[Bangkok, Thailand] Sleep, Shops and Sights. After our noisy night in the Orchid we got up early and went in search of better accommodation further from the noise of Khaosan road.

The roads were deserted and most shops closed since they are open until the early hours of the morning. We spent a bit of time checking options and settled on ‘The Happy House’ with better quality quite room. It’s not far from where I stayed 10 years ago but the area is barely recognizable. The street has been paved and is overwhelmed by flea market type stalls but at least they made an effort to keep the trees so it feels cooler. I was able to match one upgraded restaurant with my fallible memories. An obvious omission is the call of ‘Cold water, five Baht’. It seems the ever present ladies with buckets of government standard drinking water have been replaced with a 7-11 every 100m selling brand name bottled water and everything else a traveler could want in convenient travel sized portions. Our new hotel was comfy. Maybe too comfy… V passed out and didn’t wake up until it was dark 🙂 Now we’re on holiday!

Day 2 in Bangkok started off with a walk to the Grand Palace. We don’t normally get caught by scams but neither of us (me especially) were firing on all cylinders. At the entrance to the Palace we were directed away by an official looking guy and after walking some distance were told by another well dressed guy posing as a tourist policeman that the palace was closed until 13h. He then tried to hook us up with a tak-tak tour around some other sites. Confused and annoyed we decided (well thanks to V) to change our plans and head back to the hotel instead of being dragged around town in a tak-tak. Turns out the palace was open. All we needed to do was walk in. The entrance is not obvious and we guess these guys work in teams to get people onto the well known tak-tak tours of selected clothing and jewelery stores! After that failure and reboot we opted to go shopping instead and grabbed a taxi to the MKB shopping centre in the heart of the city. MKB is insane. It’s a packed with every shop imaginable and then stuffed with floors and isles of flea market style stalls. V found a couple of things she needed (like flip flops – so she can get rid of that strop tan!) and I got some more memory cards. For sups we managed to meet up with Manouk from our Tibet tour. It was great to see her again after bumping into her in Luang Prabang but she’s heading home now so we’ll just have to keep traveling around the world until we get to Holland 🙂

Okay. Day 3. Time to get serious about the sights (well just a little). We got to the Grand Palace and attached wats without trouble. The place is still amazing even with severe dejavue buzzing my brain. They are doing a lot of restoration work at the moment and I seem to remember it being much shinier close up but the overall effect is still one of WOW. Thankfully it was a little overcast and after walking our feet off around the Emerald (jade) Buddha, Grand Palace and museums we headed for Wat Pho and the Reclining Buddha. Still lazing about after 10 more years – same silly grin. It’s a hard life being an icon.

With those sights ticked off we were starving and decided to make good on our promise to find an Outback Steakhouse. Siam Centre, the largest shopping complex in Asia, had an Outback so it was back to the city centre for us. We gouged ourselves on steak and polished off a monster chocolate brownie. Too stuffed to shop we headed back to the Khaosan area.

Bangkok’s been an interesting (at time challenging) stroll down memory lane for me and I think a great experience for V. We are both very excited about our PADI course in Khao Lak next week but that will have to wait. Tomorrow we head out early by train to Kanchanaburi so V can pet a tiger.

[Pictures from the gallery: Chicken Men and the Emerald Buddha. The Grand Palace and gardens. English guards paying Royalties 🙂 The Lazy Buddha.]

Pilgrims/Tourists making noise and apparently wishes at the Lazy Buddha

– Posted from my iPhone via WiFi

(more…)

[Battambang to Bangkok, Thailand] We woke up this morning and on the spur of the moment decided to go to Thailand for a holiday 🙂 okay maybe not, but we are excited about it.

Cambodia was fantastic and has left us with unforgettable memories like Angkor, Ta Prohm and the boat ride to Battambang. I can see us going back there one day as part of our ‘Motorcycle South East Asia’ dream. It would be great to get off the tourist trail in Cambodia and still have access to cafes like the ‘Blue Pumpkin’ for when we get sick of rice.

Our bus left Battambang on time (thanks again Capitol Tours) and after two hours we transferred to a minibus for the short hop across the flooded part of the road near Sisophon. The road itself didn’t look in bad shape to us but all heavy vehicles were being stopped. I guess they don’t want to damage the road surface or possibly the smaller bridges. The surroundings countryside was pretty much underwater. The kids were having a ball, swimming and fishing in what was, until recently, their front yards. We now see the justification for the stilted houses!

After an hour long wait we joined the passengers on the bus from Siem Reap and headed to the border. With a guide (supplied by the bus company) border procedures were simple. We had no problems and our anxiety over not having proof of flights/bus out of Thailand turned out to be unwarranted. The only downside of crossing the border by land is that we only got a 15 day visa. We like walking across borders. It just feels more real than being in a plane. No-mans land here houses a few casino resorts so that the Thais can pop out to gamble without having to enter Cambodia (casinos not allowed in Thailand – odd).

