Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Last Sunday we left Phnom Penh in Cambodia for Saigon in Vietnam which would be the second last new country to visit on our trip. We boarded the bus with the usual baguettes and laughing cow cheeses and geared ourselves up for another painful border crossing. As it happens, we were pleasantly surprised. The buses were fine, the border crossing uneventful and we arrived in Ho Chi Minh City (alternative name for Saigon) pretty much on time. We got to Saigon in the middle of the afternoon which was kind of annoying as it was too late in the day to do anything really. So we took advantage of the opportunity to arse about and not do anything in particular. Life is tough! The big thing to do in Saigon is to visit the Cu Chi Tunnels about 70km outside the city. The tunnels are those actually used by the Vietcong in the American war. We decided to get this “over and done with” the next day. The first thing we realized about the tunnels when we pulled up in our coach was that it was overrun with tourists. While the temples Angkor were nice and peaceful, the Cu Chi Tunnels were just ridden with Japanese, English, Americans, Koreans – you name it. Also, they really pad the experience out with a crap dvd, a few waxwork models of Vietcong soldiers, a few souvenir stalls and a shooting range. The tunnels themselves were pretty interesting though. They were ludicrously low and tight and while I crawled through a section of them open to the public I was amazed at how the Vietcong spent weeks at time down there during the war. Also pretty interesting were all the barbaric traps that they set for the Americans.
As we were staying on the Saigon equivalent of the Khao Sahn road there was plenty of stuff happening near our lodging. We chose that night to sample all that it had to offer which meant that the next morning our options were restricted. We decided to go with a day at a nearby swimming pool. It was a nice way to spend the day except that despite the heat, it was quite cloudy so you get lots of heat and humidity and no body colour to show for it which seems a bit unfair. Feeling a lot better the next day we set out early enough to do the “obligatory seeing the city” day. We first headed to the Ben Tham market which we had heard was pretty mental. Mental is a sever understatement. We’ve had our fair share of markets on this trip but none as crazy as this. The second you step into the market, women are instantly pulling at you to come to their stalls and buy their clothes/food/useless tack. At one point I had four women pulling me in four different directions. I gave in and bought a t-shirt from one women but that was a mistake because she spent the next 30 minutes trying to convince me I wanted 3 more t-shirts. We wanted to walk around a bit more but it was far too stressful so we exited that area pretty sharpish.
Next on the agenda were the reunification palace which is where American tanks headed to on the day Saigon fell and the War Remnants museum. Unfortunately, neither opened until 1pm which was a good 2 hours away so we just headed back to our area. Finally after messing around for a few hours we headed back to the War Remnants museum but decided to leave out the reunification palace at this stage. The museum was actually pretty good. Well it depends what you mean by good. It was fairly biased to the side of the Vietnamese but I also wondered what such a museum would be like in America. It also contained some pretty horrific photos and one part of it actually held some fetuses in a jar that had been affected by Agent Orange. Pretty gruesome. As Fi’s birthday was the next day and the day after that we were due to catch an early bus, we felt that some celebratory drinks would be better enjoyed on this day. We went for some pool and ended up meeting a bunch of people – some friendly and interesting – some not so much. Still midnight came and we made a lot of noise. Realising it was somebody’s birthday, the staff asked me who the birthday person was. Soon after I told them, they came up with a free cocktail and with Happy Birthday playing on the sound system which was pretty nice.
The next morning we had a nice birthday lie-on followed by some birthday watching of the O.C. followed by present giving time. It was Fi’s birthday and we were going to act like it was so we headed out of Saigon to this kind of Kid’s park. It was totally cheesy and childish but we loved it and we went on bumper cars, water splash things, rollercoasters and a haunted house. Great craic! After that we went to see the Christina Noble foundation that is based in Saigon. The foundation helps homeless, parentless and sick kids and for those of you who don’t know, was set up by a woman from Dublin called Christina Noble. It was an entirely different experience to the orphanage we visited in Phnom Penh as it was a lot cleaner and better funded. We still got to have a bit of time playing with the kids though which was great fun as always. They were little terrors and wouldn’t stop climbing all over me. We wanted to celebrate Fi’s birthday gastronomically too so, courtesy of her mother, we went to a beautiful French Bistro in town. Unfortunately the French Onion Soup was off the menu but the deliciousness of everything else made up for that. We enjoyed a quality 3 course meal and for a pair who have been on the road on a budget for nearly 6 months it was pure heaven. We finished the night off with a cocktail in Q bar. A great birthday day.
The next morning we were off to Nha Trang, Vietnam’s best beach spot. This was well overdue as we hadn’t seen the beach properly since Rio De Janeiro. Thankfully the weather in Nha Trang was a lot less cloudy than Saigon and while it was still hot, it was also a lot less humid. As well as having Vietnam’s best beach it also had Vietnam’s best dive sites. We hadn’t dived since our Open Water Course in Cairns so we legged it straight out to book ourselves in for some diving for the next day. We found a great company called Vinadive which seemed to put as much of an emphasis on the hearty lunch as the actual diving. This is very important as diving makes you exceptionally hungry. We headed out the next day all excited and we weren’t disappointed. Although the visibility was only 10m at the best of times, there was some fascinating coral and fish to be seen. Everyone seems to strive to “find” nemo where as my favourite reef fish has to be the Moorish Idol. I also seemed to enjoy this diving a lot more than that on the Barrier Reed. I reckon it’s because on the barrier reef I was still learning and getting to grips with all the aspects of diving. Here I felt like I really knew what I was doing and was able to relax a lot more and enjoy everything around me. We enjoyed the diving so much that we decided to book in again for 2 days later. It’s a little naughty as it’s just outside our budget but diving is completely addictive and after coming back from our second day of diving in Nha Trang all I could think about is where and when I could do it again. The fact that we won’t be near the sea again until the Thai islands in a month is probably a good thing.
