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Photos from the Far East: Lisa's Trip to Vietnam & Cambodia

by on ‎01-16-2013 06:49 PM

Since so many of you aren't on Facebook, but asked to see my photos, here you are. More to come next week!

 

Hue, Vietnam

 

We left Hoi An this morning and drove north for five hours to Hue, (pronounced "hway"). This is the view from our drive. It's the highest mountain pass in Vietnam. Beautiful. {#emotions_dlg.biggrin}

 

Kompong Khleang, Vietnam

 

This is an example of the houses on stilts on the side of the river in Kompong Khleang.

 

Lunch in Hoi An, Vietnam

 

It's been a busy day in Hoi An. We had lunch in a family restaurant and it was very good. The Vietnamese like to eat what's grown locally. It's brought in from the countryside every morning and sold to people and restaurants to eat fresh that day. Yum. {#emotions_dlg.biggrin}

 

Lisa and Samnang

 

The people here are wonderful. This is one of the girls who works at the hotel. Her name is Samnang. She was off one of the days that we were here, but came in anyway to make sure everything was good for us. As with many Cambodian women, I don't think she realizes how pretty she is. {#emotions_dlg.biggrin}

 

Kym & John

 

A few of you have asked me about the food in Cambodia. Well, they offer a lot of different cuisines, but the more unusual parts of Cambodian cuisine are like nothing I've ever encountered. They've found a way to make anything edible: grasshoppers, water bugs, snakes, eels, tarantulas, etc. This is Kym talking to our guide John about how to eat a cricket.

 

Kym ate it!

 

She ate it! I can only be moral support and take pictures. I can't go there.  I'm just not strong enough. {#emotions_dlg.biggrin}

 

Four Faces of Buddha

 

Around the 12th century, there was a great Khmer king who built this temple. Although Khmer had been a Hindu country for about 600 years, the king did not believe in Hinduism anymore and decreed that the official religion would be Buddhist. The people protested strongly. They didn't want to give up their religion and the king didn't want to give up his. So, he created the "Four Faces of the Buddha," a symbol of Buddha's face on four sides. This could be interpreted as Hindu or Buddhist. By doing this, he combined the two religions so everyone was happy. Cambodia is now about 90% Buddhist. This is one of what was 54 towers in this temple with the "Four Faces of the Buddha."

 

Lara Croft, Tomb Raider Tree!

 

Believe it or not, this is a tree. I'm standing in the roots. These trees started as seeds planted on top of the walls of this temple and over a few hundred years, they've grown down over them. By the way, this temple is where they filmed some scenes from Lara Croft, Tomb Raider! {#emotions_dlg.biggrin}

 

Dragon Fruit

 

I don't understand this "Dragon Fruit." It looks like a magenta fish when it's whole, a Dr. Seuss cartoon when it's cut up, and tastes "green." Very interesting.

 

See you soon!

—Lisa