23/10/09
We board the bus to Phnom Penh a lovely 7hr jaunt+ usual standing around at the border crossing. We negotiated a tuktuk on arrival and headed for
a guesthouse in town $10- treat with hot water. For dinner we kept our promise and headed to Luna d'autunno- the Italian restaurant run
by Mike, who we met in Ko Phanang. Beautiful fresh pasta+ pizza, proper Italian!
24/10/09
Start out at 9am- head to S-21 prison museum, passing the sad sight of many beggers- amputees, polio sufferers, blind.
S-21 or Tol Sleng, was a harrowing experience. I'm so glad we went as it truely highlights the horrors + scale of what the Khmer Rouge did to
the people of Cambodia. It was a former school, taken over by the Khmer Rouge and turned into a mass prison. over 20,000 people
-men, women, children, oold people, passed through it's doors to be tortured and sent to their deaths in the 'killing fields'
Only 7 people ever survived after being sent here. We walk through rooms- former cells, containing row on row of ID pictures of every prisoner,
meticulously recorded by the Khmer Rouge. They were black + white photos, all with similar haircuts, their expressions you would never forget
-absolute terror in their eyes, a knowing look of their fate. I couldn't believe seeing photos of 70-80 year olds- how were they a threat?
It was upsetting. Next we saw a room containing many bones+skulls + some of theweapons used to torture + kill.
We walked through differnet floors containing the original cells, just as they had been left...tiny suffocating boxes, blood stains on the wall,shackles.
I had a real heart wrenching feeling walking round the empty cells, also a very haunted, uneasy feeling. claire had to leave then as it was so upsetting.
There were torture rooms- 14 victims were found dead here by the Vietnamese troops, killed as they were closing in on the prison. Each torture cells
is how it was found, on the wall a large photo showing how the victim was found in the room. So sickening. It also stuck us how barbed wire had been
strung up covering the different levels...to stop the prisoners from jumping + commiting suicide. I really feel for the Cambodian people.
Next we headed to the killing fields of Choeung EK. This was an extermination camp- mass pits of graves, where people were bludgeoned to death to save bullets.Approx 17,000
people died here in 3 years. today approx 8000 remains are housed in a glass memorial stupa.As we walk around, children beg through the fence for money/food/water. This place is strangely peaceful- impossible to imagine the horrors that happened here.
After such a depressing morning, we decided to head to the Royal Palace, such beautiful grounds and buildings/pagodas/wats. We both agree, the Khmer arcitecture is by far the most beautiful
out of the countries we've visited.
We freshen up for dinner and head to the FCC- thanks Dom for the lovely present! We stop at another bar on the river for a last beer.Suddenly the sad seedy world of Phnom Penh is noticable.
We get offered 'tuk tuk' we say no, then this is often followed by 'u want smoke, weed' ...'no thank you'. Also we see kids (selling books in the day) sat on the chairs of the bar, looking drugged up- stoned or glue sniffer. these kids often get hooked by dealers, making
them work on the street. We feel really uneasy walking back in the dark as it's so quiet, so we hop a tuktuk.
25/10/09
We get the bus to Kampot, thinking it would be 3 hours....7hours later we arrive + are greeted by about 15 tuktuk men. we pick the quietest one, not trying to sell us a guesthouse
+ head to 'blissful' guesthouse,Run by a mancunian guy, it's got good food, great music + cheap, cold Angkor beer...puuuurfect!we bag a $6 room + tuck into some oh so tasty Khmer food.
26/10/09
Have an indulgent lazy day (to save pennies) lie in + have breakfast. Book the Bokor Hill station trek for in couple days time. Wander round this sleepy riverside town + get some books.
we then spend the next few hours swinging in the garden hammocks, reading + drinking jackfruit shakes + beer. Oh how I miss work?!
27/10/09
We are picked up at 9am by our tuktuk man + taken to the Phnom chhnok caves, along the way wave + shout back 'hello!' to about 100 kids!such happy beautiful children here!
We arrive and meet 2 local boys-about 12 years old. such charmers+ brilliant english...they show us up to the caves + explain all about them,we see bats+ various rock formations, plus the 7th century shiva (temple) inside. We give them a couple of dollars
+they head off to school for the afternoon session.
Next we head to Kep, via potholed dirt tracks. It is a small fishing village, famous for it's black peppercorn crabs. We wander along the small beach, have lunch with our driver + then head past a whole neighbourhood of burnt out or rundown former beach houses and mansions,
destroyed by the Khmer rouge- they didnt like the hendonistic rich lifestyles in the area. We head back + chill (again) with more book reading....it's great as we never have time or we feel guilty about taking time to
read when we are at home.
