his nose right in, but unfortunately we were only surrounded by the vietnamese park maintenance workers, none of which could explain why the park was closed. Boo! But hey, despite a little bad luck and a couple let downs, HCMC ended up being a great stop on our trip (particularly because of the War Remnants Museum and the Cu Chi tunnels). Check out da pix...

Central HCMC, the backpacker district (Pham Ngu Lao):

In HCMC, pedestrians have no right of way. There are so many motorbikes, that if they run out of room on the street, they can wheel there way onto the sidewalks. I'm amazed I still have all my toes. When you go to cross the street, you literally have to band together in small groups and just slowly creep/shuffle your way across, letting the motos zoom around you like a swarm of locusts. And they literally come from every direction, all at the same time.

Okay, here are some pics from the War Remnants Museum. It was extremely interesting and informative, but definitely didn't spark any American pride.

An American tank:

American bomber:

The effects of agent orange in Vietnam today. Originally used by Americans to kill off local Vietnamese vegetation and uncover the Viet Cong, Agent Orange ultimately caused horrendous physical damage not only to the Vietnamese, but to American and other foreign soldiers as well. Studies show that it not only causes serious illness by weakening the indivuals' health (including cancer), it also effects the reproductive organs, leading to birth defects among their children.

Below is an example of the consequences of Agent Orange experienced by the current generation (this is actually one of the more mild cases):

This final picture shows an exact replica of the "tiger cages" used by the Saigon regime (a virtual American puppet government) to contain political prisoners considered "stubborn". There were some 120 cages, each measuring approximately 2.7m x 1.5m x 3m. During the hot season, about 5-14 prisoners were kept in one cell. In the winter time, there were only 1 or 2 kept in each cell at a time, but their feet were shackled to a long iron bar. Eating, drinking, sleeping, and toileting all took place here.

We also visited the Cu Chi tunnels, located about 90 minutes outside of central Saigon. These were a 200 km long network of cramped tunnels used by the Viet Cong to hide from bombs and launch surprise attacks on American soldiers. Most of the tunnels are too tiny for foreigners to squeeze through (erik's shoulders couldn't even pass through the opening) - thank god they thought to widen a section for us chubbers to crawl through. Because of unforseen circumstances, we unfortunately didn't bring a camera and so don't have any pictures...so here are a few pics we pulled off the internet:

A guide popping out of the secret entrance to one of the tunnels:

An example of one of the brutal bamboo spike traps used to skewer American soldiers - the top is disguised with leaves, if a soldier comes along and steps on it, it will swing downward and greet him with a row of friendly bamboo spikes. Yikes.

Thanks for reading guys! Sorry the last couple entries have been a little heavy, but we are partying on the Vietnam coast now, so we should have some good stories and pics of good times in Mui Ne and Nah Trang coming up.

HOLLER. PEACE.

M+ E

Phnom Phen, Cambodia: Killings Fields, S21, and you want happy with that?

Phnom Phen was the biggest roller coaster of emotions -
this city was the center of the horrors that the Cambodians experienced under the Khmer Rouge regime in the 1970's. Below are the pictures from our visit to the Killings Fields of Choeung Ek (where the Khmer Rouge executed approximately 17,000 men, women and children suspected to be associated with those against their communist revolution). After being tortured, most were knifed, drilled, or beat to death with metal bars or bamboo rods - methods used to conserve expensive bullets. After being executed, the bodies were thrown into mass graves and sprayed with acid to dispose of them more quickly and to keep the stench down so that neighbors would not become suspicious. Most figures estimate that the What's even more unsettlign is that the UN allowed the Khmer Rouge to occupy the Cambodian seat at the General Assembly until 1991. Horrific, I know, but we felt that it was really important to learn about this part of history in order to fully understand what the Cambodian people have been through.

Here is a picture of the stupa that has been erected in the center of the killing fields. It contains 9,000 skulls that were ecscavated from the mass graves during the 1980's. Many graves remain untouched.

Skulls inside the stupa:

The Tuol Sleng Museum (S21): A school-turned-torture center operated by the Khmer Rouge. The torture methods used are too horrific to describe. Thousands were held prisoner here and tortured before being shipped blindfolded in trucks to die in the Killing Fields. During the first part of 1977, 100 people died everyday from torture here.

