Day 98 - 31/08/2010 - 22:36 - Singapore
We'll we've made it. 97 days later, we've made the whole journey across Eastern Europe and Asia. We had our last day in Penang and then flew from there to Singapore, arriving at 10pm local time last night. What an epic journey and the best part is there still is 7 days left!
Our final day in Penang was OK. We got up early to check out by the stingy time set by tunehotels.com for a 10am check out. We headed to the Botanical Gardens. The bus journey, despite not actually being that far took a whole hour. A complete farce only coupled by the farce that the buses didn't start running until noon and we were there sitting looking like lemons at 11am! Never mind, we got to the gardens by 1pm - after much mad driving by the bus driver (taking wrong turns and being told off by passengers for going down the wrong road. He then dropped us off insisting the gardens were around the corner. As you can imagine, he didn't fill us with hope but the gardens were there!
The gardens were beautiful though and we saw a variety of wildlife and plants. In some places (up in the hills) it felt like we were walking through a jungle - the humidity helped the atmosphere of it too! I was sweating manically! We saw monkeys, big lizards and turtles at the gardens - the monkeys were a particular highlight, some of them had little babies and they weren't shy of humans, allowing me to get quite close to take photos! We left the gardens, not knowing whether we were going to be able to get the bus back - with the madness of the drive there. We walked back to where we were dropped off and literally one minute later one appeared - thankfully! Unsurprisingly, like all journeys in Penang - it took a whole hour to get back!
We got back and walked to the hotel to get our bags, before walking back to the bus station to get a bus to the airport. As we were leaving the hotel we saw Norman again and he walked to the bus station with us and got the same bus (but got off along the way) and we said goodbye once again. I won't give any prizes for how long it took to get to Penang airport - but lets just say it was around the same mark as the other bus journeys we had taken!
Penang on the whole was OK. I liked many things, I disliked others. I liked the multi cultural society of the place and everyone was very friendly. The botanical gardens were also really nice, as were the temple we visited the day before - both were free entry too. I didn't like the poor transport on the island (why did everything take so long?!) and the fact that Penang hill was closed (annoying rather than a particular bad point). It wasn't a bad point, but I didn't appreciate being woken up by morning prayer at 6am from the nearby mosque either, although it was funny. The man clearly couldn't sing and dogs were howling with him! Haha.
We spent most the time at the airport in MacDonald's as they had free wifi there and then we were off - 20 minutes early too - it was totally bizarre but we got in early. The flight was fairly turbulent though which was annoying. Air Asia flights are nice though, their planes are very well maintained and clean which is good when you have a 15 hour flight with them coming up next week! We ended up arriving into Singapore at 21:45 and cleared through immigration without much hassle. As we came through to the baggage reclaim bit I could see through to the arrivals hall through the glass barriers and Ali and Daryl - Laura's aunt and uncle were there waving at us. I had to nudge Laura as she had her eye on the carousel! Our bags were there within seconds, perfect timing and we put them on and headed for the exit where we were greeted by them both.
Until now their hospitality has been fantastic - they've been so kind to us both and have treated us like royalty - we've been spoilt really! We went for beers and chicken satay (a Singapore favourite) as soon as we got there by the water front. They've been only happy to help for everything. Ali today made us a massive fry up for breakfast including M&S bacon and sausages and HP sauce! Delicious! Ali showed us to the metro station which is a short bus ride away and gave us their version of an oyster card with some credit already on it! Very kind. It's a long ride to town on the underground (although it's overground where they live!) but it was worth it! We went on our own and were going to meet up with them both at 6:30pm.
We got off at Orchard Road and walked down the length of it, although we only went into one shopping centre. The view from the top of that was impressive. We went in a couple of shops but didn't buy anything. One particular highlight was a sports shop called Premier football - the only new Premier League shirts they had were the "Big 4" (Man Utd, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelski) as well as.... you guessed it - Aston Villa! It's not even out in the UK yet, but they had it here - although it didn't have the sponsor on it, which explains the late arrival in the UK!
Anyway, after that we walked through a couple of city parks, a smaller one near the bottom of Orchard road and Fort Canning park which was a very nice park. It's one of the forts the British had to defend Singapore and it's very very tropical - feels like a jungle in some parts yet still holds it's old colonial style - very nice! Ali and Daryl picked us up from here at 6:30 on the dot - efficiency!
This evening we went for Singapore's version of Indian food with Ali, Daryl and a couple of their friends who live out here. After that, the 4 of us went to a micro brewery bar where we had... ALE! Oh my days! It's was beautiful, they brewed their own and I had one called Singapore Pale Ale - very nice! It was however, very expensive, I wouldn't pay for that normally but it was a nice treat! The evening on the whole was very nice!
Like I've said so many times, Ali and Daryl have been wonderful so far in everything they've done - it all of a sudden feels like a very different holiday. I must admit, sitting drinking Tiger's on the river front was very surreal last night - I couldn't quite believe that we were in Singapore, our destination, with Laura's family. Very strange. Very awesome.
Tuesday, 31 August 2010
Sunday, 29 August 2010
Penang
Day 96 - 29/08/2010 - 22:55 - Georgetown, Penang Island, Malaysia
So we've had our full day in Penang today, although it wasn't as full day as it could have been for two reasons - us getting up late and attraction closures! We overslept big time today - no alarm and no breakfast for our body clocks to be tempted by and ended up crawling out of bed at 11am - although to be fair this was 10am the previous day!
After we'd had our pastries bought from the 7/11 on the ground floor we headed towards Penang Hill. No tours, just us and the local public transport. It felt good! We got to the bus station with no problems whatsoever and got on the bus heading for Penang hill (no problem again). We told the bus driver Penang Hill and he said something about it being closed. We still bought a ticket there, as he said there was a temple nearby although had no intention of seeing the temple - purely thoughts of Penang Hill. There was another foreign couple on the bus and when we were told to get off by the driver (as they did too) we asked them if they were going to Penang Hill. They said the same, the driver had told them it was shut. We nonetheless followed signs for it - in the other direction was this impressive looking temple - the one the driver had told us to go to instead. We started walking to the hill when we saw another foreign man walking back towards the temple. We asked him if he had came from the hill. He said he had and that the Funicular railway that saves a 3 hour hike (each way) is closed until next month. We were gutted. Like him, we turned around at that point and headed for the temple. To be fair it didn't disappoint, it was a very impressive Buddhist temple, with lots of water features (complete with fish and turtles) lots of viewpoints and statues, including a massive one from on top of the hill it was perched on. Impressive.
We spent about 3 hours there, it was massive and then headed back to Penang centre. From there we decided to get a bus along the north coast of the island although by then it was getting late and we had no real purpose or want to be there. We stayed on the bus as it passed town after town, including the beach town we'd told the driver we were going to. We stayed on the whole way until we came to a dead end, he stopped and turned around. By then it was just me, Laura and an old, western man who were on the bus. We all headed back to Georgetown. The bus route maps online showed that the bus route went past a nature reserve to a town inland. It didn't do this. Very annoying. It just stopped at a dead end, and turned around. We got chatting to this man on the way back to town. His name was Norman and he was British, although had lived in Australia for most of his life. We found out he had a lot of family in Birmingham, including Bournville. He was a very nice man, very chatty and we got on well with him. Turned out he was staying at the same hotel as us too, the extreme budget one. In the end we ended up going for something to eat with him, at a restaurant just down the road from the hotel, we didn't get back to Georgetown until 7pm. We ate at a local restaurant and the food was absolutely amazing, despite being a little pricey (for Malaysia). The restaurant was beautifully, yet traditionally decorated inside with an old colonial style. We stayed there chatting for several hours as well, about everything and anything - mainly though about the craziness of south east Asia and giving him some places (websites) of information for train travel as well as links to the places we stayed in Vietnam (barring the crap hotel we stayed in Hoi An!)
It was a weird but wonderful last night of our time on our own before heading to Singapore tomorrow night. It kind of epitomised the trip, meeting someone on our travels, sharing experiences with someone new. It's certainly something I will really miss and has been a highlight of the whole travel experience. Our last day on our own tomorrow. By 10pm we'll be in Singapore with Laura's family (barring a plane delay of course). It will be strange being with other people for a longer than one day period!
So we've had our full day in Penang today, although it wasn't as full day as it could have been for two reasons - us getting up late and attraction closures! We overslept big time today - no alarm and no breakfast for our body clocks to be tempted by and ended up crawling out of bed at 11am - although to be fair this was 10am the previous day!
After we'd had our pastries bought from the 7/11 on the ground floor we headed towards Penang Hill. No tours, just us and the local public transport. It felt good! We got to the bus station with no problems whatsoever and got on the bus heading for Penang hill (no problem again). We told the bus driver Penang Hill and he said something about it being closed. We still bought a ticket there, as he said there was a temple nearby although had no intention of seeing the temple - purely thoughts of Penang Hill. There was another foreign couple on the bus and when we were told to get off by the driver (as they did too) we asked them if they were going to Penang Hill. They said the same, the driver had told them it was shut. We nonetheless followed signs for it - in the other direction was this impressive looking temple - the one the driver had told us to go to instead. We started walking to the hill when we saw another foreign man walking back towards the temple. We asked him if he had came from the hill. He said he had and that the Funicular railway that saves a 3 hour hike (each way) is closed until next month. We were gutted. Like him, we turned around at that point and headed for the temple. To be fair it didn't disappoint, it was a very impressive Buddhist temple, with lots of water features (complete with fish and turtles) lots of viewpoints and statues, including a massive one from on top of the hill it was perched on. Impressive.
We spent about 3 hours there, it was massive and then headed back to Penang centre. From there we decided to get a bus along the north coast of the island although by then it was getting late and we had no real purpose or want to be there. We stayed on the bus as it passed town after town, including the beach town we'd told the driver we were going to. We stayed on the whole way until we came to a dead end, he stopped and turned around. By then it was just me, Laura and an old, western man who were on the bus. We all headed back to Georgetown. The bus route maps online showed that the bus route went past a nature reserve to a town inland. It didn't do this. Very annoying. It just stopped at a dead end, and turned around. We got chatting to this man on the way back to town. His name was Norman and he was British, although had lived in Australia for most of his life. We found out he had a lot of family in Birmingham, including Bournville. He was a very nice man, very chatty and we got on well with him. Turned out he was staying at the same hotel as us too, the extreme budget one. In the end we ended up going for something to eat with him, at a restaurant just down the road from the hotel, we didn't get back to Georgetown until 7pm. We ate at a local restaurant and the food was absolutely amazing, despite being a little pricey (for Malaysia). The restaurant was beautifully, yet traditionally decorated inside with an old colonial style. We stayed there chatting for several hours as well, about everything and anything - mainly though about the craziness of south east Asia and giving him some places (websites) of information for train travel as well as links to the places we stayed in Vietnam (barring the crap hotel we stayed in Hoi An!)
It was a weird but wonderful last night of our time on our own before heading to Singapore tomorrow night. It kind of epitomised the trip, meeting someone on our travels, sharing experiences with someone new. It's certainly something I will really miss and has been a highlight of the whole travel experience. Our last day on our own tomorrow. By 10pm we'll be in Singapore with Laura's family (barring a plane delay of course). It will be strange being with other people for a longer than one day period!
Saturday, 28 August 2010
From island to island
Day 95 - 28/08/2010 - 21:05 - Georgetown, Penang Island, Malaysia
Well we're now in Malaysia albeit briefly. We'll be back to see KL after we've been to Singapore. As I've mentioned earlier, we're now flying, on Monday night at 8:50pm.
Our final full day in Lamai saw us lounge on the beach and also by the pool for the last time. My sunburn was still hurting (and still is now) but when there was cloud cover, I went in the sea for a bit which was really nice and refreshing because it was very hot that day. We were really sad to leave the beach that evening but we want to come back and will do I think. Such a beautiful part of the island. We went back to the pool in the evening, I had no hesitation about going in as the pool is in the shade in the afternoon so just really enjoyed the last pool on the holiday! Wish I was back there now to be honest! That evening we went to get the suit finalised and paid for. It looks really nice and I'm carrying it with me instead of shipping it - it was £30 just to Singapore! Pah. Never mind.
We got up the following day and checked out at 11, before heading to the town centre to post some postcards, buy some food for the journey and check the Internet (the Internet died the previous evening, so I had no idea Villa had lost, again). We got picked up at 12:50 and got dumped at the Raja Ferry port on the other side of the island. A 40 minute wait there, we got onto the boat. Laura and I had a great view over the back of the ship, we gave Samui a proper wave goodbye as we saw it fade in the distance. It was sad but we were looking forward to our stupidly long journey - our last real one this trip. I said it didn't matter how long we spent in each place waiting, it was all the 'final' experience. And it really was. We had to wait another 30 minutes or so at Don Sak pier before a bus picked us off and dropped us off at a random cafe in Surat Thani. We sat with a northern Irish couple and chatted to them for a while, getting stickers with "Train" stuck to us in the process (we were the only 2 going to the train station). They were headed for Krabi along with most others it seemed. We waited for about 45 minutes there before being bundled in a Pick-tuk. I've named this, it's essentially a small pick up truck that's been converted into a tuk tuk. It was powerful and we got bundled into the back with 2 others - both heading to Bangkok by bus. One of them was old Australian man with a long white beard and was wearing a bandana. He was a great character and kept telling me that everything they do in Asia "is all organised" - including the mad driving! It was funny, every Thai person in their car that saw this man just had a huge smile on their face! Maybe we are not so "same same" after all! (The thai way of saying all whites look the same, I actually saw a Thai teenager wearing a t-shirt saying this! The text was conveniently white on a black t-shirt)
Anyway, we got dropped off at the train station at 7pm, 6 hours before our train was due in. The pick-tuk driver laughed when we told him how long we had to wait. It was all organised though - on my end! We ate a meal at a dirty cafe which we had a coffee at when we first arrived at Surat from Bangkok and this time had something to eat. To be fair, it was pretty good and cheap. Unfortunately they shut at 8:30pm so we needed to find something else to do. Luckily, there is a 24 hour Internet cafe on that road and we spend from about 7:45pm to 11pm in there. It only cost 8quid for 2 PC's as well! After that, we went to the 7/11 and got a couple of beers (I drank them both). Strangely enough the 7/11 at Surat train station was open till 12 but I wasn't complaining. We headed to the train station to wait. On the platform near where we were waiting were yet another British couple around our age - both met at Nottingham Trent Uni. We had a chat with them for 40 minutes or so before they got their train north to Bangkok. Our train was 1 hour and 15 minutes late, it didn't come in until 5 past 2 in the morning. Bad times. That said though, the sleeper was good. It was completely different to any other carriage layout for 2nd class we've seen but it was clean and comfortable! The whole carriage was open, but there were 2 seats facing each other on each side of the train, running down the carriage. These folded down and out to make the bottom bunks and the top bunk came from above, much like they do elsewhere. There is only a curtain separating you from the corridor but it worked well and I slept reasonably well.
Customs was pretty good too. The passport control for both Thailand and Malaysia were in Malaysia so you went through the Thai and then the Malaysian one straight after, got back on the train and then we were off. At the Thai one there was a great law about how the King can refuse entry to those who have "hippy" characteristics, such as being dirty! It was funny. Many people took pictures of it and it led to a conversation with yet another British couple. I knew the accent was fairly local this time, turns out they were from Nuneaton. Small world. We rolled into Butterworth 2 hours late, at around 2:30pm, caught the ferry across and then got a taxi for £2.50 to the hotel. It's a nice but very basic hotel. For £5 each per night, I'm not complaining though! This afternoon we just looked around the town a bit, tomorrow we're going to see if we can make our way all the way up Penang Hill!
Well we're now in Malaysia albeit briefly. We'll be back to see KL after we've been to Singapore. As I've mentioned earlier, we're now flying, on Monday night at 8:50pm.
Our final full day in Lamai saw us lounge on the beach and also by the pool for the last time. My sunburn was still hurting (and still is now) but when there was cloud cover, I went in the sea for a bit which was really nice and refreshing because it was very hot that day. We were really sad to leave the beach that evening but we want to come back and will do I think. Such a beautiful part of the island. We went back to the pool in the evening, I had no hesitation about going in as the pool is in the shade in the afternoon so just really enjoyed the last pool on the holiday! Wish I was back there now to be honest! That evening we went to get the suit finalised and paid for. It looks really nice and I'm carrying it with me instead of shipping it - it was £30 just to Singapore! Pah. Never mind.
We got up the following day and checked out at 11, before heading to the town centre to post some postcards, buy some food for the journey and check the Internet (the Internet died the previous evening, so I had no idea Villa had lost, again). We got picked up at 12:50 and got dumped at the Raja Ferry port on the other side of the island. A 40 minute wait there, we got onto the boat. Laura and I had a great view over the back of the ship, we gave Samui a proper wave goodbye as we saw it fade in the distance. It was sad but we were looking forward to our stupidly long journey - our last real one this trip. I said it didn't matter how long we spent in each place waiting, it was all the 'final' experience. And it really was. We had to wait another 30 minutes or so at Don Sak pier before a bus picked us off and dropped us off at a random cafe in Surat Thani. We sat with a northern Irish couple and chatted to them for a while, getting stickers with "Train" stuck to us in the process (we were the only 2 going to the train station). They were headed for Krabi along with most others it seemed. We waited for about 45 minutes there before being bundled in a Pick-tuk. I've named this, it's essentially a small pick up truck that's been converted into a tuk tuk. It was powerful and we got bundled into the back with 2 others - both heading to Bangkok by bus. One of them was old Australian man with a long white beard and was wearing a bandana. He was a great character and kept telling me that everything they do in Asia "is all organised" - including the mad driving! It was funny, every Thai person in their car that saw this man just had a huge smile on their face! Maybe we are not so "same same" after all! (The thai way of saying all whites look the same, I actually saw a Thai teenager wearing a t-shirt saying this! The text was conveniently white on a black t-shirt)
Anyway, we got dropped off at the train station at 7pm, 6 hours before our train was due in. The pick-tuk driver laughed when we told him how long we had to wait. It was all organised though - on my end! We ate a meal at a dirty cafe which we had a coffee at when we first arrived at Surat from Bangkok and this time had something to eat. To be fair, it was pretty good and cheap. Unfortunately they shut at 8:30pm so we needed to find something else to do. Luckily, there is a 24 hour Internet cafe on that road and we spend from about 7:45pm to 11pm in there. It only cost 8quid for 2 PC's as well! After that, we went to the 7/11 and got a couple of beers (I drank them both). Strangely enough the 7/11 at Surat train station was open till 12 but I wasn't complaining. We headed to the train station to wait. On the platform near where we were waiting were yet another British couple around our age - both met at Nottingham Trent Uni. We had a chat with them for 40 minutes or so before they got their train north to Bangkok. Our train was 1 hour and 15 minutes late, it didn't come in until 5 past 2 in the morning. Bad times. That said though, the sleeper was good. It was completely different to any other carriage layout for 2nd class we've seen but it was clean and comfortable! The whole carriage was open, but there were 2 seats facing each other on each side of the train, running down the carriage. These folded down and out to make the bottom bunks and the top bunk came from above, much like they do elsewhere. There is only a curtain separating you from the corridor but it worked well and I slept reasonably well.
Customs was pretty good too. The passport control for both Thailand and Malaysia were in Malaysia so you went through the Thai and then the Malaysian one straight after, got back on the train and then we were off. At the Thai one there was a great law about how the King can refuse entry to those who have "hippy" characteristics, such as being dirty! It was funny. Many people took pictures of it and it led to a conversation with yet another British couple. I knew the accent was fairly local this time, turns out they were from Nuneaton. Small world. We rolled into Butterworth 2 hours late, at around 2:30pm, caught the ferry across and then got a taxi for £2.50 to the hotel. It's a nice but very basic hotel. For £5 each per night, I'm not complaining though! This afternoon we just looked around the town a bit, tomorrow we're going to see if we can make our way all the way up Penang Hill!
