Our (not so really) AWESOME time in the Kenai Peninsula

We left on a Saturday heading for Seward on the Seward highway. We ended up getting backed up in traffic for the first half of the day. It always sucks being stuck in traffic but we had an amazing view of the Turnagain Arm, which is the body of water that branches from the Cook Inlet. The Seward Highway follows along the Arm for quite a while.

Turnagain Arm

The closer we got to Seward the thicker the clouds started to line the sky. By the time we reached our destination it was cold and raining. Through many sources we found that you can camp off Exit Glacier Road for free. It is a little outside of the town of Seward but we were camping along the Resurrection River, which was also flooded. The next day we woke up and the weather looked the same, cold, rainy and gray. We decided to pack our gear for a day trip and try to make the best of it by going to check out the Exit Glacier in the Kenai Fjords National Park. It is the only section of the park that you can access by land. And it is the first National Park Tim and I have been to that was free. We took the trail to the Glacier and it was very easy and besides the weather the glacier was awesome. We had a good view of it and got some great pictures.

The same day after going to the glacier we went to Seward to see if maybe we should camp there instead but nothing really jumped out at us. They have lots of camping options in city run campgrounds but only a few of the sites had hookups, which we were needing because the solar panels were not getting a good charge. The campgrounds were all packed and the weather was just bumming us out really bad. We decided against going on a cruise since it was storming and I am already prone to sea sickness. We couldn’t go fishing either. Even if the weather was better we were told the fish aren’t running good right now because the water is too high and fast.

Meh….Seward

That night Zygi got his first fever and so we decided to head up the peninsula closer to a doctor in case he needed medicine. We weren’t ready to give up on the Kenai yet though. We found a campground with hookups that also serves as a hostel called Jana House in Sterling. We wanted to stay in Cooper Landing but not only were the campgrounds super expensive ($50/night!) but they were fully booked. So Sterling it was, and I’m sorry to stay that when we pulled in I almost laughed. There was no one camping there besides a couple of seemingly abandoned vans. The campground was a sh*thole. I mean, the sites had huge rocks scattered about and were severely unlevel. It felt like we somehow were back in Mexico or something. But even there the campgrounds were never like this. The first site we pulled into and got set up but then the electric hookup was not working so we had to move to another site. It was a huge pain. The people running were very friendly however and the showers were great, though a little irony…like the metal. Yes the water was yellow because of the excessive iron content. It ended up staining the side of our RV orange.

Although the weather improved a little after leaving Seward we couldn’t do anything outdoors since Zygi was recovering from whatever bug he had. Luckily we didn’t need to go to the doctor since his fever stayed low grade. So to sum it up, our experience in the Kenai peninsula SUCKED! I know that the weather and Zygi getting sick had a big part of it so I’m not trying to discourage anyone from visiting there. But if we did go back I would choose to stay in Cooper Landing along the beautiful Kenai River. The river is one of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. It is a spectacular turquoise blue like I’ve never seen. I would avoid going to Seward. It felt so touristy and meh. We decided against checking out Whittier after we read that all the locals say, “Everything is shittier in Whittier.” We had our fill of shittiness.

Stopping for a rest along the Seward highway. (Turnagain Arm in background).

 

Boondocking by the river in Palmer, AK

On a gorgeous sunny day we left Valdez. We wanted to stay longer, but the campground was fully booked for the holiday (July 4th.) Instead we had other plans. It was July 3rd and our plan for the holiday was to attend the parade in Glennallen. On the way back on the Richardson highway we were able to see all the gorgeous snow capped mountains that were obstructed by clouds on the way in. We stopped by Horsetail falls, which like Bridal Veil falls you literally drive right past it, and the Valdez glacier. After seeing the glacier we were back on the road when Tim noticed the passenger side door to the RV was flapping in the wind.  Well it just so happened that our generator fell out somewhere between the Valdez glacier and mile 72.  We drove back the 35 miles or so looking for a bright yellow generator but it was gone.  Either someone scooped it up or it fell too deep in the brush for us to see it.  Another “Dope!” moment for us.

