Tet celebrations

We spent the Vietnamese Lunar New Year's Day (Tet)in Saigon and tagged along with Lina's uncle to a family feast. All the men and women helped prepare the New Year's lunch, which included eel, wild boar, curry and Vietnamese pizza (you'll have to ask us what that is if you don't know). In typical Vietnamese fashion, these two elderly women quietly watched from a distance as the men (and Lina) ate and drank. One of the women lives in the house where we had the party.

Vietnamese Tet

We were lucky to spend Vietnamese New Year (Tet) in Saigon with Lina's uncle and his family. If you have been to Saigon, you would know the hustle, bustle and organised chaos of the city. Imagine the city usually, but on caffeine. That is the atmosphere of Saigon preparing for Tet. The South Vietnamese Tet flower is called hoa mai (in the North, the Tet flower is pink and called hoa dao). This photo of a hoa mai tree, bearing a "Happy New Year" banner in lucky red, was taken at the Saigon Tet flower market.

Cambodia's recent past

We knew nearly nothing about the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia between 1975-1979 until we arrived in the nation's capital, Phnom Penh. We learnt about the genocide of nearly 2 million people and the forced labor camps. Visiting Phnom Penh has been the most depressing part of our trip so far which included a visit to Tuol Sleng ("S-21") Prison. At S-21, people were arrested for fictitious treason offences, tortured and forced to admit to crimes they didn't commit. This is a photo taken by Dean of one of the many prison cells. You can see an ammunition crate toilet, a dinner plate and the chain that was used to hold down a prisoner's legs. We were there for two hours. Lina refused to actually enter the prison cells and waited for Dean in the courtyard the whole time. After this, we visited what is now known as "The Killing Fields", where prisoners were executed. We had to finish the day with a few drinks.

Angkor, Cambodia

Angkor is an ancient Camobidan city, with temples and other buildings over 1000 years old. We spent three days in Angkor, mystified by the temples and especially by Angkor Wat, the most well-known and well-preserved of them all. We watched the sun rise and set against Angkor's backdrop. There is something very special about watching the sunset fall away behind such history, then watching it rise to greet the world again the next morning. This is a photo of the sunset.

Luang Prabang by Night

People work at all times of the night in South East Asia (well, at least until the 11:30pm kurfew in Laos anyway) to make a dollar or two. There's nothing like walking through a night market, like in Luang Prabang, to challenge your senses and expand your view of the world, living and life. Gotta love it. Seriously, gotta love it.

The Mekong Charm, Laos

The highlight in Laos was the two day trip down the Mekong River by slow boat. The Mekong, which meanders through South East Asia, was a pleasant and scenic surprise. Two days of singing, drinking, chatting whilst watching Laotian river life was humbling. It's a part of the world that is so quiet, yet provides so much to its people, and goes about it in its own little way.