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. ...
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. ...
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. ...
27th April 2010 In contrast to yesterday’s relaxed pace, this morning we were up before the sun. We had booked an early morning tour to see the Cham Temples at My Son (pronounced Me Sun). My Son is sometimes known as Vietnam’s Angkor Wat, but in actual matter of fact contains far fewer temples which are much more ruined over a vastly smaller area than those in Cambodia. However, it is the most extensive of Vietnam’s Cham remains. ...
23rd April 2010 It turned out to be a good job that we had bought our North Face coats yesterday, this morning we awoke to torrential rain and a thunderstorm. We were lucky to have done our trek yesterday and that we were going back to Ha Noi later this evening. With such dreadful weather, there was no rush to go out, so we spent a good part of the morning chatting with our Israeli friends Batya and Nir in reception. They have given us some great information and recommendations for Cambodia, Laos and Japan all of which they have visited recently. ...
31st March 2010 Back from our Mekong Delta trip and we needed to do a raft of jobs before moving on tomorrow to the mountain town of Dalat. We started with another visit to the Post Office to send home our new clothes and the picture we bought in Malacca. That sorted - they even managed to find a box to fit! - we headed off to the Tax Centre which is a cross between a shopping centre and a market. On the way we passed the grand old colonial Opera House building. ...
30th March 2010 It was an early start this morning so that we could enjoy our breakfast before returning to join our tour group. The early start was rewarded with a beautiful sunrise over the river and a chance to see the day beginning for so many people. Since there were five of us to get back to town our host took us by boat from the homestay to the centre. A fabulous way to travel, catching glimpses into some of the houses along the river bank and seeing daily life. ...
29th March 2010 The Mekong Delta is the region in southwestern Vietnam where the Mekong River approaches and empties into the sea through a network of tributaries. The Mekong delta region encompasses a massive area of southeastern Vietnam where water coverage depends on the season. The region is famous as a large rice growing area and produces about half of the total of Vietnam’s rice output. Vietnam is the second largest exporter of rice globally after Thailand. ...