These are pictures of victims which could be used as official documentation to prosecute the Khmer Rouge's atrocities - justice has been sickeningly slow and the leader of the Khmer Rouge (known as Pol Pot) escaped retribution and died peacefully in his old age. It makes you hope there is a hell for people like him.

A picture of a prison cell with shackles still in place:

Visiting the Killing Fields and S21 was a truly unsettling experience - it actually made me feel physically ill and Erik enraged. It is so important to understand these histories - because this is not the first or last time that the world has experience genocide - argentina, guatemala, armenia, germany, darfur - and even Burma today. There were places around S21 where visitors could leave their comments - some were truly heartful but others were so ignorant - people saying "WORLD PEACE" with little hearts, "this will never happen again". But it will happen again. It's already happening. I wish I knew what to do about it because you feel so powerless against horrific situations like these.

On a lighter note....

We stayed at an awesome guesthouse ("No Problem Guesthouse") that stands on stilts over a lake. It had a sweet hangout area with cushy chairs and a TV with loads of knockoff DVD's. These backpacker guesthouses are all known for offering everything "a la happy" (usually denoted with a little smiley face :). It's not uncommon here to see someone smoking a joint while eating a pot pizza and drinking a banana shake freckled with more pot. People just get baked out of their minds and watch Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn movies all day.

It also had an UHmazing sunset view:

We were really saddened and angered to find out that we will will one of the last ones to be able to experience this incredible little getaway on the lake - the government sold out the area to Korean businessmen who will drain the lake and knock out the surrounding guesthouses and family homes to put up high priced condos. The only positive thing that we could take away from this is that it would feel the local economy with jobs - but at what cost to the Cambodian people and their sense of nationality? No offense intended to individual Korean people (hey, kiwon!), but we have heard time and time again that locals (in the philippines, thailand, AND cambodia) do not appreciate Korean business practices because they virtually create little mini Koreas in each country, operating amongst themselves without taking from and not feeding the local economy. We feel really lucky to have strict property laws back home that keep our government from selling out its people. We are also really glad that we came to Cambodia at this time - before it gets too eaten up by foreigners (considering both the Angkor Wat and the Killing Fields were both sold to the Japanese. Many Cambodians are enraged because they feel that the government is trading their murdered loved ones for a profit).

Whew sorry for the intenseness in Cambodia guys - the horrific past and financially difficult present here sparks a lot of discussion and debate even between Erik and I - if you have any feedback, feel free to comment!

We are now in Vietnam and will have more updates soon!

Much loves and thanks again for reading,

megan and erik

Siem Reap, Cambodia: Lady, you want cold drink?

Sua s'dei from Siem Reap!

First impressions of cambodia: killer food with interesting flavors (ginger, pumpkin, sesame) and delicious french bakeries, cheap beer, amazing temples, and really nice people. The cambodian people, however have also experience a tragic history and extreme poverty that often makes you feel like you are a walking dollar bill. Begging landmine victims, dirty shoeless snotty-nosed children, ragged mothers carrying their tiny babies - it weighs down on you after a while. Its hard to see. People will literally do anything to get some extra cash out of foreigners. One time on our way home from dinner, a dishevled woman clutching her tiny baby with a little beanie on its head came up to me, asking us to buy her baby formula. Baby formula?? This is completely different from the University District where Ave rats ask you to throw "a couple extra bucks" their way so they could indulge in a pack of cigarettes and a beer. When we took her to the nearby quickie mart, we found that a big tub of formula mix was actually $4 and we didn't have enough money on us. Luckily a couple other foreigners our age saw our dilemma and threw in a couple extra thousand riel so that we could buy it for her and her baby. As I was buying baby formula, Erik was outside the quickie mart being harrassed by a creepy, scar-faced tuk tuk driver. Here was their conversation:

Tuk tuk driver: You want lady?
Erik: No, I already have one (pointing to Megan)
Tuk tuk driver: You want marijuana?
Erik: Not today
Tuk tuk driver: You want tuk tuk?
Erik: *silence* (walking away into the minimart to escape)

There was a little girl dressed in a filthy oversized yellow shirt, with no shoes or pants, that grabbed onto me just after. She clenched two of my fingers in her tiny hand and literally wouldn't let go. She didn't speak any english. I tried offering her money. She just wouldn't let go! She literally walked with us for 3 blocks on our way back to our hotel and then finally gave up and let go. It was so hard, I just wanted to take her away from everything. Maybe I'll come back and bring one home someday.