Thursday, 26 August 2010
Koh Samui
Day 92 - 25/08/2010 - 22:02 - Lamai, Koh Samui, Thailand
So today is our 3rd day on Koh Samui and we've had an excellent time thus far. Yesterday was absolute bliss. We got up at 9am, went down for breakfast then after that, headed for the beach. We hired 2 sun loungers at 10:45am and stayed there until 3:30pm for a massive £1 each. We sunbathed, went in the sea and just chilled out. Perfect. Only problem was I fell asleep in the sun and my stomach (on one side) is completely burnt to a crisp. I'm in actual agony and over 24 hours later it does not look to be subsiding at all - I've plastered myself with aftersun at least 5 times in this time but so far it's not done anything :(
Today we went on an Island tour, for around £9 each. We did a fair bit today, a 6 hour tour including visiting 3 temples, a big bhudda statue (which is famous here), a viewpoint of Chaweng beach and the grandmother and grandfather rock, which is at the end of Lamai beach about 1km from our hotel. We actually walked there yesterday after we'd left our sun beds but we could only deduce the grandfather rock, we couldn't see the other one (they look like male and female genitals). There were lots of cracks in the rocks, let put it that way! But we saw it today. Exciting stuff. We also saw a cocunut farm where they use monkeys to harvest the fruit and in return they live with the humans on the farm. The monkeys were completely used to humans, and we both got a picture with one on our shoulders! Awesome stuff. To top it all off we went to a nature park. We didn't see much and the main point of it was to go and see a waterfall. That was pretty unspectacular but we did get to sit on top of a jeep to get there and saw numerous elephants around the park - pretty cool.
We got back at around 5:45pm when it absolutely bucketed it down. We headed out this evening in the pouring rain. The reason - I'm having a suit tailored. I really wanted to get one in Hoi An, but didn't have time so I'm getting one here instead. The guy who is the tailor is Burmese and is a really nice bloke and his cousin (who tries to get customers - the guy I orginally met) is Nepalese which sparked a lot of coversation between us all (the Nepalese man is also called Thomas!) I originally wasn't going to go with it, the price was around £120 - I told him my situation (student, doesn't wear suit often, looking for job still) and it's being made for £80 which personally I think is a pretty fair price for both parties. I went back this evening (hence going out in the rain) and it had already been made for the first fitting - it looks amazing. It's a dark grey suit with thin cream pinstripes. Beautiful. Really looking forward to trying it again tomorrow when hopefully it will be that much closer to completion! The tailor Bishnu, also spoke Nepalese and although I told him I couldn't speak it anymore he was impressed that I knew what cold water was in Nepalese! Haha.
There are many taliors in Lamai alone, and some offer suits at cheaper rates, as like a set price. Obviously this one was negotiated instead but I think I've made the right choice, the suit looks amazing! Tomorrow, sun burn permitting we are going back down to the beach for our final full day. I'm going to wear a t-shirt if it's still burnt, won't be much fun though! I've got my eye on a jetski rental, just need to convice Lils! Although my sunburn is so bad I don't think I'll be able to :(
We've also got our travel to Singapore sorted, completing the last piece of the jigsaw. We're flying for 2 reasons - 1 we wanted the extra day in Penang, we've been reading a lot on it and it really sounds that 2 days is better than 1. Secondly, it's fairly cheap. In the end it wasn't an amazing deal - it was £40 including bags etc - but when the train is £15 and would have taken a whole day (8am-9pm) and the flight takes 1.5 hours (8:30pm-10pm) it makes sense. Time is money and all that. So tomorrow we've got to get our ferry ticket back to the mainland sorted - won't be a problem though. What will be a problem is killing 6, probably 7-8 hours at Surat Thani railway station. There is absolutely nothing there, and from what I've heard the cafes shut at 8pm. Great. Should be interesting and if we're that bored (which we could be lets face it) we can always get a taxi to the town - I guess. Money though. It's our last train journey though as we're flying from Penang-Singapore. Ali and Daryl (Laura's aunt and uncle) are taking us by car to KL via Melaca, an ancient town, which should be great - very kind gesture by them. After that, well... 15 hours between Malaysia and England. My home, that I've not seen for 3 months. I miss it very much but I can just see myself in 3 weeks... wishing I was out here again!
So today is our 3rd day on Koh Samui and we've had an excellent time thus far. Yesterday was absolute bliss. We got up at 9am, went down for breakfast then after that, headed for the beach. We hired 2 sun loungers at 10:45am and stayed there until 3:30pm for a massive £1 each. We sunbathed, went in the sea and just chilled out. Perfect. Only problem was I fell asleep in the sun and my stomach (on one side) is completely burnt to a crisp. I'm in actual agony and over 24 hours later it does not look to be subsiding at all - I've plastered myself with aftersun at least 5 times in this time but so far it's not done anything :(
Today we went on an Island tour, for around £9 each. We did a fair bit today, a 6 hour tour including visiting 3 temples, a big bhudda statue (which is famous here), a viewpoint of Chaweng beach and the grandmother and grandfather rock, which is at the end of Lamai beach about 1km from our hotel. We actually walked there yesterday after we'd left our sun beds but we could only deduce the grandfather rock, we couldn't see the other one (they look like male and female genitals). There were lots of cracks in the rocks, let put it that way! But we saw it today. Exciting stuff. We also saw a cocunut farm where they use monkeys to harvest the fruit and in return they live with the humans on the farm. The monkeys were completely used to humans, and we both got a picture with one on our shoulders! Awesome stuff. To top it all off we went to a nature park. We didn't see much and the main point of it was to go and see a waterfall. That was pretty unspectacular but we did get to sit on top of a jeep to get there and saw numerous elephants around the park - pretty cool.
We got back at around 5:45pm when it absolutely bucketed it down. We headed out this evening in the pouring rain. The reason - I'm having a suit tailored. I really wanted to get one in Hoi An, but didn't have time so I'm getting one here instead. The guy who is the tailor is Burmese and is a really nice bloke and his cousin (who tries to get customers - the guy I orginally met) is Nepalese which sparked a lot of coversation between us all (the Nepalese man is also called Thomas!) I originally wasn't going to go with it, the price was around £120 - I told him my situation (student, doesn't wear suit often, looking for job still) and it's being made for £80 which personally I think is a pretty fair price for both parties. I went back this evening (hence going out in the rain) and it had already been made for the first fitting - it looks amazing. It's a dark grey suit with thin cream pinstripes. Beautiful. Really looking forward to trying it again tomorrow when hopefully it will be that much closer to completion! The tailor Bishnu, also spoke Nepalese and although I told him I couldn't speak it anymore he was impressed that I knew what cold water was in Nepalese! Haha.
There are many taliors in Lamai alone, and some offer suits at cheaper rates, as like a set price. Obviously this one was negotiated instead but I think I've made the right choice, the suit looks amazing! Tomorrow, sun burn permitting we are going back down to the beach for our final full day. I'm going to wear a t-shirt if it's still burnt, won't be much fun though! I've got my eye on a jetski rental, just need to convice Lils! Although my sunburn is so bad I don't think I'll be able to :(
We've also got our travel to Singapore sorted, completing the last piece of the jigsaw. We're flying for 2 reasons - 1 we wanted the extra day in Penang, we've been reading a lot on it and it really sounds that 2 days is better than 1. Secondly, it's fairly cheap. In the end it wasn't an amazing deal - it was £40 including bags etc - but when the train is £15 and would have taken a whole day (8am-9pm) and the flight takes 1.5 hours (8:30pm-10pm) it makes sense. Time is money and all that. So tomorrow we've got to get our ferry ticket back to the mainland sorted - won't be a problem though. What will be a problem is killing 6, probably 7-8 hours at Surat Thani railway station. There is absolutely nothing there, and from what I've heard the cafes shut at 8pm. Great. Should be interesting and if we're that bored (which we could be lets face it) we can always get a taxi to the town - I guess. Money though. It's our last train journey though as we're flying from Penang-Singapore. Ali and Daryl (Laura's aunt and uncle) are taking us by car to KL via Melaca, an ancient town, which should be great - very kind gesture by them. After that, well... 15 hours between Malaysia and England. My home, that I've not seen for 3 months. I miss it very much but I can just see myself in 3 weeks... wishing I was out here again!
Monday, 23 August 2010
No transport hitches
Day 90 - 23/08/2010 - 21:34 - Lamai, Koh Samui, Thailand
Absolutely no hitches today. Happy days. The train journey was pretty good. We'd heard lots of mixed things about the State railways of Thailand but one thing that kept being mentioned was their inability to be on time. Because of that we had no onward tickets from Surat Thani, the station we were getting off at, to Koh Samui. The train, was delayed but it was only by 40 minutes, much better than the 1-2 hours that I'd heard. We got into Surat Thani at 4:45am and were greeted by lots of people trying to sell boat/bus tickets to the gulf. We ignored them and walked the length to the main station building. There was nothing there, although a man was and he asked if we'd tickets. As my plan had been blown (to find tickets in the main station building) we told him and he said the bus and boat ticket leaving at 6am would cost 280 baht each, about 60p more than we had read it cost so we were fine about paying it.
We left on time and got to the ferry station at Don Sak (it's still called Surat Thani despite being 60km away) by just gone 8. The boat took 2 hours in total and then got a cab between us to Lamai, on the other side of the island for £8. We just wanted to get there, sure we may have got it for £2 less if we'd haggled but we were groggy and tired and needed our western luxuries (showers). We got to Lamai, and our hotel at around 11am. They told us that the room wasn't going to be ready until 1pm which was annoying but offered for us to use the pool facilities which was nice. However, by the time we'd got our pool clothes out as well as the towels it was 11:30 and our room was ready! Strange but we weren't complaining! We got the usual spiel that we'd been upgraded (Which I think just means higher floor) and we were placed on the 4th (top) floor with an absolutely amazing sea view. Awesome. We showered and headed for the beach, which is absolutely stunning too. There wasn't a lot of space between land and sea but the beach wasn't heavily populated at all, we stayed there for a couple of hours before going back to our hotel and spending a couple of hours by and in the pool. Absolutely blissful afternoon!
Forgot to mention in my last blog entry as well - my lady boy count is well and truly underway. They say Thailand is famous for having Transgendered people but I'd not seen any (either because I hadn't seen any or the operations here are VERY good). But however, I saw my first yesterday at a cafe in the train station. And even then, in fairness, it was only until they spoke that I realised! I also saw another 3 (yes 3) on Koh Samui alone today. Good to see that Thailand is still representing!
This evening we've relaxed and had tea at a restaurant where they had fresh seafood on show. We we greeted at the front by an English woman who spotted my "Brummie" t-shirt. Whilst looking at the menu she said "Oh so you're a Brummie are you". I replied "Yeah". She then asked if I was an Aston Villa fan by any chance and I said "Yes" looking embarrassed because of our recent 6-0 thrashing by newly promoted Newcastle. You can't think how it could get any worse, could you? Well her next words topped it all. "Ah, you see I'm a Geordie". Noooooooooooooooooo. What are the odds, seriously?! A complete joke. Never mind, she was nice and I got some tiger prawns (absolutely huge) for much cheaper than the going rate. "You obviously feel sorry for me" I said. Maybe, she did, but nonetheless the food was excellent and they were the biggest and tastiest prawns I've ever eaten. To top it all off I had an apple pie and custard for desert - it was amazing, just like the good stuff you get back home!
Absolutely no hitches today. Happy days. The train journey was pretty good. We'd heard lots of mixed things about the State railways of Thailand but one thing that kept being mentioned was their inability to be on time. Because of that we had no onward tickets from Surat Thani, the station we were getting off at, to Koh Samui. The train, was delayed but it was only by 40 minutes, much better than the 1-2 hours that I'd heard. We got into Surat Thani at 4:45am and were greeted by lots of people trying to sell boat/bus tickets to the gulf. We ignored them and walked the length to the main station building. There was nothing there, although a man was and he asked if we'd tickets. As my plan had been blown (to find tickets in the main station building) we told him and he said the bus and boat ticket leaving at 6am would cost 280 baht each, about 60p more than we had read it cost so we were fine about paying it.
We left on time and got to the ferry station at Don Sak (it's still called Surat Thani despite being 60km away) by just gone 8. The boat took 2 hours in total and then got a cab between us to Lamai, on the other side of the island for £8. We just wanted to get there, sure we may have got it for £2 less if we'd haggled but we were groggy and tired and needed our western luxuries (showers). We got to Lamai, and our hotel at around 11am. They told us that the room wasn't going to be ready until 1pm which was annoying but offered for us to use the pool facilities which was nice. However, by the time we'd got our pool clothes out as well as the towels it was 11:30 and our room was ready! Strange but we weren't complaining! We got the usual spiel that we'd been upgraded (Which I think just means higher floor) and we were placed on the 4th (top) floor with an absolutely amazing sea view. Awesome. We showered and headed for the beach, which is absolutely stunning too. There wasn't a lot of space between land and sea but the beach wasn't heavily populated at all, we stayed there for a couple of hours before going back to our hotel and spending a couple of hours by and in the pool. Absolutely blissful afternoon!
Forgot to mention in my last blog entry as well - my lady boy count is well and truly underway. They say Thailand is famous for having Transgendered people but I'd not seen any (either because I hadn't seen any or the operations here are VERY good). But however, I saw my first yesterday at a cafe in the train station. And even then, in fairness, it was only until they spoke that I realised! I also saw another 3 (yes 3) on Koh Samui alone today. Good to see that Thailand is still representing!
This evening we've relaxed and had tea at a restaurant where they had fresh seafood on show. We we greeted at the front by an English woman who spotted my "Brummie" t-shirt. Whilst looking at the menu she said "Oh so you're a Brummie are you". I replied "Yeah". She then asked if I was an Aston Villa fan by any chance and I said "Yes" looking embarrassed because of our recent 6-0 thrashing by newly promoted Newcastle. You can't think how it could get any worse, could you? Well her next words topped it all. "Ah, you see I'm a Geordie". Noooooooooooooooooo. What are the odds, seriously?! A complete joke. Never mind, she was nice and I got some tiger prawns (absolutely huge) for much cheaper than the going rate. "You obviously feel sorry for me" I said. Maybe, she did, but nonetheless the food was excellent and they were the biggest and tastiest prawns I've ever eaten. To top it all off I had an apple pie and custard for desert - it was amazing, just like the good stuff you get back home!
Bangkok
Day 89 - 22/08/2010 - 17:34 - Bangkok (In transit), Thailand
I've been pretty lazy over the last few days with regards to the blog so here I am writing it all up on the train to Surat Thani (for Koh Saumi). We're still in Bangkok, going past all the little shacks/homes that tend to be the norm in South east Asia - along the railway line. We're passing so close to the iron roofs it feels like we're scraping them. We've treated ourselves in Thailand to a first class cabin. It's a good size and there are only two of us sharing which is nice. The staff are all very friendly and we've got tea at 7pm for £3 each. Not bad.
So we've had 4 days up until this point and we've seen much of what Bangkok's had to offer both old and new. On the 19th (Thursday) we managed to get to the Royal Palace. Of course when we got there we were pulled to one side by some official looking guy who said the palace was only open for Thai people at the moment, for prayers. Complete lies of course, and there was nothing wrong with the opening hours of the palace. Absolute cocks. The palace was very impressive as was the Wat within it's grounds, and was a lot more "sparkly" than the like palace in Phnom Penh. After that we stopped for a bite to eat before heading over the waters to Wat Aran, a rather old yet spectacular Wat. We'd seen the main (old) sights within a short space of time and thought we'd check the newer side of the city out. We got the boat back to the Sky train station and then took that to Silom, which was known as "central" to the sky train map. It did look like there was a lot there on the map and there was. Shopping centre after shopping centre. It was pretty dull to be honest, they all housed the same, over expensive brands that you can find in England. We did however see one difference. One of the buildings was completely closed off and it was charred to bits. This was the shopping mall which was burnt down by the red shirt protesters just a mere couple of months ago. The following day we were walking along the sky walk past it and it's stupid how the government has pretended that it's some sort of refurbishment going on - signs like "We miss you Zen" posted on the building along with "I love Thailand" signs everywhere. All felt a bit fake. Never mind. That evening (we're still on Thursday here) we went to see Toy Story 3 at the IMAX in the Paragon shopping centre. The screen was beautiful and it was immaculate inside. We had to stand for the national anthem before the film started, ugh - blind patriotism, my favourite. The film was good though and after that we went back to the hotel. That evening we watched the Villa game on TV - 2/2 so far, the coverage of European football is very good here. It didn't start until 23:45 but I watched the whole thing!
Naturally, we got up late the next day (Friday) but it wasn't a problem, we were planning on not doing much, just looking around different parts of the city (newer parts). We didn't leave the hotel until gone noon, which was a nice, lazy change and we spent a lot of the day looking around... more shopping centres! We went further down the sky train route, stopping off somewhere where we knew there was a book shop for Laura. She's bought another book! That will last here 2 days. Luckily she's resisted the urge to start it thus far - wish me luck on keeping it that way! A couple hours later and it was chucking it down with rain, which wasn't fun as we were planning on going to a city park to have a look around. We decided on going back to the cinema again but the only times we found for films we wanted to see were either later on or in special screens where the tickets were £14 each (they looked nice but when normal tickets are £4 and the Imax was only £6 we passed!) we had a look around other shopping centres/plazas where supposed cinemas were but we didn't find anything.
In the end we decided to give it a miss, we would come back the following day in the evening and go to the later showing then. That evening we had a massage in our hotel (it's an Accor brand hotel so we knew it would be legitimate!) Laura decided to treat me to a back, neck and head massage for an hour, for all the work I've done on the trip - bless her. It was really not what I expected. I was "massaged" to within inches of my life at some points. The woman was only small but she had brute strength! My back was clicked, neck was clicked, a lot of it hurt a bit, but I stupidly didn't say anything. The oil massage on my back was very nice, but it only was a brief respite from the onslaught of this small Thai woman. We later found out that apparently Asians like pain in their massages - if I'd known this I'd have waited to get back to the UK!! That said though, I do feel better after it although she pointed out to me a muscular problem in my right shoulder which I should check out at the docs when I get home. After all of that we had a Skype with my Gran in Cornwall who turned 80 that day. It was really nice to speak to her (with video) as well as the rest of that side of the family - I even spoke to my dad!
So yesterday we were planning to go to Ayuthaya, the ancient capital of Thailand which was one and a half hours away by train. We decided against it in the end for numerous reasons - we had to be up very early as the gap between trains in one instance was 2 hours and we would have only had 4 hours or so there if we'd got the train we wanted. The other reason was that we felt that we just couldn't see any more temples. We are seriously templed out after all that we saw at Angkor, then Battambang, then even the 4/5 in Bangkok. Never mind, I'm sure we'll visit again in the future, just spending the time in one country would be nice! Instead we got up later but visited Chinatown, the only real part of old town we'd not yet visited. We walked from the boat station, all the way back to the city centre metro station, passing loads of stalls selling a huge variety of goods. We also went through thieves market, a city of shacks selling all sorts including fully automatic weapons! It was incredible. Once we'd been there, we headed back to the newer part of the city to go to Lumphini park, the city park we wanted to visit the day before. That was actually really nice and relaxing, and it was a really peaceful park. It was quite funny watching the free aerobics lessons too. We came out of the park at the "Silom" end of the park, near the notorious red light district. Just walking along the main road (where all the shopping centres and transit stations are, not even the red light district!) I was offered invitations to watch Ping Pong shows (Google it) and tried to be sold a variety of rip off porno films. It was only 5pm as well! Shocking. For some reason, no-one asked Laura if she wanted either despite the fact she really wanted to see a ping-pong show (just kidding!!) But you can tell who they make their money off (white males!). After all of that, we headed to the cinema to watch Inception. Great film. We didn't get out until half 11, by that time it was chucking it down again. Luckily in that part of the city you can get to and from your destination without stepping outside (or at least out from cover) but we still got rained on when we got to our sky train stop and had to walk back to the hotel from there!!
