Our last morning in Ho Chi Minh City was devoted to a tour of some notable sites. We visited the Presidential Palace and I admired the elegant state reception rooms in particular and noted in the war council and secure rooms that not only was there the one important “red phone” which was red, but also phones of every pastel color imaginable midst a few black ones.
We stepped inside the intensely mustard yellow grand central post office built about 1880 and learned that the exterior will be re-painted its usual more subdued yellow now that the new year’s festivities have ended. We also spent a bit of time in the War Remnants Museum which mostly dwells on the Vietnam (or American) War and the atrocities committed by the Americans—everything from torture and the wiping out of whole villages to the ravages of Agent Orange. It is a wonder after seeing all that that the Vietnamese people are so welcoming of us Americans.
Our last stops of the morning were a Chinese pagoda temple still in active use and a wholesale market that had everything from stacks of ball caps to piles of plastic ware to clothing, spices and grains, fresh meat and produce and lots of small food stalls where one could sit to eat or buy something to take away.
We spent almost as much time in the air as we did getting processed at the Siem Reap airport to enter Cambodia. Immigration procedures from completing a health form to filling out the required visa application to waiting for the return of our passports and then waiting in another line to have said visa and other immigration forms examined and stamped in different places with at least five different stamps took a bit over an hour. But getting our luggage and getting to the hotel were smooth and the hotel staff, all young men as far as I could tell, very welcoming.
It was a short night as we met Eric de Vries at 5:15 am for a day of photography at some of the Angkor temples. A professional photographer he offers a variety of tours from temples to city streets to Cambodian countryside. From Holland originally, Eric has spent time in Cambodia since 2000 and lived here since 2007.
We traveled by tuk tuk, pictured above and called by some, “auto rickshaws,” which was more easily able to navigate the narrow roads around the temples. Leaving in the dark meant we got to the first temple just as dawn was breaking and ahead of some of the tourists and, we got well started before the heat and humidity became oppressive. It got up to about 95 degrees, but fortunately was somewhat hazy. Within some of the temple ruins, there was shade and an occasional breeze.
Eric took us to his favorite spots for shots and gave us pointers on what settings to try and then gently critiqued our efforts. He had us re-take the photo several times until we made it better or tried a different approach. One of his mantras was “make it darker” and generally, the result was better. We visited several temples from early morning until after 2:00 in the afternoon with a break for Khmer cuisine for lunch. I was especially fond of the Preah Khan temple and all the shadings of stone it was possible to bring out with the camera. The day was a great experience and I’m glad I persevered despite the heat!