We boondocked at a rest stop off the Richardson highway right before the junction with the Glenn highway (which we will be taking towards Anchorage and the Kenai peninsula). The morning of the 4th after Zygi’s morning nap we drove to Glennallen for the parade. We simply parked the RV right off the Glenn highway. Our timing was impeccable as we arrived right as the parade was starting. It was a small parade and only lasted about 30 minutes. All the cars and floats threw candy as us (I guess for Zygi?…But we ate it of course). After the parade they had a free salmon bake. We decided to skip it since the line for food was so long.

We found a boondocking spot off the I Overlander app in Palmer off the old Glenn highway. We pulled in and found it was a nice spot right along the Mantanuska River. It was interesting because the river was flooded and it was washing away the dirt along the riverbank. There was a tree and each day we watched it slope deeper and deeper into the strong, merciless current. We saw many locals come out and check out the river. We talked to a couple of them and found out that a tragic accident had occurred only a week prior to our arrival. A mother and her children were playing by the water. Somehow one of her little ones fell into the rushing river. The mother instinctively went in after her baby and both of them drowned.

It was so hot while we were here, a little too hot for boondocking with a baby. We ended up leaving after a couple days and headed for the Kenai peninsula. We knew bad weather was coming but we decided to go for it anyways. Staying in 80 degree weather with no AC and the inability to swim was getting old. Little did we know that we were trading feeling like sweaty, hot pigs for cold, wet dogs.

Palmer, AK hiking trail off the Old Glenn Highway

Our journey continues…

We made it to ALASKA! First stop: Valdez

After a little over a week we were finally back on the road heading towards the Alcan border. We camped one night in another Yukon government campground in Snag Junction. We arrived late and left early the next day. On the way to the border we stopped at the “Welcome to Alaska” sign and took a picture. We don’t normally take those pictures but hey, we freaking DROVE all the way to Alaska.

Welcome to Alaska!

The border crossing went smoothly. The officer was very friendly, only asked a few typical questions and sent us on our way without inspection. The road has gotten very rough before and after the crossing. There are lots of frost heaves and potholes. We have to drive slowly to avoid more problems. But that’s fine because even though the road isn’t great the scenery is gorgeous!  After leaving Whitehorse we have seen 3 trucks pulled over changing tires.

Driving along the Tok Cutoff we camped at our first pullout. The highway noise wasn’t too bad as in the evening a car will pass here and there. The scenery was great looking out the window at the mountains. It was here that I randomly decided we would take a side trip to Valdez. Some of you may have heard of Valdez from the infamous Exxon oil spill in 1989. I decided to take the trip because the Milepost said the Richardson highway was beautiful and with the Fourth of July around the corner I figured we would try and avoid the crowd and go to Valdez instead of heading towards the popular Kenai peninsula.

Boondocking at a pullout along the Glenn Highway (in between Tok and Glennallen). El Oso is pretty dirty from all the hard driving.

On the day we were heading for Valdez the weather was awful. It was cloudy so we couldn’t even see the gorgeous mountains I read about. We did get to see the Alaskan pipeline in the distance which was cool. When we got to the top of the highway a cloud came through and totally occluded the visibility of the road. We could only see about 15 feet ahead of us. We pulled over to wait for it to pass. After about 10 minutes and watching cars haul butt past us we decided that we should keep going. After like 3 minutes we descended and were out of the cloud and everything was all good. We pass by a couple of waterfalls along the road.

We camped at Bear Paw RV park as we needed to do our weekly laundry and showers (haha we are gross hippies). It was $45 a night! But the showers were great and the laundry machines were the best I’ve ever used in my 3 years of traveling. The machines use coins which are $3 a piece and each machine takes one coin. The guy working said one dryer holds 2 loads. I though he was full of crap. The dryers were huge and looked like they came off the Enterprise. But man he was right, they worked awesome.

Enough about laundry, our campsite was great. Yet it was $45 a night but you get what you pay for. The day we arrived was so cloudy and gloomy but the next day the sun burned the clouds away and we could see that we were literally surrounded by snow capped mountains. We could walk to the harbor, walk to get food (which we didn’t do a lot of because the prices were exorbitant,$15 for a hamburger, $30 for pizza). The color of the water was a very pretty cool blue.