The other big thing we did in Nha Trang was a visit to the natural hot spring thermal mineral mud bath thingys. After paying in, you first head for one of the mud pits. These are basically like mini swimming pools but the pipes in them spurt out mud instead of water. As it was a Saturday, the place was chock full of Vietnamese. We found a pit and slipped in. The Vietnamese thought it completely hysterical that people of our size and colour would try to get in with them and they certainly didn’t attempt to hide this fact. We laughed and they laughed and we all poured mud over each other. We were best mates by the end of it! We stayed in the mud pit for about 15 minutes which is the recommended time and then we moved onto the hydrotherapy station. This was kind of like a car wash. You walk through between two walls which spray jets of hot natural mineral water at your body from every angle. It’s quite strong and forces all the dirt out of your pores. The next stop is simply the pool. The pool is a massive swimming pool but again full of natural hot mineral water at 48 degrees! It seems really hot at first but once you get in it’s extremely pleasant. The only problem is it makes you totally lethargic and by the time you get out you can’t imagine a time when you ever had a gram of energy. And so we left Nha Trang with a good mix of activity and relaxation. Next stop – Hoi An for cheap suits and shoes.
As we were staying on the Saigon equivalent of the Khao Sahn road there was plenty of stuff happening near our lodging. We chose that night to sample all that it had to offer which meant that the next morning our options were restricted. We decided to go with a day at a nearby swimming pool. It was a nice way to spend the day except that despite the heat, it was quite cloudy so you get lots of heat and humidity and no body colour to show for it which seems a bit unfair. Feeling a lot better the next day we set out early enough to do the “obligatory seeing the city” day. We first headed to the Ben Tham market which we had heard was pretty mental. Mental is a sever understatement. We’ve had our fair share of markets on this trip but none as crazy as this. The second you step into the market, women are instantly pulling at you to come to their stalls and buy their clothes/food/useless tack. At one point I had four women pulling me in four different directions. I gave in and bought a t-shirt from one women but that was a mistake because she spent the next 30 minutes trying to convince me I wanted 3 more t-shirts. We wanted to walk around a bit more but it was far too stressful so we exited that area pretty sharpish.
Next on the agenda were the reunification palace which is where American tanks headed to on the day Saigon fell and the War Remnants museum. Unfortunately, neither opened until 1pm which was a good 2 hours away so we just headed back to our area. Finally after messing around for a few hours we headed back to the War Remnants museum but decided to leave out the reunification palace at this stage. The museum was actually pretty good. Well it depends what you mean by good. It was fairly biased to the side of the Vietnamese but I also wondered what such a museum would be like in America. It also contained some pretty horrific photos and one part of it actually held some fetuses in a jar that had been affected by Agent Orange. Pretty gruesome. As Fi’s birthday was the next day and the day after that we were due to catch an early bus, we felt that some celebratory drinks would be better enjoyed on this day. We went for some pool and ended up meeting a bunch of people – some friendly and interesting – some not so much. Still midnight came and we made a lot of noise. Realising it was somebody’s birthday, the staff asked me who the birthday person was. Soon after I told them, they came up with a free cocktail and with Happy Birthday playing on the sound system which was pretty nice.
The next morning we had a nice birthday lie-on followed by some birthday watching of the O.C. followed by present giving time. It was Fi’s birthday and we were going to act like it was so we headed out of Saigon to this kind of Kid’s park. It was totally cheesy and childish but we loved it and we went on bumper cars, water splash things, rollercoasters and a haunted house. Great craic! After that we went to see the Christina Noble foundation that is based in Saigon. The foundation helps homeless, parentless and sick kids and for those of you who don’t know, was set up by a woman from Dublin called Christina Noble. It was an entirely different experience to the orphanage we visited in Phnom Penh as it was a lot cleaner and better funded. We still got to have a bit of time playing with the kids though which was great fun as always. They were little terrors and wouldn’t stop climbing all over me. We wanted to celebrate Fi’s birthday gastronomically too so, courtesy of her mother, we went to a beautiful French Bistro in town. Unfortunately the French Onion Soup was off the menu but the deliciousness of everything else made up for that. We enjoyed a quality 3 course meal and for a pair who have been on the road on a budget for nearly 6 months it was pure heaven. We finished the night off with a cocktail in Q bar. A great birthday day.
The next morning we were off to Nha Trang, Vietnam’s best beach spot. This was well overdue as we hadn’t seen the beach properly since Rio De Janeiro. Thankfully the weather in Nha Trang was a lot less cloudy than Saigon and while it was still hot, it was also a lot less humid. As well as having Vietnam’s best beach it also had Vietnam’s best dive sites. We hadn’t dived since our Open Water Course in Cairns so we legged it straight out to book ourselves in for some diving for the next day. We found a great company called Vinadive which seemed to put as much of an emphasis on the hearty lunch as the actual diving. This is very important as diving makes you exceptionally hungry. We headed out the next day all excited and we weren’t disappointed. Although the visibility was only 10m at the best of times, there was some fascinating coral and fish to be seen. Everyone seems to strive to “find” nemo where as my favourite reef fish has to be the Moorish Idol. I also seemed to enjoy this diving a lot more than that on the Barrier Reed. I reckon it’s because on the barrier reef I was still learning and getting to grips with all the aspects of diving. Here I felt like I really knew what I was doing and was able to relax a lot more and enjoy everything around me. We enjoyed the diving so much that we decided to book in again for 2 days later. It’s a little naughty as it’s just outside our budget but diving is completely addictive and after coming back from our second day of diving in Nha Trang all I could think about is where and when I could do it again. The fact that we won’t be near the sea again until the Thai islands in a month is probably a good thing.
The other big thing we did in Nha Trang was a visit to the natural hot spring thermal mineral mud bath thingys. After paying in, you first head for one of the mud pits. These are basically like mini swimming pools but the pipes in them spurt out mud instead of water. As it was a Saturday, the place was chock full of Vietnamese. We found a pit and slipped in. The Vietnamese thought it completely hysterical that people of our size and colour would try to get in with them and they certainly didn’t attempt to hide this fact. We laughed and they laughed and we all poured mud over each other. We were best mates by the end of it! We stayed in the mud pit for about 15 minutes which is the recommended time and then we moved onto the hydrotherapy station. This was kind of like a car wash. You walk through between two walls which spray jets of hot natural mineral water at your body from every angle. It’s quite strong and forces all the dirt out of your pores. The next stop is simply the pool. The pool is a massive swimming pool but again full of natural hot mineral water at 48 degrees! It seems really hot at first but once you get in it’s extremely pleasant. The only problem is it makes you totally lethargic and by the time you get out you can’t imagine a time when you ever had a gram of energy. And so we left Nha Trang with a good mix of activity and relaxation. Next stop – Hoi An for cheap suits and shoes.