Finally today. Well, we didn't do much today. We had a late night last night so didn't get up early at all today, despite the fact we still needed to pack - never mind! We were taken to the metro station in the snazzy All seasons (white and green) tuk tuk for free which was cool and spent the afternoon chilling out in cafes (of the drink and Internet variety). Now we're on the train and I must say I'm REALLY looking forward to lounging on the beach tomorrow. Bring it on!
I've been pretty lazy over the last few days with regards to the blog so here I am writing it all up on the train to Surat Thani (for Koh Saumi). We're still in Bangkok, going past all the little shacks/homes that tend to be the norm in South east Asia - along the railway line. We're passing so close to the iron roofs it feels like we're scraping them. We've treated ourselves in Thailand to a first class cabin. It's a good size and there are only two of us sharing which is nice. The staff are all very friendly and we've got tea at 7pm for £3 each. Not bad.
So we've had 4 days up until this point and we've seen much of what Bangkok's had to offer both old and new. On the 19th (Thursday) we managed to get to the Royal Palace. Of course when we got there we were pulled to one side by some official looking guy who said the palace was only open for Thai people at the moment, for prayers. Complete lies of course, and there was nothing wrong with the opening hours of the palace. Absolute cocks. The palace was very impressive as was the Wat within it's grounds, and was a lot more "sparkly" than the like palace in Phnom Penh. After that we stopped for a bite to eat before heading over the waters to Wat Aran, a rather old yet spectacular Wat. We'd seen the main (old) sights within a short space of time and thought we'd check the newer side of the city out. We got the boat back to the Sky train station and then took that to Silom, which was known as "central" to the sky train map. It did look like there was a lot there on the map and there was. Shopping centre after shopping centre. It was pretty dull to be honest, they all housed the same, over expensive brands that you can find in England. We did however see one difference. One of the buildings was completely closed off and it was charred to bits. This was the shopping mall which was burnt down by the red shirt protesters just a mere couple of months ago. The following day we were walking along the sky walk past it and it's stupid how the government has pretended that it's some sort of refurbishment going on - signs like "We miss you Zen" posted on the building along with "I love Thailand" signs everywhere. All felt a bit fake. Never mind. That evening (we're still on Thursday here) we went to see Toy Story 3 at the IMAX in the Paragon shopping centre. The screen was beautiful and it was immaculate inside. We had to stand for the national anthem before the film started, ugh - blind patriotism, my favourite. The film was good though and after that we went back to the hotel. That evening we watched the Villa game on TV - 2/2 so far, the coverage of European football is very good here. It didn't start until 23:45 but I watched the whole thing!
Naturally, we got up late the next day (Friday) but it wasn't a problem, we were planning on not doing much, just looking around different parts of the city (newer parts). We didn't leave the hotel until gone noon, which was a nice, lazy change and we spent a lot of the day looking around... more shopping centres! We went further down the sky train route, stopping off somewhere where we knew there was a book shop for Laura. She's bought another book! That will last here 2 days. Luckily she's resisted the urge to start it thus far - wish me luck on keeping it that way! A couple hours later and it was chucking it down with rain, which wasn't fun as we were planning on going to a city park to have a look around. We decided on going back to the cinema again but the only times we found for films we wanted to see were either later on or in special screens where the tickets were £14 each (they looked nice but when normal tickets are £4 and the Imax was only £6 we passed!) we had a look around other shopping centres/plazas where supposed cinemas were but we didn't find anything.
In the end we decided to give it a miss, we would come back the following day in the evening and go to the later showing then. That evening we had a massage in our hotel (it's an Accor brand hotel so we knew it would be legitimate!) Laura decided to treat me to a back, neck and head massage for an hour, for all the work I've done on the trip - bless her. It was really not what I expected. I was "massaged" to within inches of my life at some points. The woman was only small but she had brute strength! My back was clicked, neck was clicked, a lot of it hurt a bit, but I stupidly didn't say anything. The oil massage on my back was very nice, but it only was a brief respite from the onslaught of this small Thai woman. We later found out that apparently Asians like pain in their massages - if I'd known this I'd have waited to get back to the UK!! That said though, I do feel better after it although she pointed out to me a muscular problem in my right shoulder which I should check out at the docs when I get home. After all of that we had a Skype with my Gran in Cornwall who turned 80 that day. It was really nice to speak to her (with video) as well as the rest of that side of the family - I even spoke to my dad!
So yesterday we were planning to go to Ayuthaya, the ancient capital of Thailand which was one and a half hours away by train. We decided against it in the end for numerous reasons - we had to be up very early as the gap between trains in one instance was 2 hours and we would have only had 4 hours or so there if we'd got the train we wanted. The other reason was that we felt that we just couldn't see any more temples. We are seriously templed out after all that we saw at Angkor, then Battambang, then even the 4/5 in Bangkok. Never mind, I'm sure we'll visit again in the future, just spending the time in one country would be nice! Instead we got up later but visited Chinatown, the only real part of old town we'd not yet visited. We walked from the boat station, all the way back to the city centre metro station, passing loads of stalls selling a huge variety of goods. We also went through thieves market, a city of shacks selling all sorts including fully automatic weapons! It was incredible. Once we'd been there, we headed back to the newer part of the city to go to Lumphini park, the city park we wanted to visit the day before. That was actually really nice and relaxing, and it was a really peaceful park. It was quite funny watching the free aerobics lessons too. We came out of the park at the "Silom" end of the park, near the notorious red light district. Just walking along the main road (where all the shopping centres and transit stations are, not even the red light district!) I was offered invitations to watch Ping Pong shows (Google it) and tried to be sold a variety of rip off porno films. It was only 5pm as well! Shocking. For some reason, no-one asked Laura if she wanted either despite the fact she really wanted to see a ping-pong show (just kidding!!) But you can tell who they make their money off (white males!). After all of that, we headed to the cinema to watch Inception. Great film. We didn't get out until half 11, by that time it was chucking it down again. Luckily in that part of the city you can get to and from your destination without stepping outside (or at least out from cover) but we still got rained on when we got to our sky train stop and had to walk back to the hotel from there!!
Finally today. Well, we didn't do much today. We had a late night last night so didn't get up early at all today, despite the fact we still needed to pack - never mind! We were taken to the metro station in the snazzy All seasons (white and green) tuk tuk for free which was cool and spent the afternoon chilling out in cafes (of the drink and Internet variety). Now we're on the train and I must say I'm REALLY looking forward to lounging on the beach tomorrow. Bring it on!
Thursday, 19 August 2010
Photographic Memories from Cambodia!
Photographs of Cambodia (including many of temples) are now up on the blog. Enjoy.
Wednesday, 18 August 2010
A relatively stressful two days
Day 85 - 18/08/2010 - 22:16 - Bangkok, Thailand
Well we've had another two days and for me they've both been rather stressful. Bangkok is, I believe, the biggest city we've visited so far and is a lot less well served by public transport than other big cities we've visited (Moscow, 10 million and Shanghai, 9 million) by public transport. Bangkok has a population of 11 million, the place on foot to navigate to me, is pretty daunting, especially as we're not in the main districts.
Nonetheless, they all add to the experience and we've certainly had a lot to take in the last couple of days. We got up nice and late yesterday, knowing our bus wasn't until 11:30am. We had some breakfast and were downstairs with our bags just before 11 giving us time to check our e-mails etc. We were picked up by a tuk tuk driver at 11:15 and taken to the bus stop which was an outdoor (but covered by sheet iron) office with a few plastic chairs scattered around outside the concrete cubicle. As soon as we got there the woman told us that it was delayed by an hour. Great, I thought. I could see how this was going to pan out - longer than expected journey already - which I had been told could be anywhere between 7 and 9 hours. The woman behind the desk told me (optimistically) 6 hours.
Nonetheless, we sat and read books (I took the lonely planet book and Laura read a book I bought on Angkor) and the time soon passed. Getting near to half 12, lots of moto drivers started showing up around the office and at about 12:20 there was a lot of shouting and looking anxious. The bus was here, and the moto drivers descended upon it like a pack of ravenous wolves, eager for some business off those getting off in Battambang. When that had dissipated, we got on board and sat down. The coach was scorching hot and the A/C is only what I can describe as crap. I was really suffering with the heat on there and could feel a headache coming along long before it (eventually) did. We got to Poipet by half 2, which, to my surprise was in line with what the ticket office woman had told me back in Battambang. We took great pleasure in watching the scrums at the 2 stops prior to the border too. In one instance people actually got on the bus to try and sell things.
The border process was hassle free, surprisingly. I've heard lots of bad things about Poipet but we received no hassle. We were stamped out of Cambodia very quickly, walked the 1km or so to the Thai immigration and barring some jobsworth telling us to fill in EVERYTHING, there was no problem. The only worry was before entering immigration seeing a sign saying we were 303km from Bangkok and it being gone 3pm. Damn, we're never going to get there by 6:30pm, I thought. Wrong again. We were shoved into a minibus, Laura and I right at the back, and we BOMBED it to Bangkok at speeds I can only describe as license revoking worthy in the UK. By this point I was getting quite a bad headache as the seats weren't that comfortable and we were packed in like sardines. I had only been faster on this trip on 3 occasions - 1 was the Maglev in Shanghai and the other 2 were planes. That's how quick he was going. We got to Bangkok by 6pm - 5 and a half hours ago we were in Battambang. Seriously crazy stuff - I wasn't complaining though - I was close to a much needed bed and a clean bathroom (the service station in Thailand left a lot to be desired).
We got dropped off somewhere in Bangkok - now I know the main island where all the old stuff is. But at the time I didn't know. There was an ATM in sight so we headed there first. Won't be using that bank again, they charged me three bloody pounds to take money out! Buggers. We were then approached by someone who showed us where we were on a map - nowhere near our hotel. Of course he could offer us a tuk tuk service. He wanted 500 baht originally (around £10) as he said it was "very far". I wasn't in the mood for bartering but managed to get it down to 350 (£7). It was expensive but I wanted to get to the hotel. Turned out though, our senile tuk tuk driver who the man (clearly the boss) showed us to had no idea where he was going. He stopped around 5 times to ask people, kept getting All Seasons (our hotel name) with Four seasons muddled up (I wish), actually dropped us off (or tried to) at the All Seasons Place office complex! He drove like a mad man (although this in Thailand is pretty normal it seems). He also drove down alleys and when we got to our hotel which I not him spotted (I think it was by chance we were driving down the road) he drove up the next road, right to the other end to drop us off at another fucking office complex. My head by this point was seriously exploding. It took a fucking hour to get to our hotel (or at least 100 metres down the next road from it!). To top it off, he actually drove into a metal parking barrier (he tried to go under it but the tuk tuk was too tall!) What a dickhead! I gave him 300 baht in the end, he didn't deserve a penny. I was seriously livid and unsurprisingly, he didn't question the missing 50. We just walked off back down the road to our hotel.
Luckily we checked in OK, our room is really nice (probably the best yet). The restaurant is affordable and we went to bed early, me really suffering with a migraine - induced by the very first coach and amplified by a senile prick with no sense of direction or how big his tuk tuk is - what a day.
Today has been equally stressful but at least we actually did something remotely leisurely today. We walked to the nearest Sky train station (which is 15 mins walk away) and got it to the terminus as I wanted to see this statue thing. It was another 20 minutes away in blistering heat. Our map was rubbish and not to scale. We were very far away from where we wanted to go so turned back once we'd seen the statue back to the station and then got that to the river port. Strangely enough the best way for us to get to the old island is by sky train AND boat. What a weird combo but it works and we got to the stop near the royal palace on the river and stopped for lunch somewhere. Whilst there we saw the palace shut at 3:30 and it was 2:30 when we sat down for lunch. We thought we'd check it out just in case we were wrong but lowe and behold it was 3:30. It didn't matter though, we were planning on seeing the 2 wats near to the palace that were in our guidebook, both shut later.
We got to the palace to see the bad news at 3:15. There was a VERY official looking guy outside saying it was closing (which it was) and that we should go to these other attractions. He called a tuk tuk driver over and said it would be 20 baht to see 3 attractions (around 40p). We thought it was strange but he looked official and we went with it. As soon as we got in I knew we shouldn't have as I'd read some scam along these lines but it just hadn't clicked! Luckily we did get dropped off at the first attraction. The driver said "20 minutes" which also rang alarm bells (why does he make the decisions on time?). We looked around and then got our guide book out. Surprise surprise, there it was. "This attraction is closed, here are others for 20 baht in a tuk tuk". We sneaked out of another exit, to the main road and got in a tuk tuk back to one of our other backup places for 50 baht (£1). This evening we read stories on the Internet of the exact same thing happening, including the first stop being a legitimate tourist attraction. The next place would be a shop of some sort where it would be black market (fake) goods like gemstones (actually just glass). If we bought something, we'd have been ripped off. If not, we'd go to the next attraction (a long way out) and be abandoned (the deal was to be taken back to the Palace). We didn't lose any money and got to see the Golden Mountain (the one we got taken to) and Wat Pho (the massive reclining Bhudda) before heading back to our hotel. Lesson learnt. Tomorrow we're going to the palace EARLY as well as seeing another Wat (Wat Aran). Hopefully we'll have time left over to see other things (without being scammed!)
Well we've had another two days and for me they've both been rather stressful. Bangkok is, I believe, the biggest city we've visited so far and is a lot less well served by public transport than other big cities we've visited (Moscow, 10 million and Shanghai, 9 million) by public transport. Bangkok has a population of 11 million, the place on foot to navigate to me, is pretty daunting, especially as we're not in the main districts.
Nonetheless, they all add to the experience and we've certainly had a lot to take in the last couple of days. We got up nice and late yesterday, knowing our bus wasn't until 11:30am. We had some breakfast and were downstairs with our bags just before 11 giving us time to check our e-mails etc. We were picked up by a tuk tuk driver at 11:15 and taken to the bus stop which was an outdoor (but covered by sheet iron) office with a few plastic chairs scattered around outside the concrete cubicle. As soon as we got there the woman told us that it was delayed by an hour. Great, I thought. I could see how this was going to pan out - longer than expected journey already - which I had been told could be anywhere between 7 and 9 hours. The woman behind the desk told me (optimistically) 6 hours.
Nonetheless, we sat and read books (I took the lonely planet book and Laura read a book I bought on Angkor) and the time soon passed. Getting near to half 12, lots of moto drivers started showing up around the office and at about 12:20 there was a lot of shouting and looking anxious. The bus was here, and the moto drivers descended upon it like a pack of ravenous wolves, eager for some business off those getting off in Battambang. When that had dissipated, we got on board and sat down. The coach was scorching hot and the A/C is only what I can describe as crap. I was really suffering with the heat on there and could feel a headache coming along long before it (eventually) did. We got to Poipet by half 2, which, to my surprise was in line with what the ticket office woman had told me back in Battambang. We took great pleasure in watching the scrums at the 2 stops prior to the border too. In one instance people actually got on the bus to try and sell things.
The border process was hassle free, surprisingly. I've heard lots of bad things about Poipet but we received no hassle. We were stamped out of Cambodia very quickly, walked the 1km or so to the Thai immigration and barring some jobsworth telling us to fill in EVERYTHING, there was no problem. The only worry was before entering immigration seeing a sign saying we were 303km from Bangkok and it being gone 3pm. Damn, we're never going to get there by 6:30pm, I thought. Wrong again. We were shoved into a minibus, Laura and I right at the back, and we BOMBED it to Bangkok at speeds I can only describe as license revoking worthy in the UK. By this point I was getting quite a bad headache as the seats weren't that comfortable and we were packed in like sardines. I had only been faster on this trip on 3 occasions - 1 was the Maglev in Shanghai and the other 2 were planes. That's how quick he was going. We got to Bangkok by 6pm - 5 and a half hours ago we were in Battambang. Seriously crazy stuff - I wasn't complaining though - I was close to a much needed bed and a clean bathroom (the service station in Thailand left a lot to be desired).
We got dropped off somewhere in Bangkok - now I know the main island where all the old stuff is. But at the time I didn't know. There was an ATM in sight so we headed there first. Won't be using that bank again, they charged me three bloody pounds to take money out! Buggers. We were then approached by someone who showed us where we were on a map - nowhere near our hotel. Of course he could offer us a tuk tuk service. He wanted 500 baht originally (around £10) as he said it was "very far". I wasn't in the mood for bartering but managed to get it down to 350 (£7). It was expensive but I wanted to get to the hotel. Turned out though, our senile tuk tuk driver who the man (clearly the boss) showed us to had no idea where he was going. He stopped around 5 times to ask people, kept getting All Seasons (our hotel name) with Four seasons muddled up (I wish), actually dropped us off (or tried to) at the All Seasons Place office complex! He drove like a mad man (although this in Thailand is pretty normal it seems). He also drove down alleys and when we got to our hotel which I not him spotted (I think it was by chance we were driving down the road) he drove up the next road, right to the other end to drop us off at another fucking office complex. My head by this point was seriously exploding. It took a fucking hour to get to our hotel (or at least 100 metres down the next road from it!). To top it off, he actually drove into a metal parking barrier (he tried to go under it but the tuk tuk was too tall!) What a dickhead! I gave him 300 baht in the end, he didn't deserve a penny. I was seriously livid and unsurprisingly, he didn't question the missing 50. We just walked off back down the road to our hotel.
Luckily we checked in OK, our room is really nice (probably the best yet). The restaurant is affordable and we went to bed early, me really suffering with a migraine - induced by the very first coach and amplified by a senile prick with no sense of direction or how big his tuk tuk is - what a day.
Today has been equally stressful but at least we actually did something remotely leisurely today. We walked to the nearest Sky train station (which is 15 mins walk away) and got it to the terminus as I wanted to see this statue thing. It was another 20 minutes away in blistering heat. Our map was rubbish and not to scale. We were very far away from where we wanted to go so turned back once we'd seen the statue back to the station and then got that to the river port. Strangely enough the best way for us to get to the old island is by sky train AND boat. What a weird combo but it works and we got to the stop near the royal palace on the river and stopped for lunch somewhere. Whilst there we saw the palace shut at 3:30 and it was 2:30 when we sat down for lunch. We thought we'd check it out just in case we were wrong but lowe and behold it was 3:30. It didn't matter though, we were planning on seeing the 2 wats near to the palace that were in our guidebook, both shut later.
We got to the palace to see the bad news at 3:15. There was a VERY official looking guy outside saying it was closing (which it was) and that we should go to these other attractions. He called a tuk tuk driver over and said it would be 20 baht to see 3 attractions (around 40p). We thought it was strange but he looked official and we went with it. As soon as we got in I knew we shouldn't have as I'd read some scam along these lines but it just hadn't clicked! Luckily we did get dropped off at the first attraction. The driver said "20 minutes" which also rang alarm bells (why does he make the decisions on time?). We looked around and then got our guide book out. Surprise surprise, there it was. "This attraction is closed, here are others for 20 baht in a tuk tuk". We sneaked out of another exit, to the main road and got in a tuk tuk back to one of our other backup places for 50 baht (£1). This evening we read stories on the Internet of the exact same thing happening, including the first stop being a legitimate tourist attraction. The next place would be a shop of some sort where it would be black market (fake) goods like gemstones (actually just glass). If we bought something, we'd have been ripped off. If not, we'd go to the next attraction (a long way out) and be abandoned (the deal was to be taken back to the Palace). We didn't lose any money and got to see the Golden Mountain (the one we got taken to) and Wat Pho (the massive reclining Bhudda) before heading back to our hotel. Lesson learnt. Tomorrow we're going to the palace EARLY as well as seeing another Wat (Wat Aran). Hopefully we'll have time left over to see other things (without being scammed!)