Another short transfer, this time in a converted bakkie, and we found ourselves at a restaurant (there is always a restaurant) where we sat, and sat bored for 3 hours while waiting for our bus. As we headed towards Bangkok I could not help noticing how well Thailand seems to be doing. 2,3 and 4 lane motorways with overpasses, fewer motorcycles and outrageous numbers of fancy cars. The traffic around Bangkok was severely congested, even on the elevated expressways, but our bus managed to deposit us a hundred meters from the tourist ghetto of Khaosan Road around 8pm. It was a long day of travel and we settled, without too much effort, for a dingy little hole off the main drag. So after 10 years I’m back in Bangkok. In the dark it’s hard to say what has changed. The next few days should be fun!

[Pictures: Another border crossing on foot. A Casino in no-man’s land!]

– Posted from my iPhone via WiFi

[Battambang, Cambodia] It appears that there is not much to do in Battambang so we got up late and arranged to see two sites with a tak-tak driver. On our way into town yesterday we were given an ad for motorcycle rentals at $6 per day. It’s something we have been wanting to do for ages but always chicken out of since we don’t have any experience. In Siem Reap we had looked for motorbike hire but it seems the government has clamped down heavily there – guess they don’t want any tourist roadkill or maybe it’s just to protect jobs. In any event it was tempting in Battambang, but we opted out. Maybe in Thailand where they drive on the left hand side of the road.

Our driver first took us about 25km South of town to Phnom Banan. 300+ steps led up to the wat which predates Angkor. It was in reasonable condition and is still an active temple but it was architecturally and artistically uninteresting. Being the only tourists around we took some time to just sit and relax. It was very peaceful. Pity about all the ‘Danger ! Land Mines” signs.

The next stop, Ek Phnom, was 12km to the north of town. This temple is in bad shape. It is an active wat attached to a large modern temple but bears a fair amount of graffiti. Many parts have collapsed or are about to and it seems that nothing is being done to preserve it except for a few ‘Danger’ signs. The new looking and over sized Buddha statue opposite the temple is impressive but could use a paint job – other than that the site was dull.

It appears that Siem Reap and Angkor get all the glory and deservedly so. To give you an idea. Siem Reap has over 8000 registered taxi/tak-tak drivers. Battambang has around 100. To be fair though, Battambang is worth it just for the boat trip here. Back in town we had lunch and went in search of information about buses to Bangkok. Our hotel had told us that the buses were not running due to flooding and had arranged a taxi that would get us to the border where we could find a ride on the Thai side – that sounded suspicious. Capitol Tours to the rescue once again. Their buses were running but we would need to change to a minivan to bypass the flooded areas and all for $13 (and 12 hours). Sounds okay to us.

We are really looking forward to getting into Thailand tomorrow. Have to mention my V. While I was watching a movie she was surfing the Interwebs looking at… Furniture? No. Clothing and handbags? No. Jewelery? Thankfully no, Off-road and touring motorbikes? Yes please 🙂 She is just the best.

[Pictures: Danger – Mines. The big boy needs paint]

– Posted from my iPhone via WiFi

[Siem Reap to Battambang, Cambodia] Yuk ! Pick up at 6am for our boat ride to Battambang. The earliest we have had to get up in a long time. After rattling around the back streets of Siem Reap picking up tourists we were deposited at the docks and escorted onto a boat which did not look anything like the speedboat on the ticket.

As soon as the engine fired up it became apparent that this trip was not going to be a comfortable one. It was insanely loud. We pulled out of the docks just as the red bull was kicking in – and just in time too. The scenery was wonderful. We ploughed through overgrown waterways teeming with bird-life and passed plenty of floating villages. The most stable looking structures around were the cell phone towers in amongst the floating houses, shops and schools. As the morning wore on villagers were getting on their way to work and school. Funny to see 6 kids in a boat paddling to school. Even funnier were the floating schools with dozens of boats tied up outside the busy classrooms. Just like I remember. Except we had bicycles.

Some of the waterways were extremely narrow with blind corners and obscured intersections resulting in a number of near misses (video to follow). V spotted at least one snake enjoying a tree branch close to our path and this made me nervous. Most of the morning involved being clouted by similar branches as we ploughed through. In the end everyone on board got bored and pulled the fabric blinds down – finally safe from inquisitive snakes and vengeful branches. The river widened as we approached Battambang. 6.5 hours of brain splitting noise – but it was still the most wonderful transit of the trip so far (we think).