Our tour guide at the Cu Chi tunnels getting into one of the tunnels. He was the only one who could fit in!
Hanging out on a tank at the Cu Chi Tunnels.
Me and Fi getting into part of the tunnels...
... and getting out again at the end. A lot sweatier than when we entered!
Enjoying a Mojito on a rooftop bar in Saigon
Celebrating Fi's birthday in Saigon with a pair of Motley Crue t-shirts
Concentrating on trying to bash into little Vietnamese kids on Fi's birthday
Giving a piggy back to a million kids at one time at the Christina Noble foundation in Saigon
Part of Nha Trang beach
Getting ready to get in the water at Nha Trang
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Angkor What?!
I wish to apologise in advance for the cheesieness of some of the following blog entry. Cambodia just brings it out in me!
I’ve just spent the last week in Cambodia – and what an eye-opener! It all started with a dodgy bus journey (as usual) from Bangkok to Siem Reap in the Northwest of Cambodia. We had heard that the road between these two cities leaves a lot to be desired and although it’s a well worn path for backpackers, it remains in a state thanks to southeast Asian airlines bribing the Cambodian government to not upgrade it. Such cheek and corruption made us want to choose the overland option even more however the night before we left was a Saturday and a Saturday night on the Khao Sahn Rd is not something to be taken lightly. The bus was at a ridiculously early hour and we bumped and bounced our way over the border under scorching heat with no air conditioning. The entire trip took roughly 12 hours. It wasn’t all bad though, once we had crossed into the “Kingdom of Cambodia”, we were treated to miles of stunning scenery involving rivers, rice paddies and some very interesting traffic passing us on the road. One guy had 3 pigs strapped to the front of his little scooter and another scooter contained an entire family of 5! Another good thing about the bus was that we met a very nice group of people on it. There was Bart from Belgium, Leopold from France and Laura & Colin from California. We all ended up staying in the same guesthouse in Siem Reap which made for fun dinner and drinks that night.
The main reason visitors make the journey to Siem Reap is to see the nearby temples of Angkor. The Angkorian period of Cambodia’s history lasted from roughly 9th century to 15th century AD. The area contains over a thousand temples – some extremely impressive while some mere piles of rubble. Temple enthusiasts could easily spend a week here exploring all there is to offer however that’s not what Fi and are so we opted for two days of exploration. For the first of these days we hired a tuk tuk driver for the day. We decided to hit the main famous temples on this day leaving us open for the second day. The first one we visited, Angkor Wat, is the biggest and probably most famous. It is also the most restored temple in the area and served to give an idea of what a whole temple looked like at the time. As Cambodia has only recently opened it’s gates to tourists, the area is not overrun with tourists yet. Sure there are the obligatory Americans and Japanese tour groups but there were so few that by planning your route around the temple carefully you could avoid bumping into them too much. Another benefit of the lack of tourists is that you are allowed to climb all over the temples. You can duck in and out of windows, climb steps at 85 degree angles and swing off pillars to your heart’s content. And that is certainly what we did.
The second temple we visited was Bayon Temple in the ancient city of Angkor Thom. Bayon was completely different to Angkor Wat in that it was much less restored. Even apart from that the design was completely different. It’s difficult to explain but it was sufficiently different that you knew straight away you were in a completely different temple to Angkor Wat. More climbing and acting like nine year olds here. After Bayon we were on to Ta Prohm which again was completely different to the other two temples. This one had been taken over by trees and there were mysterious roots winding their way in and out of all the rooms and around the walls and roofs. This looked like something straight out of Tomb Raider and in fact I think it was this temple that part of Tomb Raider was filmed at. It was certainly one of the Cambodian temples anyway. Unfortunately Angelina was nowhere around. It was getting late in the afternoon at this stage and we were beginning to feel a little templed out so we headed for one more. I can’t remember the name of this one but it was nothing special compared to the three we had just seen. It just confirmed for me that I’m not the temple enthusiast that some people are and so we had a quick look round and called it a day. That night we went for dinner with our little gang that we met on the bus the previous day. Lonely Planet raved and raved about Khmer food (the Khmer being the predominant ethnic group of Cambodia) so we were just dying to try it out. Although it’s not really done to order a few dishes and share them in Cambodia we still did it because we wanted to try a bit or everything. We ordered all sorts of stuff from the menu and wondered why Lonely Planet raved about it and how it could be so much different from Chinese, Indian or Thai food. Oh my God! The best way I can describe it is a mix between Thai and Indian. Some dishes are fried but not at all greasy. Some dishes are yoghurt based but don’t seem too fatty. It’s all-round excellent Asian food that doesn’t leave you going away feeling like you have to eat like a rabbit for the next week. Following the dinner we explored some of Siem Reap’s bar scene. Some of the bars are quite cool including one hilariously named Angkor What? One of the ones we went to had a fun band playing cheesy western hits but unfortunately prositution is prevalent in Cambodia and specifically in Siem Reap. Everywhere I looked that night I could see evidence of it.