28/10/09
Bokor Hill station trek ay!! Pick up at 7.30am in a 4x4 and head out to the start point, somehow 4 of us manage to squeeze in the front- our guide sits between the driver door and the driver!!!! amazing!haha.
17 of us trek non stop up a massive hill with our guide Try and at the rear, a guy with an AK-47 ' for our protection' apparently. We trek for approx 2 1/2 hours upwards, suffering in the very humid weather. Eventually
we reach a very rugged road built in 1902, where we all hop on the back of a pick up truck and are driven the 23km to bokor national park.
Gradually it gets much cooler, a welcome relief after weeks of humidity! We reach the summit and Bokor Hill Station, or the Royal Palace as it was originally known.
It was a hotel, built for expats in the 50s to come up for a holiday + have weather similar to home. During the Khmer rouge era, it was taken over by the Khmer rouge and used as a prison and base to fight the Vietnamese
across the valley. They would kill prisoners and then fling them over a sheer drop at the back of the hotel into the jungle below.
It is such a desolate, run down and eery place, with mist swirling upfrom the valley below. It has been likened to the hotel in 'The Shining', only this one has bullet holes init. There is a maze of corridors and floors to explore, so quiet inside- empty
+ weathered. Myself and Claire walk down into the basement + get such an overwhelming uneasy feeling that we had to hurry back up....very spooky down there indeed!
We also look round the old deserted post office and Catholic church. A real ghost town up here.
We head back down, picking up a couple of locals on the way we manage to fit 20 people on the back of the pick up truck...impressive! We then trek back down the hill for another 2hours + have the most fantastic beer+ amok on our return!
29/10/09
Another minibus, luckily only 1 hours drive this time, to Shanoukville, Cambodia's only coastal 'resort' + check into a $7 room. We do some wandering+exploring, swap some books
+ relax, it's sooo hot here!
31/10/09
Halloween!!! Lie in, sort out some more cheap ipod uploads + read, as I've come down with a cold. It's so hot + we don't get air con rooms (far cheaper!) so we decided to go to the
'cinema' ie. private rooms you can rent out with a massive TV, tons of DVDs + a fridge of beer, perfect cool down! Have yet more lovely Khmer food + then head to Monkey Republic
for the Halloween party.
1/11/09 (claire takes over the journal)
Today we just chilled again. We went to walk to Serendipity Beach as we wanted to see what it whas like. The beach has been lost recently to the typhoon Katana and
various other ones. There were still children there however, trying to sell us bracelets. They were friendly and not too hassling
though and made us laugh. We didn't buy any bracelets though! SIn the afternoon we went to a tattooist called Mark, Sinville Tattoos.
We had read on his website that he has links with a monk who did consultations and drawings of blessings. We have decided that
we want to get this done and than have it tattooed! So we have arranged to go to Pagoda with Mark tomorrow at 3.30 to meet Monk Moonron. Exciting!!
In the evening we went to a Teppenyaki Restaurant and shared some Tapas style Teppenyaki dishes, was lovely. It is good to just chill
for a few days and catch up with ourselves, as travelling all the the time is tiring and costs more money!
2/11/09
Chilled in the morning. 3.30 we went to Mark's tattoo place for our pagoda visit. We went by tuk tuk. At the moment it is a
special holiday of the full moon festival here in Cambodia and so we were expecting monk Moonron to be quite busy. He was, and so was
unable to do a proper consultation. However, there are some tattoo prayer designs that he has done for Mark and we would be able
to choose one of them ourselves. So we had a blessing by him. This was an experience! You kneel down in front of the monk and put your
hands together in the KNOP, which is like a prayer. You bow to him 3 times placing your hands on the floor in between each bow and knop.
Then we light some incense sticks and hold them in our prayer hands and we stand in front of the green buddah and wish. We did this
and then we had to crouch down on a step. There was us, Mark and another 2 Cambodian guys. We sat in a line. Monk Moonron then
chants over us and pours holy blessed water on us. Holy Soup really, as it contains petals and incense. We had buckets and buckets
poured over us. We were fully dressed too. This was an experience as I said! After the blessing, Sooz and I had to wring our
clothes out in the toilet as we were soaking! We then headed back in the tuk tuk. It is a shame we never got to have a proper
consultation with him, but we are set for our tattoo's tomorrow! Excited! Chilled again later.