Whew, okay onto something more uplifting. We spent 3 busy days tuk tuking around with our driver Lee to see the temples surrounding Siem Reap. Enjoy the pics!

Angkor Wat:

Entrance to Angkor Thom:

Bayon:

A temple overtaken by a strangler fig:

Me hugging an elephant's big bum bum

Erik and his new best friend:

Erik standing amongst the ruins of Beng Mealea - an hour and 40 minute tuk tuk drive. Left in its ruined state and overgrown with jungle vegetation, this was Erik's favorite because you could monkey all over the temple and even clamor up on top of the roof (you just have to be careful not to step on any remaining carvings). It was like an ancient jungle gym.

Another shot of Beng Mealea (Looks like it's straight out of Indiana Jones, huh?):

One of the many bands of mine victims that play outside of the temples in hopes of collecting money from visitors:

After our seeing our final temple, we went and visited a local school for orphans and poor children. We brought some paper, pens, soap, and a bag of candy There were about 50 kids (ages 5 to 18) and they were all really eager to practice their english. On the fly we made up this little game where Erik would point to a part of his body (some parts excluded hah) and the kids would raise their hands, and whoever could name the body part in english correctly, would get a sucker from the candy bag. They were so polite and well behaved - everytime I would give one of them a candy, they would put their hands together and bow, saying "Aw Kohn" (Thank you). We really wanted to take some pictures (they were SO CUTE) - but felt like it would compromise the atmosphere. So I just took a little picture from outside the school (with the teacher standing in the doorway):

And here are some random shots of from our evenings around the city.....

A random funny sign (read the whole thing):

Another good one:

A sign posted in our hotel room (nearly ever Cambodian carries a gun since the Khmer Rouge):

Erik holding up $1 and its equivelant in Cambodia Riel in the other hand:

After several pitchers of beer with some Aussies, they showed us a delightful game that they had invented once while intoxicated. All you need is a fast shutter speed on your camera and one drunken person willing to embarass themselves for the entertainment of the rest of the group. They have to relax and let their lips go loose while they shake their head vigorously so that the camera can document their face as it becomes contorted. I couldn't do it very well becase I was laughing too hard.

A weak attempt, but successful:

Classic:

No words to describe (this is Heath, the brains behind the game. A true master of his art):

Ohhh we still pee ourselves evertime we see that one.

Welp guys that about sums it up for Siem Reap...more to come about Phnom Phen!

Thanks for reading!!

xoxo

megan and erik

Koh Chang, Thailand: The 1-2 Punch

Here comes the part where everyone is like, I KNEW IT.

WE'RE ENGAGED :)
And here is the after picture YAY:




The funniest thing happened, when he popped the question, this little dog ran out of no where and virtually jumped into my lap. I think it could sense my emotion or something. The only thing is, we weren't sure if it was some kind of rogue lamb or just a "special" puppy. The picture explains it all:



Okay, here comes to the second half of the 1-2 punch. Breathe. It's okay. We got tattoos of each others' full names, across the center of our backs, surrounded by red love hearts. Just kidding! No names, but definitely tattoos! Our first and only ones, inked in traditional thai style with bamboo. We wanted to get them to commemorate our engagement, the trip, and an amazing future together. We got tattooed by the "One". Yes, Neo himself. Haha no but really he goes by "One". He has been tattooing for over 25 years and learned from his father who learned from his grandfather and so on. We later found out that his dad actually inked one of Angelina Jolie's tattoos in Bangkok (the tiger on her lower back). At first we were pretty skeptical but he has like these blurry personally snapped photos documenting the occasion. Crazy stuff. One also lived as a monk for 3 years and learned how to read and write in traditional ancient buddhist language. So we grabbed a couple bottles of Singha and plopped down on his living room floor. And, well, the pictures explain the rest...

