22-23 June – Phnom Penh, Cambodia

We followed the Mekong River south towards Cambodia. We felt very good. Once again we had stood up against the ugly face of corruption. You can of course question if it was worth two days of hardship. We felt that it was.
Cambodia’s history makes you cry. Wars, civil wars, mass murder, communist insanity, more mass murder. The Khmer Rouge are said to have caused the deaths of about two million people (a quarter of the population) during their reign 1975-1979. The Khmer Rouge were collectively insane. This meant that even if they were defeated by the Vietnamese, who marched in to save the three quarters of the population who were close to dying, in 1979, the Khmer Rouge under their lunatic leader Pol Pot continued to wage a war on the Cambodian people during the next 20 years until Pol Pot died in 1998. The Khmer Rouge leadership is still to receive their punishment. Several of them are in leading positions in Cambodia today. The children of Cambodia are not taught about the Khmer Rouge in school. The subject is said to be too complicated.
In Phnom Penh we were invited to stay with Karl-Anders who works with Swedish development programs in Cambodia. Thank you for your hospitality Karl-Anders!
We did the tourist things in Phnom Penh as well.

We can report that the Silver Pagoda has a guard at the gate who wants people to bribe him in order to be let in. In our case, he did not realize who he was messing with until he stood there with his pants around his ankles.
After a visit to the National Museum and lunch at Friend’s (excellent place where street kids are given a second chance), the girls demanded to have their nails done. Glittery silver color. Beautiful!
We loved the Foreign Correspondents’ Club, a classic colonial institution by the confluence of the Tonlé Sap and Mekong Rivers. This is the place to spend some spare time in Phnom Penh!

19-21 June – No Man’s Land

The road through southern Laos was much better than expected. Our temple visits rained away, so we went to see the Khong Phapheng waterfalls instead.
After only two days we had reached the border to Cambodia, formerly the death camp of the communist Khmer Rouge. We were speedily stamped out of Laos, and presented our documents to Cambodian immigration and customs.
Immigration said welcome. Customs said ’NO! GO BACK LAO!’


At some point we will tell the whole insane story about what happened over the next 48 hours. The summary is that we refused to bribe the Cambodian customs officer, he refused to let us enter with our car, and we refused to leave and camped in the middle of the road in front of the border gate for two days.
The Swedish Embassy tried to intervene but was interrupted by the weekend. Finally, through the brave intervention by provincial tourist manager Theany (a wonderful young lady with strong integrity), the vice minister of tourism in Cambodia heard about the Swedish family who was kept hostage at the border. He ordered that we should be released immediately. His will be done.

16-17 June – Vietnam War

We visited the tunnels at Vinh Moc to see how the North Vietnamese soldier and their families survived the bombardments during the Vietnam War.
A few hundred meters south of Vinh Moc is the 17th parallel where the border ran between North and South Vietnam. For us, this area marked the eastern-most point (107 degrees east) of our overland journey. The only way is back...
A solid communist monument with the mandatory pompous mosaic showed where the border between the communist North and the capitalist South had once been.

A few meters away, soldiers were preparing to use their water canons against citizens who were walking in a peaceful demonstration against the oppressive regime.
When approaching the border to Laos, we expected serious problems. We had disregarded all the directives about the zillions of documents we had to arrange in Vietnam. But we were ready for a good fight in the name of freedom. Much to our surprise, we were allowed to exit Vietnam without any problems. Surely, all the border crossings would be a piece of cake from now on!?

5-14 June – Hanoi, Vietnam

We approached Hanoi through a sea of motorbikes. It was obvious that we had left courteous Laos and entered a more intense and crowded country.
We arrived at the Embassy of Sweden in Hanoi where we where met by our friends Elsa and Kristoffer. They moved here a year ago with their children Jonatan and Miriam. It was steaming hot (35-40 degrees) and we happily accepted the offer to stay in the guest house where a modern A/C unit was humming.
We have had a wonderful time in charming Hanoi.
Some highlights:

Exploring the old quarters on foot, with our guide Linda.
Leaning back in a cyclo and cruising slowly through the narrow streets.
Visiting the Mausoleum where Ho Chi Minh lies on his permanent lit de parade.
The Swedish Film Festival which took place in Hanoi and was opened by Elsa.
Burning incense at the Ngoc Son Temple, where Kristoffer told the ancient tale of Hanoi, a story about a turtle and a magical sword.
Watching the water puppet show where skillful puppet masters showcased Vietnamese folk tales.
Spending time with Elsa, Kristoffer, Jonatan and Miriam. The talks, the food, the excursions, the wonderful hospitality. Thank you so much!

3-5 June – Laos to Vietnam

We continued towards Vietnam via the old tombs of Sua Hin, believed to be more than 1000 years old.
After a quick stop in Vieng Xai, we approached the Vietnamese border at Na Meo. The whole situation felt very uncertain. Going back was not an option. We had to get through somehow.
The Vietnamese border police and customs did their best to block the dangerous Swedish family from entering Vietnam. They refused to believe that Swedish citizens can enter Vietnam without a visa. They refused to let us enter with our car.
After a completely Kafkaesque experience, and close to six hours of fierce argumentation, we were finally allowed into Vietnam. It felt great! We had promised our friends in Hanoi that we would arrive on the 5th. It looked like we would make it!
The drive from Na Meo to Hanoi was mountainous and very beautiful. Different hill tribes still live in the remote areas. They seem to be able to make just about anything from bamboo which grows everywhere.
Further down in the valleys, the rice harvesting was in full swing.

1-2 June – Plain of Jars, Laos

The Plain of Jars in northeastern Laos is like something from a fairytale. Hundreds of large stone jars, carved from blocks of stone, are scattered across a wide area. The weathered stone jars are said to be 2000 years old. Most likely they have been used as storage containers for fresh water in the past – nobody knows for sure.
This area was very heavily bombed during the Vietnam War. The Americans tried to stop the North Vietnamese from smuggling weapons to South Vietnam along the so called Ho Chi Minh trail which ran through Laos. Many stone jars were damaged by bombs.
Many people in the area lost their lives during the war. Still today, several people are killed every year by unexploded bombs from the war. When children start playing with the bombs, they sometimes explode.

29-30 May – Luang Prabang, Laos

We spent a couple of days in Luang Prabang with our friends Rein and Maaike from Holland. We first met in Turkey, and have managed to run into each other several times in Iran, Pakistan and India. Our kids spoke English to Rein and Maaike. We felt very proud. They have really managed to pick up a lot of English along the way.
Rein and Maaike told us that they had been refused entry to Vietnam when they tried to cross the border by car from Cambodia a month earlier. We hoped that we would have better luck when trying to enter Vietnam from Laos.

30 May – Towards Hanoi

We are now heading east towards Vietnam and Hanoi where we will visit friends.
After Hanoi, we hope to see a bit more of Vietnam before returning to Laos to explore the southern parts. From Laos we will cross into Cambodia, and then it is time to return to Thailand.
We plan to ship the car back to Sweden from Bangkok some time in July.
We will all fly home to Sweden in August in time for Ola’s sister’s wedding and the start of the next school year.

27-29 May – Hmong people, Laos

We drove through wonderfully green scenery with never ending mountains and small villages clinging to the steep slopes.
We stopped in many Hmong villages to interact with the friendly people. The Hmong form the largest hill tribe group in Laos. They are quite recent immigrants, having come from Burma, Tibet and China during the last century or so.
Returning to Luang Prabang, we stopped by a waterfall to let the children cool off in the clear pools below the falls. A true water wonder land.