3/11/09
Tattoo Day! (Sorry to the folks! more body art) We chilled in morning and then we went to tattoo place at 2.00. We chose our Cambodian prayer PARLY, which are both prayers
for good fortune and protection. They are situated on the shoulder areas. They are different ones, but similar meaning. We also
decided we would like a small word chosen by each other, for each other, t go on our ankle/foot. The Khmer language is really pretty.
Sooz chose the word LOVE for me as she says "it encompasses me as a person and for her love for me" (get the bucket).
I chose the words ONE LIFE for Soozy as a symbol to Matt her cousin.
So I went first. Won't go into too much detail but it was ok on the shoulder, but the ankle one was painful. It took 2.5hours.
We then had dinner and then Sooz's turn, another 2.5 hours. I must say that Sooz did not show if she was in pain as much as I
did with my expressive face. Therer were no oohs or ahhs though. We finshed late, around 1am in morning. Much cheaper than in UK too!
4/11/09
To day we chilled,internetted and nursed our tatt's and booked the bus for tomorrow to Battambang! We did pop up to the Pagoda
to take monk Moonron a box of fags to say thank you, but he was sleeping so we left a note for him. Monks do not have money
themselves, so he would be well chuffed with his smokes!
5/11/09
Today was a long day of bus travelling. The bus to Battambang took 10.5 hours in total, changing in Phnom Penh. When we got off
bus we asked an american guy if he was going to Royal Hotel and if he wanted to share tuk tuk. He was, his name is Ryan.
As we got off tuk tuk we booked the guy for tomorrow for the 3 of us to go on a tour. Share the cost which is good. Decent room
at hotel $8 with fan. There is a rooftop restaurant there, which was kind of the reason why we went there, but it was not atmospheric
at all really. We had some noodles, but the food was not that good. Ryan met us up there and we chatted. Also, another guy called
Joe from UK was there on his own and we got him to join us. He is going to come on the tuk tuk tour tomorrow with us too. Makes
it cheaper all round for everyone.
6/11/09
Tuk Tuk Tour day. He picked us up at 9.00am. First of all he took us to the bamboo train. This is an old train track with old style
trains. The bamboo train is a bamboo platform about 6ft by 8ft, placed on top of 2 steel rollers that enable it to move along
the track and stay on it....hopefully!! They used to use a metal handle to pump it along many years ago, but they now have small
engines on and they can reach upto 15kmph. We had 2 drivers. This is because, if you meet another bamboo train coming the other
way, then depending on how many passengers you have on board...someone has to disembark to the side and lift the train off. Trains
with the least passengers lose on this one, except if it carrying a motorbike, then the motorbike train wins! The cost of the
journey was $8, so $2 each. We travelled on the warped track for about 30 mins, stopped for a drink and went back. It was much fun!
It was a little bit like being on the Grand National at Blackpool, but without the up and downs. It was tough on the old bum when
we went over the joints in the track! Ouch!(sooz takes back over)....
Next we head to Phnom Banan, a stunning temple set at the top of approx 359 steps. after the hard climb (by which time a small local girl had attached herself to me- fanning me and giving me shoulder massages-
despite me saying no!) we reached the summit- it is said by locals to be the inspiration for Angkor wat- built in the 11th century, it is made up of 5 cham towers and has amazing views of the lands. I slip the girl a dollar,
which she seemed happy with.
Next we head to the killing caves, again accompanied by 2 local girls showing us around. We have a long slog in the midday heat up to the caves. We give a small donation to the pagoda at the enterance. Here we see the skylight to the cave, where the Khmer threw locals into the deep cave to kill them. Barbaric.
We walk down a different enterance to the bottom of the cave, here a nun (in white 'monk' robes) was sewing in front of a reclining buddha. To the side of her was a couple of small stupas, containing the smashed skulls and bones of the victims, I count at least 25 skulls, such a harsh reminder of the recent atrocities.
We walk uphill from here to Phnom Sampeau temples at the top of the hill and buy the kids a coke each. We get chatting to a monk at the top, who has set up a NGO - a charitable school, offering schooling to all. Claire gets his business card, as
it would be a great link to set up with her school for future funding, he appears very humbled. We donate a sum of money, which will purchase a new desk at the school. He then explains all about the buddha (gotama) images inside the temple. It's really fasinating. Although I consider myself non religious, I feel a strong connection with the
beliefs of Buddhism + definately believe in the morals that surround it. As we head down we see wide macaques monkeys running around and eating remains of coconuts.
We head back along a very dusty and potholed 'new' road, by which time we are all a shade of David Dickinson. We all regroup in the evening and head out to the street food by the river + have some tasty noodle soups + more beer. After another drink we head home, as there is not much atmosphere past 10pm.