The next day we decided we didn’t want to go to any more temples that were like the ones we’d already seen. This led to us taking another rented tuk tuk to a temple 70km outside Siem Reap called Beng Melea. This temple had been recommended to us by a couple we met on Easter Island and (to quote lonely planet) “if you thought Ta Prohm was overgrown, Beng Melea makes it look like they just forgot to mow the lawn”. This statement certainly turned out to be true – the place is completely under seige from the surrounding foliage. Also the fact that it is so far out means there were even less tourists hanging around and for most of the time there we were completely on our own. It also meant there were no Cambodian kids constantly hounding you to buy cold drinks or guide books. We were feeling in a very childish mood so we jumped at the chance to explore this temple to the fullest. There was no real path around or through it like the other temples so you just had to make do with clambering over collapsed parts of it and climbing up vines and walls. After an hour of wandering around we climbed up to the top of the wall that makes up the main body of the temple and walked almost all the way around it. We stopped half way to just lie there in the tropical heat and silence apart from the birds, insects and monkeys. With no other tourists around at that point we could have been at the end of the earth. It certainly didn’t feel like the year 2007 anyway.
Our general plan after Siem Reap was to head for Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh. We decided to do this by going via Battambang in the middle of the country and spending a night there. While there is not much going on in Battambang, the reason we went is because we heard the boat trip there from Siem Reap was stunning. It actually did turn out to be stunning (another thumbs up for Cambodia) although because the water was low it took eight hours to get there. It was definitely worth doing and was some of the best scenery I’ve ever seen but if I was doing it again I might try and go for a 3 or 4 hour journey instead. We arrived into Battambang early evening and apart from organising a bus to Phnom Penh for the next morning we didn’t really do a whole lot except for enjoying a delicious Chicken Amok in a great restaurant called the Smokin’ Pot. We arrived in Phnom Penh mid afternoon the following day with a vague plan to spend a few hours in the Tuol Sleng museum. Unfortunately this plan was undermined by the place we were staying. For accommodation in Phnom Penh we had chosen a nice little lakeside guesthouse. It was definitely a bit grotty and run down but the bar was amazing. It consisted of a load of wicker tables and chairs on a decking that was literally IN the lake. The view of the lake from the bar was cool during the day and unbelievable at sunset. Local kids would row up to your seat while you’re sipping a cool bottle of Angkor beer (Angkor is the brand name for absolutely everything in Cambodia) and offer you trips around the lake in your boat. The staff were great fun, there was a pool table and the chef did a mean chicken amok (national dish of Cambodia). Our only worry was that we may never actually be able to leave this haven of relaxation for our entire time in Phnom Penh. We spent the rest of the day drinking beers with an interesting couple who have been travelling the world for two years now with their two kids aged 6 and 9 respectively.
Thankfully the next day we were able to get up and using a tuk tuk driver we headed out to see the Killing Fields. This is a site containing dozens of mass graves where the Khmer Rouge sent prisoners from the Tuol Sleng prison camp to be executed. The graves themselves just look like shallow pits in the ground however what really catch your attention are the strips of clothing and pieces of bone half buried in the ground that are still there from when the prisoners were executed. In addition, a large monument in the centre contains hundreds of skulls behind a glass panel which were excavated from the mass graves. As if this wasn’t depressing enough, we travelled on to the Tuol Sleng museum. This place used to be a high school but was converted into the S-21 prison camp by Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge regime. We walked around the rooms where prisoners were tortured, interrogated and murdered. We saw the cruel conditions in which they were kept and several of the torture devices used. Some of the rooms contain headshots of many of the prisoners as each one was photographed upon entering the prison camp. Also on display are skulls recovered from the grounds that show gunshot wounds and wounds from being battered. I know it sounds like a depressing day but the actions commited by the Khmer Rouge were more brutal and heinous than those commited by the Nazi regime and it is important that people understand what happened there. We did however head to a nice outdoor bar by the river afterwards to have a drink with our tuk tuk driver to lift our spirits. By the time we arrived back to the guesthouse we were back in good spirits again.
For our final day in Phnom Penh we headed out to an orphanage that we had learned about from the couple staying in our guesthouse. On the way there we purchased a 25kg of rice and a football and hula hoop for the kids. As soon as we pulled into the orphanage we were swamped by dozens of children ranging from 6 to 16 years old. They had big beaming smiles on their faces and were even more delighted when they discovered the gifts we had brought. We were introduced to one of the teachers at the orphanage who took us on a tour and explained a little about how it was set up and how it is run. After that we were allowed to talk to and play with the kids. At first it was a bit disconcerting and we didn’t know where to begin but it wasn’t long before we were playing football, volleyball, basketball and every other game you can think of. The sun was beating down and the children are far more used to it than I am so I was forced to take regular breaks from the activities. During a game of basketball I lifted one of the children up above my head to make a slam dunk which went down a treat. Soon enough all the kids were lining up to get a slam dunk experience with this massive western man who had just turned up. After many hours of playing, the kids were called in for a meal. Their entire diet consists of a bowl of plain boiled rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner which is why the 25kg of rice we brought would be helpful. We decided this would be a convenient point to leave and so we drove out in our tuk tuk with the kids running along behind us shouting goodbyes and waving. It was an extremely rewarding experience and it felt great to be able to help the children in a way you know they are benefiting from it. Unfortunately there are a lot of children in Cambodia begging for money and trying to sell you books. While it is often very difficult to refuse their pleading eyes it is worth remembering that more often than not, any money they get goes straight to their parents and they get none of it. Therefore by going to the orphanage we could be sure we were helping in a way that would directly benefit the children. It was also a refreshingly uplifting day following our tour of the killing fields and prison camp the day before. That day was our last full one in Cambodia and it marked the end of a week of my life that I’ll never forget. Despite everything that has happened in Cambodia in the last 30 years, the people are so friendly and fun and full of life. At the risk of sounding cheesy it just shows the power of the human spirit.
Helping a kid get a slam dunk at the orphanage in Phnom Penh
Fi with some of the orphans
The view from one of the rooms where prisoners at the Tuol Sleng prisoner's camp were tortured
The memorial to the dead at the killing fields
The view from the bar at our guesthouse in Phnom Penh
An example of some of the scenery along the boat trip from Siem Reap to Battambang
The overgrown temple Beng Melea
Enjoying our Khmer food fiesta. From left to right Leopold, Colin, Laura, Fi, Bart
Standing in one of the doorways of Ta Prohm
Chatting to our tuk tuk driver, "T", on a tour of the temples of Angkor
One of the monkeys hanging around at the temples of Angkor
Me and Fi doing our best Lara Croft impersonations at Angkor Wat
Me at the top of some very steep steps at Angkor wat
Me in front of Angkor Wat
Having "really strong" cocktails at a roadside vendor on the Khao Sahn rd.