The Journey to and around Battambang!
Day 83 - 16/08/2010 - 21:50 - Battambang, Cambodia
The last two days have been very interesting to say the least. The boat journey whilst annoyingly long was very strange and then we had today, where we went out of Battamabng in search of temples, hills and downright strange uses for normally an every day transport need!
We were up naturally at 5:30am, despite not having an alarm clock and the hotel wake up call being naturally late (it was 1 hour late the first time we used it, luckily we woke up half an hour after and not an hour!). We had some breakfast at the horrible time of 6am, neither of us ate much and then were picked up at around half past to be taken to the boat station, which it soon became apparent wasn't a station but was a wasteland on the outskirts of Siem Reap, you had to walk down stacked bags of sand onto the boat (jumping pretty much) with our large rucksacks on.
The boat was also VERY small, especially considering how many people were on it. To walk to the "deck" area you had to get on the front end of the boat and walk along a strip of the boat on the side, dangerously close to the water, with your bag. It was a massive shock and it was certainly nothing like you would get in England. In the "cabin" there were benches running along either wall and steps up to the "deck" one one side. When we got on, there were lots of people on the deck so we opted for inside, which was equally full. There was a little bit of space for us and our bags at the end with the steps (also next to the wall with the engine on the other side) so it was cramped, noisy and hot. Great. Nevermind, we left at 7:30am, not 7:00am and we were expecting to be in Battambang anywhere between 11-12. How wrong we were.
The first part of the journey was OK, the boat going quite slowly because of all the floating villages on the way. Once we hit Tong Sap lake we went full pelt and it wasn't very long before we reached the river that goes from the lake to Battambang. The lake was very strange, it was full of plants that looked like bushes, on top of the water. They just were weeds though.
Another part of the journey that was so incredibly strange and surreal was the Cambodian crew. In the cabin there was a big crate which people were sitting on because the boat was so full. One of the men, who was wearing a sailor type hat came in and shooed the guy sitting on the crate off it. He opened it up and got 4 ice cold beers out. At 8am. This continued several times during the journey until around 11am when we stopped. I thought we must be near Battambang. Wrong. Someone at our stop, which by the way, was a floating shop in one of the floating villages, told me that Battambang would be around 2:30pm, much later than I had been told we would arrive by the people that sold me the tickets and my Internet research!
At first I was rather demoralised, I was tired and not looking forward to another 3 and a half hours on the boat. But, I made the most of it. The staff, made the most of the stopover, buying another crate of beers. On the second trip back down to the crate after the stopover, the "sailor" came into the cabin, his eyes looking like that of a vacant soul. I just laughed and he laughed back, in a drunken slur. Nevertheless, he shooed the same poor person off the crate and got 5 beers out, he offered me one. Why not, this could be hours before we reach Battambang, so I greatly accepted an Angkor beer.
The next section of the journey was very narrow meanders of the river, with trees poking out of the water and overgrown bushes hanging into the water. Some of the corners were so tight the boat scraped the bushes, and with all the windows in the cabin open (and nothing but a small platform of wood) the trees made their way into the cabin. People got out of their seats to make way for the temporary greenery - it was crazy. Laura got hit in the head by a stealthy branch. We were really pushing it with the corners, and in some instances, the corners were so tight we had to reverse to get around the corner!! Crazy.
The boat on one occasion tried too close to the corner and got stuck. Great. Forget 2:30pm, I thought. Nonetheless, I still enjoyed watching the drunk crew get to work on dislodging the boat from the tree root (which is what I think it got stuck on). The driver (thankfully the only one that hadn't been drinking) actually went in the water to swim under the boat whilst the drunk crew lifted up the hatch on the deck (shoving everyone out the way) to get into the mechanical part of the boat). People watched with pure fascination, including myself, to see how it would all turn out. 10 minutes later it was fixed, the engine started (everyone cheered the crew) and we were on our way.
In the end, it only added 30 minutes onto our journey, we were certainly being more careful on the meanders and the crew had calmed down a bit, 2 of them falling asleep right next to me and Laura (one on the stairs, everyone going to the toilet had to step over him!!). Nonetheless it was rather funny. I spent the last 40 minutes or so on the front deck (much smaller but less crowded than and the back - it had no real seating) with some of the crew and a couple of fellow passengers. I had a nice chat with a German bloke and his girlfriend.
When we got to Battambang (or the dock 10km from it) we were mobbed by all the city hotel's staff with signs ans flyer's of their accommodation. Laura and I were one of the first off the boat (as I knew we had arrived - at the front) before many had realised that the journey was FINALLY over. The "dock" was really non exist ant and there was nothing but ladder steps up a steep river bank to climb with our large rucksacks. We were greeted by some hotel staff including a tuk tuk driver called Sokha (you can see where this is going). He said yesterdays boat didn't arrive until 5:30pm, so I think in hindsight we can call ourselves lucky. I kind of enjoyed it, despite the length and the hassle we would have saved on the bus. The crew were funny, I met some nice people and the scenery was pretty good too - the Cambodian children from the floating villages took great pleasure in waving at us - bless.
Anyway, Sokha told us about his tuk tuk skills on the way to the hotel, we didn't say much as we knew Dara was going to pick us up the following day. Every time he saw us that evening (he was at the hotel) he was incredibly polite to us, remembered our names, it was obvious he was hoping for us to give him a job. He also on the way to the hotel told several bad taste jokes including one about how he wasn't fussed if we said yes or no to his services. He said something along the lines of "If you say yes, I am very happy but if you say No I am still happy just my family goes without food" and then burst out laughing. Ha... ha. That evening in Battambang we went to a cafe for tea - before that I had a look around the area and tried to find us tickets to Bangkok direct if we could do it without much success. Turned out in the end the hotel could book them ($15, 7 hours - hopefully!) and we have them in hand for tomorrows 11:30am (LIE IN!) departure to Bangkok. We should be there by 7 at the latest, a similar time to the DIY estimate we had (although that way we were leaving at 7!)
Today we got up and had breakfast at the hotel - although it wasn't included the rate + breakfast ($15+$5) only came to $20 for one night - not bad and we had a pretty decent sized breakfast! When we were leaving the hotel Sokha was in the lobby and he asked if we needed his services. We told him what we told the guy from the hotel in Siem Reap - if our pre-arranged driver turned up we would use him. He seemed disappointed but we didn't want to let Kedi down. I went outside and a guy who was sat on a motorbike came up to me. It was Dara. He was a lot more confrontational than Kedi and got a piece of paper out with a map and his prices. This isn't the norm, I thought. He wanted $25 to go on a motorbike (not even a tuk tuk) to see 4 temples. I got Laura, who didn't want the motorbike. Fair enough, I don't think I would have been happy with 3 adults on a bike! He said he could get a tuk tuk but said it would cost more. We told him to forget it, we weren't in the mood for bartering with him, let alone paying probably twice what we paid his brother for a lot more. We went back inside and approached Sokha. He got out a hotel booklet and said what he could do - 2 main temples, the bamboo train in a tuk tuk for 17$. He also told us (repeated from the bus) about all the places we would stop in between. It was good value and he was a good guide too. I think we made the right choice as today was good.
Our first stop was the bamboo train. Laura wasn't keen on it (I don't think she knew much about it) and we did it because I wanted to more than anything. I only knew the full details because of the conversation with the German bloke yesterday, but I hadn't got round to telling Laura. As soon as Laura saw it she said "I'm glad we're doing this!" I agreed. The bamboo train is essentially a section of railway line (single track) that has fallen into disrepair and is no longer used - it hasn't been looked after at all since the French built it in the 70's. Now it's used by enterprising Cambodians. You take a couple of wheel sets axels and on top of it you place a big bamboo raft. Attached is a motor. 1 driver and whatever cargo you like and you're on your way. On ours there was just me, Laura and the driver. We set off, along the track. You could see how crap the rails were, in places they weren't even parallel!! But it was awesome. We went at such speed, steaming through fields and rice paddys. Incredible. The fun happens though, when someone is coming the other way. One of the two has to get off, take the raft and wheels off the track to let the other pass. The raft isn't heavy and the wheels aren't considering they are pure metal. We got off 4 times in total on the return trip, the weirdest for a group of Cambodians with a dead cow tied to the raft, although the one stacked with timber is also worth a mention!! We did at times stay on whilst others got off too! There was a train behind us too who obviously got off at the same time as us to let others through. On that was an Italian man from Florence and an Australian man with I think, a Cambodian partner, at least she spoke Khmer. Via her, I found out that the staff only get $1.5 dollars per journey which was horrible to think considering we parted with $10 between us (so most of it is going to the boss!) They sometimes only manage two journeys a day. Very sad to think. When we got back to the start we gave our driver (who was only a young lad, our age) a $1 tip. It's not a lot but he was very grateful!
Our second stop was Wat Banan, but on the way we stopped to see a swing bridge over the river and a mushroom farm (they grow them on a farm in Cambodia rather than naturally in soil - was fairly interesting). When we got to the bottom 4 children swarmed me and Laura and subsequently followed us up the 359 steep steps to the wat. We didn't particularly want them to follow us but Sokha said they were off school on holiday and wanted to earn some money. They all had big wicker fans and actually followed us up the steps fanning us to keep us cool. They all spoke pretty good English, 2 followed me and 2 followed Laura. The two kids with me were friends (a little boy and a slightly older girl) whilst Laura's kids were brother and sister. I asked the little boy with me how many times a day he climbs up the steps and he said 5 - I was amazed. The temple at the top was nice, but nothing like those at Angkor. The kids continued to fan us which for me was fairly uncomfortable, not used to people following me everywhere, let alone kids! The girl with me accidentally hit me with the fan at one point and I took it off her, looking like I was going to confiscate it or something, but I just fanned her back. She thought it was funny and bashfully said "Thank You" - bless her. On the way down I asked her whether she got to keep the money or her mother would get it. She replied "yes", after I had said her mum. There is a surprise, just as I thought. Poor kids. I asked why her mother isn't on the steps, fanning me and she laughed again. Nonetheless, we followed custom. We only gave them about 30p each but they were very grateful, I guess their mothers would be proud of them. Ironic.
Our last stop for the day was a mountain (hill really) where there are several things to see. On the way we stopped off at some trees in a village where Sokha showed us the fruit bats (absolutely huge) in the trees. He said that they live in these particular trees because of their proximity to a temple and therefore protection from being killed (and eaten). He subsequently hit a big stick against a deserted piece of furniture and woke a few of them up but at least we saw how big they were. I asked if he had eaten them and he replied yes. He said he liked them too. He said he also has tried crickets and spiders. He liked the former but drew a line on spiders! Fair enough!!
At the mountain there was a temple to see half way up (fairly new) where we stopped and had a rest. We had the option of taking a local guide on a motorbike up there but we didn't fancy it and decided to walk (in hindsight an excellent if not tiring choice!!) A monk came and sat with us at the temple and chatted to us on life in Cambodia. It was very surreal but nice. He was very wise and had some good things to say, particularly about the vicious cycle that even occurs in Cambodia, the poor become poorer and the rich richer. Shame, and sounds familiar. After we then continued up the hill to a cave where the Khmer Rouge took bodies to. There is now a monument inside with skulls in. I went and had a look, Laura stayed outside. There were a couple of monks in the cave. I got "blessed" for a small donation, of course. We then continued to the top of the hill where there was another temple, this time older. It was in very good nick and still in use. A monk told us about it, he wanted to practise his English on us and followed us around for a bit, showing us the more direct route down the mountain (steps) to the village below where Sokha was waiting. He was nice. By the time we got to the bottom I had sweated 50% of my body weight in water and it was time to go back to Battambang - Laura was knackered too!
This evening we unsurprisingly haven't done much, eating a cheap meal in our hotel. I didn't like the place at first but it's grown on me. It's cheap, friendly and the staff are all one big family (literally, it's family run). They are very nice. The wifi is sketchy at best but the Internet downstairs sometimes works! Onto Bangkok tomorrow. I won't expect such an event filled journey as the boat. I hope at least the times are more accurate though (it's only supposed to take 7 hours!!)
On the whole I've enjoyed Cambodia. However, probably not as much as Vietnam on the South East Asia scale. The dollar in particular ruins things - everything is more expensive and in some areas more expensive than back home! I found it very difficult to buy deodorant (as an example) for the same price as in England! As does some (and I stress some) people's ideas that because we are white, we can pay a lot more for absolute rubbish. It's a bit tedious after a while although I think it's important for everyone to feel like they are in a minority - to learn how not to discriminate against people!! I've really enjoyed the relaxed nature of the children here though. Going past villages in the tuk tuk and having kids shout and wave hello as you pass has something refreshingly pleasant about it.
The last two days have been very interesting to say the least. The boat journey whilst annoyingly long was very strange and then we had today, where we went out of Battamabng in search of temples, hills and downright strange uses for normally an every day transport need!
We were up naturally at 5:30am, despite not having an alarm clock and the hotel wake up call being naturally late (it was 1 hour late the first time we used it, luckily we woke up half an hour after and not an hour!). We had some breakfast at the horrible time of 6am, neither of us ate much and then were picked up at around half past to be taken to the boat station, which it soon became apparent wasn't a station but was a wasteland on the outskirts of Siem Reap, you had to walk down stacked bags of sand onto the boat (jumping pretty much) with our large rucksacks on.
The boat was also VERY small, especially considering how many people were on it. To walk to the "deck" area you had to get on the front end of the boat and walk along a strip of the boat on the side, dangerously close to the water, with your bag. It was a massive shock and it was certainly nothing like you would get in England. In the "cabin" there were benches running along either wall and steps up to the "deck" one one side. When we got on, there were lots of people on the deck so we opted for inside, which was equally full. There was a little bit of space for us and our bags at the end with the steps (also next to the wall with the engine on the other side) so it was cramped, noisy and hot. Great. Nevermind, we left at 7:30am, not 7:00am and we were expecting to be in Battambang anywhere between 11-12. How wrong we were.
The first part of the journey was OK, the boat going quite slowly because of all the floating villages on the way. Once we hit Tong Sap lake we went full pelt and it wasn't very long before we reached the river that goes from the lake to Battambang. The lake was very strange, it was full of plants that looked like bushes, on top of the water. They just were weeds though.
Another part of the journey that was so incredibly strange and surreal was the Cambodian crew. In the cabin there was a big crate which people were sitting on because the boat was so full. One of the men, who was wearing a sailor type hat came in and shooed the guy sitting on the crate off it. He opened it up and got 4 ice cold beers out. At 8am. This continued several times during the journey until around 11am when we stopped. I thought we must be near Battambang. Wrong. Someone at our stop, which by the way, was a floating shop in one of the floating villages, told me that Battambang would be around 2:30pm, much later than I had been told we would arrive by the people that sold me the tickets and my Internet research!
At first I was rather demoralised, I was tired and not looking forward to another 3 and a half hours on the boat. But, I made the most of it. The staff, made the most of the stopover, buying another crate of beers. On the second trip back down to the crate after the stopover, the "sailor" came into the cabin, his eyes looking like that of a vacant soul. I just laughed and he laughed back, in a drunken slur. Nevertheless, he shooed the same poor person off the crate and got 5 beers out, he offered me one. Why not, this could be hours before we reach Battambang, so I greatly accepted an Angkor beer.
The next section of the journey was very narrow meanders of the river, with trees poking out of the water and overgrown bushes hanging into the water. Some of the corners were so tight the boat scraped the bushes, and with all the windows in the cabin open (and nothing but a small platform of wood) the trees made their way into the cabin. People got out of their seats to make way for the temporary greenery - it was crazy. Laura got hit in the head by a stealthy branch. We were really pushing it with the corners, and in some instances, the corners were so tight we had to reverse to get around the corner!! Crazy.
The boat on one occasion tried too close to the corner and got stuck. Great. Forget 2:30pm, I thought. Nonetheless, I still enjoyed watching the drunk crew get to work on dislodging the boat from the tree root (which is what I think it got stuck on). The driver (thankfully the only one that hadn't been drinking) actually went in the water to swim under the boat whilst the drunk crew lifted up the hatch on the deck (shoving everyone out the way) to get into the mechanical part of the boat). People watched with pure fascination, including myself, to see how it would all turn out. 10 minutes later it was fixed, the engine started (everyone cheered the crew) and we were on our way.
In the end, it only added 30 minutes onto our journey, we were certainly being more careful on the meanders and the crew had calmed down a bit, 2 of them falling asleep right next to me and Laura (one on the stairs, everyone going to the toilet had to step over him!!). Nonetheless it was rather funny. I spent the last 40 minutes or so on the front deck (much smaller but less crowded than and the back - it had no real seating) with some of the crew and a couple of fellow passengers. I had a nice chat with a German bloke and his girlfriend.
When we got to Battambang (or the dock 10km from it) we were mobbed by all the city hotel's staff with signs ans flyer's of their accommodation. Laura and I were one of the first off the boat (as I knew we had arrived - at the front) before many had realised that the journey was FINALLY over. The "dock" was really non exist ant and there was nothing but ladder steps up a steep river bank to climb with our large rucksacks. We were greeted by some hotel staff including a tuk tuk driver called Sokha (you can see where this is going). He said yesterdays boat didn't arrive until 5:30pm, so I think in hindsight we can call ourselves lucky. I kind of enjoyed it, despite the length and the hassle we would have saved on the bus. The crew were funny, I met some nice people and the scenery was pretty good too - the Cambodian children from the floating villages took great pleasure in waving at us - bless.
Anyway, Sokha told us about his tuk tuk skills on the way to the hotel, we didn't say much as we knew Dara was going to pick us up the following day. Every time he saw us that evening (he was at the hotel) he was incredibly polite to us, remembered our names, it was obvious he was hoping for us to give him a job. He also on the way to the hotel told several bad taste jokes including one about how he wasn't fussed if we said yes or no to his services. He said something along the lines of "If you say yes, I am very happy but if you say No I am still happy just my family goes without food" and then burst out laughing. Ha... ha. That evening in Battambang we went to a cafe for tea - before that I had a look around the area and tried to find us tickets to Bangkok direct if we could do it without much success. Turned out in the end the hotel could book them ($15, 7 hours - hopefully!) and we have them in hand for tomorrows 11:30am (LIE IN!) departure to Bangkok. We should be there by 7 at the latest, a similar time to the DIY estimate we had (although that way we were leaving at 7!)
Today we got up and had breakfast at the hotel - although it wasn't included the rate + breakfast ($15+$5) only came to $20 for one night - not bad and we had a pretty decent sized breakfast! When we were leaving the hotel Sokha was in the lobby and he asked if we needed his services. We told him what we told the guy from the hotel in Siem Reap - if our pre-arranged driver turned up we would use him. He seemed disappointed but we didn't want to let Kedi down. I went outside and a guy who was sat on a motorbike came up to me. It was Dara. He was a lot more confrontational than Kedi and got a piece of paper out with a map and his prices. This isn't the norm, I thought. He wanted $25 to go on a motorbike (not even a tuk tuk) to see 4 temples. I got Laura, who didn't want the motorbike. Fair enough, I don't think I would have been happy with 3 adults on a bike! He said he could get a tuk tuk but said it would cost more. We told him to forget it, we weren't in the mood for bartering with him, let alone paying probably twice what we paid his brother for a lot more. We went back inside and approached Sokha. He got out a hotel booklet and said what he could do - 2 main temples, the bamboo train in a tuk tuk for 17$. He also told us (repeated from the bus) about all the places we would stop in between. It was good value and he was a good guide too. I think we made the right choice as today was good.