7/11/09
Today is cooking class day at the smokin' pot- a restaurant supporting families with HIV/AIDS. we meet our group and head to the market to pick up the ingredients
We note the Cambodian markets are far less hygenic than the Vietnamese ones we've seen. We pick the fish (alive) then watch as the lady bashes the fish with the blunt end of the cleaver before
chopping off the fins/ gills then finally chops off it's head!! We pick up some other bits and bobs + head back.
We learn how to cook fish Amok, chicken lemongrass soup and beef lok lak ( claire is a lok lak guru) it is much fun + learn lots about fusion of spices in khmer cooking.
Here we meet Pauline a french girl travelling alone, so we all head off to the boat nooring to book our tickets for the following day to Siem Reap. Afterwhich we all decide to
have an afternoon bar crawl across Battenbang, as there was not much happening + at 75cent a glass, it would be rude not to. I discover taking a malaria tablet with beer on an empty
stomach isn't a good idea! so feel a bit off! Early to bed for the early boat.
8/11/09
We get the 6.30am pick up to the boat in the pouring rain, what a day to pick to spend on a boat eh! we are loaded up. a mix of travellers/ locals + produce on a smallish motor boat with wooden benches.
For the first 1 1/2 hours it's pouring rain!! then suddenly it clears up and the beaming sun comes out. We head up onto the tin roof of the boat, sunning ourselves and watching
the beautiful scenery of the Tanger/tonle sap rivers. I'd really reccommend the journey to Siem reap this way, rather than the boat from Phnom Penh. We wave at countless village children in ragged clothes - jumping up and down with excitement + beaming smiles.
We stop off at a floating village for some food...to mine+ claire's amusement a local dog hops on the boat and pees on some pineapples on the boat, a local is gunna have some sour pineapples to eat :-)tamworth, who we chat to.
We carry on through beautiful water logged landscape + via Chong Kneas- a complete village floating on the water. By the time we reach the port we are a tad sun+wind burnt, but worth it for the views.We meet another traveller, stuart, a lovely Boltonian, from We hop a tuktuk to Siem Reap + check into the lovely 'popular guesthouse' for a $6 room.
We head out with Ryan + Pauline for brunch at temple baras we are starving, $2.50 for chicken+fresh ginger, rice + a beer. magic! We have a look round Siem reap, it's a really great town with a great vibe to it. We meet at night again for some drinks on 'bar street' ....not suprisingly, we sleep very well!!!
10/11/09
Indulge in a rare lie in :-) then head to the blue pumpkin cafe with Pauline for brunch- lurvely breads (thank you french invaders!) we wander round the markt, plenty of 'hey lady, free for looking' 'you buyyy, cheeeap for you', we succumb and buy some kramers (traditional khmer
scarves). Next we venture in the formidable heat to Handicap International, where we bump into Stu again. We are taken around the rehab centre, that provides prosthetic limbs for land mine victims and RTA victims, also providing help for calpes and polio sufferers. Was good to see the
differences in care from country to country, and again how lucky we are for our NHS....don't knock it folks! There are mock up bikes, stepping stones, climbing frames, suspension bridges- all to simulate their home environments. On our way back to the hotel
we stop by a temple, pauline has some gifts for friends blessed and the monk tells me about my pali tattoo.
We hook up with the supreme Mr Heng, our tuktuk man, to sort out an arrngement for the next 3days and settle on a good price, have a fruit shake to celebrate the days ahead :-)
Evening we meet up with Pauline and Stu for dinner- $2.50 each with beer- cheap and sooo good. English food seems so bland at the moment!
We leave the restaurant and head back, on the way home we are surrounded by 'street kids' about 7-11 years old. I literally have 3 hanging off me. at one point lifting my arm up in the air and lifting the small boy off the ground
and carrying him along. They beg for food and money. It is heart breaking, but we can't give them anything, it simple feeds this way of living and they can never break out of the cycle. giving to NGOs or volunteering seems the way forward.
Seeing these things makes you realise how far Cambodia has yet to come from being cast back to the year zero.
11/11/09 TEMPLES OF ANGKOR, HERE WE COME!!!
8am start, we meet MrHeng and his pimped out Tuktuk...off we go!
We begin with Preah Kahn, an extensive Ankgor style complex, a great starting point! there are parts in ruin, trees intertwined around the stones, beautiful lintels carved about the doorways, eery yet peaceful hallways and tuneels to get lost in, away from the tour groups. They buildings are emmense,
I try to imagine what the people were like at the time they were built? what they did on a day to day basis around here?