Tim’s wound is still healing so we couldn’t do any long hiking but we did walk around the city quite a bit. There is a nice park we walked to and walking the docks is always nice. They have some serious fishing boats here! We had to leave on July 3rd but we have plans for the fourth. See how we celebrated the nation’s birthday on the next article.

Belated Father’s Day meal of corned beef hash.

Goodbye Cassiar, Helloooo Alcan!

It was tough to leave Stewart as the scenery was amazing and our campsite was awesome. We spent a lot of days driving so I’ll sum it up briefly where we stayed. After Stewart we continued on the Cassiar highway to Morchuea Lake Recreation Site. This part of the highway is very remote with limited services. We only stayed one night because the mosquitoes were too bad to go outside. I was working on the batteries and I usually don’t have much problem with flies, they just don’t bite me much. I got eaten alive, my legs had scabs from them even though I didn’t scratch them because those suckers are so big. There was however a nice view of Mt. Edziza across the lake.

The next day we continued on the Cassiar highway passing through Jade City. It’s not really a city but a store that sells a bunch of jade and other precious stones. We thought we would buy a bunch of it for wholesale price but it turns out it was more expensive than buying it from Chinatown in San Francisco. We ended up getting a couple pieces but I later threw it away in the Yukon River in Whitehorse because I thought it cursed us from all the bad luck we started having as soon as we bought it. I figured I would give the Indian ancestors back their jade and it would help us get over the bad luck.

After Jade city we finished up the Cassiar highway at Watson Lake, crossing into the Yukon territory for the first time. We stayed at a Government campground which cost $12($9 American). British Columbia has free recreation sites that you can camp at. The Yukon territory has government campgrounds that aren’t free but $12 a night isn’t bad. For that you get well groomed sites, some of them with lake views, free firewood, and water (not hookups just where you can fill up). Again we didn’t stay in Watson Lake long. We checked out the signpost forest and the visitor center. The fridge was on the fritz and we needed to get to Whitehorse for parts.

Black Bear eating the yummy grass off the highway

After Watson Lake we were back on the Alcan highway and headed on to Whitehorse. Many of you might wonder, “How does Zygi handle all this driving?”  Well on the days we have long drives we leave right before his morning nap.  The hum of the 7.3 diesel engine lulls him to sleep and after about 2 hours he wakes up and we find a place to stop and let him out to explore.  We try to find a visitor center so he is indoors and I don’t have to worry about him getting bitten by mosquitos.  After his snack, I let him crawl around the visitor center or museum and he has a ball.  Everyone else likes to interact with him too so it is a good way to socialize him a little. Then after about an hour and a half we hit the road again in time for his next nap. By the time he wakes up from that nap we are usually done or close to done driving for the day.

Tim wrote about all the bad luck we had in Whitehorse in the previous article, so check it out if you haven’t already.  It was one thing after the other and the worst was Tim sustaining second degree deep burns over 30% of his left thigh. Long distance travel isn’t all singing and dancing. It’s just life, not a vacation in the Caribbean.

 

The Poor Man’s Galapagos and Puerto Lopez

Puerto Lopez is a small, fairly quiet fishing town.  The only touristy part of town is along the malecon which is a very nice area to walk around or chill at one of the beach side bars. Many tourists from all over the world and Ecuadorians themselves come here to go Isla la Plata, known as the poor man’s Galapagos, and Los Frailes which many times has been voted the best beach in Ecuador.

We stayed at Hostal Yemaya which costs $30/night for two people.  It’s in a great location one block from the beach. Miguel runs the hostal and is very informative. Miguel set us up with Aventura tours for our day trip to Isla la Plata.  It only costs $35 each (hence why it’s the poor man’s Galapagos) and includes hiking, lunch and snorkeling.

One of the guys from the tour company met us at our hotel at a chill time of 9:30 am.  Before getting on the boat, we walked down the beach with the rest of the people in our group to check out the fisherman’s catch of the day.  We watched the men carry coolers full of fish from the boats to trucks parked right at the shore while the frigate birds desperately try to sneak a fish from the coolers.

Fisherman’s catch

We were the last boat to leave the dock but our tour guide assured us that we would be the first boat to arrive on the island.  He was right, it didn’t take long for our awesome boat to leave the others in the dust, or mist rather.  On the way to the island we saw the biggest pod of dolphins I’ve ever seen.  There had to be hundreds of them.  We also saw jumping stingrays too.