Taking a boat trip along the river in Bangkok
At the Grand Palace in Bangkok. Looks like something out of the neverhood. Notice my rather fetching pants.
Me and Fi at the Grand Palace in Bangkok
A scene from the Temple St Night Market in Hong Kong
Taking the famous Star Ferry to Kowloon in Hong Kong
Fi on the world's longest escalator in Hong Kong
The view from our apartment in Hong Kong
I wish to apologise in advance for the cheesieness of some of the following blog entry. Cambodia just brings it out in me!
I’ve just spent the last week in Cambodia – and what an eye-opener! It all started with a dodgy bus journey (as usual) from Bangkok to Siem Reap in the Northwest of Cambodia. We had heard that the road between these two cities leaves a lot to be desired and although it’s a well worn path for backpackers, it remains in a state thanks to southeast Asian airlines bribing the Cambodian government to not upgrade it. Such cheek and corruption made us want to choose the overland option even more however the night before we left was a Saturday and a Saturday night on the Khao Sahn Rd is not something to be taken lightly. The bus was at a ridiculously early hour and we bumped and bounced our way over the border under scorching heat with no air conditioning. The entire trip took roughly 12 hours. It wasn’t all bad though, once we had crossed into the “Kingdom of Cambodia”, we were treated to miles of stunning scenery involving rivers, rice paddies and some very interesting traffic passing us on the road. One guy had 3 pigs strapped to the front of his little scooter and another scooter contained an entire family of 5! Another good thing about the bus was that we met a very nice group of people on it. There was Bart from Belgium, Leopold from France and Laura & Colin from California. We all ended up staying in the same guesthouse in Siem Reap which made for fun dinner and drinks that night.
The main reason visitors make the journey to Siem Reap is to see the nearby temples of Angkor. The Angkorian period of Cambodia’s history lasted from roughly 9th century to 15th century AD. The area contains over a thousand temples – some extremely impressive while some mere piles of rubble. Temple enthusiasts could easily spend a week here exploring all there is to offer however that’s not what Fi and are so we opted for two days of exploration. For the first of these days we hired a tuk tuk driver for the day. We decided to hit the main famous temples on this day leaving us open for the second day. The first one we visited, Angkor Wat, is the biggest and probably most famous. It is also the most restored temple in the area and served to give an idea of what a whole temple looked like at the time. As Cambodia has only recently opened it’s gates to tourists, the area is not overrun with tourists yet. Sure there are the obligatory Americans and Japanese tour groups but there were so few that by planning your route around the temple carefully you could avoid bumping into them too much. Another benefit of the lack of tourists is that you are allowed to climb all over the temples. You can duck in and out of windows, climb steps at 85 degree angles and swing off pillars to your heart’s content. And that is certainly what we did.
The second temple we visited was Bayon Temple in the ancient city of Angkor Thom. Bayon was completely different to Angkor Wat in that it was much less restored. Even apart from that the design was completely different. It’s difficult to explain but it was sufficiently different that you knew straight away you were in a completely different temple to Angkor Wat. More climbing and acting like nine year olds here. After Bayon we were on to Ta Prohm which again was completely different to the other two temples. This one had been taken over by trees and there were mysterious roots winding their way in and out of all the rooms and around the walls and roofs. This looked like something straight out of Tomb Raider and in fact I think it was this temple that part of Tomb Raider was filmed at. It was certainly one of the Cambodian temples anyway. Unfortunately Angelina was nowhere around. It was getting late in the afternoon at this stage and we were beginning to feel a little templed out so we headed for one more. I can’t remember the name of this one but it was nothing special compared to the three we had just seen. It just confirmed for me that I’m not the temple enthusiast that some people are and so we had a quick look round and called it a day. That night we went for dinner with our little gang that we met on the bus the previous day. Lonely Planet raved and raved about Khmer food (the Khmer being the predominant ethnic group of Cambodia) so we were just dying to try it out. Although it’s not really done to order a few dishes and share them in Cambodia we still did it because we wanted to try a bit or everything. We ordered all sorts of stuff from the menu and wondered why Lonely Planet raved about it and how it could be so much different from Chinese, Indian or Thai food. Oh my God! The best way I can describe it is a mix between Thai and Indian. Some dishes are fried but not at all greasy. Some dishes are yoghurt based but don’t seem too fatty. It’s all-round excellent Asian food that doesn’t leave you going away feeling like you have to eat like a rabbit for the next week. Following the dinner we explored some of Siem Reap’s bar scene. Some of the bars are quite cool including one hilariously named Angkor What? One of the ones we went to had a fun band playing cheesy western hits but unfortunately prositution is prevalent in Cambodia and specifically in Siem Reap. Everywhere I looked that night I could see evidence of it.
The next day we decided we didn’t want to go to any more temples that were like the ones we’d already seen. This led to us taking another rented tuk tuk to a temple 70km outside Siem Reap called Beng Melea. This temple had been recommended to us by a couple we met on Easter Island and (to quote lonely planet) “if you thought Ta Prohm was overgrown, Beng Melea makes it look like they just forgot to mow the lawn”. This statement certainly turned out to be true – the place is completely under seige from the surrounding foliage. Also the fact that it is so far out means there were even less tourists hanging around and for most of the time there we were completely on our own. It also meant there were no Cambodian kids constantly hounding you to buy cold drinks or guide books. We were feeling in a very childish mood so we jumped at the chance to explore this temple to the fullest. There was no real path around or through it like the other temples so you just had to make do with clambering over collapsed parts of it and climbing up vines and walls. After an hour of wandering around we climbed up to the top of the wall that makes up the main body of the temple and walked almost all the way around it. We stopped half way to just lie there in the tropical heat and silence apart from the birds, insects and monkeys. With no other tourists around at that point we could have been at the end of the earth. It certainly didn’t feel like the year 2007 anyway.