How they constructed them?
Next, we head to Preah Nauk Pean- a cham tower, surrounded by an extensive moat filled with water. Again brilliant.
Two smaller temples followed- Prasat Ta Som and East Moneb.
Carrying on futher out of the complex by tuktuk we headed to Banteay Srei- Famed for its carvings into the red sandstone..beautifully intact, the detail is unreal. It's also nice to see they are restoring parts so the legacy continues.
Following Banteay Srei, we head to Bantrey Sambre, a more grey looking temple, very big ang grand, with a vast courtyard inside. deep inside we came across a monk chanting by a linga. He summonded me in first, chanting overme, holding my hand, then tying a red braclet around my wrist while chanting more and then
sprinkling it with holy soup- to bring me good luck. I felt very honoured. Next Claire went in- he asked her to put a book of palm scripts over her head,
and take a silver pin, in the other hand and put it into the palm script to choose a page (whilst making a wish) he looked at the palm script and he said it was good luck. There were some other people there that where able to translate for Claire.
Basically the story in the palm script was ofa poor boy, who went to the gods and was told he would be protected by them and that no-one could take away what he had in his possession or harm him.
We were very lucky I feel to have this experience in Angkor wat complex!!
Finally, we headed to our last stop of the day, Pre Nup- almost Aztec style pyramid, where we climbed the massive deep steps to the top to witness the sun setting over the paddy fields, a beautiful end to a beautiful day ;-)
In the evening the guys all headed out and I stayed put with a migraine like thing, lucky managing to shake it off by the next morning.
12/11/09
Woke up at 4.30am..(yes mum, I actually got up at this time) and set off with Mr Heng for the 5.30am sunrise over Angkor Wat. It felt like christmas morning, so excited to be witnessing
a sunrise over a wonder of the world. We sat towards the back wall to begin with amidst the morning dew with the old ipod in, a mystical special moment bonding us together (v hippy I know!)
We then moved to infront of the pond before the main building, a beautiful reflection created in the pond as the sun creeped over the towers. Beyond words really.
After a fresh black coffee fix we all caried on to explore around the grounds, mssive structures, courtyards, passageways, so so impressive!
We were feeling hungry so decided to pitch a spot for the mini buffet we brought along....
what better place than perched on the edge of Angkor Wat!!! made the bread and jam even more tasty :-) I spared a moment (perhaps 1/10th of a second) for you lot at home, running out the house with piece of toast in hand in the pouring rain, late for work :-)
I'm sure we ruined some people's photos of Angkor Wat at that moment...hehe.
We passed through the ancient Angkor Thom gates...a striking gate with Bayon faces on it, through to Bapum(small temple) surrounded by monkeys roaming around and onto Bayon ...a stunning maze like structure with many Bayon towers
with 'facebricks' (as stu put it) on each side. apparently it is a must see at a full moon, with amazing lighting. Next to Bayon we walked along the elephant terrace, built to overlook a mass area where the kings could watch sports.
We then headed to my favourite of them all, Ta Phrom. A temple amidst the jungle, it has been left to show the effects of the erosion and how the jungle 'reclaims' the ruins. this is the temple made famous by Tomb Raider movie, where Lara picks a flower and falls through the floor into...pinewood studios, england.
We did get quite excited to stand where good ol Angelina Jolie had tred (yes sad I know). I felt like an explorer ducking down into ruined corridors (again steering clear of the boarded walkway for japanese coachloads), seeing the tree roots twisting around the ruins, magical. We could have spent hours there, it was intoxicatingly stunning.
After such an early start we decided to head back in the afternoon, sampling more khmer food and a few cheeky Angkor draft beers.
13/11/09
Final temple day...
Headed to the further out to the Eastern temples of Lolei/ Bakong, Rolus temples dating back to the 9th Century, then back to Angkor Wat to re explore the vast temple in a different lighting. To finish off the day we went upto Phnom Bokheng- a temple ontop of a hill, overlooking Angkor Wat with very steep steps, I'm amazed some old dears managed it
up there!! Unfortunately many coach loads had the same idea, so it spoilt it slightly, we headed down early and headed back.
Did the usual in the evening, khmer food, beer, mojitos and various children hanging off us along the way home. Saw a very poor looking lady wit ha small baby crying, so gave her our bottle of water.