Our first stop was the bamboo train. Laura wasn't keen on it (I don't think she knew much about it) and we did it because I wanted to more than anything. I only knew the full details because of the conversation with the German bloke yesterday, but I hadn't got round to telling Laura. As soon as Laura saw it she said "I'm glad we're doing this!" I agreed. The bamboo train is essentially a section of railway line (single track) that has fallen into disrepair and is no longer used - it hasn't been looked after at all since the French built it in the 70's. Now it's used by enterprising Cambodians. You take a couple of wheel sets axels and on top of it you place a big bamboo raft. Attached is a motor. 1 driver and whatever cargo you like and you're on your way. On ours there was just me, Laura and the driver. We set off, along the track. You could see how crap the rails were, in places they weren't even parallel!! But it was awesome. We went at such speed, steaming through fields and rice paddys. Incredible. The fun happens though, when someone is coming the other way. One of the two has to get off, take the raft and wheels off the track to let the other pass. The raft isn't heavy and the wheels aren't considering they are pure metal. We got off 4 times in total on the return trip, the weirdest for a group of Cambodians with a dead cow tied to the raft, although the one stacked with timber is also worth a mention!! We did at times stay on whilst others got off too! There was a train behind us too who obviously got off at the same time as us to let others through. On that was an Italian man from Florence and an Australian man with I think, a Cambodian partner, at least she spoke Khmer. Via her, I found out that the staff only get $1.5 dollars per journey which was horrible to think considering we parted with $10 between us (so most of it is going to the boss!) They sometimes only manage two journeys a day. Very sad to think. When we got back to the start we gave our driver (who was only a young lad, our age) a $1 tip. It's not a lot but he was very grateful!
Our second stop was Wat Banan, but on the way we stopped to see a swing bridge over the river and a mushroom farm (they grow them on a farm in Cambodia rather than naturally in soil - was fairly interesting). When we got to the bottom 4 children swarmed me and Laura and subsequently followed us up the 359 steep steps to the wat. We didn't particularly want them to follow us but Sokha said they were off school on holiday and wanted to earn some money. They all had big wicker fans and actually followed us up the steps fanning us to keep us cool. They all spoke pretty good English, 2 followed me and 2 followed Laura. The two kids with me were friends (a little boy and a slightly older girl) whilst Laura's kids were brother and sister. I asked the little boy with me how many times a day he climbs up the steps and he said 5 - I was amazed. The temple at the top was nice, but nothing like those at Angkor. The kids continued to fan us which for me was fairly uncomfortable, not used to people following me everywhere, let alone kids! The girl with me accidentally hit me with the fan at one point and I took it off her, looking like I was going to confiscate it or something, but I just fanned her back. She thought it was funny and bashfully said "Thank You" - bless her. On the way down I asked her whether she got to keep the money or her mother would get it. She replied "yes", after I had said her mum. There is a surprise, just as I thought. Poor kids. I asked why her mother isn't on the steps, fanning me and she laughed again. Nonetheless, we followed custom. We only gave them about 30p each but they were very grateful, I guess their mothers would be proud of them. Ironic.
Our last stop for the day was a mountain (hill really) where there are several things to see. On the way we stopped off at some trees in a village where Sokha showed us the fruit bats (absolutely huge) in the trees. He said that they live in these particular trees because of their proximity to a temple and therefore protection from being killed (and eaten). He subsequently hit a big stick against a deserted piece of furniture and woke a few of them up but at least we saw how big they were. I asked if he had eaten them and he replied yes. He said he liked them too. He said he also has tried crickets and spiders. He liked the former but drew a line on spiders! Fair enough!!
At the mountain there was a temple to see half way up (fairly new) where we stopped and had a rest. We had the option of taking a local guide on a motorbike up there but we didn't fancy it and decided to walk (in hindsight an excellent if not tiring choice!!) A monk came and sat with us at the temple and chatted to us on life in Cambodia. It was very surreal but nice. He was very wise and had some good things to say, particularly about the vicious cycle that even occurs in Cambodia, the poor become poorer and the rich richer. Shame, and sounds familiar. After we then continued up the hill to a cave where the Khmer Rouge took bodies to. There is now a monument inside with skulls in. I went and had a look, Laura stayed outside. There were a couple of monks in the cave. I got "blessed" for a small donation, of course. We then continued to the top of the hill where there was another temple, this time older. It was in very good nick and still in use. A monk told us about it, he wanted to practise his English on us and followed us around for a bit, showing us the more direct route down the mountain (steps) to the village below where Sokha was waiting. He was nice. By the time we got to the bottom I had sweated 50% of my body weight in water and it was time to go back to Battambang - Laura was knackered too!
This evening we unsurprisingly haven't done much, eating a cheap meal in our hotel. I didn't like the place at first but it's grown on me. It's cheap, friendly and the staff are all one big family (literally, it's family run). They are very nice. The wifi is sketchy at best but the Internet downstairs sometimes works! Onto Bangkok tomorrow. I won't expect such an event filled journey as the boat. I hope at least the times are more accurate though (it's only supposed to take 7 hours!!)
On the whole I've enjoyed Cambodia. However, probably not as much as Vietnam on the South East Asia scale. The dollar in particular ruins things - everything is more expensive and in some areas more expensive than back home! I found it very difficult to buy deodorant (as an example) for the same price as in England! As does some (and I stress some) people's ideas that because we are white, we can pay a lot more for absolute rubbish. It's a bit tedious after a while although I think it's important for everyone to feel like they are in a minority - to learn how not to discriminate against people!! I've really enjoyed the relaxed nature of the children here though. Going past villages in the tuk tuk and having kids shout and wave hello as you pass has something refreshingly pleasant about it.
Monday, 16 August 2010
More "Templing"
Day 81 - 14/08/2010 - 21:25 - Siem Reap, Cambodia
So this is our last day in Siem Reap and we've had another two days since the last update. We've had another 2 days at the temples of Angkor since then, and we've seen most of the Angkor group of temples, all the main ones anyway, and most of the little ones. Overall in Cambodia and the Siem Reap area, we've barely scratched the surface. At the moment, I'm watching Villa v West Ham on Star Sports - live. Villa are one nil up and my beer is empty. We're all over the Hammers at the moment and it would be anything but a disaster if we didn't get the 3 points here. It feels very weird seeing Villa on Tv, 16 miles from my home when I'm in Cambodia. I have my season ticket too, which I've given (sold!!) to my mate today (I'm very generous, if the price is right!!) Tomorrow, we're up at 5:30am for our boat to Battambang.
So yesterday we spent the day going around the temples again but this time we did the grand circuit, the temples on the fringes of the complex. We started at the biggest group, Angkor Thom. Our stop within Angkor Thom was Bayon, which was absolutely amazing. The "towers" of the temple were brick made Hindu heads which were incredibly cool. The only downside was the amount of people, but along with Angkor Wat and Ta Phrom this was the 3rd of the "big 4" - yes they have a big four temples for those 1 day passes. We walked through Angkor Thom, passing another less impressive temple. It was mainly ruins but the one thing it did have for it was size, there were bricks littered outside Bayon which actually belonged to this other temple, you really got a feel for how big it was when you realised the size. From there (still in Angkor Thom) we entered the south west gate of the Royal Palace gardens where there was a small temple and some lakes, which were used as pools. There was a small one and a massive one. The small one was used for the King and the larger for his 250 concubines. Fair play! We then looked around a bit more of Angkor Thom (the 12 temple towers used for the King's wives) before heading out.
We then continued around the outer circuit. They were all pretty different, but the favourite for me (besides Bayon which was stunning) was Pre Rup, the last one we saw for the day, although Meyon was also nice in the middle of what used to be a giant body of water (the east Baray). Unfortunately KD (which I now know is spelt Kedi) had to leave at lunchtime because of his toothache that he had (I offered him paracetamol but fair enough, he didn't want it) and his brother Det took over. Det was not much older than us (if at all) and is currently studying Banking at University. He, like Kedi was very nice too.
We'd finished by 4pm and were back in Siem Reap where we had a look at a couple of temples and the old market before going for something to eat in the evening. Another excellent day exploring the temples albeit an incredibly tiring one!
Today then was our last day in Siem Reap and our last day on the pass for Angkor. We didn't see anything much within Angkor, but went outside to see the "Beautiful Lady" temple which is 38km from Siem Reap. It took around 1 hour in the tuk tuk from the hotel and was the final of the "big four". It was very nice. But, it was quite small and therefore very crowded, definitely the most crowded temple we've seen in the 3 days. It was worth it though. The carvings on the temple were beautiful, a true artistic work on the temple walls and door frame decorations. We looked at another temple that we didn't see on the grand circuit which was very nice too. We stopped for lunch straight after (the journey to and from Beautiful Lady taking a lot of time obviously) and then headed back to Siem Reap via various souvenir shops trying to get me a Angkor Beer tshirt that I wanted. Eventually we stopped at the market on the outskirts of town (we wouldn't have been able to get there by foot) and I got the one I wanted. We said goodbye to Kedi, got a photo with him and arranged for his brother to pick us up in Battambang (his name is Dara).
This evening we've been running a couple of hours early. We had tea at 6. Before that Laura was let loose on the shops - she bought a dress earlier for 5 dollars and this evening she also bought an Angkor beer thsirt for a dollar less than I got mine for - the haggler. We also went for a foot massage with a twist! We put our feet in a big tank of water, and Vietnamese river fish ate the dead skin off the feet - it felt very strange, at first like tickling, but after a while I got used to it and my feet were a lot smoother for it. Happy Days.
Right, second half time. We're 2-0 up and I need a wee and a beer before it starts! Cheers!
So this is our last day in Siem Reap and we've had another two days since the last update. We've had another 2 days at the temples of Angkor since then, and we've seen most of the Angkor group of temples, all the main ones anyway, and most of the little ones. Overall in Cambodia and the Siem Reap area, we've barely scratched the surface. At the moment, I'm watching Villa v West Ham on Star Sports - live. Villa are one nil up and my beer is empty. We're all over the Hammers at the moment and it would be anything but a disaster if we didn't get the 3 points here. It feels very weird seeing Villa on Tv, 16 miles from my home when I'm in Cambodia. I have my season ticket too, which I've given (sold!!) to my mate today (I'm very generous, if the price is right!!) Tomorrow, we're up at 5:30am for our boat to Battambang.
So yesterday we spent the day going around the temples again but this time we did the grand circuit, the temples on the fringes of the complex. We started at the biggest group, Angkor Thom. Our stop within Angkor Thom was Bayon, which was absolutely amazing. The "towers" of the temple were brick made Hindu heads which were incredibly cool. The only downside was the amount of people, but along with Angkor Wat and Ta Phrom this was the 3rd of the "big 4" - yes they have a big four temples for those 1 day passes. We walked through Angkor Thom, passing another less impressive temple. It was mainly ruins but the one thing it did have for it was size, there were bricks littered outside Bayon which actually belonged to this other temple, you really got a feel for how big it was when you realised the size. From there (still in Angkor Thom) we entered the south west gate of the Royal Palace gardens where there was a small temple and some lakes, which were used as pools. There was a small one and a massive one. The small one was used for the King and the larger for his 250 concubines. Fair play! We then looked around a bit more of Angkor Thom (the 12 temple towers used for the King's wives) before heading out.
We then continued around the outer circuit. They were all pretty different, but the favourite for me (besides Bayon which was stunning) was Pre Rup, the last one we saw for the day, although Meyon was also nice in the middle of what used to be a giant body of water (the east Baray). Unfortunately KD (which I now know is spelt Kedi) had to leave at lunchtime because of his toothache that he had (I offered him paracetamol but fair enough, he didn't want it) and his brother Det took over. Det was not much older than us (if at all) and is currently studying Banking at University. He, like Kedi was very nice too.
We'd finished by 4pm and were back in Siem Reap where we had a look at a couple of temples and the old market before going for something to eat in the evening. Another excellent day exploring the temples albeit an incredibly tiring one!
Today then was our last day in Siem Reap and our last day on the pass for Angkor. We didn't see anything much within Angkor, but went outside to see the "Beautiful Lady" temple which is 38km from Siem Reap. It took around 1 hour in the tuk tuk from the hotel and was the final of the "big four". It was very nice. But, it was quite small and therefore very crowded, definitely the most crowded temple we've seen in the 3 days. It was worth it though. The carvings on the temple were beautiful, a true artistic work on the temple walls and door frame decorations. We looked at another temple that we didn't see on the grand circuit which was very nice too. We stopped for lunch straight after (the journey to and from Beautiful Lady taking a lot of time obviously) and then headed back to Siem Reap via various souvenir shops trying to get me a Angkor Beer tshirt that I wanted. Eventually we stopped at the market on the outskirts of town (we wouldn't have been able to get there by foot) and I got the one I wanted. We said goodbye to Kedi, got a photo with him and arranged for his brother to pick us up in Battambang (his name is Dara).
This evening we've been running a couple of hours early. We had tea at 6. Before that Laura was let loose on the shops - she bought a dress earlier for 5 dollars and this evening she also bought an Angkor beer thsirt for a dollar less than I got mine for - the haggler. We also went for a foot massage with a twist! We put our feet in a big tank of water, and Vietnamese river fish ate the dead skin off the feet - it felt very strange, at first like tickling, but after a while I got used to it and my feet were a lot smoother for it. Happy Days.
Right, second half time. We're 2-0 up and I need a wee and a beer before it starts! Cheers!
Thursday, 12 August 2010
Angkor Wat
Day 79 - 12/08/2010 - 21:00 - Siem Reap, Cambodia
Another day, another place ticked off on the map and one place closer to home. It's funny to think that in 28 days it will be my first full day in Bromsgrove (and the UK!) since the 25th May. Scary. Nevertheless, there is still a fair bit of time left but it's rapidly disappearing and I need to maximize every minute of this trip left. I'm starting to get sick of Oriental food now though! BUT, I'm still eating it, I really want to enjoy my first meal back in England!!
We arrived at about 14:40 yesterday into Siem Reap, it was absolutely chucking it down already. We were greeted by the hotel staff there with a car, and he took us back to the hotel. He was telling us that he was a tuk tuk driver (you can see where this is going) and offered to take us to Angkor. We told him we had already arranged with someone else via a friend in Phnom Penh. He said it was better if we went through the hotel, but gave no real reasons. We said we'd use him if our arranged driver didn't turn up. For the rest of the day, well we spent most of it at the hotel, the weather was rather bad. I managed to go to the supermarket to got to the ATM for the boat tickets to Battambang, which are now sorted. The ATM's in Cambodia are terrible - 4$ on each transaction! We went out for tea too, and both had Amok - a Khmer coconut dish mixed with something and vegetables (Laura had white fish, I had prawns) I think I prefered hers! Amok is the Siem Reap dish as far as I'm aware and CK told Laura to try it so we both did. It was nice!
So today we got up, the weather was fine. Breakfast was pretty good too, which was nice. At 10am on the dot we were downstairs and I went and looked outside. A man wearing a fake Juventus shirt came up to me and asked if I was Tom. He told me who we was, his name shortened to K.D. I went and got Laura from the lobby and we left, dropping off some laundry at some place on the way to Angkor. It cost $2, we collect it tomorrow. The hotel wanted 80 cents for a pair of boxers. Theives.
We continued to Angkor, stopping off at the ticket office to buy 2 x three day passes. They cost $40 each and have our photo on them, a serious sign that this is a proper historical tourist attraction. I thought at the time it was pretty steep, and it certainly is for Cambodia but it's a bargain really. Angkor is beautiful.
First stop: Angkor Wat, the main man. KD dropped us off right outside the moat area and we walked across and in. At first, I wasn't that impressed, especially considering the large renovation works covering the front and spoiling the photo that everyone knows of Angkor Wat - at least I can buy an identical postcard minus the covers! When we got inside though, I was blown away. The engravings in the stone is just amazing and how much of it has been preserved too. The sheer vastness as well, wow. I knew it was the largest religious building in the world, I just didn't have THIS much of an idea! We spent 90 minutes just walking around really, didn't stop anywhere and only saw the lower and upper (although only I saw the upper as Laura wasn't feelin great) perimiters of the temple. It was just sumblime. We made another stop at Chau Say Thevada which was a much smaller temple set, but still very nice. Laura got blessed by a hindu there, for a donation of course!
After visiting that, we drove through (but not stopping at Angkor Thom) which is a massive walled temple with more smaller temples inside. We'll be visiting that one tomorrow! we stopped outside Victory gate (of Angkor Thom) at Ta Keo, where Laura and KD sat in the tuk tuk and watched me climb the incredibly steep steps of it. When I got to the top, I couldn't see the bottom of the steps I was climbing, it was that steep - practically vertical. Nevertheless, the view was grand from the top and was well worth the major effort.
We stopped for lunch at some restaurant that looked like someones house and continued on our day one trip of the temples. We stopped at Ta Prohm next, the place where they filmed the Tomb Raider film. It was absolutely stunning. It was lush green, full of ruins that had been overrun with trees and their roots which have crept over the rocks. Yet it all looked so natural, and you really felt that you were deep in the jungle. The only problem I had with it was the walk to the temple. We got absolutely mobbed getting out of the tuk tuk by children trying to sell us stuff. I managed to get through unscathed but Laura sucumbbed to buying bracelets from a little girl!
Our final major stop for the day was Banteay Kdei which was a rather long, thin temple ruin. It was beautiful too, but I imagine that is fairly obvious after all the others. There were less people here too which was very nice. On the other side was a large, rectangular lake which was quite cool. Again we got mobbed by children and I was going to buy a t-shirt until she lied about the price! Nevermind!
We were then taken back to Siem Reap by KD via a few stops on the outskirts of town - including their version of Independence monument which is smaller, nicer and more traditional than the one in the capital. We gave him $16 - including 1 dollar for a water he bought us when we had no change. We're being picked up same time tomorrow! All in all a fantastic day and I'm thorughly looking forward to tomorrow (after a good nights rest!!)
Another day, another place ticked off on the map and one place closer to home. It's funny to think that in 28 days it will be my first full day in Bromsgrove (and the UK!) since the 25th May. Scary. Nevertheless, there is still a fair bit of time left but it's rapidly disappearing and I need to maximize every minute of this trip left. I'm starting to get sick of Oriental food now though! BUT, I'm still eating it, I really want to enjoy my first meal back in England!!
We arrived at about 14:40 yesterday into Siem Reap, it was absolutely chucking it down already. We were greeted by the hotel staff there with a car, and he took us back to the hotel. He was telling us that he was a tuk tuk driver (you can see where this is going) and offered to take us to Angkor. We told him we had already arranged with someone else via a friend in Phnom Penh. He said it was better if we went through the hotel, but gave no real reasons. We said we'd use him if our arranged driver didn't turn up. For the rest of the day, well we spent most of it at the hotel, the weather was rather bad. I managed to go to the supermarket to got to the ATM for the boat tickets to Battambang, which are now sorted. The ATM's in Cambodia are terrible - 4$ on each transaction! We went out for tea too, and both had Amok - a Khmer coconut dish mixed with something and vegetables (Laura had white fish, I had prawns) I think I prefered hers! Amok is the Siem Reap dish as far as I'm aware and CK told Laura to try it so we both did. It was nice!
So today we got up, the weather was fine. Breakfast was pretty good too, which was nice. At 10am on the dot we were downstairs and I went and looked outside. A man wearing a fake Juventus shirt came up to me and asked if I was Tom. He told me who we was, his name shortened to K.D. I went and got Laura from the lobby and we left, dropping off some laundry at some place on the way to Angkor. It cost $2, we collect it tomorrow. The hotel wanted 80 cents for a pair of boxers. Theives.