Our general plan after Siem Reap was to head for Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh. We decided to do this by going via Battambang in the middle of the country and spending a night there. While there is not much going on in Battambang, the reason we went is because we heard the boat trip there from Siem Reap was stunning. It actually did turn out to be stunning (another thumbs up for Cambodia) although because the water was low it took eight hours to get there. It was definitely worth doing and was some of the best scenery I’ve ever seen but if I was doing it again I might try and go for a 3 or 4 hour journey instead. We arrived into Battambang early evening and apart from organising a bus to Phnom Penh for the next morning we didn’t really do a whole lot except for enjoying a delicious Chicken Amok in a great restaurant called the Smokin’ Pot. We arrived in Phnom Penh mid afternoon the following day with a vague plan to spend a few hours in the Tuol Sleng museum. Unfortunately this plan was undermined by the place we were staying. For accommodation in Phnom Penh we had chosen a nice little lakeside guesthouse. It was definitely a bit grotty and run down but the bar was amazing. It consisted of a load of wicker tables and chairs on a decking that was literally IN the lake. The view of the lake from the bar was cool during the day and unbelievable at sunset. Local kids would row up to your seat while you’re sipping a cool bottle of Angkor beer (Angkor is the brand name for absolutely everything in Cambodia) and offer you trips around the lake in your boat. The staff were great fun, there was a pool table and the chef did a mean chicken amok (national dish of Cambodia). Our only worry was that we may never actually be able to leave this haven of relaxation for our entire time in Phnom Penh. We spent the rest of the day drinking beers with an interesting couple who have been travelling the world for two years now with their two kids aged 6 and 9 respectively.
Thankfully the next day we were able to get up and using a tuk tuk driver we headed out to see the Killing Fields. This is a site containing dozens of mass graves where the Khmer Rouge sent prisoners from the Tuol Sleng prison camp to be executed. The graves themselves just look like shallow pits in the ground however what really catch your attention are the strips of clothing and pieces of bone half buried in the ground that are still there from when the prisoners were executed. In addition, a large monument in the centre contains hundreds of skulls behind a glass panel which were excavated from the mass graves. As if this wasn’t depressing enough, we travelled on to the Tuol Sleng museum. This place used to be a high school but was converted into the S-21 prison camp by Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge regime. We walked around the rooms where prisoners were tortured, interrogated and murdered. We saw the cruel conditions in which they were kept and several of the torture devices used. Some of the rooms contain headshots of many of the prisoners as each one was photographed upon entering the prison camp. Also on display are skulls recovered from the grounds that show gunshot wounds and wounds from being battered. I know it sounds like a depressing day but the actions commited by the Khmer Rouge were more brutal and heinous than those commited by the Nazi regime and it is important that people understand what happened there. We did however head to a nice outdoor bar by the river afterwards to have a drink with our tuk tuk driver to lift our spirits. By the time we arrived back to the guesthouse we were back in good spirits again.
For our final day in Phnom Penh we headed out to an orphanage that we had learned about from the couple staying in our guesthouse. On the way there we purchased a 25kg of rice and a football and hula hoop for the kids. As soon as we pulled into the orphanage we were swamped by dozens of children ranging from 6 to 16 years old. They had big beaming smiles on their faces and were even more delighted when they discovered the gifts we had brought. We were introduced to one of the teachers at the orphanage who took us on a tour and explained a little about how it was set up and how it is run. After that we were allowed to talk to and play with the kids. At first it was a bit disconcerting and we didn’t know where to begin but it wasn’t long before we were playing football, volleyball, basketball and every other game you can think of. The sun was beating down and the children are far more used to it than I am so I was forced to take regular breaks from the activities. During a game of basketball I lifted one of the children up above my head to make a slam dunk which went down a treat. Soon enough all the kids were lining up to get a slam dunk experience with this massive western man who had just turned up. After many hours of playing, the kids were called in for a meal. Their entire diet consists of a bowl of plain boiled rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner which is why the 25kg of rice we brought would be helpful. We decided this would be a convenient point to leave and so we drove out in our tuk tuk with the kids running along behind us shouting goodbyes and waving. It was an extremely rewarding experience and it felt great to be able to help the children in a way you know they are benefiting from it. Unfortunately there are a lot of children in Cambodia begging for money and trying to sell you books. While it is often very difficult to refuse their pleading eyes it is worth remembering that more often than not, any money they get goes straight to their parents and they get none of it. Therefore by going to the orphanage we could be sure we were helping in a way that would directly benefit the children. It was also a refreshingly uplifting day following our tour of the killing fields and prison camp the day before. That day was our last full one in Cambodia and it marked the end of a week of my life that I’ll never forget. Despite everything that has happened in Cambodia in the last 30 years, the people are so friendly and fun and full of life. At the risk of sounding cheesy it just shows the power of the human spirit.
Helping a kid get a slam dunk at the orphanage in Phnom Penh
Fi with some of the orphans
The view from one of the rooms where prisoners at the Tuol Sleng prisoner's camp were tortured
The memorial to the dead at the killing fields
The view from the bar at our guesthouse in Phnom Penh
An example of some of the scenery along the boat trip from Siem Reap to Battambang
The overgrown temple Beng Melea
Enjoying our Khmer food fiesta. From left to right Leopold, Colin, Laura, Fi, Bart
Standing in one of the doorways of Ta Prohm
Chatting to our tuk tuk driver, "T", on a tour of the temples of Angkor
One of the monkeys hanging around at the temples of Angkor
Me and Fi doing our best Lara Croft impersonations at Angkor Wat
Me at the top of some very steep steps at Angkor wat
Me in front of Angkor Wat
Having "really strong" cocktails at a roadside vendor on the Khao Sahn rd.
Taking a boat trip along the river in Bangkok
At the Grand Palace in Bangkok. Looks like something out of the neverhood. Notice my rather fetching pants.