14/11/09
Said our goodbyes to Pauline (she was heading for Laos) and got our 6.30am pickup to the bus station where we met Stu. Got the local bus, 7hrs over to Kompong Cham, east of the lake.
and checked into a $5 room, the most minging we've had so far + overpriced for what it was! Had a dinner at a local restaurant- avoided the turtle, intestine, groin and frog on the menu and settled on some superb beef :-p
in various forms with fresh ginger, garlic and seasoning mmm + of course a draft Angkor beer. Wake up in the night thinking someone is tring to break in through a v flimsy door lock...just the wind, but then paranoid
and unable to sleep wind the luggage wire lock around the door handle and to the fan controls,lol.
15/11/09
Set off for Mondulkiri prefecture (the less visited 'wild east' of Cambodia). the 8.30 tuktuk picks us up promptly, good start we all think, then we get dropped at the 'bus stop' ie. a corner of a main road, to sit on tiny plastic chairs in the sun for 2 hours! after in broken english via a mobile phone call we were told..
the usual 'half hour' hmmm! the whole being eyed up and chatted up via sign language by local lads + ladies trying to sell us bread. As we waited we joked as mini van after minivan stopped, already full and everything in including the moped + kitchen sink- 'ooh this is ours' + 'and this one'...
then ours arrived........we were stunned to silence. A beat up van from the 80s. With already 15 people in it (and only 12 seats). We somehow squeeze on amongst families, someone wearing a 'wedding hat' as Stu pointed out. Many women in the standard brightly coloured pyjamas that they wear
anywhere + everywhere out here! We set off (picking up 2 more passengers along the way) 6 hours (4 of which were on unfinshed roads)of the most uncomfortable bumpy bus ride ever! so squahed!
Claire entertained us with wearing her travel cushion as a hat + spotting various mopeds with entire families perched on them.
Finally we arrive to Sen monoron a small town in Mondulkiri, only recently having electricity(according to the gammy planet). The usualchaos of drop off points met us, a couple of motor drivers tried to get us on the bikes but we refused and decided we would walk.
As we unpacked our bags there was a strange aroma....+ we were greeted by the sight of maggots crawling across the minivan floor around Claire's bag!A local's bag of food(avec maggot) had leaked out!also covering Stu's bag in some strange fish sauce like smelling stuff...mmm! We walked a coule of km
to the guesthouse and checked in, chose the usual cold water + fan rooms (after some deliberation and Stu's hilarious encounter with a tree frog in a room
We also book a trek for a day and then a homestay with the Pnong tribe. We check out the town- very small and quiet, not touristy at all, but find a khmer restaurant for a curry and then to bed.
16/11/09 - 17/11/09
We head out in the owners car to meet up with the guide, a cute little Pnong man with a red felt trilby.We then carry on to the starting point of the trek. Find it really sweet, when the guide isn't used to being in a car+doesn't know how to get the car door open or locked!
We set off with our non english speaking guide along a dusty track through fields and then into the Jungly area. We stop at a bunch of leaves bound together and the guide pulls them apart, causing hundreds of giant ants to spill out, he then grabs a load and eats them, saying mmm!
So Stu and I decide to try some too, quite a sweet taste actually ( Claire took our word on that and politely refused) Through the trek we followed elephant trails (me falling into a massive foothole), through head height grasslands and through trees via a pretty waterfall to cool down.
The main challenge of the trek was the 3 rivers we had to cross...we changed into our flipflops, well I did. Stu and Claire were sensible and had trusty tevas) then he signalled to follow him. The first river was upto groin height, but very strong and the river bed was full of nooks and boulders
Islipped about inside my not so supportive flipflops, inturn the flipflops slipped on the rocks as I clung to the guide (and at some points the guide clinging to me!) We made it,woop!! We watched as Clare and Stus ventured slowly across- Claire overcoming her phobia of open water. Stu used his 'Ray Mear survival technique' of
facing into the current and side stepping across, good work!! The next river was much the same, the guide had hacked off some branches to use as poles as we cross.
The final river he indicated would be deeper and he even seemed a little unsure about crossing......gulp. I steppedin off the embankment.......to find myself upto my bra in the river! A little deeped than he indicated! we struggled against the current and across, actually a tad worried at how strong it was...but we made it. Then watched heart in mouth
as claire and Stu battled across...well done all!!!! Fianlly after some leech attacks and 7 hours worth of trekking we made it over the brow of a hill to see the sunsetting as we approached the village. Such a welcoming site!! We were shown to where we would be staying for the night. Stopping in one of the families houses...a low style bamboo hut on raised
platform off the dirt floor. in the middle of the darkened hut a fire was burning away, as the family prepared dinner. The owner of our guesthouse arrived + We were shown over to the well to have a wash(as many people watched) and then shown the toilet- as he gestured over all the fields..all of this is the toilet! Claire's face dropped a little- not what a woman on her period wants to hear eh!
we freshened up and headed into the hut,as it was getting dark (usually by 6pm and there is no electricity).The bamboo soup was cooking over the fire..they hollow out a big bamboo shaft and place inside eggplant, beef, veg, chilis and water then perch the bamboo in the fire. Stu took some photo's which mesmerised the kids- wanting to see their pictures on the screen. Piglets and dogs ran loose around the floor of the hut as the women chatted away.