We continued to Angkor, stopping off at the ticket office to buy 2 x three day passes. They cost $40 each and have our photo on them, a serious sign that this is a proper historical tourist attraction. I thought at the time it was pretty steep, and it certainly is for Cambodia but it's a bargain really. Angkor is beautiful.
First stop: Angkor Wat, the main man. KD dropped us off right outside the moat area and we walked across and in. At first, I wasn't that impressed, especially considering the large renovation works covering the front and spoiling the photo that everyone knows of Angkor Wat - at least I can buy an identical postcard minus the covers! When we got inside though, I was blown away. The engravings in the stone is just amazing and how much of it has been preserved too. The sheer vastness as well, wow. I knew it was the largest religious building in the world, I just didn't have THIS much of an idea! We spent 90 minutes just walking around really, didn't stop anywhere and only saw the lower and upper (although only I saw the upper as Laura wasn't feelin great) perimiters of the temple. It was just sumblime. We made another stop at Chau Say Thevada which was a much smaller temple set, but still very nice. Laura got blessed by a hindu there, for a donation of course!
After visiting that, we drove through (but not stopping at Angkor Thom) which is a massive walled temple with more smaller temples inside. We'll be visiting that one tomorrow! we stopped outside Victory gate (of Angkor Thom) at Ta Keo, where Laura and KD sat in the tuk tuk and watched me climb the incredibly steep steps of it. When I got to the top, I couldn't see the bottom of the steps I was climbing, it was that steep - practically vertical. Nevertheless, the view was grand from the top and was well worth the major effort.
We stopped for lunch at some restaurant that looked like someones house and continued on our day one trip of the temples. We stopped at Ta Prohm next, the place where they filmed the Tomb Raider film. It was absolutely stunning. It was lush green, full of ruins that had been overrun with trees and their roots which have crept over the rocks. Yet it all looked so natural, and you really felt that you were deep in the jungle. The only problem I had with it was the walk to the temple. We got absolutely mobbed getting out of the tuk tuk by children trying to sell us stuff. I managed to get through unscathed but Laura sucumbbed to buying bracelets from a little girl!
Our final major stop for the day was Banteay Kdei which was a rather long, thin temple ruin. It was beautiful too, but I imagine that is fairly obvious after all the others. There were less people here too which was very nice. On the other side was a large, rectangular lake which was quite cool. Again we got mobbed by children and I was going to buy a t-shirt until she lied about the price! Nevermind!
We were then taken back to Siem Reap by KD via a few stops on the outskirts of town - including their version of Independence monument which is smaller, nicer and more traditional than the one in the capital. We gave him $16 - including 1 dollar for a water he bought us when we had no change. We're being picked up same time tomorrow! All in all a fantastic day and I'm thorughly looking forward to tomorrow (after a good nights rest!!)
Tuesday, 10 August 2010
From one tuk-tuk to the next!
Day 77 - 10/08/2010 - 21:48 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia
So our final day in Phnom Penh today. We were uninterrupted with our sleep today, much to our bliss, which was very nice. Still doesn't improve our view of this hotel particularly though. Our room roof was leaking this evening too, to top it off. The guy from downstairs just came in and said, "do you want to move room?" No! We both replied, I said to him - "as long as we're not flooded tonight, I don't care any more!". It seems to have resided now, I guess they sorted whatever was going on upstairs out!
Today we were outside at 10:30am, with no sign of Sara from the lobby, I went out to have a look around. I had refused the advances of tuk-tuk rides from those waiting by our hotel and a man came up to me. Great, I thought, another offer. He said "Is your name Tom?". Yes. "I am friends with Sara, he couldn't come today, he's busy". That sold it for me, and I went and got Laura from inside. His said his name was C.K. (I don't know what his proper name was, if at all), and was very friendly and much more talkative than Sara, which was nice. I don't know whether Sara was genuinely busy or not, but it was nice to have CK today.
He took us to the S-21 prison museum this morning, the high school turned prison under the Khmer Rouge regime which is where prisoners were kept until transportation to be killed. Wow, I though Choung Ek (killing fields) was harrowing. This place felt haunted. Empty rooms, with just a steel bed in - broken tiles and even the occasional blood stain still on the wall or ceiling. Horrible stuff, but you really felt for the victims of the horrify time. There were a lot of photographic exhibitions too, including thousands of individual file photos of all the victims. It was really unpleasant, but it needed to be seen to appreciate how Cambodia has been shaped and what the people have been through. Anyone over the age of 35 would have grown up under part of this regime and survived - it really is modern history. Laura felt ill bless her, the sensitive soul.
After that, he took us to independent monument and around Diamond Island. On the latter there really wasn't much to see, but he told us about what will be there in a few years time - business district. A sign of things to come for Cambodia? They deserve it, if anyone. He then took us to a restaurant for something to eat. He originally took us to the riverside to the restaurant we went to on our first night. When we told him we'd been, he took us to a restaurant called "Friends" which is staffed by children who had no homes/family who are learning a skill and developing a career. All profits go to orphanages. It was really nice to see so many young people busy in the restaurant and knowing it was for a good cause. I actually was delighted to be able to donate a couple of dollars through a "tip" (the first tip I've ever been this happy about leaving!!).
In the afternoon we went to the Royal Palace which was absolutely stunning, and massive. The silver pagoda and the surrounding area was particularly beautiful. It had absolutely everything, from crafted hedges, ancient wall paintings, massive statues and even a water feature which had some massive fish and turtles in!
CK then took us around the city some more and actually told us a bit about stuff, which was great. We gave him the full amount $15 which he seemed absolutely delighted with. We told him of our plans to Siem Reap in the next couple of days. He has a friend who he grew up with in the same village who also drives a tuk-tuk, but in Siem Reap. We've quite happily allowed him to take us around and he's picking us up at 10am on the 12th. He told us that it's very difficult to find work as a tuk tuk driver - I can see why, there are so many drivers and just not enough customers. I can imagine it's the same in Siem Reap if not worse so we're definitely happy to help out a friend of a friend and look forward to meeting him in a couple of days!
Phnom Penh has been absolutely amazing and completely harrowing at the same time with it's dark history. It does though have a very nice present and a promising future and we've met some very nice people here. Onto Siem Reap and Angkor Wat tomorrow!
So our final day in Phnom Penh today. We were uninterrupted with our sleep today, much to our bliss, which was very nice. Still doesn't improve our view of this hotel particularly though. Our room roof was leaking this evening too, to top it off. The guy from downstairs just came in and said, "do you want to move room?" No! We both replied, I said to him - "as long as we're not flooded tonight, I don't care any more!". It seems to have resided now, I guess they sorted whatever was going on upstairs out!
Today we were outside at 10:30am, with no sign of Sara from the lobby, I went out to have a look around. I had refused the advances of tuk-tuk rides from those waiting by our hotel and a man came up to me. Great, I thought, another offer. He said "Is your name Tom?". Yes. "I am friends with Sara, he couldn't come today, he's busy". That sold it for me, and I went and got Laura from inside. His said his name was C.K. (I don't know what his proper name was, if at all), and was very friendly and much more talkative than Sara, which was nice. I don't know whether Sara was genuinely busy or not, but it was nice to have CK today.
He took us to the S-21 prison museum this morning, the high school turned prison under the Khmer Rouge regime which is where prisoners were kept until transportation to be killed. Wow, I though Choung Ek (killing fields) was harrowing. This place felt haunted. Empty rooms, with just a steel bed in - broken tiles and even the occasional blood stain still on the wall or ceiling. Horrible stuff, but you really felt for the victims of the horrify time. There were a lot of photographic exhibitions too, including thousands of individual file photos of all the victims. It was really unpleasant, but it needed to be seen to appreciate how Cambodia has been shaped and what the people have been through. Anyone over the age of 35 would have grown up under part of this regime and survived - it really is modern history. Laura felt ill bless her, the sensitive soul.
After that, he took us to independent monument and around Diamond Island. On the latter there really wasn't much to see, but he told us about what will be there in a few years time - business district. A sign of things to come for Cambodia? They deserve it, if anyone. He then took us to a restaurant for something to eat. He originally took us to the riverside to the restaurant we went to on our first night. When we told him we'd been, he took us to a restaurant called "Friends" which is staffed by children who had no homes/family who are learning a skill and developing a career. All profits go to orphanages. It was really nice to see so many young people busy in the restaurant and knowing it was for a good cause. I actually was delighted to be able to donate a couple of dollars through a "tip" (the first tip I've ever been this happy about leaving!!).
In the afternoon we went to the Royal Palace which was absolutely stunning, and massive. The silver pagoda and the surrounding area was particularly beautiful. It had absolutely everything, from crafted hedges, ancient wall paintings, massive statues and even a water feature which had some massive fish and turtles in!
CK then took us around the city some more and actually told us a bit about stuff, which was great. We gave him the full amount $15 which he seemed absolutely delighted with. We told him of our plans to Siem Reap in the next couple of days. He has a friend who he grew up with in the same village who also drives a tuk-tuk, but in Siem Reap. We've quite happily allowed him to take us around and he's picking us up at 10am on the 12th. He told us that it's very difficult to find work as a tuk tuk driver - I can see why, there are so many drivers and just not enough customers. I can imagine it's the same in Siem Reap if not worse so we're definitely happy to help out a friend of a friend and look forward to meeting him in a couple of days!
Phnom Penh has been absolutely amazing and completely harrowing at the same time with it's dark history. It does though have a very nice present and a promising future and we've met some very nice people here. Onto Siem Reap and Angkor Wat tomorrow!
Monday, 9 August 2010
Photographic Memories from Vietnam!
Only the 2nd day in Cambodia and all the Vietnam ones are ready for everyone to see, including the amazing Halong Bay! I'm getting much better at getting photos ready in a decent time!
Again, click the link at the top to see them all!
Again, click the link at the top to see them all!
Phnom Penh
Day 76 - 09/08/2010 - 21:45 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Another long day journey and now we're here in Phnom Penh! We've had a fully day (and a bit) to see the place and we like it on what we've seen but again, it's completely different to anywhere else we've been thus far.
Yesterday was another early start, at half 6. The bus (or at least someone to take us to the bus) arrived at 7:15am and we were still in Saigon at 7:50am despite supposed to be leaving at half 7. If people can't turn up at the time the bus leaves, then it should leave - tough one! Nevermind, the bus journey was long enough, another 30 minutes wasn't going to hurt.
The border crossing was not as painful as others we've experienced but it felt like it as we had to haul our luggage off then back onto the bus. Luckily we only had to do this once, the Cambodians weren't bothered about seeing our luggage in the slightest! We made a stop at what I can now see (looking at a map) is Banam, to cross a river on ferry. You saw the immediate change here, a lot of children trying to get onto the coach to ask for money as well as others selling things (although the latter was not to dissimilar to Vietnam). The Cambodian people are also a lot darker skinned than the Vietnamese, which I find quite strange considering the similar locations on the planet. The town itself was very dusty too, there was a lot less of it in Vietnam, including the places we passed through!
We arrived, finally into Phnom Penh at around 14:30. We were greeted there by all the staff at the coach company who took us out to the tuk tuks, who were all staffed by people wearing company clothing. We were taken to one which was staffed by a man called Sara. He said that we could pay him what we want, which was very weird - I was used to the "20 dollars" for a 5 minute journey. Nonetheless, we got taken to the hotel, it took about 10 minutes. We'd arranged to get picked up by him tomorrow, we were sceptical on whether he'd turn up or not and gave him $5. It was way more than should be given, but it was the only note we had. He better had turn up tomorrow, we thought!
The rest of the day we spent on foot, looking around the local area. Isn't much to see near the hotel, which isn't great although there is a nice Wat (temple) just around the corner. We saw that in 5 minutes and then decided to walk to the river front which is a little more touristy. It takes about 20 minutes to walk there but we weren't too fussed about the length of it. We were however annoyed that when it's dark, there are no real street lights on the majority of roads back to our hotel. The location really isn't great. We didn't go back there this evening, merely found somewhere local so we didn't have to walk back too far in the (almost pitch black) dark.
For the rest of the day, we were taken around in Sara's tuktuk - yes he showed up. He took us to the killing fields, the genocidal memorial around 15km from Phnom Penh, and back, waiting for us in the process. That was a particularly harrowing experience too, and a lot more graphic than what we've seen thus far. The main monument contains lots of skulls, clothing and bones from the victims, then the graves that have been excavating have been marked out. We could still see the tips of bones in some of them - not nice, but it's important to realise what we've got at present in a fairly tolerant world and must not make the same mistakes of the past!
Sara then took us to Wat Phnom, a massive temple complex on a mound in the north of the city. There was an elephant walking around the area and we also saw lots of wild monkeys hanging around the area, they seemed completely used to all the humans around and were quite happy only walking mere feet away from us. Laura got very excited at seeing the monkeys, you could tell she could just have spent all day there, bless here! He then took us to the restaurants on the river front where we said enough for a day and gave him $10. He looked disappointed, and I've been worrying about it since, but have just read that between $12-15 dollars for the day is normal in Siem Reap (Cambodia) so I guess it's similar here. $10 for 3.5 hours should be more than enough. Plus the 5 from yesterday too, which really was for nothing, I can't feel too bad about it I guess!
After eating lunch (I didn't actually have anything as I've got a sore throat and wasn't hungry at the time) we headed to another temple which was shut inside, but we could still look around the complex and was really nice. We also got our bus tickets to Siem Reap sorted which we're happy about. It was $6 each for a 6 hour journey. Not bad. It also includes hotel pickup at 8am which is a nice plus. Coupled with the free pick up included with the rate at the other end, we're laughing all the way to our next hotel! Yay.
Shame this hotel isn't great though. In fact, as well as the location (which I've already mentioned isn't great) it's a bad choice all around. They are doing maintenance work here - it isn't a problem. But when they lie about the start times by over an hour and put you in a room next to the work so it sounds like the drilling is in your room. Not happy. Laura was mad and went straight downstairs to complain. The sign in reception said 9:30am, the sign on the floor said 9am. Which was it? Neither, try 7:55am. They gave us another room, on the same floor at the opposite end. Twin room only, with old furniture. Not funny. I then got involved and we both went back downstairs together. Room number 2: 4th floor. Tiny! Half the size of our original room! We were really not impressed by this time, and they actually had staff come up to the room with us, which is on the 2nd floor - it's the same size, double bed and the furniture is the same! Yay. Why the hell couldn't they just give us this one in the first place? They thought they could play the foreigners, young foreigners for fools - not this time! We are pretty active on Trip Advisor too, which is really not going to help them. Nevermind!!
Tomorrow we will see the rest of the city, hopefully with the help of Sara. He's a really nice bloke and if we do use him all day tomorrow we'll fairly give him $15- around £9.70. I sound bloody stingy saying that! We've got the Royal Palace, Independent Monument and another couple of things to see!
Another long day journey and now we're here in Phnom Penh! We've had a fully day (and a bit) to see the place and we like it on what we've seen but again, it's completely different to anywhere else we've been thus far.
Yesterday was another early start, at half 6. The bus (or at least someone to take us to the bus) arrived at 7:15am and we were still in Saigon at 7:50am despite supposed to be leaving at half 7. If people can't turn up at the time the bus leaves, then it should leave - tough one! Nevermind, the bus journey was long enough, another 30 minutes wasn't going to hurt.
The border crossing was not as painful as others we've experienced but it felt like it as we had to haul our luggage off then back onto the bus. Luckily we only had to do this once, the Cambodians weren't bothered about seeing our luggage in the slightest! We made a stop at what I can now see (looking at a map) is Banam, to cross a river on ferry. You saw the immediate change here, a lot of children trying to get onto the coach to ask for money as well as others selling things (although the latter was not to dissimilar to Vietnam). The Cambodian people are also a lot darker skinned than the Vietnamese, which I find quite strange considering the similar locations on the planet. The town itself was very dusty too, there was a lot less of it in Vietnam, including the places we passed through!
We arrived, finally into Phnom Penh at around 14:30. We were greeted there by all the staff at the coach company who took us out to the tuk tuks, who were all staffed by people wearing company clothing. We were taken to one which was staffed by a man called Sara. He said that we could pay him what we want, which was very weird - I was used to the "20 dollars" for a 5 minute journey. Nonetheless, we got taken to the hotel, it took about 10 minutes. We'd arranged to get picked up by him tomorrow, we were sceptical on whether he'd turn up or not and gave him $5. It was way more than should be given, but it was the only note we had. He better had turn up tomorrow, we thought!
The rest of the day we spent on foot, looking around the local area. Isn't much to see near the hotel, which isn't great although there is a nice Wat (temple) just around the corner. We saw that in 5 minutes and then decided to walk to the river front which is a little more touristy. It takes about 20 minutes to walk there but we weren't too fussed about the length of it. We were however annoyed that when it's dark, there are no real street lights on the majority of roads back to our hotel. The location really isn't great. We didn't go back there this evening, merely found somewhere local so we didn't have to walk back too far in the (almost pitch black) dark.
For the rest of the day, we were taken around in Sara's tuktuk - yes he showed up. He took us to the killing fields, the genocidal memorial around 15km from Phnom Penh, and back, waiting for us in the process. That was a particularly harrowing experience too, and a lot more graphic than what we've seen thus far. The main monument contains lots of skulls, clothing and bones from the victims, then the graves that have been excavating have been marked out. We could still see the tips of bones in some of them - not nice, but it's important to realise what we've got at present in a fairly tolerant world and must not make the same mistakes of the past!
Sara then took us to Wat Phnom, a massive temple complex on a mound in the north of the city. There was an elephant walking around the area and we also saw lots of wild monkeys hanging around the area, they seemed completely used to all the humans around and were quite happy only walking mere feet away from us. Laura got very excited at seeing the monkeys, you could tell she could just have spent all day there, bless here! He then took us to the restaurants on the river front where we said enough for a day and gave him $10. He looked disappointed, and I've been worrying about it since, but have just read that between $12-15 dollars for the day is normal in Siem Reap (Cambodia) so I guess it's similar here. $10 for 3.5 hours should be more than enough. Plus the 5 from yesterday too, which really was for nothing, I can't feel too bad about it I guess!
After eating lunch (I didn't actually have anything as I've got a sore throat and wasn't hungry at the time) we headed to another temple which was shut inside, but we could still look around the complex and was really nice. We also got our bus tickets to Siem Reap sorted which we're happy about. It was $6 each for a 6 hour journey. Not bad. It also includes hotel pickup at 8am which is a nice plus. Coupled with the free pick up included with the rate at the other end, we're laughing all the way to our next hotel! Yay.
Shame this hotel isn't great though. In fact, as well as the location (which I've already mentioned isn't great) it's a bad choice all around. They are doing maintenance work here - it isn't a problem. But when they lie about the start times by over an hour and put you in a room next to the work so it sounds like the drilling is in your room. Not happy. Laura was mad and went straight downstairs to complain. The sign in reception said 9:30am, the sign on the floor said 9am. Which was it? Neither, try 7:55am. They gave us another room, on the same floor at the opposite end. Twin room only, with old furniture. Not funny. I then got involved and we both went back downstairs together. Room number 2: 4th floor. Tiny! Half the size of our original room! We were really not impressed by this time, and they actually had staff come up to the room with us, which is on the 2nd floor - it's the same size, double bed and the furniture is the same! Yay. Why the hell couldn't they just give us this one in the first place? They thought they could play the foreigners, young foreigners for fools - not this time! We are pretty active on Trip Advisor too, which is really not going to help them. Nevermind!!