Me and Fi at the Grand Palace in Bangkok
A scene from the Temple St Night Market in Hong Kong
Taking the famous Star Ferry to Kowloon in Hong Kong
Fi on the world's longest escalator in Hong Kong
The view from our apartment in Hong KongMonday, June 04, 2007
Our stay in Hong Kong came at just the right time in the trip. After 5 months of being on the road we were eager for some home comforts. Although we had stayed in Shauna's in Sydney and Brizer's in Melbourne, we were still sleeping on couches and having to be considerate towards the other people who live there. In Hong Kong we were very kindly given use of the 45th floor apartment belonging to Shauna's parents who were away in the UK at the time. I was able to unpack my entire bag, leave my stuff around the house, cook good old fashioned western meals, relax on the couch watching dvds, go to the kitchen and make myself a snack whenever I wanted - all luxuries that you leave behind when you embark on a backpacking trip. We arrived in Hong Kong from Beijing around lunchtime and although we had plans to do some sightseeing in the afternoon, the sheer comfort of the apartment made it difficult to leave and so we gave in. We headed for a nearby shopping centre to buy stuff for a week of cooking - we decided we'd had enough of duck's feet and silkworms and for 4 days we were going to eat nothing but western food for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We bought a trolley full of stuff and during the course of the week we enjoyed such non-msg fuelled meals such as Spaghetti Bolegnase, pork chops and baked spuds, chicken stew, tuna pasta, mashed potato with sausages and chicken nuggets & potato waffles. It was heaven and we didn't feel the least bit guilty about not going out and sampling some Hong Kong cuisine.
Another luxury that Hong Kong provided us was being able to speak English and actually be understood. On our first full day there we set out to walk around the streets and catch some of the atmos. We moseyed down to central harbour and caught the famous Star Ferry across the water to Kowloon. This area of Hong Kong was more the Eastern area than the Western area in the city described as where 'East meets West'. We walked around and after dark headed for the Temple St Night Market. This market sells everything from electrical adaptors to mini wooden penis's. We were there mainly for a gawk however we did indulge in some ultra cheap dvds from a nearby shop. To any of those who are tut tutting me for buying pirate dvds - they weren't! They just actually were really cheap dvds. And so we headed back to our apartment armed with the entire collection of 24 - that's a lot of Jack! For our second day we took the funicular up to the top of Victoria Peak where the view is supposed to be amazing. Don't get me wrong, the view is inredible, especially at night, it's just that we had exactly the same view from our apartment's massive front windows - something I expect many visitors to Hong Kong don't have the luxury of. We walked a circuit of the peak which was pretty nice and headed back down to the city on foot for a drink. We had said we wouldn't go out for drinks while in Hong Kong thanks to our debaucherous weekend in Shen Yang but we decided to go for just one as everyone we knew who had been there before kept telling us about all the cool bars. We found the bar street and whie it was pretty funky, the drinks were expensive - Irish prices. We did have one though and agreed that if and when we came back to Hong Kong we would definitely check out the cool bar scene further. Back in our apartment we enjoyed some more of Jack Bauer before bed.
Unfortunately things deteriorated from here on the sightseeing front. For our third day we planned to go to the beach. The first sign that this wasn't going to happen was when we didn't wake up until lunchtime. It didn't take long for us to agree that we should just spend the entire day relaxing, reading and watching Federal Agent Jack Bauer save America from terrorists. We did actually leave the house at one stage - to get a taxi to the shop for a bottle of wine! But these decadent days are what it's all about and I reckoned a rest was needed before the madness of Thailand that was only 2 days away. In any case we were on holidays. Speaking of Thailand, our flight there on the Friday was in the afternoon so we spent the morning cleaning the apartment. The flight was uneventful and we arrived in Bangkok quite excited about the final leg of our trip - Southeast Asia. Although most backpackers head for the Khao Sahn Road which is a street chocked with bars, restaurants, markets and guesthouses. While it sounded like a fun area, we opted for a road just behind it which was a little quieter for sleeping but only 2 mins walk from all the fun. We had kind of decided to get an early night but as we walked past all the cool bars on the way to our guesthouse we realised there was no way that was going to happen. Once we'd showered we headed out to sample all that Bangkok nightlife had to offer.
The place was actually reminiscent of somewhere like Greece or Turkey where package holidayers go to for 2 weeks. Except a lot better. The thing is Thailand is fast becoming one of those destinations and as it was the 1st of June it was pretty full of Europeans on their 2 week boozey holidays. That didn't mean it wasn't fun and there was a great vibe about the place - not to mention the pretty Thai waitresses in tight dresses! At midnight, after a spot of bar hopping and some food, Fi announced that she was in the mood for a massage. Being the reckless travellers we are we went in search of one and found a place that was still open. Because I have a crazy freak obsession with people not touching my back, I opted for the foot massage while Fi went for the full blown Thai massage. Well I tell ya my feet have never been so happy in all my life! And the odd time I looked over at Fi beside me she seemed to be enjoying herself too. That night we went to bed feeling very relaxed altogether.
Our first and only day in Bangkok this time round (we will see it again when we come back at the end of July) we went to see the Grand Palace. We knew beforehand that there was a dress code in that you couldn't have certain parts of your body showing while in the palace and we thought we had accounted for that. It seems we hadn't and upon arriving they forced us to don some rather fetching trailer trash attire. Fi went for the Britney Spears look with a white shirt tied at the waist while I took a long pair of trousers that were more pyjamas. In addition to all this, the heat was serious and having to wear extra clothes didn't help our sweaty situation. I only feel bad for the next guy who has to wear my trousers! In the afternoon, we proceeded to the river side with the idea of taking some kind of boat tour. We managed to organise just that and we set off in a 10 person boat that looked quite like a gondola but with only the two of us in it. For the next hour the driver took us through many of the little canals that weave their way through Bangkok making it even more like Venice than we originally thought. Along the way we saw various temples, river lizards and fish feeding. We also came across a "floating market" (read old Thai woman in a little row boat with some drinks and tacky Thai souveneirs). I bought a beer for me and the boat driver from the woman to keep her happy and we continued on our way. It was actually a really nice trip and we were delighted we took it.