'You want to try cigarette' the guesthouse guy asked...passing a freshly rolled massive leaf shaped cone from one of the ladies. Wow- we felt like our throats had been ripped out...strong stuff!! As the women sat happily puffing away on theirs! We made excuses to go outside and promtly ditched the leaf ciggies so as not to offend!
Soon dinner was ready. we ate the soup and plently of rice...the soup was amazing!!!!! then we sat with all the men (some of the younger ones could speak a little english and vietnamese they learnt at school) we drank rice wine and chatted in various languages with them and learnt a little Pnong too!
The men then slowly dissapeared and we made our beds-thin blankets on the ledge with mossy nets over. This was possibly the worst night's sleep, or non sleep ever! It was so hard to sleep on- had major hip and back pain from the hard surface. Topped off with some of the familie's snoring and a giant moo-off between te buffalos at silly o'clock! Claire got me to head out with her, as she needed the toilet...so funny!! There were buffalo,cows, pigs all around.
I was convinced that I could see something moving in the bushes... while Claire was screamed 'arghh, something's gone up my bum!' (it hadn't) we quickly scurried back in..so funny.
Then as all was finally quiet...there was a sudden high pitched scream and stuart to my right was flailing ahis legs and arms everywhere + his mossy net all over the place. turns out...from claire who had seen it coming, a cat had been matching up and down a platform above us, unable to get down, it then decided Stu's net looked nice and stable, so launched off the platform and onto a sleeping Stu, scaring him to death!!!! soso funny, still get belly laughs as I'm typing it
up now!!
Finally we get up at 6.30am and venture out and walk aroound the small village. We watch the elephants with their Mahoots, children in torn battered clothes heading off herding cattle or picking berries with their siblings. I realise how much we wrap our chidren in our country, up in cotton wool. Here 10year olds are left to look after younger siblings, wander barefoot + work. We really don't know what we've got!
We say our farewells and get picked up by the guesthouse owner. He drops us in town and we head to the restaurant for a good breakfast. Some of the best banana pancakes I've had..mmm!!! Then we head back and fall fast asleep for 5hrs then have a lovely cold shower. We eat at the guesthouse as its cold and windy outside.
18/11/09
we say our goodbyes to Stu, such an excellent travelling buddy, as he was heading to Phnom penh ( I have since received an email informing us he made it there!) and we hang around for 45mins at the market before finally setting off in the minibus (actually with spare seats!!), the driverspeeds the whole way to Snoul, where we get off and negoiate finding which bus we change onto...they ask if we pay already to get to kratie and seem a little confused- a tad worrying. We are then
told to wait 'half an hour'. Hoping our bus would arive we sit and watch the world go by in this middle of nowhere town. We watch women load alot of snakes from a box into petrol cans and a lady with a make shift drip stand (a bamboo pole +newspaper)+ IV drip, wander around the market...an hour later a fancy coach was passing through and we are signalled to hop on..a nice bit of luxury for an hour, the rest of the way to Kratie. We arrive and wander through the moto men and walk to
the U-hong guesthouse and check into a nice $5 room. I realise I can't remember the last time I've had a hot shower!! wonder when I'll have one!
We book a tuktuk for the river dolphins then chill, lunch and dinner it + have a beerlaos.
19/11/09
We have breakfast (Claire still hasn't learnt to not order milk here..unless she secretly loves carnation milk?!) then set off a 9am, we pass 15km through villages and along the Mekong, such a peaceful place (but one of the first to be taken over
by the Khmer Rouge) We then hop onto a boat and he takes just us two out to where the Dolphins have been spotted today. Within 5mins we spot our first coming up for some air...woop! our first Irrawaddy Dolphin ( or tre pisout) - fresh water dolphin. Only about 100 remain in the Mekong, previously there were approx 1000, but they were hunted for oils during the Polpot regime.
