Lost Sheep Blog

29th May 2010 A morning of packing was followed by an afternoon movie and general hanging around in Starbucks. Although we were able to leave our big bags at the hotel, we still had to carry our hand luggage with us and had decided a few days ago that it would just be best to be in one place for a while. The cinema seemed like a good option :). However, we had underestimated how busy it would be and failed to get tickets for anything besides the Prince of Persia, which was predictable but good. ...

28th May 2010 Our last full day in Hong Kong was a relaxing one, with a long overnight flight to look forward to we thought it best to take it easy. The morning was spent just updating blogs and photographs followed by an afternoon siesta. Another trip to the night markets in Kowloon for some last minute bargins was followed by a nice meal at an American restaurant near the Star ferry terminal with great views over Hong Kong Island. Then we caught the Star Ferry for one last trip back over to Hong Kong Island. ...

26th May 2010 Wednesday in Hong Kong is free admission day for all museums. With about 7 different museums to choose from, including the Space Museum and Science Museum, we decided (after consulting the guide book) to head for the Hong Kong Museum of History. This museum focuses on the territory’s archeology, natural history, ethnography and local hstory. Hong Kong is very much a city focussed on the future and due to the lack of space here, the past often gets torn up in favour of this forward development. As a consequence, there are very few old buildings here and very little history ‘out and about’. The museum therefore gave us a chance to learn a bit more about the history of this country. ...

27th May 2010 We started our morning sat in the very front seats on the top deck of a tram, whizzing along Hong Kong Island with the wind in our hair (well mine at least!). It really is a fabulous way to see the city and it’s just a shame there’s only really one line. Although the underground is efficient, you spend so much time underground that you miss life going on above ground. ...

25th May 2010 We woke to a blue sky day today, so decided to return to the Zoological and Botanical Gardens that we had passed through the other day. On the way we walked past one of the ferry terminals on Hong Kong Island, offering a great view across to Kowloon. Arriving at the Zoological and Botanical Gardens we started again in the primates sections which we had passed through quickly before. It really is quite sad seeing these animals in such small cages, especially compared to Singapore Zoo. The chimpanzees in particular just don’t seem to have much space, and there is no natural greenery of any sort in their cage, just some metal framework for them to cling to. We passed by some other smaller primates - again these had no planting of any sort in their cage, and not a great deal of space. The animals just all look so sad. ...

23rd May 2010 Yesterday morning we were heading for the airport along a dusty strip of tarmac in a tuk-tuk that couldn’t go above 30km per hour. This morning we were walking around a clean, modern city with an efficient public transport system and every designer name you could imagine. The differences between Hong Kong and Cambodia are vast and highlighted by the fact we’ve jumped from one to the other in 24 hours. It’s a bit mind-boggling to say the least. ...

24th May 2010 This morning’s bright blue skies were an incentive to get out of bed and head up to the Peak Tram with the aim of getting to Victoria Peak early for fabulous views over the city. However, although the tram runs from 7am, the 360 degree viewing platform and the rest of the shops and restaurants on top of this 1200 foot mountain don’t open until 10am, so we purchased our tickets, but decided to come back later for the actual trip. ...

22nd May 2010 Although you can fly direct from Siem Reap to Hong Kong, it certainly isn’t the cheapest way to approach the journey, hence our decision to fly firstly to Kuala Lumpur, then onto Hong Kong. We really enjoyed our time in Cambodia, but were looking forward to getting back to a developed nation where getting around is not such a chore and poverty isn’t hitting you in the face at every turn. ...

21st May 2010 Since we are due to leave for Hong Kong tommorrow, today was another chillaxing day, reading, surfing the internet and popping into town for some last minutes stuff. It will be a full day of flying tomorrow, with firstly a flight to Kuala Lumpur, then a flight to Hong Kong two hours later.

19th May 2010 The final day of our three day ticket to explore the temples of Angkor and we were heading much further out than we had on previous days. After a pleasant hour in a tuk-tuk passing through villages with their stilt houses we arrived at Banteay Srei. This particular temple is considered to be the jewel in the crown of Angkorian art. It is one of the smallest temples at Angkor, but cut from stone of a pinkish hue and with some of the finest stone carvings it is wonderfully well preserved. ...