Within an hour we made it to our destination. As we approached, hundreds of frigate birds were circling high above the rocky cliffs of the island.  They look like pterodactyls gliding through the air.  We stopped at a fisherman’s boat because he was feeding fish to a bunch of sea turtles.  Again I’ve never seen so many sea turtles in one spot.  As you can see, we are already very impressed with Isla la Plata and thinking we already got our money’s worth.

Sea Turtles!!

Our tour guide took us on a short 3 km hike where we saw the famous blue footed boobies.  There were many babies hiding in the scrub brush waiting on mom and dad to bring them food.  We had to be careful not to scare them.  They can’t fly and their wings are so fragile that if you get too close they can freak out and break their wings getting them stuck in the brush.  It seems like that is easy to understand but I was shocked by how so many stupid people in our group still wanted to stop right in front of the baby and take its picture.  In fact this is why one of the trails was closed off.  The Albatross used to frequent the island but quit coming because of too many dumbass people taking selfies with them.  The trail is closed because a family of Albatross is back and the islanders want to keep it that way!

After an underwelming but included lunch of tuna sandwiches on hot dog buns, we went snorkeling at a nearby reef.  We saw angelfish, parrot fish, needle fish, puffer fish and many other beautiful species of which I don’t know.  I was so impressed with all the animals we got to see.  If the po man’s Galapagos was this awesome I imagine the real Galapagos Islands would blow your mind.

The next day we went to check out the many times voted best beach in Ecuador, Los Frailes. From town we took a mototaxi to the bus terminal and then a bus to the Los Frailes for 50 cents each.  It’s free to get in but because it’s part of the national park, you need your passport number to get in.  Since I don’t usually take my passport to the beach and I don’t have it memorized (which I probably should) I just pretended to look at something on my phone while I made up a number.

Hiking at Los Frailes

Once you make it through the gate you have two choices: pay a mototaxi to take you straight to the beach or hike the trails where you will come across two other beaches and a mirador or viewpoint of Los Frailes.  The choice was obvious for Tim (I was feeling lazy and wanted to go straight to the beach) and so we took to the trails.  I’m so glad I listened to him because it was absolutely amazing.

It was realllllly hot but there was a constant cool sea breeze which made it bearable.  We stopped at the first beach and went for a swim.  At the second beach the rip currents were too strong to swim so we stood on the rocks and ate Doritos. In a little less than two hours we made it to Los Frailes.  I can see why it’s voted the beast beach with its surrounding mountains, wide, white sand, and trash free (rare in developing countries). The water had a clean blue tint to it and was easy for swimming.  At 4 pm the beach closes down and a van is waiting to take people back to Puerto Lopez for $2.50 per person.

Puerto Lopez is a must if you visit Ecuador.  It has so much to offer and beautiful sights to see.

Giant grilled skrimp

Vilcabamba: The Valley of Longevity

Vilcabamba is situated in a valley surrounded by lush green mountains. Many of the locals in the area live to be 100 years old and up, hence the name.  It’s not surprising that there has been an influx of wellness and yoga-mongers to the area.  When you step off the bus at the terminal, the town feels Ecuadorian enough.  But the European hippie vibe grows stronger the further you venture towards the main square.  Vegan friendly and spiritual cleansing ads a-plenty with English as the predominant spoken language.

We stayed at Hostal Margaritas for $30 a night. The hostal was cleaned daily, had (real) hot showers and included breakfast. What attracted us to the area was the hiking. There are many trails within a short drive as well as the Podocarpus National Park.

View from our room

We hiked the Mandango trail, named after the sheer cliff rock formation that stands out amongst all the greenery.  We were able to walk to the trail head, situated down a dirt road behind the bus station, from our hotel.  Make sure you bring a stick with you as there was a section along the dirt road that had a bunch of aggressive dogs. Tim picked up a rock and pretended to throw it at them which made them back off.  The entire trail is not for the faint of heart as there are steep drop offs on either side of a narrow ridge trail.  We were unable to make it to the top because of Tim’s vertigo with heights, but we were able to get to an awesome viewpoint that provided spectacular views of the valley.

