Cambodia

The only city we visited in Cambodia was Siem Reap, known for the largest religious monument in the world: Angkor Wat.

From the 9th to the 15th century, Angkor was the capital city of the Khmer Empire, a megacity with more than 1 million inhabitants. As every king had his own religion (Hindu, Buddhism or both) each one destroyed the temples of their predecessor and built a new one to demonstrate their power (and to discredit the power of the former king). This explains the high number of temples (76 major temples) on this territory. It is amazing to discover the ruins of this huge archaeological terrain and to admire those enormous buildings, that were constructed without the modern technical equipment. No machines, no electricity, no mobile cranes, only hundreds of thousands of workers, who grafted day and night, throughout years, to build these structures on wetland. The temple complex of Angkor Wat for example (with its 65m high tower and a moat of 30m x 190m) was built in only 36 years. They didn't use any concrete, it's just stones on stones, and it still stands today, 900 years later.

We acquired a 3-Day-Pass (it's a huge area) and visited it on the first day with a bicycle and a local guide. The second day we hired a Tuk-Tuk to get to a more remote temple site. The third day we did the 'Grand Circuit' with our bicycles but without a guide.

It's a highly interesting site with a fascinating history, where nowadays the nature has claimed back its rightful ownership. Here our impressions in pictures:

Laos

We literally drove through whole Laos and made some stops on our way down to Cambodia. On the border to enter Laos, we had to deal again with corrupt officers who tried to charge more than they should. We argued a little (refused the fee-based temperature check) and entered the country safely.

The first two nights we spent in the UNESCO World Heritage Town of Luang Prabang, the ancient royal capital of the Kingdom of Laos.
From there we continued to the current capital Vientiane, where we took a night bus to Pakse.
Pakse is famous for its good coffee on the Bolaven Plateau.
We discovered the countryside by motorbike and tasted various cups of coffee on different farms. To get a foretaste on Angkor Wat, we visited Vat Phou, the ruins of a Khmer Hindu temple complex on the Lingaparvata Mountain in Champasak before continuing to Siem Reap.

One of the many temples and monuments in Luang Prabang.

The Haw Pha Bang Buddhist temple next to the Royal Palace/national museum.

  

On our luxury double bed in the night bus from Vientiane to Pakse. Even though it was quite comfortable, we still couldn't sleep during the ride.

A place of calmness and dignity....

 

...next to a thunderous waterfall.

The bridge to the other side...

Driving with the bike over water :)

We were not the only ones using the ferry.

The view on the 'baray' of Vat Phou.

Northern Vietnam

Fields of green and gold, in between tradition and (agri)culture: The North of Vietnam. Hours on long curvy roads with landscapes that you never get tired of looking at. Shifting between modern hotels and rustic homestays (maintained by different ethnic groups), we discovered with our guide Lili (from the H'mong People) and our driver Mr. T. the north of Vietnam during 14 days.

We started in Hanoi with a minibus to the Ha Long Bay. After 2 days of visiting this beautiful bay (with boats and kayaks) we continued via Lang Son to Cao Bang. In this province (at the Chinese border) is the (locally) famous Vietnamese waterfall (Ban Gioc Falls) and one of the most beautiful caves we've seen (Nguom Ngao Cave).

From here we went hiking in the Ba Be National Park before enjoying yet another boat drive along the Ba Be Lake.

Our next stops brought us to Bao Lac, Meo Vac and Dong Van where we visited some mountain villages inhabited by different ethnic groups. The view from the road at this plateau (Dong Van Karst Plateau) is magnificent and it's no wonder that the UNESCO declared it as a World Heritage Global Geological Park.

Then our trip led us to Sapa (via Ha Giang) where we enjoyed another 2 days of hiking (a little bit more touristic than the villages we visited before in North-Vietnam but nevertheless very beautiful) before taking the night bus to Dien Bien Phu.

Oh wonder, the communist party won again the elections.

Absorbing the sunrays while enjoying the view in Ha Long Bay with its thousands of tower-like islands.

An oyster farm in the adjacent Bai Tu Long Bay.

Like monuments in the sea.

One of the biggest export product in Vietnam is rice.

Lili and Estelle on the 'edge'. We were happy that she didn't get kidnapped like it happened to her a few month ago. Apparently it is a tradition for H'mong men to kidnap (with force) a lady they like. Then she has to stay 3 days in their house and if she runs of, they will catch her again. After 3 days she can decide if she wants to marry him or if she doesn't (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLodonpcS7U)

The Ban Gioc waterfall is very famous among Vietnamese and Chinese people, fortunately not among Western tourists, therefore it was not very crowded.

You can hear the echo of the falling water in the whole valley.

This was probably not the first, nor the last wedding photoshoot at the waterfall.

The Nguom Ngao Cave (under one of the big mountains in the back) was feared a lot by the local people because it was inhabited by tigers. Around 1930 men hunted and killed all tigers and the Indochinese tiger became extinct in this region. Now the ducks reign this area :)

You should never refuse the invitation of a Vietnamese gentleman to share 'Happy Water'.

'I have drunk to your health so many times, that I have almost ruined my own.'

Some restaurants were clean, some only good to get diarrhea.

All variations of green on our little hike.

Bringing food to the new-born cattle.

The mountain dressed in a silver lining.

The space underneath the houses is used as a shelter for the animals.

...

The path into the unknown can be risky sometimes...

...but can bring you also unexpected joy.

You should always take time for a little selfie :)

Even though she was heavily pregnant, she still continued to clean the fields.

Even though she was more than 100 years old, she still continued to clean the fields :)

Some of the kids in those remote areas have never seen Western people.

We brought some presents from the city to the kids in the mountain villages.

Among others candies, toothbrushes, soaps, crayons and combs.

 

Rice fields as far as the eye can see.

Getting new haircuts for 2€.

Big happy family.

The 'joie de vivre' of the Vietnamese people is remarkable.

Estelle and our guide Mu, but who's who?

Collecting leaves like money :)

Getting hustled by some local saleswomen.

Who hasn't dreamed of a house in the mountains?

Can you feel the wind of freedom?

In contrast to Europe, people in Vietnam prefer a light skin.

On our sleeping bus to Dien Bien Phu we had to defend ourselves against a very aggressive bus driver. He wanted to squeeze us into the back of the bus but we preferred staying in the front to avoid nausea. We won :)

Next stop Laos :)