Vancouver Canada

This summer I went on my first Alaska cruise. More on that cruise later but first I want talk about the day or so I had exploring Vancouver, Canada (British Columbia) – the starting point of the cruise. I have only been to Canada once before and that visit was to Montreal, so I am excited to see another part of this incredibly large country that I have put off visiting for way too long. Although Vancouver has much to offer in the form of natural resources I decided to keep this visit a city exploration since I plan of spending a week observing wildlife in Alaska.

The hotel we chose is further away from the action than I want in Metrotown but I soon see that it is very convenient to get to downtown Vancouver by the elevated train. I take it a few times during my stay. I am in Vancouver with some family members but they arrive later in the evening so my first evening is exploring on my own.

For my first evening I spend most of my time in Chinatown. It is a little rougher in this part of town but I generally feel safe. This is also the location of some good eateries and cute cafes. My first stop is the recommended Phnom Penh Restaurant, a Cambodian and Vietnamese restaurant. I knew arriving that there would probably be a wait since they don’t take reservations. I am told the wait is thirty to forty minutes and they take my phone number for when my table is ready. I wander around the neighborhood while I wait – it actually ends up being closer to sixty minutes and I would have stopped somewhere for a cocktail if I knew the wait would be that long.

I order too much food for one person because there are many things I want to try. Everything I ordered (butter beef, water spinach, chicken wings, moo moo shake) was good and I vow to come back to try more. What I really like is that even though it is awkward to dine alone, especially at a family style Asian restaurant, they seemed to be accommodating by letting me order smaller portions of some of the dishes. A little politeness goes a long way – I am used to being treated as second class in some countries as a solo diner but they did not (although I am certain I would have gotten a table faster if I had a bigger party since there weren’t many smaller tables).

Next stop is at Laowai for a cocktail. They have an interesting food menu that I would be taking advantage of if I hadn’t just eaten a large meal.

I have a reservation at a speakeasy nearby. I walk the neighborhood while I wait for my reservation time.

My last stop is at Bagheera, a speakeasy with an entrance themed like a horse betting window. This is once again another place with an interesting food menu, many of them Indian themed. I want to come back when I am hungry and try some of the menu items.

The next morning my cousin and I take the train into downtown Vancouver and then walk down to the ferries.

We take a ferry out to Granville Island for some snacks and to walk around. There are so many food choices here that I wish I scheduled more time in Vancouver to hang out here. In the summer there is live music and other events happening on Granville Island. Definitely visit their market if you are ever in town.

We also linger a bit to watch some geese and ducks.

We have a food tour scheduled this afternoon so we head to the Waterfront Station to meet up with our group.

We automatically have a connection to the tour guide who has the same name as my cousin’s sister who passed away many years go (I also was very close to this cousin who was six months younger than I). The guide is an actress but also holds many different roles, one of which is as a tour guide. We try a number of dishes around the downtown area and she tells us a little history of each location. While I didn’t love all the food choices (this tour might have been better in Chinatown) she did a good job overall. The tour at least was a good introduction to the city.

After our tour we take a break to have a drink and a view.

Our next adventure is to walk the sea wall down to Stanley Park. We enjoy nice views along the way as well as a seal but our legs and feet are tired. We pledge that we will at least continue on until the Totem poles but then allow ourselves to uber back to the hotel.

Stanley Park

There is so much more to see but we are exhausted and we have a cruise to catch tomorrow so early to bed!

More Phnom Penh

Still in the city of Phnom Penh in Cambodia.

I am in a semi-big city again. I figure it would be a good time to try my luck again at finding yoga pants for my upcoming yoga retreat. I wander around town by foot trying to use maps.me and using up my precious data for google maps to find a place to shop. I end up at a high end mall in the basement of a casino where I STILL CANNOT FIND YOGA PANTS. But the place is air conditioned and a nice place to use the bathroom. I give up on the yoga pants. Maybe some place in Bali should have some I can buy??

*Trigger Warning : Genocide

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum

I won’t go into a history lesson but if you aren’t familiar with the Khmer Rouge and the 1970s please google it. It wasn’t widely discussed in my school. I am just familiar with it because as an adult I am a curious reader and read the book First They Killed My Father. From the book I was curious to learn more so I watched history programs and read things on the internet.

Basically during the late 1970’s the Communist Party of Kampuchea government under the direction of Pol Pot systematically killed close to 2 million people. Many were killed in what is called “The killing fields” (there is a famous movie by the same name which I also saw a long time ago). As a visitor you can visit the killing fields and I heard it is very emotional. I chose not to visit because I did not feel comfortable going there. I did however visit the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, the former jail where many prisoners were held, questioned and tortured.

I took audio tour with very detailed stories. It was sad and very painful to listen to.

The final rooms of the tour contain pictures of those detained and tortured in the facility (I took no photos of these).