Another great place to do some hiking is from Hostal Izhcayluma, located a couple of kilometers south of town. We initially wanted to stay at this hostal but they were fully booked.  We took a cab to the hostal from the bus station for $1.50. The receptionist gave us a map of a trail and pointed us in the right direction. It was free.  There are many trails to choose from and they are well marked so you don’t need a guide.

It was a little out of the way for us to come here but I think it was worth it.  Vilcabamba provided some great hiking and was our last trip in the mountains. We are now heading to the coast, the Pacific is calling my name!

Cotton candy on a Saturday night

 

Bienviendos a la Selva (Tena, EC)

Tena is a small city that skirts the Amazon region in Ecuador. For $6 per person, it took three hours by bus to get to Tena from Baños. When we arrived at the terminal we walked through town to Hostel Austria which was moderately priced at $23 and did not include AC.  It was however very clean and convienently located.

Initially, we were underwhelmed with Tena. We are walking around town at 3:00 pm and nothing was open. The one thing we wanted to do was go on a hike in the jungle, but every tour shop we found was closed. We were so disappointed we decided we were going to leave the next day. Trying to find something to do shouldn’t be this hard. That night Tim went out to get something to eat (my stomach was still not 100%) and he found a tour company that was open! Long story short we ended up getting what we wanted – a trip into the Amazon jungle.

The tour cost $55 each and lasted from 9 am to 4:30 pm. No one else signed up so Tim and I got a private tour! The trip started outside of Misahualli where our guide peacefully paddled us in a handmade canoe through a small canal to our hiking spot. We saw a couple of spider monkeys and beautiful birds.

We donned our boots and hit the trail. Our guide, Javier, showed us different plants including the plant of which they make Panama hats. He made us headbands out of it. He also used a flower bud to make me fake nails which helped me channel my inner tiger. We found a termite nest, Javier picked at it to make them come out of their nest and then put my hand on it so they crawled on me. If you rub your hands together and smash them they release a menthol scent that can be used as a natural bug repellant.

We returned to Misahualli for lunch and had a traditional fish dinner wrapped in banana leaves and yuca, which is like a potato. After lunch we walked to the river and saw a troop of monkeys. It was entertaining to watch them easily swing from the tree branches, curiously gazing down at us.

Monkey eating a banana

We then caught a bus to a go on a waterfall hike. Our guide allowed a couple other travelers to follow us to the waterfall so they wouldn’t get lost. It was a hot, slippery hike but we were well rewarded in the end with a glorious swim in the waterfall.

After the trip Javier took us out for celebratory drinks where we met Abby. Abby is a local that told us about a white water rafting festival going on that weekend called Jondachi Fest, named after the Jondachi River. She said that there was a registration party that night and invited us to come, at least for the free pizza. Needless to say we showed up and registered for the overnight rafting trip for Saturday. Abby said they were looking for volunteers to help out with the race on Friday so Tim and I volunteered.

We got up early the next day which started with free breakfast. We rode with Abby to the race finish line where we carried boxes of empanadas down a steep, slippery trail (did I mention that all the trails in Tena are slippery??) It was physically very hard for me and also mentally challenging as I had to keep smelling the delicious empanadas without getting to eat any. After the race we hiked back up the steep trail and got a free lunch. (Volunteering is awesome!)

The next day was the overnight kayaking/rafting trip. The class of the rapids ranged from 3 to 4+. The trip was only $55 a person and included our own private tent, lunch, dinner and breakfast the next day.  We camped at Playa Selva resort. It is in a remote location that you either hike to or arrive by the river. The scenery was absolutely beautiful the entire trip. We learned that the purpose of Jondachi Fest is fighting the government from damming the river. It would be sad if they dammed it because it is quite beautiful and provides so much life to the forest.

All in all our trip to Tena was a success thanks to Jondachi Fest. We saw a side of the Amazon we never would have seen before and are so thankful for how everything played out with running into Abby and having the opportunity to volunteer.

The taxis drove down to the take out

Quito, Ecuador – The (second) highest capital in the world!