Battambang is not impressive as a town with more poverty and beggars than Siem Reap but our hotel (the Seng Hout) is once again of high standard and overall good value. Not much else to mention for the day. We were shattered (literally) after the boat ride. Dinner at a local Thai/Khmer restaurant (The Smokin’ Pot) was very cheap and you could taste it ! Tomorrow we’ll see what the area has to offer.

[Pictures: Kids on the way to school. In the driver’s seat of our ‘speedboat’]

– Posted from my iPhone via WiFi

[Siem Reap, Cambodia] 11:30 and we were still in bed – what a great way to start a day 🙂 We took a stroll into the tourist centre of town (‘Pub Street’ and ‘The Passage’) in search of a pastry and came across a dodgy DVD shop. We couldn’t resist asking for ‘Tomb Raider’. There must have been at least 100 000 discs in the shop but ‘salesman’ strolled over and plucked it out of the chaos with ease – so our entertainment for the evening is sorted. The ‘Blue Pumpkin Cafe’ is unbelievable. Great food (if a little expensive) in a beautiful setting. You would almost think your are New York or London. We followed the rocky road and coconut milk shakes up with a stroll around the local tourist market. Nothing took our fancy – most of it was exactly what we had seen in Vietnam and Laos (Same Same, but NOT different).

Our plan for the afternoon was to get a ‘free’ (should have been hint) bicycle from the hotel and head out to the Angkor balloon ride before chilling to a sunset overlooking Angkor and that’s pretty much where the wheels came off (well a pedal anyway).

At the security checkpoint outside town we negotiated our way past the officials without a ticket (since we were not planning on going into any wats) and were told that the balloon had been closed for ages. Seems someone burst our balloon. In place of the balloon we decided to suck it up and pay for the 8 minute helicopter flip over Angkor and continued riding out to the where the balloon used to be. A sign announced that the heli-flip company had relocated to the airport ! Not daunted (well maybe a little) we decided to cycle another 5km to the airport and try our luck there. Shortly after setting off one of my pedals sheered off completely and riding became almost impossible.

We eventually got the the airport exhausted and wet through with sweat. The place looked deserted. Security tried to assist us but in the end we discovered that to get a helicopter ride we needed to book with an agency in town. Arghhh! So it was back to Angkor for us. Odd that when you need one of the thousands of tak-taks you can’t find one (I guess they know the flight arrival times). I gave up trying to pedal with one leg after a few hundred meters and ended up switching bikes with V and pushing her all the way back to the Wat. We (well mainly me) arrived totally spent and collapsed on the moat wall to wait for sunset. When it finally arrived, the sunset was a little disappointing but we got a few shots and went in search of a tak-tak. There were dozens of them around the car park but all occupied or off duty save one (thankfully) We loaded up and headed home. What an afternoon!

In the evening we had planned to watch our Tomb Raider DVD. We made it as far as the scenes that were shot at Ta Prohm (too cool) before nodding off into a coma. I can safely say we have done Angkor. If there is a next time, that heli and balloon owe us a ride.

[Pictures: V on her bike – so cool to ride past Angkor. Not a great sunset at an amazing spot]

– Posted from my iPhone via WiFi

[Siem Reap, Cambodia] After yesterday’s mission we were feeling a little ‘Wat Fatigue’ so today we decided to pick a few of the remaining highlights instead of trying to cram in every Angkor site. First up Beng Mealea which is a 70km tak-tak ride out of town. Our chariot unfortunately got a flat tire, turning the 1.5 hour ride into 2 hours. It’s amazing that just about anywhere along the main road, even an hour out of town, you are not far from someone with a compressor, tires and tools – no need to carry a spare here.

Beng Mealea was amazing. It is a large complex and again has not been heavily restored – in fact the central tower is just a huge pile of moss covered rubble after being dynamited by looters. Elevated wooden walkways give a different view and once again we were stunned by the trees that have become part of the place. This is real Indiana Jones / Tomb Raider territory – we couldn’t resist attempting to pose on hanging vines and collapsed columns. It was reasonably empty and being a weekend there were a lot of local kids around. When not annoying us by trying to be ‘guides’ they were just playing on the ruins – running across dodgy looking arches, jumping gaps, just having a ball. To be a kid with this jungle gym in your back yard – wow. V and I decided to go adventuring like the kids. We scrambled over the rubble, climbed walls and worked up a sweat before returning from above to the walkways and surprised tourists. It was just too much fun and a little naughty… when in Rome 🙂

Not far outside Siem Reap is a cluster of small temples known as the Roulos group. We visited three in the area (Lolei, Preah Ko and Bakong). Honestly only Bakong was memorable. A huge 5 level pyramid shaped temple with intricate elephant statues. By the time we had climbed up and back down the temple it was getting very hot and we were feeling exhausted so it was back to our air-conditioned hotel room for the rest of the afternoon. Our Tak-Tak driver was decent. If anyone wants a pleasant driver we can recommend Arony (Aaron) cell: 012534470.