They have bulging forheads and small dorsal fins. We watch about 4 in total, coming close by to the boat, then we moor on a sand bank in the middle of the river and watch them. We find it really captivating and we have big beaming smiles across our faces! After about 45 mins we head back and wake up our tuktuk man- snooozing in a hammock. On our return we go to Phnom Sombok and climb 460 steps upto the shrine, with lovely views of the mekong and very peaceful.
We arrived back and had lunch, then wrote/read as there was a powercut for 3 hours. Chilled out, then had dinner, while watching an old lady clean her false teeth by scrapping them with a knife, deeliteful!
20/11/09
We have a quick brekkie-got v excited by thebaked beans and HP sauce!! then jumped the 7.15am bus to Siem reap.Approx 10hours worth of good ol cheap local buses, as usual we are the only Barang (foreigner) aboard. change at Skuon and have some delicious pineapple ( the area's produce) watching various 'VIP' buses fly past.
Eventually our's arrives and we continue onto Siem reap. We check back in to the Popular guesthouse, trying our bit of Khmer out with the lovely staff there. As it's late, we head out for dinner ....more lovely khmer pumpkin and beef + Claire's Lok Lak. Mmmm.
21 + 22nd. We spend the next couple days exploring Siem reap, reading, drinking mojitos, fruit shakes and beer, as we couldn't get a trip to do some teaching or going to an orphanage sorted.
23/11/09
We say our sad goodbyes to the lovely staff at Popular guesthouse and set off for Bangkok, after a bus change and strange walk through 'no man's land' strip of casinos (as gambling in Thailand is illegal, they all come to the boarder to enjoy) between Cambodian border control and Thai border control, we then wait about 30mins for visa check.....while the man at bordr control actually had a HAND MASSAGE by a collegue!!!!
While a load of us queued! Infuriating at the time, but funny now! But soon we were loaded into a minibus and sailed to bangkok on their lovely smooth roads...we'd forgotten what it felt like to be on proper tarmac. We were dropped by the Kho san road and found some cheap 350 baht accomodation on Rambruttri road. We wandered down to the street vendors and had a chang and a 20bht Pad thai, people watching and realising it was soo much busier as it hit peak season.
24/11/09
We have an overdue lie in and then spend the day sorting buying some cheap sunglasses and vests- as all our tops were ruined by sun lotion, swaet and dust. Then we sort out the Tokyo accomodation(and have mini heart attacks at the difference in accomodation prices!) we soon recover by enjoying the lovely street food and fruit shakes on offer too :-)
25/11/09
our final day in South East Asia! We chill at the guesthouse and watch a movie they are screening, then decide to go out with style on our last night. We get ready-even put on a spot of makeup (shock horror!) and head out to the Koh san road.
We opt for a 'whiskey bucket' ie a bottle of sangsom whiskey, coke and red bull mixer in a sand castle bucket...my last encounter with this drink was at the full moon party, where I spent the following day on a ferry puking up. Good times!!
We polished off that quite nicely, then decided to head back. Unfortunately we walked past a Shisha bar and the guy 'forced' us in. We had an apple flavour shisha and ANOTHER bucket. Once we'd finished ( or claire did, I couldn't manage much) we walked back, Claire telling me she could only see double.
So I guided her up to the room and onto the bed. By this point I was feeling very drunk and was then sick in the loo. Feeling much better and sober I came out to find Claire looking very pasty! I grabbed the bin and for the next 2-3hours she was very ill, refusing to let me got to bed incase, she said'she choked or passed out'
Why do we always do this the night before w ehave to get on a plane or a ferry?! We will never learn eh.
26/11/09
The next morning we had to check out by 11am, so we headed out for a hangover brekkie- me banana pancakes and claire a wee fry up (Claire still looking like death warmed up). We then chilled in the lobby- that limbo of check out morning time and evening flight scenario.
We chatted to a guy we nicknamed triple x- because of his tattoo on the back of his neck was xxx, because he said he'd died 3 times...in a texan drawl. A very odd man, but who taught us some good advice...
*in old texan crazy man drawl* 'If a guy tries to strangle ya, here's what ya do, ya grab both their eyes and ya YANK them right off, then ya get your there thumbs and you gauge out their eyes. Then when they a reetchin for their eyes, ya get the web of your hand and ya JAM IT into their throat!' all this was accompanied by actions too, so bizarre and we nodde in agreement as we muffled our desire to burst out into
fits of laughter!!! It has kept us amused while travelling- we often give out this bit of advise,accompanied by the accent, to each other. We then made our excuses and made a swift exit to dinner, then got the link minibus to the airport.
Wooooohooo tokyo here we come!!!!