How we decided to travel to Ecuador was by a random chance. I went to kayak.com, typed in departure from Savannah, GA to “anywhere” and a flight to Quito for $600 caught my eye. I don’t really know that much about Ecuador so I had to start researching. Ecuador is a small country in South America located right along the equator, hence the name. It has a diverse landscape with the Amazon jungle in the east, the Andes mountains in the center and the coastal region to the west. The famous Galapagos Islands belong to Ecuador as well, but I will go ahead and say we do not plan to travel to the Galapagos Islands due to our budget.
We arrived in Quito in the middle of the night. There was a long line to get our passport stamped but customs was a breeze. We went to the taxi stand and got a cab for $25. Our tired eyes didn’t see very much of the city that night. We opted to stay in the Old Town district of Quito at La Posada Colonial Hotel. Our room was like a shoebox but unfortunately there wasn’t much time or energy for a debate at 2 in the morning. The hotel is in a great location near a bunch of restaurants and has a nice view from the terrace.

Quito is very much above sea level at 9,000 feet. Being a flat lander the first day was a bit of a struggle as my body acclimated to the elevation. I could feel my heart beating faster than usual. We took it easy the first day and strolled around the old city.

We have never been to a city like Quito. The capital dates back to the 16th century. The buildings are magnificent with oversized doors and intricate designs. There are lots of people around of all different types. There are many police around as well, whom provide a sense of security. We noticed a lot of graffiti, perhaps a reminder of darker times. A popular thing to do is visit the old churches. We went into supposedly the most impressive church in the Americas, the Iglesia de la Campania de Jesus (The church of the society of Jesus).  I must admit that it was quite impressive being made of gold on the inside.  They ain’t like the churches back home!  We weren’t supposed to take pictures but I managed to sneak a few.

For a great view of the city, check out Itchimbia Park. The walk up there was more intense than it should have been but I am still trying to acclimate to the elevation. Surprisingly, we didn’t see many tourists. There is a school at the top. When we got there about 100 kids in their jumpsuit uniforms hurrying past us to get their afternoon snack of Salchipapas (French fries with chopped hotdog)….yeah it’s pretty gross.


After two days we were ready to leave. I’m sure there is other stuff to do and see but the smell of automobile exhaust is too much and we are ready to get into the outdoors. Next stop, Baños.

Cambodia’s Dark History

We took a bus from Siem Reap to the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh for $6 a person. We stayed at the Angkor Mithona Guesthouse on the 5th floor with no elevator for $16/night. I had to haggle to get that rate. The room was small and old but what I liked about it was the balcony that overlooked a busy street. Upon arrival, I was underwhelmed. Phnom Penh used to be known as the “Pearl of Asia” due to its French influence and beautiful architecture. Most of its charm was destroyed by the Khmer Rouge and what remains is a concrete jungle with rubbish lined streets. Why would one visit this city? It’s crowded and polluted but it’s burdened in the history of the atrocities that occurred in Cambodia in the 1970’s. In school, I never learned about Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. The history of it all starts in Phnom Penh. I was intrigued and had to see it for myself.

Phnom Penh fisherman on the Mekong River
Phnom Penh fisherman on the Mekong River

Here is a little history lesson for those of you like me that never learned about it. Pol Pot was a man, much like Adolf Hitler, who had a dream. His dream was for a utopian farming community where people worked together and shared everything. Pol Pot gathered his followers from poor, uneducated farmers. He basically told them that money and religion were evil and the reason why poor people didn’t have anything. Eventually he had enough followers to take over the country becoming prime minster in 1976. Pol Pot forced all urban dwellers into the countryside to work on collective farms and destroyed banks and temples. He is responsible for killing 3 million people (out of a population of 8 million). Anyone of suspicion (doctors, professors, monks, mechanics and people of any skill or trade) was imprisoned, tortured and murdered, pretty much in that order. Pol Pot told his followers that “It is better to kill an innocent by mistake than spare an enemy by mistake.” Towards the end, Pol Pot became more crazy and paranoid and murdered many of his own followers, called cadres, too. His reign ended when the Khmer Rouge tried taking Vietnamese land along the Mekong River. The pissed off Vietnamese came in and ended it all, exposing the atrocities. Pol Pot not only manipulated his own people, he manipulated the whole world. The Khmer Rouge held the seat at the UN until 1982!