One's student, Ton (very talented), inked my lotus flower and the outline of Erik's tattoo. I can't say that smile is entirely genuine. When he started and the pain registered, all I could say was "Oh, that sucks!"



Erik and One. Feels like getting rubbed down with rose pedals.


This is the random hedgehog living in One's bathroom. When he gets sleepy, he snoozes inside of his coconut hideout. So random.



Me and Ton.

Erik and One. This picture is so typical One. He always does this weird wink with the click of his tongue. Here is a typical conversation that One has when he meets potential customers: "You tell me wha' you like. You li' a thai styyyle? I write speshul message. Like..good luckk...something something. You tell me, I make for you. Free hand. Original thai styyle." When he was jabbing Erik's back with the bamboo needle, he kept repeating "relaaaax, have a beer, make a party, how's your body? Good? (wink) (tongue click)." And anytime he agrees with you on your vision for the design, he says "sound rike a pran" (sounds like a plan). Love this guy.




Anddd...here's the finished product! It's a lotus flower. Becase the lotus flower grows up from the bottom of a mucky pond and moves upward toward the light, it represents positivity, enlightenment, new beginnings, and good luck in pushing through difficult times. Below the lotus image are three lines of monk script - the first wishes good luck for marriage, the second for family and friends, and the third for health.



And here's Erik's (click the pic to blow it up and see the details). This is a traditional image that monks inscribe on men to wish them good luck and protection for the family. The two intertwining snakes represent the family (me and erik or Taylors/Haleys). The writing in the snakes mirrors the writing in my tattoo. The right snake wishes good luck for marriage and family. The left snake wishes good luck for friends and health. The 4 circles are the 4 corners that make up a protective house. And the 6 symbols on the outside are locks that keep the house secure. It took about 2 hours!




YESS!! Big news, we know. We couldn't be happier.
Thanks for all the loves and support
we love you guys!
Megan and Erik

Additional photos: Here are a couple pix of One with his students (they all tattooed each other)

Koh Chang, Thailand: Beach boxing, Mo-mo, and Elephant Dookie

SAWADEE-KA from Koh Chang, Thailand!

We've spent the last 8 days on a gorgeous paradise of an island - Koh Chang. Here's a picture of our little bungalow...


Erik got to know our bungalow well while praying to the porcelein gods for 4 days. First it was general traveler's diahrrea. Then after a couple days running around on the beach, he had to turn around and glue his arse to the toilet bowl - good old giardia, most often spread through fecal matter (yum yum). We suspect it was from swimming with elephants and their giant elephant poo.

Anywho, once Erik was feeling better, we spent every day on the beach. UHmazing. No rocks, warm blue water, beach dogs chasing each other, some guy walking around selling bags of pineapple for 20 baht. And, unfortunately, not pictured here, many speedo-clad Europeans. Check it out:



We ended up spending a few days hanging out with this Thai guy that we met at a local bar. To this day, we still call him "thai boxer' because he never told us his actual name. He wanted to stay one more day to party with us but had run out of vacation money, so we let him crash in our bed next to us. He even used Erik's precious sleep sheet! Here's a picture of our last night with him, goofing off, doing thai boxing moves on the beach at sunset:



That night we also went to a big beach party at a backpacker guest house called "Treehouse". Here's a picture of us getting crunk to some techno beats. SWEET



Other than my obsession with chapstick and vasoline (which Erik calls my "crack"), i LOVE puppies!!! So here are a couple rabie monsters for your viewing pleasure (both coincidently named mo-mo). The second one acts JUST like lucy!!:



One of our big splurges on Koh Chang was going on a 2 hour elephant trekking tour. We did our research and found a company who at least claims to be part of a foundation supporting the health and survival of elephants in Asia. Our elephant was named Poppy and he was 35. I guess elephants live to be around 100 so he is relatively young. For the first hour we road side by side in a seat strapped to the top of his back, but on the way back, we got to ride bareback on their broad necks/upper backs. We rubbed his bristley little head the whole way. Once we approached the lake, they all started wiggling their tails and flapping their ears, they were so excited to go in the water! We got to go swimming with them (and their poo) for about 20 minutes (giardia fun!). SO AMAZING.