Tomorrow we will see the rest of the city, hopefully with the help of Sara. He's a really nice bloke and if we do use him all day tomorrow we'll fairly give him $15- around £9.70. I sound bloody stingy saying that! We've got the Royal Palace, Independent Monument and another couple of things to see!
Saturday, 7 August 2010
3 very different days in Vietnam!
Day 74 - 07/08/2010 - 16:23 - Ho Chi Minh (Saigon), Vietnam
So we've had another three days in Saigon (HCMC) and we've had another day looking around the city, and two trips out of town. We went to the Mekong Delta for a day yesterday to the towns of Vinh Long and Cai Be and today we went to the Cu Chi tunnels, where the Vietcong hid out from the Americans during the war. Both were incredibly impressive. Now we are sat in the hotel, sheltering from the absolute downpour that's going on outside. We'll go back out when it's calmed down a bit...
So on the 5th we headed towards a pagoda on the edge of the city centre which was completely unspoilt by tourism. It was very beautiful but the walk there was pretty hard in the heat and humidity. We walked back towards the city centre another way, stopping for lunch and then going to the War Remnants Museum - a museum dedicated to the Viet-American war. Some of the stuff the Americans did, including the chemical warfare was absolutely disgusting and it's been surprisingly swept under the carpet. How a victim nation could forget something that serious so soon is beyond me, America have got away with it! Shocking. Chemical warfare and nukes, the only nation to ever use them, yet they preach to the east, that they can't make them. Hypocrites. They certainly aren't afraid to show you the pictures of Americans holding up heads and decapitated corpses either, as well as all the deformities and unborn foetuses that were deformed as a result of the chemicals. Very very harrowing!
Anyway after all of that, we headed back to the hotel - another long walk. We've seen a great deal of the city, despite its size. We're impressed with ourselves! I like the place. It's as busy as Hanoi, but because of its size, it doesn't seem as hectic. People are very friendly here too and certainly less pushy I think than in the capital!
Yesterday we went on a 12 hour trip to the Mekong, towns of Cai Be and Vinh Long. We did quite a bit of stuff, we visited local companies - making honey and candy, went for a bike ride, in a rowing boat down the canals of the Mekong as well as visiting local markets. You really got a feel for the countryside and how people live out there, it was very nice. We bought some of the candy they made as well as a couple of delicious dragon fruits (2 for 30p!) from one of the markets. Incredible day, was really nice. Our tour guide was very funny as well - we actually saw him today too, going to the tunnels and a temple on a full day trip with another coach - we said hi! On the way back yesterday he really struck a chord with me - he was telling everyone on the coach that in Vietnam he doesn't earn much money, but he doesn't care because he is happy. I guess after all the Vietnamese have been through in the last century or two kind of brings it home how lucky we are really!
That evening we went out for tea at a real street food restaurant, where all the table and chairs were plastic and designed for midget. I had some incredible salt and chilli prawns, they were massive and very tasty. We both (yes, Laura drank) washed back a few beers and just sat watching the world go by - absolutely fantastic.
Today we did the tunnels. They were also absolutely awesome and our tour guide today was also very funny. He said he liked being called John Wayne for some unknown reason! He also made jokes about how he needed us to wear stickers as we all look the same (sounds familiar eh!) and just was generally very friendly and slightly eccentric! He knew his stuff though, and he knew where to find all the little things in Cu Chi, such as the sniper tunnels and traps. Very very interesting! I climbed through the tunnel we were allowed to - it was original length and had not been widened (although there was one there that had been!) It was 50 metres long and was very tight - all fours was the easiest way to get through! They had emergency lighting in the tunnel and it was still very dark. One corner particularly, I think they deliberately placed the lights so it felt "real". I had to feel my way along the tunnel as I really couldn't see a thing! I did however, manage the whole 50metres although I was sweating like mad, and glad to have some fresh air! Apparently there are 3 levels of tunnels and this was the one closest to the surface!
Incredible few days. Tonight is sadly our last night in Vietnam and tomorrow morning we're off to Phnom Penh in Cambodia. Vietnam is truly an incredible country and well worth a visit!
So we've had another three days in Saigon (HCMC) and we've had another day looking around the city, and two trips out of town. We went to the Mekong Delta for a day yesterday to the towns of Vinh Long and Cai Be and today we went to the Cu Chi tunnels, where the Vietcong hid out from the Americans during the war. Both were incredibly impressive. Now we are sat in the hotel, sheltering from the absolute downpour that's going on outside. We'll go back out when it's calmed down a bit...
So on the 5th we headed towards a pagoda on the edge of the city centre which was completely unspoilt by tourism. It was very beautiful but the walk there was pretty hard in the heat and humidity. We walked back towards the city centre another way, stopping for lunch and then going to the War Remnants Museum - a museum dedicated to the Viet-American war. Some of the stuff the Americans did, including the chemical warfare was absolutely disgusting and it's been surprisingly swept under the carpet. How a victim nation could forget something that serious so soon is beyond me, America have got away with it! Shocking. Chemical warfare and nukes, the only nation to ever use them, yet they preach to the east, that they can't make them. Hypocrites. They certainly aren't afraid to show you the pictures of Americans holding up heads and decapitated corpses either, as well as all the deformities and unborn foetuses that were deformed as a result of the chemicals. Very very harrowing!
Anyway after all of that, we headed back to the hotel - another long walk. We've seen a great deal of the city, despite its size. We're impressed with ourselves! I like the place. It's as busy as Hanoi, but because of its size, it doesn't seem as hectic. People are very friendly here too and certainly less pushy I think than in the capital!
Yesterday we went on a 12 hour trip to the Mekong, towns of Cai Be and Vinh Long. We did quite a bit of stuff, we visited local companies - making honey and candy, went for a bike ride, in a rowing boat down the canals of the Mekong as well as visiting local markets. You really got a feel for the countryside and how people live out there, it was very nice. We bought some of the candy they made as well as a couple of delicious dragon fruits (2 for 30p!) from one of the markets. Incredible day, was really nice. Our tour guide was very funny as well - we actually saw him today too, going to the tunnels and a temple on a full day trip with another coach - we said hi! On the way back yesterday he really struck a chord with me - he was telling everyone on the coach that in Vietnam he doesn't earn much money, but he doesn't care because he is happy. I guess after all the Vietnamese have been through in the last century or two kind of brings it home how lucky we are really!
That evening we went out for tea at a real street food restaurant, where all the table and chairs were plastic and designed for midget. I had some incredible salt and chilli prawns, they were massive and very tasty. We both (yes, Laura drank) washed back a few beers and just sat watching the world go by - absolutely fantastic.
Today we did the tunnels. They were also absolutely awesome and our tour guide today was also very funny. He said he liked being called John Wayne for some unknown reason! He also made jokes about how he needed us to wear stickers as we all look the same (sounds familiar eh!) and just was generally very friendly and slightly eccentric! He knew his stuff though, and he knew where to find all the little things in Cu Chi, such as the sniper tunnels and traps. Very very interesting! I climbed through the tunnel we were allowed to - it was original length and had not been widened (although there was one there that had been!) It was 50 metres long and was very tight - all fours was the easiest way to get through! They had emergency lighting in the tunnel and it was still very dark. One corner particularly, I think they deliberately placed the lights so it felt "real". I had to feel my way along the tunnel as I really couldn't see a thing! I did however, manage the whole 50metres although I was sweating like mad, and glad to have some fresh air! Apparently there are 3 levels of tunnels and this was the one closest to the surface!
Incredible few days. Tonight is sadly our last night in Vietnam and tomorrow morning we're off to Phnom Penh in Cambodia. Vietnam is truly an incredible country and well worth a visit!
Wednesday, 4 August 2010
The [not so] daunting journey to Ho Chi Minh!
Day 71 - 04/08/2010 - 20:47 - Ho Chi Minh (Saigon), Vietnam
So we're here in Saigon and we've made it without any major sleep deprivation or downward spiralling into insanity. Perfect. We were up and checked out by 11:15am where the hotel gave us a lift for £9 to the station in Da Nang, 30 km away. The hotel receptionist and I didn't quite see eye to eye this morning. There was a genuine mix up about the bill, nothing serious, but after I'd questioned her on it, that was it and I didn't get another smile, the bitch. Moody staff or what, I apologised as well (as the British do). She obviously shouldn't be in the service industry!
Anyway, we got to the station around 12pm, with 1hour 15minutes to spare before our train. We got some cash out and headed to a nearby restaurant which wasn't great but it was coveniently placed just outside the station and we only had to wait 20 minutes for our train to arrive after our meal. We were some of the first on the train, and the first 2 in our cabin. We waited very impatiently and we heard English voices (British, not any others speaking English!) coming down the corridoor! And it was! 2 English women, Alice and Harriet, from south London who were sharing with us. We then found out where they were going and it was only Nah Trang, the stop at 9pm, well before our 4:30am arrival into Saigon! My heart sank again, I wasn't going to know whether I was going to sleep until 9:30pm at night!
Nevertheless, we had a good day, absolutely no language barrier (and that includes the humour) was absolutely fantastic. Our first contact with British people living in England on the whole trip! We played cards, told each other about our trips, and what we do back home. Harriet and Alice both were teachers and they were travelling with two other teachers who were in a different cabin because of ticket availability at the time of booking. We met both of them too and they were really nice people. As I mentioned earlier the British humour was a particular highlight and not having to translate some words into alternative English for those whose native language is not English or is, and they are American (college rather than University being one example!) was great.
The train was late getting into Nah Trang, at around 22:15 and we said goodbye to our friends. We sat nervously waiting to see if we'd have half the family in with us or not. Then it came, two Vietnamese blokes, travelling separately. Both jumped on their berths (both on top) and settled down for the night. What an overreaction! I slept fairly well, and we got into Saigon at 5am, 30 minutes later than scheduled, but I wasn't complaining.
Then came the next worry, the taxi. The ones in Hanoi really tried to rip us off when we arrived! However, when we arrived there were an orderly line of taxis in the distance. I instantly recognised the logo, the exact same company that took us from Da Nang to Hoi An! Yes, I don't believe it! We crawled into the LAST taxi in line and got taken to our destination for just under £3, not bad for a 5km journey in the wee hours!
We then arrived at our hotel and checked in - no problems, not crashing on the sofa for a few hours, just straight to bed for another 3 hours. Bliss.
I was glad to get that day behind me, especially with such ease. We got up at 9am and showered before our free breakfast. Problem number 1 - A/C was leaking. They fixed it with 0 fuss though. It leaked again later, soon after they'd fixed it but it seems to be sorted now. Thankfully. The hotel is really smart. It's one of these boutique hotels, more like a B+B than a hotel but it's very welcome. The comfort of a hotel with the very helpful and full of information staff that you'd get in a hostel. It's cheap too. Best of both worlds. We got our bus ticket sorted today for Phnom Penh too, so we're going to be in Cambodia without too much of a fuss, I hope!
As for today itself we went to see the Reunification Palace and had a good look round there for a couple of hours before heading to the Notre Dame cathedral (French built, obviously). It's not as impressive in size as the Paris one, but it's still very beautiful!
Tomorrow will see more looking around the city!
So we're here in Saigon and we've made it without any major sleep deprivation or downward spiralling into insanity. Perfect. We were up and checked out by 11:15am where the hotel gave us a lift for £9 to the station in Da Nang, 30 km away. The hotel receptionist and I didn't quite see eye to eye this morning. There was a genuine mix up about the bill, nothing serious, but after I'd questioned her on it, that was it and I didn't get another smile, the bitch. Moody staff or what, I apologised as well (as the British do). She obviously shouldn't be in the service industry!
Anyway, we got to the station around 12pm, with 1hour 15minutes to spare before our train. We got some cash out and headed to a nearby restaurant which wasn't great but it was coveniently placed just outside the station and we only had to wait 20 minutes for our train to arrive after our meal. We were some of the first on the train, and the first 2 in our cabin. We waited very impatiently and we heard English voices (British, not any others speaking English!) coming down the corridoor! And it was! 2 English women, Alice and Harriet, from south London who were sharing with us. We then found out where they were going and it was only Nah Trang, the stop at 9pm, well before our 4:30am arrival into Saigon! My heart sank again, I wasn't going to know whether I was going to sleep until 9:30pm at night!
Nevertheless, we had a good day, absolutely no language barrier (and that includes the humour) was absolutely fantastic. Our first contact with British people living in England on the whole trip! We played cards, told each other about our trips, and what we do back home. Harriet and Alice both were teachers and they were travelling with two other teachers who were in a different cabin because of ticket availability at the time of booking. We met both of them too and they were really nice people. As I mentioned earlier the British humour was a particular highlight and not having to translate some words into alternative English for those whose native language is not English or is, and they are American (college rather than University being one example!) was great.
The train was late getting into Nah Trang, at around 22:15 and we said goodbye to our friends. We sat nervously waiting to see if we'd have half the family in with us or not. Then it came, two Vietnamese blokes, travelling separately. Both jumped on their berths (both on top) and settled down for the night. What an overreaction! I slept fairly well, and we got into Saigon at 5am, 30 minutes later than scheduled, but I wasn't complaining.
Then came the next worry, the taxi. The ones in Hanoi really tried to rip us off when we arrived! However, when we arrived there were an orderly line of taxis in the distance. I instantly recognised the logo, the exact same company that took us from Da Nang to Hoi An! Yes, I don't believe it! We crawled into the LAST taxi in line and got taken to our destination for just under £3, not bad for a 5km journey in the wee hours!
We then arrived at our hotel and checked in - no problems, not crashing on the sofa for a few hours, just straight to bed for another 3 hours. Bliss.
I was glad to get that day behind me, especially with such ease. We got up at 9am and showered before our free breakfast. Problem number 1 - A/C was leaking. They fixed it with 0 fuss though. It leaked again later, soon after they'd fixed it but it seems to be sorted now. Thankfully. The hotel is really smart. It's one of these boutique hotels, more like a B+B than a hotel but it's very welcome. The comfort of a hotel with the very helpful and full of information staff that you'd get in a hostel. It's cheap too. Best of both worlds. We got our bus ticket sorted today for Phnom Penh too, so we're going to be in Cambodia without too much of a fuss, I hope!
As for today itself we went to see the Reunification Palace and had a good look round there for a couple of hours before heading to the Notre Dame cathedral (French built, obviously). It's not as impressive in size as the Paris one, but it's still very beautiful!
Tomorrow will see more looking around the city!
Monday, 2 August 2010
Hoi An
Day 69 - 02/08/2010 - 21:34 - Hoi An, Vietnam
FROM HANOI TO HOI AN
So on the 31st we arrived at the train station around 45 minutes before our departure. We said goodbye to an Australian man we shared a cab with (which was paid by the hotel) and was in the same boat as us (had come from Halong Bay) so we'd chatted to him earlier. He was in the tourist class trains, whereas we were in the soft sleeper, on the basis that there wasn't much difference in comfort for price. Wrong.
The train was dirty, the dirtiest we've travelled on so far. It was very very basic, and it looked like the bedding hadn't been cleaned, it was already on the bed (although I admit it could have been made before we were allowed to board). After that I don't really know how I (or more importantly Laura) survived for 15 hours. I took top berth as the A/C was poor and I was sweating manically, I went on top to be closer to the vent. We were sharing with what I imagine was 2 people originally. But somehow, their whole family was also on the train. 3 Vietnamese people were sharing the other berths for most of the evening and night. They talked very very loudly - at first I though Russians were the loudest, then I met the Chinese and I thought they were louder. Now I've met the Vietnamese. Now I appreciate the language barrier, but surely any person with an inch of common sense could see we were trying to sleep. Yak yak yak yak yak. Very very loud. They'd shut up by 11, I presume they'd run out of energy or something. However, they were up at 4am (YES, 4am) and at it again. Incredibly loudly yakking away, I just turned over, put my Zune on and tried to ignore it. When they finally got off the train at 7am (they obviously needed 3 hours to talk about how their sleep was, very loudly), Laura got up and looked very tired. Apparently 6 people were in the cabin overnight, 3 of whom were sat on her bed! Poor thing. This kind of tarnished my view of the Vietnamese people big time, they were very rude and acted like we weren't there and if we were, we could put up with immeasurable levels of noise. Bollocks to them.
Anyway someone got on straight away, with 2 small children, the younger (a boy) whaling his eyes out. Great. Luckily they calmed down and were generally hospitable for the remaining 3 and a half hours of the journey. Shame they weren't there for the whole trip really, nevermind. I'm not desperately not looking forward to the journey to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh city) and as a consequence have paid most part of the room rate for a 4:45am check in into our hotel in Saigon. Worth every penny if it means we can get an extra 4 hours sleep! They can also book the bus to Phnom Penh in Cambodia too which is a weight off my back.
When we got to Da Nang, a city 30km or so from Hoi An, we had the deliberate intention of finding some fellow travellers who were going to Hoi An to share a cab. We immediately saw two women who were headed that way, and they thought it was a good idea too. As soon as we exited the station we were approached by a taxi driver. I thought the worst, but he was professional, gave us an honest estimate and the meter was encased in a tamper proof box. Result. The two ladies we shared with were both German, both teachers, although one taught Economics and the other French and English. The former taught A-Level students (or equivalent level) and the latter taught secondary school-A-level students. She asked where I was from and it turned out she had an exchange program with a school in Birmingham! Moseley of all places! Small world!
It took around 30 minutes to do the journey and cost no more than £12. That was including dropping the women off at a beach resort (5*, we were very jealous) but they insisted on paying up until that point, meaning we only had to pay the last £3 or so. It was my idea to share as well, I felt bad but it shows how bloody nice people are in this world! Yeah sure some people are out for themselves, but this is around the 20th time we've felt such an honest level of generosity from someone! Truly amazing.
We checked into our hotel and spent the rest of the day looking around the Old Town. We stopped at Cargo Club for lunch, a recommendation from Russ, our housemate from last year at Nun. It was ace, cheap and very filling. The old town of Hoi An is very beautiful. It's very quiet compared to Hanoi, and almost has that sleepy Mediterranean town feel to it (at least in the centre). There are tailors everywhere. I was considering getting a suit made but I didn't think we had enough time (from reading Trip Advisor) and didn't particularly want to lug it around everywhere. The weather was scorching, again and we just walked round all afternoon, admiring the town and particular sites, such as the Japanese covered bridge and the Cantonese assembly hall.
We went for tea at a restaurant (everything is exceedingly cheap here) and then went to bed early ahead of an early start to visit the My Son ruins 50km away from Hoi An the following morning (today).
We managed to get up on time this morning, both of us had terrible stomach pains though. The only thing I can think that we both had was the banana shake in the restaurant last night. I, in particular was suffering, as my digestive system has not been feeling great for a couple of weeks, and this didn't help anything. Nonetheless, we both were up on time and in the lobby for pick up time, the only difference was that Laura managed to go down for breakfast and I didn't before we left.
We were picked up by a man, who said he'd take us to the bus stop where the bus would be. On a scooter. I made sure Laura went first, who looked hesitant, telling her I'd be right behind her when the other guy picked me up. It was only short ride but Laura said she enjoyed it! We went and saw the ruins in the morning which were beautiful. My stomach ache and the pure heat (our guide said it was between 39-42 today) didn't help anything but I still enjoyed it. We were back in Hoi An for 12:30pm where we went for lunch at a small restaurant called "U Hai" on Nguyen Thai Hoc. I had some spring rolls (plain) and Laura had a chicken coconut curry. Delicious and it cost less than £6.