We arranged a Tuk Tuk driver for the day ($13) to take us to the Killing Fields and the S-21 (Tuol Sleng) prison museum. Entry to each was $6 a person and included an audio tour. We started at the Killing Fields where, as the name indicates, the Khmer Rouge sent people to be killed in hordes. Their method of killing people was beyond barbaric. Hands bound and blindfolded, the people were unloaded and forced into small huts. Loud music played from speakers hung in the trees to disorient them. They were lined up and walked to the edge of a large pit/grave. A cadre would club them in the head making them fall into the grave semiconscious where another cadre would slit their throat. One by one this is how millions of people were killed…men, women, elderly, and children. With babies they would simply bash their bodies against a tree. Pol Pot didn’t believe in “wasting” bullets so this is how he wanted the executions or “purging” to go. Walking around and listening to the tapes describe what took place in the very space I was in was surreal. Multiple mass graves are still visible though mostly filled in with dirt and grass now. When it rains bones, teeth and cloth are exposed which you can still see in and around the pits. There are signs saying “please do not step on bones”. Many of the bones are put on display. Some people, especially Christians, may find it taboo to display bodies instead of properly burying or cremating them. After discussing the ethics, the Cambodian people agreed that the bones should be displayed as a reminder to people of what happened, hoping that history will never repeat itself.

S-21 (Tuol Sleng Prison Museum) was originally a school in the center of Phnom Penh. The Khmer Rouge turned it into a prison and torture chambers. Usually people were only here a short while where they were tortured and forced to sign confessions of being a conspirator or spy. Once they signed the confession they were sent to the killing fields. The tour starts off by going one by one into the former classrooms turned torture chambers. A bed with no mattress, metal shackles still hanging from the frame, was the only furniture in each room. The museum put a picture of the wall displaying a body in the bed. It was very graphic. Being an ICU nurse I have been around death a lot, anyone who has been around death knows that a certain smell lingers when a person dies. Even though it has been over 40 years since someone was killed, I could still smell it. The smell haunts the entire building. They used all kinds of torture techniques ranging from waterboarding to hanging people upside down until they passed out then dropping them head first into pits of feces and urine to wake them up.

Other buildings contain former classrooms split into small prison cells with bricks or wood. Most of the cells were very small, only like 4X8 feet. The prisoner’s feet were shackled to a metal hook on the floor and had a metal box to relieve themselves. Some rooms were not split up but open where multiple people were imprisoned together and forced to lie down in rows like sardines. There is an illustration in the museum showing how the prisoners were aligned on the floor that reminded me of how the African slaves were shipped to America. The Khmer Rouge took pictures and documented every single prisoner that came into S-21. In one of the buildings many of the mugshots are exhibited. It was very disheartening to look into the sad eyes of people who were taken from their homes, guilty of nothing but being born in the wrong place and the wrong time.

All in all, Phnom is worth visiting so you can see all this for yourself. Thoughts of the Khmer Rouge and all the people who were tortured and killed followed me for days. I couldn’t believe how it all happened under the nose of the U.N. I think this significant portion of Cambodian history should be included in the curriculum for world history in high school. It is gruesome but I think it speaks volumes.  I heard a memorable quote during the audio tour by the ambassador of Germany, H.E. Joachim Baron von Marschall. “No political goal or ideology, however promising, important or desirable it may appear, can ever justify a political system in which the dignity of the individual is not respected.”

I will never forget.

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Bad things happen and then happy things happen. Vang Vieng, Laos.