I think the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum is an important visit in Phnom Penh not to glamorize the location but for us as humans to understand what horrors can happen if tyrannical governments are left unchecked. The 1970’s were not too long ago in the grand scheme of time.

Cambodia River Cruise

To lighten up the end of my trip I booked a sunset river cruise along the area where the Mekong meets the Tonle Sap River.

It is a nice a peaceful way to end my trip to Cambodia. There is of course so much I didn’t see so I hope some day to return.

Phnom Penh

To get to Phnom Penh I take a small plane of the same airline I took into Cambodia. It is a short flight and the experience isn’t quite as bad as when set out to arrive in the country.

Phnom Penh is the capital of Cambodia. The capital feels more contemporary and does not have all the ancient temples like Siem Reap. Also famous is that it was the capital of the Khmer Rouge in the 1970’s, the group responsible for horrific genocide. My stop in Phnom Penh is short and I just get a slight feel for the city.

I book a decent but affordable hotel near the Royal Palace (which I end up not visiting). Lately I make sure I book a place with a pool since it is a requirement anymore for traveling during these hot times.

I decide against visiting the Royal Palace right away because of the heat and it proves to be a bad decision because it seems to be my only opportunity because of two reasons: missing the limited opening hours on my other free day and the unfortunate death of a Cambodian princess which had many things shut down – including alcohol service at restaurants (I awkwardly found out when trying to get a cocktail at a restaurant and they refused to serve me alcohol. I am a little confused until somebody explained it to me on the table nearby).

The princess Norodom Bopha Devi is famous for helping revive traditional Apsara dance (unique style dance with intricate hand movements) after it is almost destroyed during the horrific time of Khmer Rouge.

I fortunately booked an evening to see Apsara dance at Cambodian Living Arts.

Here are some short clips of that dance performance:

Siem Reap lonely birthday

Today is my birthday and I am still in Siem Reap Cambodia. I am alone and inexplicably sad. I mostly don’t mind my alone time but today I am down in the dumps. To cheer myself up I try some some back home normalcy. I google a nearby cafe that has brunch dishes. Brunch sounds like a great way to treat myself. I order french toast at Sister Srey Cafe.

After a “taste of home” style brunch I head back to my hotel room because 1. It is another hot day and 2. Still don’t have motivation to do anything. I guess it is normal after all this traveling to take days off but it always comes with guilt – what am I missing out on seeing by taking this day off.

Back in my room I check social media for glimpses of back home and watch some movies on netflix.

I get a call from the hotel staff making sure I am ok since I did not come down to breakfast. I find it odd but charming that they are looking out for me. I tell them I am ok but had breakfast elsewhere this morning. A few minutes later there is a knock at my door.

It is the hotel staff with a plate of birthday fruit and balloons. They planned to surprise me with this at breakfast but I wasn’t there. It is the sweetest thing ever and not at all expected. I spend my time watching movies and now chowing down on yummy fruit.

I go to the pool again for a little bit but then decide I must go out for a drink or two on my birthday, even if I am doing it alone.

I head down to pub street again and find a cute little cocktail bar Miss Wong Cocktail Bar. I order a cocktail and dim sum then wander around some more.

I head back toward my hotel when some horrible karaoke singing catches my ear. I could use another drink so I sit down at the bar with some extremely drunk american expats and tourists. I learn all about the art of living in Cambodia as an American (visa runs and all). One guy is getting too uncomfortably friendly for my taste so I head out after a drink or two, besides I head to Phnom Penh in the morning. Not too terrible a day though considering I started out in a sour mood….

Drunk karoake. No I did not participate.

Siem Reap Dinner

After my long day of sightseeing I catch dinner around the corner at The Christa Restaurant & Bar where I get to try Cambodian style curry. It is quite good.

I call it an early night.

Next Day

I could do another day of sightseeing today but I instead choose to stay close to my hotel.

I start the day at the breakfast buffet at the hotel. They missed me yesterday since I woke up so early to catch the sunrise at Angkor Wat.

I am exhausted from the heat and traveling so I book a massage through my hotel and because it is Cambodia it is very affordable. The female masseuse comes to my room. We don’t speak each other’s language which doesn’t matter too much except I want to make sure she doesn’t do any back/hand/whatever cracking like what happened in Thailand. I try to communicate this in mime and not sure she understands but fortunately my massage had no cracking and was just what I needed.

Afterwards I decide to take advantage of the pool. It is small but only enhabited by two others who don’t stay long. The laps I do are refreshing but once I get my fill I decide I need to go try to find yoga pants for my yoga retreat I have scheduled in about a week. Unfortunately I am a terrible shopper in my home country and even worse in a foreign country. I cannot find yoga pants. It is hot so I give up.

I spend the evening exploring pub street instead.

I settle on a restaurant with balcony seating where I get to try Fish Amok at Traditional Khmer Food Restaurant. The balcony over looks a narrow alley with stores and other restaurants. Not a ton of foot traffic but it keeps me sort of entertained while I eat.