CJ, Sophie, and the flesh-eating fish! True story!

I'm still organizing my Angkor Wat photos, and we've had lousy wi-fi, so here is something of the bread and circus variety to keep the blog-reading masses happy: fish that eat the dead skin off your feet. Yes, that's really a thing in Cambodia. CJ and Sophie each paid $3 to put their feet in a tank while the fish nibbled at their feet. CJ took a while to muster up his courage.

Eventually they graduated to the tank with even bigger fish (all for the same $3 investment).

R & R

We have made it to Siem Reap, where we spent a day doing as close to nothing as is humanly possible. (Three of the five of us slept through the free breakfast; to spare us embarrassment, I will not say how late breakfast is served.) I have a cold. Katrina has a cold. Leah thinks she might be getting a cold. You get the picture. This is a perfect time to rest in a nice hotel, complete with swimming pool and outdoor patio.

We spent several days in Phnom Penh, which is a fun blend of old and new, made all the more remarkable when one considers what this country has been through in the past 30 years.

We had dinner and drinks (2 for the price of 1) at the Foreign Correspondents Club, the place journalists used to hang out during the Vietnam War. Not hard to imagine the Somerset Maugham types drinking here in the French colonial days either: a big open veranda overlooking the water, high ceilings with fans whirring, oversized bar.

The tonic prevents malaria; the limes protect against scurvy. In many ways, it's irresponsible NOT to drink gin and tonics.

From Phnom Penh, we took a boat seven hours up the Tonle Sap River to Siem Reap. I did this once before with students. It's an extraordinary way to watch the country go by, particularly the rural areas that depend on the river.

May it please the gods . . .

We have arrived in Phnom Penh and have just begun to explore. It is quieter, cooler, calmer, and more walkable than Ho Chi Minh City.

The shrine below is in the lobby of our hotel.

Query: Which offering do the gods appreciate more, the coffee or the fake American cash?

Along the Mekong

We made a small foray out of Saigon to the Mekong River, the heart of the country.

River boats are the transport of choice, but that does not preclude impressive feats on a motor scooter.

For an ostensibly communist country, there is also impressive advertising in public spaces.

And Buddhist temples.

For lunch on this adventure, of course we had to sample the "special Mekong river fish." Better than it looks.

Vietnam: A first look

We've made it to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), which is bustling, fun, cheap, easy, and interesting. We visited the War Remnants Museum, which will get its own post. Mostly we have been walking around and eating. I have tried to capture the frenetic pace of the city, especially the motorbikes.

We are getting better at crossing the street: Just plunge in, walk with a steady determined pace, and the motorbikes swerve around you like a school of fish.

Apparently finding peace here is a state of mind.

Happy Tet (Vietnamese New Year) to all. Welcome to the Year of the Rooster.

We abhor the French colonialist intervention in Vietnam*

*Except for the breakfast pastries. I think an intellectually honest person has to concede that this was a good thing to leave behind.

CJ turns 14 in Hong Kong

There was some dispute over when exactly CJ had turned 14, as Hong Kong is a day ahead of the States. But he is now officially 14 years old in all time zones around the world.

We celebrated with a major dumpling and noodle binge.

Hong Kong has been a short but fun stopover on our way to Vietnam (where we will fly tonight). The city is relatively unchanged from what Leah and I remember from 1989. There is a curious mixture of gleaming shopping malls (with customers pushing around suitcases to hold all their purchases) and old Chinese neighborhoods (with shop after shop selling unidentifiable dried seafood products).

On the other hand, this represents major progress since our last visit.