The not that cheesy Cambodian cheese

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In Phnom Penh we learnt an important lesson, there is no such thing as Cambodian cheese! I have to say that we were a bit surprised to find in the menu a Khmer dish that included Cambodian cheese within its ingredients (cheese it’s not a common ingredient in Southeast Asian cuisine) but we didn’t hesitate and we went for it. Cambodian cheese with pork, how bad can it be? As soon as the dish was at the table, a rotten fish odor assaulted our nostrils. We thought this must be a mistake, this is not what we ordered. Before complaining we searched for Cambodian cheese online. It took us just two minutes to find out that Cambodian cheese has little to do with cheese and that it’s a fermented fish paste! It’s just called cheese for its texture and for its distinctive smell. So there was no mistake… we forced ourselves to taste it… all I can say it’s not for my palate… even the memory of it makes me gag! How can Cambodians love their “cheese” so much?

Khmer cheese - The "tasty" Cambodian delicacy

Unlike Lao and Thailand, Cambodia didn’t truly enchant us for its gastronomy. Don’t get me wrong, we did eat very well in Cambodia and we did try very tasty dishes throughout the country. But for some reason, Cambodian flavours didn’t really surprise us (leaving aside our beloved Cambodian cheese) as much as Laotian and Thai, maybe it was just that we were used to them?

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Ni Hao China!

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Antes de embarcarnos en esta aventura los dos países que más ganas teníamos de descubrir eran India y China, mundos completamente distintos al nuestro y también entre ellos. India hace tiempo que se quedó atrás, y por fín después de seis meses de viaje entramos a China! Con un poco de miedo llegamos a Guilin, nuestro primer destino y donde empezamos la aclimatación al gigante chino.

Todo está escrito en chino y conocer el alfabeto romano no sirve para nada, pero al menos la mayoría de la gente joven habla un poco de inglés y te ayudan a salir de algunos apuros. No se puede sacar dinero de cualquier cajero con una tarjeta extranjera, tiene que ser Bank of China o ICBC. En muchos restaurantes el menu no está en inglés, y aunque lo esté normalmente las traducciones son para echarse a reir, pero al menos tienen fotos que ayudan a adivinar lo que es cada plato. Hay muchas motos eléctricas, que está muy bien desde el punto de vista medio ambiental, pero para peatones recién llegados a China como nosotros son un peligro porque circulan silenciosamente por la acera con las luces apagadas. Fuman como carreteros, incluso en los trenes donde en teoría no se puede, y no paran de echar escupitajos a todas horas. Los canijos en vez de llevar pañales tienen un pantalón con una abertura en el culete, y cuando tiene ganas de hacer cositas los padres simplemente los ponen encima de una papelera y listo. Internet está super capado, no hay acceso a facebook, youtube, twitter, wordpress, picasa, etc, etc y etc. Devoran instant noodles a todas horas y en cualquier sitio, especialmente en los trenes. Son adictos al picante. Y así un sin fín de curiosidades nuevas para nosotros…

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Wearing a Vietnamese hat for 30 days

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We arrived in Vietnam with the perception it would be a very communist, touristy and scooterized country, and that its people would be cold, greedy and not very welcoming. But 30 days in Vietnam were enough to change our minds. We felt in love with the people, the food, the scenery, the outdoorsy way of living… and even with the iconic Vietnamese hats, but not with the traffic!

Vietnam’s recent history is marked by the 100 years of French colonialism, the first Indochina War (which led the country into separation) and the cruelty of Vietnam’s war (which translated into the country’s reunification). The country’s economy, which mainly relied on agriculture, got very badly damaged, specially after the US bombings. In the aftermath of the wars the country suffered and was unable to move forward due to strong communist policies. But the introduction of Doi Moi in the late 80s was probably what saved its economy and what put the country on the road to recovery. We feel that in a short time, and unlike Lao and Cambodia, the country has been able to recuperate from the violent wars and it is now looking ahead into a bright future.

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No hay tra chanh sin pipas

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Nada más llegar a Hanoi nos estaban esperando Luis Carlos y Leticia. Luis, un antiguo compañero de trabajo, y su novia Leticia están viajando por el sudeste asiático durante tres meses. Antes de llegar a Vietnam ya habían pasado por Filipinas y Hong Kong, y todavía les esperaba por delante el mismo recorrido que habíamos hecho nosotros a la inversa, o sea Camboya, Lao y Tailandia. Por supuesto no perdimos la oportunidad de vernos y nos juntamos en Hanoi por un día. Como ellos ya eran veteranos en Hanoi, nos llevaron a comer a un restaurante muy rico donde nos pusimos las botas probando platos locales. También nos enseñaron lo que hacen los jóvenes hanoienses todas las tardes, tomar tra chanh (té frío con limón) sentados en las mini sillas de plástico en la calle mientras comen pipas. Así que con pipas de por medio compartimos historias de viajes. Ni que decir tiene que nos hizo mucha ilusión volver a ver caras conocidas después de tanto tiempo.

A diferencia de Ho Chi Minh city, Hanoi ha sabido crecer conservando su auténtico carácter norvietnamita, dejándo a un lado los grandes centros comerciales, los rascacielos, las glamurosas avenidas y esa nube capitalista que cubre otras grandes ciudades del sudeste asiático. Las caóticas y bulliciosas calles de la parte vieja de la ciudad, inundadas de motos, contrastan en gran medida con las ordenadas y tranquilas calles del antiguo barrio francés, por donde es fácil pasear sin temer ser arrollado.

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Hill tribes and rice terraces

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Our arrival to Sapa was a little bit uninspiring and abrupt. Looking at the grey sky and the dark clouds we were already anticipating that Sapa was going to welcome us with rain… We were hoping the weather would have some mercy, but it didn’t, and as we were reaching Sapa it started to rain heavily. Seriously, such a strong storm that we couldn’t see anything 2 meters ahead of us, it felt as if buckets of water were falling from the sky. Soaking wet we checked in at the first hotel we found with a spare room. There isn’t much to do in Sapa when it’s raining, so a bit disappointed and hopeless, we decided to wait for the sky to clear up having breakfast in our room. Surprisingly one hour later, we were gearing up and getting ready to start trekking around the valleys of Sapa!

On the first day we headed towards the villages of Lao Chai and Ta Van. Although the route between Sapa and Ta Van is supposed to be well defined, we found ourselves a bit lost and walking along the muddy paths (specially after all the rain) in between rice fields. But after cheekily following a group of people who was trekking with a guide for a few minutes, we were back on track. On our way over we walked along the east side of the river, where we run into many tourists, mainly from organized tours. We also met many tribe women along the way trying to sweet-talk the tourists hoping to sell their handicrafts. It really did surprise us how they were able to speak quite a bit of English! On our way back we took a different route, along the west side of the river. This area was far less touristy and much more authentic. Locals had a smile in their face when we passed by, they were more focused on carrying on with their tasks than on selling anything to us. And unlike in Lao Chai and Ta Van, they were happy of being photographed without asking for money.

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