The man who owned it was so friendly and we decided to go back there this evening where we had the full works, as the menu was rather large. We shared some spring rolls for starter, I had tiger prawns (huge) with lime and pepper dip, garlic and salad and Laura had a beef and lemongrass curry. We both had 2 drinks each (including a very good cappucino which someone at lunch was telling the owner he really enjoyed) and a desert (Laura had ice cream and I had a banana pancake). We still struggled to hit a £11 bill. Incredible. The owner had only been running the restaurant for a year, and was interested in where we were from and where we were going. Laura said she would put the restaurant with a 5* review on Trip Advisor and he was very happy that we were doing that for him and enjoyed the food. "Oh, the Internet?! *imitates typing on keyboard* Thank you!!" We were amazed at how empty the place was to be honest, although it wasn't on the main shopping street, and if he had only been open a year travellers recommendations may not have spread that quickly!
I was also very proud of myself today, doing a bit of haggling, although nothing major to shout home about as I only got a fair price. I bought a red t-shirt with the yellow Vietnam star on it (like the flag) for £1. Yes £1. We saw a store advertising normal t-shirts for £1 but no-one was around so we didn't bother waiting (we could have easily robbed one as no- one was there). We walked along a couple of more shops where a woman was sat outside selling said t-shirt. She wanted £2 for it. I said that it was £1 next door, and she said OK £1.75. Then when she tried to say the small tshirt was cheaper than the one I wanted I said I was going back to the other shop, it got knocked down some more. Again, she said it was only the small t-shirt (small yellow star) I exclaimed that it was £1 next door. She said, if I went and saw the shop they won't sell me that exact t-shirt for that price. I said yes they will and proceeded to walk out when she said "OK OK 30,000 dong (£1). Deal.
That unfortunately is Hoi An done and dusted and tomorrow we leave for Saigon overnight (joys). I'll report again sometime on Wednesday about the dreaded train journey!
FROM HANOI TO HOI AN
So on the 31st we arrived at the train station around 45 minutes before our departure. We said goodbye to an Australian man we shared a cab with (which was paid by the hotel) and was in the same boat as us (had come from Halong Bay) so we'd chatted to him earlier. He was in the tourist class trains, whereas we were in the soft sleeper, on the basis that there wasn't much difference in comfort for price. Wrong.
The train was dirty, the dirtiest we've travelled on so far. It was very very basic, and it looked like the bedding hadn't been cleaned, it was already on the bed (although I admit it could have been made before we were allowed to board). After that I don't really know how I (or more importantly Laura) survived for 15 hours. I took top berth as the A/C was poor and I was sweating manically, I went on top to be closer to the vent. We were sharing with what I imagine was 2 people originally. But somehow, their whole family was also on the train. 3 Vietnamese people were sharing the other berths for most of the evening and night. They talked very very loudly - at first I though Russians were the loudest, then I met the Chinese and I thought they were louder. Now I've met the Vietnamese. Now I appreciate the language barrier, but surely any person with an inch of common sense could see we were trying to sleep. Yak yak yak yak yak. Very very loud. They'd shut up by 11, I presume they'd run out of energy or something. However, they were up at 4am (YES, 4am) and at it again. Incredibly loudly yakking away, I just turned over, put my Zune on and tried to ignore it. When they finally got off the train at 7am (they obviously needed 3 hours to talk about how their sleep was, very loudly), Laura got up and looked very tired. Apparently 6 people were in the cabin overnight, 3 of whom were sat on her bed! Poor thing. This kind of tarnished my view of the Vietnamese people big time, they were very rude and acted like we weren't there and if we were, we could put up with immeasurable levels of noise. Bollocks to them.
Anyway someone got on straight away, with 2 small children, the younger (a boy) whaling his eyes out. Great. Luckily they calmed down and were generally hospitable for the remaining 3 and a half hours of the journey. Shame they weren't there for the whole trip really, nevermind. I'm not desperately not looking forward to the journey to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh city) and as a consequence have paid most part of the room rate for a 4:45am check in into our hotel in Saigon. Worth every penny if it means we can get an extra 4 hours sleep! They can also book the bus to Phnom Penh in Cambodia too which is a weight off my back.
When we got to Da Nang, a city 30km or so from Hoi An, we had the deliberate intention of finding some fellow travellers who were going to Hoi An to share a cab. We immediately saw two women who were headed that way, and they thought it was a good idea too. As soon as we exited the station we were approached by a taxi driver. I thought the worst, but he was professional, gave us an honest estimate and the meter was encased in a tamper proof box. Result. The two ladies we shared with were both German, both teachers, although one taught Economics and the other French and English. The former taught A-Level students (or equivalent level) and the latter taught secondary school-A-level students. She asked where I was from and it turned out she had an exchange program with a school in Birmingham! Moseley of all places! Small world!
It took around 30 minutes to do the journey and cost no more than £12. That was including dropping the women off at a beach resort (5*, we were very jealous) but they insisted on paying up until that point, meaning we only had to pay the last £3 or so. It was my idea to share as well, I felt bad but it shows how bloody nice people are in this world! Yeah sure some people are out for themselves, but this is around the 20th time we've felt such an honest level of generosity from someone! Truly amazing.
We checked into our hotel and spent the rest of the day looking around the Old Town. We stopped at Cargo Club for lunch, a recommendation from Russ, our housemate from last year at Nun. It was ace, cheap and very filling. The old town of Hoi An is very beautiful. It's very quiet compared to Hanoi, and almost has that sleepy Mediterranean town feel to it (at least in the centre). There are tailors everywhere. I was considering getting a suit made but I didn't think we had enough time (from reading Trip Advisor) and didn't particularly want to lug it around everywhere. The weather was scorching, again and we just walked round all afternoon, admiring the town and particular sites, such as the Japanese covered bridge and the Cantonese assembly hall.
We went for tea at a restaurant (everything is exceedingly cheap here) and then went to bed early ahead of an early start to visit the My Son ruins 50km away from Hoi An the following morning (today).
We managed to get up on time this morning, both of us had terrible stomach pains though. The only thing I can think that we both had was the banana shake in the restaurant last night. I, in particular was suffering, as my digestive system has not been feeling great for a couple of weeks, and this didn't help anything. Nonetheless, we both were up on time and in the lobby for pick up time, the only difference was that Laura managed to go down for breakfast and I didn't before we left.
We were picked up by a man, who said he'd take us to the bus stop where the bus would be. On a scooter. I made sure Laura went first, who looked hesitant, telling her I'd be right behind her when the other guy picked me up. It was only short ride but Laura said she enjoyed it! We went and saw the ruins in the morning which were beautiful. My stomach ache and the pure heat (our guide said it was between 39-42 today) didn't help anything but I still enjoyed it. We were back in Hoi An for 12:30pm where we went for lunch at a small restaurant called "U Hai" on Nguyen Thai Hoc. I had some spring rolls (plain) and Laura had a chicken coconut curry. Delicious and it cost less than £6.
The man who owned it was so friendly and we decided to go back there this evening where we had the full works, as the menu was rather large. We shared some spring rolls for starter, I had tiger prawns (huge) with lime and pepper dip, garlic and salad and Laura had a beef and lemongrass curry. We both had 2 drinks each (including a very good cappucino which someone at lunch was telling the owner he really enjoyed) and a desert (Laura had ice cream and I had a banana pancake). We still struggled to hit a £11 bill. Incredible. The owner had only been running the restaurant for a year, and was interested in where we were from and where we were going. Laura said she would put the restaurant with a 5* review on Trip Advisor and he was very happy that we were doing that for him and enjoyed the food. "Oh, the Internet?! *imitates typing on keyboard* Thank you!!" We were amazed at how empty the place was to be honest, although it wasn't on the main shopping street, and if he had only been open a year travellers recommendations may not have spread that quickly!
I was also very proud of myself today, doing a bit of haggling, although nothing major to shout home about as I only got a fair price. I bought a red t-shirt with the yellow Vietnam star on it (like the flag) for £1. Yes £1. We saw a store advertising normal t-shirts for £1 but no-one was around so we didn't bother waiting (we could have easily robbed one as no- one was there). We walked along a couple of more shops where a woman was sat outside selling said t-shirt. She wanted £2 for it. I said that it was £1 next door, and she said OK £1.75. Then when she tried to say the small tshirt was cheaper than the one I wanted I said I was going back to the other shop, it got knocked down some more. Again, she said it was only the small t-shirt (small yellow star) I exclaimed that it was £1 next door. She said, if I went and saw the shop they won't sell me that exact t-shirt for that price. I said yes they will and proceeded to walk out when she said "OK OK 30,000 dong (£1). Deal.
That unfortunately is Hoi An done and dusted and tomorrow we leave for Saigon overnight (joys). I'll report again sometime on Wednesday about the dreaded train journey!
Photographic Memories from China, Hong Kong and Macau!
Photos are now online for the next few places we visited. Please click the Grauduation Trip 2010 photos link to see them.
Sunday, 1 August 2010
Halong Bay Part II
Day 68 - 01/08/2010 - 20:34 - Hoi An, Vietnam
So, we've had a few days since my last post. We've seen Halong Bay and come back to Hanoi, leaving the same evening on a pretty uncomfortable journey to Da Nang overnight and then to Hoi An by taxi. It's been a fantastic few days, a complete whirlwind that has led us here. I'll update in two parts - Halong Bay Part 2 and then the trip from Hanoi to Hoi An.
HALONG BAY PART TWO:
They told us the previous night that breakfast was at 7am, which was followed by groans from everyone. Nevertheless, everyone was up on time. The breakfast was actually pretty good. We said goodbye to Ulrike and Arno who left on the boat to go morning kayaking before heading back to Hanoi. We've swapped e-mail address with them both as well as a lot of other people we met so we've got a lot of new friends! Good times!
After they had all left, a bigger boat (with a restaurant on the ground and roof terrace) but still small compared to the Opera came to pick the 9 of us up who had booked the 3 days. There was me, Laura, Saskia and Ike as well as Mark and Hannah, (a Dutch/Swedish couple respectively who live in Sweden!) and 3 Americans - Dan, Leslie who were brother and sister and their mum as well. We all got on very well and had a fantastic day.
We went right round cat ba island, to a floating village which we kayaked around. After which we headed to another part of the bay near there where there was a beach, unaccessable by land. Me, Laura, Mark and Hannah kayaked over whilst Ike and Saskia swam! I got some good photos of the beach otherwise I would have swam too!
We got back to the boat (after riding around it once unsuccessfully not getting anywhere near it!) the current was very strong and had lunch on the boat where there was a lot of seafood, including a very unusal type of shrimp I've never had before - I wasn't that impressed with it - I think I'll stick to prawns! They also bought out some pork skewers and called them "monkey skewers" - they tasted like pork, I hope they were pork, but the Vietnamese staff took great pleasure in joking about it being monkey! Let's put it this way, if it was monkey it was very good... and it tastes a LOT like pork!
After lunch we started to head back to where the Opera is usually moored but stopped first by a cave - more kayaking! We kayaked for quite a distance before getting to the cave. Saskia later put it quite well, the cave itself wasn't that impressive from the outside, not very big and low roofed but it was immense inside - lots of stallitites and bats flying around which was very creepy but very cool at the same time. We passed another group going the other way through the cave who claimed monkeys were around the corner. The others checked it out but me and Laura came back to the boat to have a swim in
the waters around it - unfortunately only being able to jump off the side this time! They didn't see any monkeys either! The right choice I think!
Unfortunately we had to head back from the relative isolation to the boat, despite it being a beautiful and amazing day with absolutely fantastic weather - we applied sun cream 5/6 times but still somehow got burnt as well! When we got back, we went in the water (again) but only from the 2nd floor! We also had all the new people on the boat, which was strange as we'd kind of just got used to those last night. Within 30 minutes of everyone being in the water though, an Australian man was stung by a jellyfish, so everyone rushed out! Kind of signalled the end of the time in the sea! He was treated OK though by such rudimentary tools like vinegar by the staff. The jellyfish didn't bother them, who were jumping in the sea all evening!
We had another excellent dinner, with great company - the 9 of us stuck together for most of the evening, sharing great stories at the dinner table as well as up on top deck afterwards, with only the lights on the boats around us helping us see! Another just out of this world day. It really was like paradise there.
Our final day started at the same time, with the same sort of food for breakfast, although this time Dragon Fruit was on the menu and therefore I had a fair bit - it was melon and watermelon the day before, I care for neither! We had the option to go Kayaking (again) or stay on the Opera which would go for a mini-cruise around Halong bay covering the duration of time the others were kayaking. We missed the boat (literally) with kayaking and therefore were forced to choose the latter (although it's what I would have chosen!) It was all very beautiful as you would expect - I spent most of my time taking pictures from the shade, or running out into the sun only to run back again - my arms and legs particuarly sore from the extreme sun the day before!
The guide on the boat showed us a map on Halong Bay and where we had been yesterday and the day before, in the restauarant. One of the Australians pointed out the window and said "Look, monkeys!" Everyone obviously rushed over to the window he was pointing at, and them him and his family burst out laughing, saying to some Swiss lads "In Australia, we call that taking the piss". I said to him "We do the same in the UK, but not to complete strangers". Without batting an eyelid, he replied "We do!" Haha. Typical Aussies.
On deck we swapped e-mail addresses with everyone - the two couples as well as Dan and Leslie. Unfortunately it was time to leave soon after and we were on the bus back to Hanoi! Sad times. Ike and Saskia didn't go to Hanoi, they were heading to Nimh Binh, so were shipped to the local bus station and the rest of us back to the capital. Just as well they didn't come back, the bus was packed! Even the isle had been taken up with fold down seats (they were installed but no exits at all in case of an emergency!) I was sat next to Dan for a lot of the trip, who was unfortunately enough to be in the isle taking seat. We talked about we were both doing mainly. He works for Google in San Fransisco (where he lives). I think that is the coolest job ever to be honest, and he was telling me all about it which I was obviously very interested in!
We got to Hanoi at around 5pm, and were dropped off at the hotel. On the way through Hanoi's mad streets Laura somehow spotted Andrew, the man on the train from Nanning-Hanoi, in the streets. We opened the window and were shouting to try and get his attention. He eventually spotted us and we had a quick chat whilst still being in the Hanoi traffic. He told Laura "she looked good for it" after Laura had said we were on the way back from Halong Bay. He was right, we really did feel a lot better for a couple of days just recharging the batterys and meeting some nice people along the way. It just also proves how small the world is(or at least all these cities we've visited are!). That's the second time we've bumped into people in the street from the previous place!
So, we've had a few days since my last post. We've seen Halong Bay and come back to Hanoi, leaving the same evening on a pretty uncomfortable journey to Da Nang overnight and then to Hoi An by taxi. It's been a fantastic few days, a complete whirlwind that has led us here. I'll update in two parts - Halong Bay Part 2 and then the trip from Hanoi to Hoi An.
HALONG BAY PART TWO:
They told us the previous night that breakfast was at 7am, which was followed by groans from everyone. Nevertheless, everyone was up on time. The breakfast was actually pretty good. We said goodbye to Ulrike and Arno who left on the boat to go morning kayaking before heading back to Hanoi. We've swapped e-mail address with them both as well as a lot of other people we met so we've got a lot of new friends! Good times!
After they had all left, a bigger boat (with a restaurant on the ground and roof terrace) but still small compared to the Opera came to pick the 9 of us up who had booked the 3 days. There was me, Laura, Saskia and Ike as well as Mark and Hannah, (a Dutch/Swedish couple respectively who live in Sweden!) and 3 Americans - Dan, Leslie who were brother and sister and their mum as well. We all got on very well and had a fantastic day.
We went right round cat ba island, to a floating village which we kayaked around. After which we headed to another part of the bay near there where there was a beach, unaccessable by land. Me, Laura, Mark and Hannah kayaked over whilst Ike and Saskia swam! I got some good photos of the beach otherwise I would have swam too!
We got back to the boat (after riding around it once unsuccessfully not getting anywhere near it!) the current was very strong and had lunch on the boat where there was a lot of seafood, including a very unusal type of shrimp I've never had before - I wasn't that impressed with it - I think I'll stick to prawns! They also bought out some pork skewers and called them "monkey skewers" - they tasted like pork, I hope they were pork, but the Vietnamese staff took great pleasure in joking about it being monkey! Let's put it this way, if it was monkey it was very good... and it tastes a LOT like pork!
After lunch we started to head back to where the Opera is usually moored but stopped first by a cave - more kayaking! We kayaked for quite a distance before getting to the cave. Saskia later put it quite well, the cave itself wasn't that impressive from the outside, not very big and low roofed but it was immense inside - lots of stallitites and bats flying around which was very creepy but very cool at the same time. We passed another group going the other way through the cave who claimed monkeys were around the corner. The others checked it out but me and Laura came back to the boat to have a swim in
the waters around it - unfortunately only being able to jump off the side this time! They didn't see any monkeys either! The right choice I think!
Unfortunately we had to head back from the relative isolation to the boat, despite it being a beautiful and amazing day with absolutely fantastic weather - we applied sun cream 5/6 times but still somehow got burnt as well! When we got back, we went in the water (again) but only from the 2nd floor! We also had all the new people on the boat, which was strange as we'd kind of just got used to those last night. Within 30 minutes of everyone being in the water though, an Australian man was stung by a jellyfish, so everyone rushed out! Kind of signalled the end of the time in the sea! He was treated OK though by such rudimentary tools like vinegar by the staff. The jellyfish didn't bother them, who were jumping in the sea all evening!
We had another excellent dinner, with great company - the 9 of us stuck together for most of the evening, sharing great stories at the dinner table as well as up on top deck afterwards, with only the lights on the boats around us helping us see! Another just out of this world day. It really was like paradise there.
Our final day started at the same time, with the same sort of food for breakfast, although this time Dragon Fruit was on the menu and therefore I had a fair bit - it was melon and watermelon the day before, I care for neither! We had the option to go Kayaking (again) or stay on the Opera which would go for a mini-cruise around Halong bay covering the duration of time the others were kayaking. We missed the boat (literally) with kayaking and therefore were forced to choose the latter (although it's what I would have chosen!) It was all very beautiful as you would expect - I spent most of my time taking pictures from the shade, or running out into the sun only to run back again - my arms and legs particuarly sore from the extreme sun the day before!
The guide on the boat showed us a map on Halong Bay and where we had been yesterday and the day before, in the restauarant. One of the Australians pointed out the window and said "Look, monkeys!" Everyone obviously rushed over to the window he was pointing at, and them him and his family burst out laughing, saying to some Swiss lads "In Australia, we call that taking the piss". I said to him "We do the same in the UK, but not to complete strangers". Without batting an eyelid, he replied "We do!" Haha. Typical Aussies.
On deck we swapped e-mail addresses with everyone - the two couples as well as Dan and Leslie. Unfortunately it was time to leave soon after and we were on the bus back to Hanoi! Sad times. Ike and Saskia didn't go to Hanoi, they were heading to Nimh Binh, so were shipped to the local bus station and the rest of us back to the capital. Just as well they didn't come back, the bus was packed! Even the isle had been taken up with fold down seats (they were installed but no exits at all in case of an emergency!) I was sat next to Dan for a lot of the trip, who was unfortunately enough to be in the isle taking seat. We talked about we were both doing mainly. He works for Google in San Fransisco (where he lives). I think that is the coolest job ever to be honest, and he was telling me all about it which I was obviously very interested in!
We got to Hanoi at around 5pm, and were dropped off at the hotel. On the way through Hanoi's mad streets Laura somehow spotted Andrew, the man on the train from Nanning-Hanoi, in the streets. We opened the window and were shouting to try and get his attention. He eventually spotted us and we had a quick chat whilst still being in the Hanoi traffic. He told Laura "she looked good for it" after Laura had said we were on the way back from Halong Bay. He was right, we really did feel a lot better for a couple of days just recharging the batterys and meeting some nice people along the way. It just also proves how small the world is(or at least all these cities we've visited are!). That's the second time we've bumped into people in the street from the previous place!
