Well it has been a long while between blogs and many things have happened. I have mentally written many blogs but I don't spose'that counts for anything. Here is some of what we have been up to:
- Left Vietnam after spending 6 weeks there. Had a bit of an adventure in Saigon when we got into a dodgy cab. We had taken plenty of honest cabs in the city already so knew something was up when the metre started spiralling after only travelling a short distance (the guy was hiding the metre with his hand and then manually changing it). The upshot was us confronting the driver and saying let us out - him using the central locking system to try and keep us imprisoned in the cab. The hilarious thing was we could just unlock the doors and wind down the windows from the back seat, so between him threatening us in Vietnamese whilst pointing at the metre, the windows were going up and down and doors kept unlocking and relocking. Quite comedy. Anyway he should have known better than to pick on hardened travellers such as ourselves. The infamous Saigon traffic allowed us to jump out of the car and make our escape. We began briskly walking away from the car (him still shouting) we went to walk around a corner and then noticed him driving up ahead preparing to follow us. We looked at each other and then ran in the other direction, taking a hasty turn into some kind of school and then finding our way through a maze of buildings. It was very Bourne Identity and we kept reminiscing about it afterwards!
One of our highlights of South Vietnam was whiling away a week at Jungle Beach which was a lovely deserted place 60km north of Ntrang. We heard about it from people we met in The Andamans and spent a lovely 7 days reading, swimming and having fires on the beach. You can see a photo of one of these fires on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1357036&l=6f4db&id=530231415 The boys were rather pleased with themselves at that one (bloody pyro's)
- We crossed into Cambodia by boat on the mighty Mekong River which is very brown and muddy but rather wonderful too with floating villages and stilt houses along the banks.
- After a few days in the capital we made our way to the south coast for more beach action. We took a boat to little visited Rabbit Island (so called because of its total lack of resembling a rabbit) There we thought we would spend a few days Robinson Crusoe style. Well the first afternoon there was lovely. We swung in hammocks, read books and swam. Our hut was a sweet bamboo and palm leaf structure with a mattress and mosquito net. Ahhh the simplicity of it all. The last thing on our minds was that it is the rainy season here in Cambodia............ Day two we woke to super strong winds and some rain. It then passed and the rest of the morning was fine. In the early afternoon there was rain again and we resigned ourselves to staying indoors and finishing our books and playing cards. We resolved to leave the next day and get back to the mainland as it was not much fun anymore. We slept through the night and in the morning Will had some weird marks on his arm and face. They looked like burns but he said they did not hurt. I was worried about what it was and said we should def get the boat back. We planned to leave at 4pm as we knew we could get a bus from the mainland at that time.
Clouds appeared on the horizon once again at lunchtime but this time it was not just a little rain but what seemed at the time like a hurricane. The wind was SO strong it was whipping up the sea onto the land. A palm tree fell down and plastic furniture was in flight. People had just arrived on the island and we were all huddled behind a tarpaulin in one of the little restaurants. Further down the beach the beach hut next to ours blew over and another restaurant half collapsed. Other huts did not keep the water out so everyones stuff got soaked including the mattresses. Anyway, disaster and we were kicking ourselves for not leaving earlier. All we wanted to do was get off that bloody island. An hour later the wind subsided but the sea still looked dangerous and the boatmen said no boats back. Another hour on and they had changed there minds as there were so many people who wanted to get back. So they took us across the stormy sea in convoy just in case anything went wrong. Needless to say we were very happy bunnies (excuse the pun) when we put feet on the mainland. And there ends the tale of Escape from Rabbit Island. You will see that we were not really that scared from this little video we made http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOBQ-6nWBu4
As for Will's weird skin thing. We read that it was not a good idea to go to the doctors in the provinces and was a much better idea to go in Siem Riep. Well, we did just that and spent $120US in a brand new five star hospital that has been built here. Poshest hospital either of us has ever seen and with consultations that cost half the average annual income in Cambodia, the place was only used by tourists. Turns out that medical tourism (hip replacements, facelifts etc) is big buisness here and way cheaper than having procedures at home. Why not come and see Angkar Wat and have a nose job at the same time?! Weird weird weird, but at least Will got some antibiotics. The doctor thinks some kind of unidentified insect sprayed Will with a burning fluid while he was asleep. These wounds then got infected. Happily he is much better now but we are no closer to knowing what the creature who did this was (probably some kind of deranged rabbit)
Q:How many people can you fit in a minibus?
A: The Cambodians are still working on ways to squeeze more people in, but in our experience it is 22 people and 9 seats. Very cosy and great for added momentum when overtaking (God help us)
Trivia
In SE Asia vehicles play music when they reverse as opposed to in the west where they just go beep beep beep. In Vietnam the reversing tune is "Ït's a small world after all" and in Cambodia it is "Happy Birthday to You" What it will be in Laos is anyones guess but I am thinking "When the Saints go Marching in" What I would prefer to be run over by is still to be decided.
more trivia
The US dollar is king in Cambodia. In Vietnam it is used but you have to bring it yourself. In Cambodia, Australian banks dispense American dollars from ATM's.
Celebrity Endorsements Update- J.Lo is now promoting a massage parlour in Siem Riep.
We are now in Siem Riep visiting the amazing Angkar temples that we have heard so much about. Certainly doesn't disappoint. Will couldn't resist the temptation of the setting when making a little birthday video for Jamie which you can all see here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hvXj6C5GOk
We have 5 week to go before flying to Oz and have no fixed plans. Next stop possibly Laos and then Thailand. Whatever we do, I plan to be much better at blogging.
xxxxWill and Raina