So the saying goes bad things come in three right?  Well we had a couple…  On the day we tried to leave Luang Prabang we had some motor bike issues.  First thing that happened about 30 miles out was a flat tire.  Well no big deal, we just passed a tire shop like 100 feet away. We pushed the bike there and had the inner tube replaced in ten minutes.  Just a bump, well nail actually, in the road.  It happens, no big deal, keep going!  Five minutes later we’re cruising and then ::record screach:: the bike just stops.  We walk the 300 lb bike up and down hills for a mile in a half until we find a mechanic.  He completely dissassembes the bike and unclogs the gas line and all this stuff.  After 3 hours of hanging out, watching chickens and huffing second hand smoke and gasoline we decided we were going to call it a day.  Obvioulsy the gods didn’t want us to go to Vang Vieng today.  We started back to Luang Prabang.  On the way back, I’m not kidding you, I can’t make this up,  we got another flat tire, in the EXACT same spot we got the first one.  It was so coincidential that I couldn’t control my anger.  I screamed “WTF!!!” As Tim pushed the bike to the SAME shop where we had the tire replaced before, I paced up and down the street looking for nails or other “evidence” of materials.  After the inner tube was replaced, again, I said “Thank you! Now that you have enough of our money please stop throwing nails in the road so we can get the hell out of here tomorrow!”

Mechanic working on the bike.
Mechanic working on the bike.

So that is three bad things right? Well I think the flat tires counted as one because the next day we had a motorbike accident.  Half way to Vang Vieng, we were making a turn at about 30 mph and some how ended up eating pavement.  Luckily neither of us sustained serious injury, but I can now say I know why knee pads were invented.  My right knee ended up taking most of the hit. For Tim, it was his left hip and feet.  Luckily I was wearing shoes, whereas “sandals man” wasn’t.  Lying on the hot concrete with the sun in my eyes and the pain in my knee all I could think about was how I hope I didn’t break something.  I was scared to move.  Thats when two vans came around the corner.  I don’t know if my grandma was watching over us or what but two angels approached us.  She opened up a medical kit, showed me a bottle of something, probably an anestetic, I can’t read Laotian.  I wimpered “Are you sure?” and she replied, “Yes, I’m a nurse.” I let her go to work on me.  She cleaned all our wounds and bandaged them.  I couldn’t believe how lucky we were to have sustained no serious injury and two nurses (angels) appeared out of no where to help us.  I don’t know their names but I will never, ever forget them.  I know I would of done the same thing.  Maybe it was a good deed coming back to me for all the awesome nursing I’ve done.

Even though we were hurting, we got back on the motorbike and continued the ride.  We passed by one of the most beautful mountain ranges I’ve ever seen. The landscape was green and beauftil as it had been but the mountains in the background were jagged and sinster looking.  Like Mordor from the Lord of the Rings. As we got closer to Vang Vieng we saw clouds coming in right above us.   They encompassed the mountains around us like a macrophage.  It was so bizarre since we weren’t at high elevation (only 800 feet).

We hobbled into the Malany Villa hotel (120,000 kip/night or $15) when we got to Vang Vieng, ususally we look around but after today, no.  Thank goodness the room was on the first floor.  For the entire time we were in Vang Vieng, it rained. So even if we hadn’t been whiplashed and road rashed we couldn’t have done anything anyhow.  We spend most of our time in the room, eating take out. It was a little dispressing so for entertainment purpose we decided to hit up some of the happy bars! Obviously we would never partake in the happy items, but they were there!  You can choose from all kind of stuff, including but not limited to: marijuana, magic mushrooms, opium, and laughing gas.  The laughing gas was very popular with the young ones.  They kept buying and huffing away.   We watched, laughed, we were basically happy as the bar intended one way or another.

Apparently it used to be pretty open to do stuff like that here, kind of like Woodstock.  Po-lice look da other way.  Then after a few travelers killed themselves by being too messed up and drowning in the river, the government had to tighten up.  Now they have under cover police and they look for people to shake down. Some bars are pretty open and some aren’t.  I think it depends on who pays the police and who doesn’t.

Vang Vieng looks like a an old western town.  All it needs are some horses and a few wooden swing doors It’s kinda dirty and grungy, but in a good way. One of the fun things to do around here is to go tubing down the Nam Song River.  With all the rain the river was too flooded and the current was pretty fast.  I didn’t think it would be a good idea to submerge our flesh wounds in the river water or be in a situation that required strenght (like swimming aganist the current) so we passed.

Sooo I guess eventually good luck runs out and bad things happen.  It’s ok, we are ok, we will be OK as long as we have our health and can continue on this amazing vacation.

Asian breakfast of champions, rice soup with egg, fried shallots, minced pork and green onions. MUAH!
Asian breakfast of champions, rice soup with egg, fried shallots, minced pork and green onions. MUAH!