18th May 2010 A day off temples today, which saw us wandering into town for a look around the local markets. This was followed by fresh fruit juices at the Blue Pumpkin (where else? This has become a local hotspot for us). Then we walked back to the hotel along the river, which although quite pleasant along the bank, is more like sludge than water to look at. ...

17th May 2010 The most popular place to witness sunrise is at Angkor Wat, and although we normally do our utmost to avoid the masses, sometimes you just have to go with the flow. After all, these things are generally popular for good reason. We arrived at the entrance to Angkor Wat about half past five in the morning and it was already begining to get light. There were quite a few people walking across the sandstone causeway into the central temple complex, but as it is currently low season, the numbers were not overwhelming. ...

May 17th 2010 Today we had our first experience of being fleeced as a tourist in South East Asia, probably not bad considering we’ve been here for 9 weeks, but disappointing nonetheless. We had arranged with our tuk-tuk driver to visit the floating village near Siem Reap. We had seen Karen’s photographs of a trip she did to a floating village on stilts and wanted to visit the same one. Unfortunately, not knowing the name of that village, we ended up visiting the village of Chong Khneas on Tonle Sap lake, which turned out to be the wrong village. This would have been ok, except that it was very similar to many other floating villages we’ve seen elsewhere and to add insult to injury we paid $30 for the privilage. ...

16th May 2010 We had arranged with our new tuk-tuk driver to set off around 9am this morning and head out to explore some of the ancient temples of Angkor. Angkor is a region of Cambodia that served as the seat of the Khmer empire, which flourished from approximately the ninth century to the thirteenth century. The ruins of Angkor are located amid forests and farmland to the north of the Great Lake (Tonle Sap) and south of the Kulen Hills, near modern-day Siem Reap, and are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The temples of the Angkor area number over one thousand, ranging in scale from nondescript piles of brick rubble scattered through rice fields to the magnificent Angkor Wat, said to be the world’s largest single religious monument. ...

14th & 15th May 2010 Friday was a travelling day, so the morning was spent packing up and in the afternoon we boarded a bus for the 6 hour 300km journey to Siem Reap. The main road from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap was more like a countryside B road than a major highway and in parts was still unsurfaced dirt track. This is the part of travelling we’re now not enjoying so much, the getting from A to B - things take so much longer in this part of the world and the journey is generally more bumpy, prohibiting any activity besides listening to music and enjoying the view out of the window. ...

13th May 2010 We had booked our tuk-tuk driver from the other day to pick us up again at 10am this morning, and true to his word he was outside waiting for us. Our first stop today was the Tuol Sleng Musuem, also know as S-21. In 1975 Tuol Svay Prey High School was taken over by Pol Pot’s security forces and turned into a prison known as Security Prison 21. This soon became the largest centre of detention and torture in the country. Between 1975 and 1978 more than 17,000 people held at S-21 were taken to the killing fields of Choeng Ek, which we had visited yesterday. ...

12th May 2010 My carriage? A small quad bike. Today we were doing a full day tour on these ATV (All Terrain Vehicles) and I hadn’t realised how vital they would be on Cambodia’s roads. We were picked up by tuk tuk and were soon being transported through the chaos of Phnom Penh during rush hour. Thirty minutes later we were out of the hustle and bustle of the centre and into the coutryside, and arriving at the Blazing Saddles HQ. ...

7th, 8th and 9th May 2010 On arriving back in Saigon, Karen had kindly arranged for us to stay in one of the one bedroom appartments in her building. Very nice, a pleasant change to hotel rooms. The rest of the weekend was spent partaking of the ex-pat lifestyle. We went out for a lovely dinner with Karen and her friends on Friday night. Saturday was spent taking a look around the ex-pat area of An Phu where the British International School is located. ...

10th and 11th May 2010 Most of yesterday was spent on board a bus bound for Cambodia. The 6 hours passed quickly enough with a brief break at the border just after we entered Cambodia. Since Ed had been feeling under the weather for the last few days and we were subjected to a temperature check at the border (and possible quarantine if we failed), we were delighted to be in the country. ...

5th May 2010 In early 1968, the American military base and airfield at Khe Sanh was the site of the bloodiest battle of the Vietnam War. Over a 2 month period the base was subjected to continuous ground attacks and artillery fire and US aircraft dropped 100,000 tonnes of explosive in the vicinity. The Khe Sanh Combat Base was never overrun but was completely stripped and dismantled before the Americans left. ...