That evening we went for another massage - the first one was just too good to forget! While it was still very good, the first one was somehow just a little better. That evening we hit the Khao Sahn road again but this time we stopped at a little bar vendor thing on the side. It was basically a hot dog stand that sold cocktails instead of hotdogs. It had a few platic stools immediately in front of it and funnily enough it seemed to be the most happening place on the street! So we plonked our asses down and over the next few hours we sampled the different cocktails while striking up conversations with Thai women, Finnish men and Vietnamese children. Each conversation proved crazier than the last. We finished the night in the obligatory English pub in a desperate attempt to catch the Ireland V Argentina match but no dice. Probably just as well as it didn't kick off till 2am Bangkok time and we were on a 7.30 bus to Siem Reap in Cambodia the next morning.
Another luxury that Hong Kong provided us was being able to speak English and actually be understood. On our first full day there we set out to walk around the streets and catch some of the atmos. We moseyed down to central harbour and caught the famous Star Ferry across the water to Kowloon. This area of Hong Kong was more the Eastern area than the Western area in the city described as where 'East meets West'. We walked around and after dark headed for the Temple St Night Market. This market sells everything from electrical adaptors to mini wooden penis's. We were there mainly for a gawk however we did indulge in some ultra cheap dvds from a nearby shop. To any of those who are tut tutting me for buying pirate dvds - they weren't! They just actually were really cheap dvds. And so we headed back to our apartment armed with the entire collection of 24 - that's a lot of Jack! For our second day we took the funicular up to the top of Victoria Peak where the view is supposed to be amazing. Don't get me wrong, the view is inredible, especially at night, it's just that we had exactly the same view from our apartment's massive front windows - something I expect many visitors to Hong Kong don't have the luxury of. We walked a circuit of the peak which was pretty nice and headed back down to the city on foot for a drink. We had said we wouldn't go out for drinks while in Hong Kong thanks to our debaucherous weekend in Shen Yang but we decided to go for just one as everyone we knew who had been there before kept telling us about all the cool bars. We found the bar street and whie it was pretty funky, the drinks were expensive - Irish prices. We did have one though and agreed that if and when we came back to Hong Kong we would definitely check out the cool bar scene further. Back in our apartment we enjoyed some more of Jack Bauer before bed.
Unfortunately things deteriorated from here on the sightseeing front. For our third day we planned to go to the beach. The first sign that this wasn't going to happen was when we didn't wake up until lunchtime. It didn't take long for us to agree that we should just spend the entire day relaxing, reading and watching Federal Agent Jack Bauer save America from terrorists. We did actually leave the house at one stage - to get a taxi to the shop for a bottle of wine! But these decadent days are what it's all about and I reckoned a rest was needed before the madness of Thailand that was only 2 days away. In any case we were on holidays. Speaking of Thailand, our flight there on the Friday was in the afternoon so we spent the morning cleaning the apartment. The flight was uneventful and we arrived in Bangkok quite excited about the final leg of our trip - Southeast Asia. Although most backpackers head for the Khao Sahn Road which is a street chocked with bars, restaurants, markets and guesthouses. While it sounded like a fun area, we opted for a road just behind it which was a little quieter for sleeping but only 2 mins walk from all the fun. We had kind of decided to get an early night but as we walked past all the cool bars on the way to our guesthouse we realised there was no way that was going to happen. Once we'd showered we headed out to sample all that Bangkok nightlife had to offer.
The place was actually reminiscent of somewhere like Greece or Turkey where package holidayers go to for 2 weeks. Except a lot better. The thing is Thailand is fast becoming one of those destinations and as it was the 1st of June it was pretty full of Europeans on their 2 week boozey holidays. That didn't mean it wasn't fun and there was a great vibe about the place - not to mention the pretty Thai waitresses in tight dresses! At midnight, after a spot of bar hopping and some food, Fi announced that she was in the mood for a massage. Being the reckless travellers we are we went in search of one and found a place that was still open. Because I have a crazy freak obsession with people not touching my back, I opted for the foot massage while Fi went for the full blown Thai massage. Well I tell ya my feet have never been so happy in all my life! And the odd time I looked over at Fi beside me she seemed to be enjoying herself too. That night we went to bed feeling very relaxed altogether.
Our first and only day in Bangkok this time round (we will see it again when we come back at the end of July) we went to see the Grand Palace. We knew beforehand that there was a dress code in that you couldn't have certain parts of your body showing while in the palace and we thought we had accounted for that. It seems we hadn't and upon arriving they forced us to don some rather fetching trailer trash attire. Fi went for the Britney Spears look with a white shirt tied at the waist while I took a long pair of trousers that were more pyjamas. In addition to all this, the heat was serious and having to wear extra clothes didn't help our sweaty situation. I only feel bad for the next guy who has to wear my trousers! In the afternoon, we proceeded to the river side with the idea of taking some kind of boat tour. We managed to organise just that and we set off in a 10 person boat that looked quite like a gondola but with only the two of us in it. For the next hour the driver took us through many of the little canals that weave their way through Bangkok making it even more like Venice than we originally thought. Along the way we saw various temples, river lizards and fish feeding. We also came across a "floating market" (read old Thai woman in a little row boat with some drinks and tacky Thai souveneirs). I bought a beer for me and the boat driver from the woman to keep her happy and we continued on our way. It was actually a really nice trip and we were delighted we took it.
That evening we went for another massage - the first one was just too good to forget! While it was still very good, the first one was somehow just a little better. That evening we hit the Khao Sahn road again but this time we stopped at a little bar vendor thing on the side. It was basically a hot dog stand that sold cocktails instead of hotdogs. It had a few platic stools immediately in front of it and funnily enough it seemed to be the most happening place on the street! So we plonked our asses down and over the next few hours we sampled the different cocktails while striking up conversations with Thai women, Finnish men and Vietnamese children. Each conversation proved crazier than the last. We finished the night in the obligatory English pub in a desperate attempt to catch the Ireland V Argentina match but no dice. Probably just as well as it didn't kick off till 2am Bangkok time and we were on a 7.30 bus to Siem Reap in Cambodia the next morning.
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