Tomorrow we get to sleep in and I’m not getting out of bed until 11 except to pee!

[Pictures: Sim, AKA Indy – I hope this doesn’t snap. V, AKA Lady Croft – this moss is slippery!]

– Posted from my iPhone via WiFi

[Siem Reap, Cambodia] Another day of nothing but temples and ruins but this time without flat batteries. According to the reviews and guides some of the ruins along the grand and petite circuits area are very Tomb Raiderish and they did not disappoint.

Our friendly tak-tak driver met us at 8:30 and we headed out past Angkor which, even in passing, doesn’t fail to impress. First up were two smaller temples (Thomannon & Chau Say Tevoda) both impressive but full of Chinese and Korean tour groups so we whipped around them so that we could get ahead of the tour. We stopped again at the Ta Keo temple. This one was very tall and unusually did not have any bas reliefs. We climbed to the top, looked around and headed back down – we were on a mission.

The highlight so far for us was definitely Ta Prohm. When you have a picture in your mind of Cambodian temple ruins in the jungle then this is it. Only minor restoration work has been done (an inspired decision) allowing the enormous trees to grow and cover the buildings and in some cases hold them together. It’s a large temple complex and we had a ball wandering around the moss covered nooks and crannies. It was reasonably busy but by sitting in a spot for a few minutes we could get a view to ourselves. We took countless photos – especially at the classic spots with tree roots growing all over the lichen covered buildings. It was an awesome spot and one we’ll never forget.

After the high of Ta Prohm we had enough energy to take in another small temple (Banteay Kdei) before stopping for lunch next to the Royal Baths (Srah Srang), which are probably a few square kms (it’s good to be royalty). Not sure how to link the remaining highlights we turned to our guide who recommended a great route. We hopped back on our ride for a quick stop at Pre Rup, the first brick temple we have come across, before heading 30km out of the complex. V preferred Pre Rup to the sandstone ones but I prefer the smooth stuff. Guess that’s the end of the relationship then. LOL.

It took a good 40 minutes to get out to Banteay Srei and it was well worth the trip. It’s a small temple complex but the bas reliefs are very deep and detailed. Entrances are ‘guarded’ by odd monkey sculptures – very Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. The buildings themselves have been beautifully restored and when you see the original site photos in the adjacent exhibit you realize what a huge undertaking it was. All these temples when ‘rediscovered’ where merely ruins over-run by dense jungle.

We returned to the Grand circuit and pulled up outside Ta Som – our driver was really earning his fee today. Ta Som was not too interesting with the exception of yet another cool tree at the far entrance. We can’t get enough of these trees as they very slowly, very slowly, overwhelm the temples. The last stop for the day was Preah Khan. By the time we got there it was empty. V and I took a stroll around the large complex enjoying the turning light and reflecting on a truly amazing and long day. We walked our feet off around as many complexes as possible and I think we have the new number one highlight of our trip – Ta Prohm !

[Pictures: Such amazing trees at Ta Prohm. Sim at the ‘postcard’ tree, also Ta Prohm. V in the moss at Preah Khan]

– Posted from my iPhone via WiFi

[Siem Reap, Cambodia] Yeah its a cheezy title, Sim is better at coming up with them than I am.

WARNING – The next few posts have hundreds of photos

Anyway, it was an awful start to what turned out to be an awesome day. We both woke up grumpy. Me because I had the start of yet another cold and had had little sleep due to the rattly aircon. Sim because he had had a frustrating, but ultimately successful (thankfully) evening before, trying to recover all our Mekong River and Phnom Penh photos off of the SD card which for some unknown reason decided to freak out on us. Sim suggested we take a lazy day but we had agreed to meet our tuk-tuk driver at 8am and I was being stubborn.

Our first stop was at the ticket office. We were thoroughly impressed. There were loads of officials very politely directing people to the right que and our 3 day photo id passes were printed out within seconds of us handing over the cash (40USD per person) and standing in front of the camera.

Next up was the main attraction, Angkor Wat. It’s what everyone comes here to see. We had a bit of a brain fart when we inadvertently accepted incense at the entrance and got suckered into rubbing a statue (Vishnu I think) for luck to find they were hitting us up for a ‘donation’. They were looking for 10 dollars – cheeky! I gave some of my Cambodian Rials to avoid too much embarrassment. Guess it was a vengeful god as about 10 minutes later our camera battery died, and we discovered that the spare was flat too. We, and by we I mean Simon had forgotten to charge them the night before. In his defense though, I was supposed to have reminded him. There was no point in carrying on if we would not be able to take pictures to remember what we had seen, so we had to headed back to the hotel to kill a few hours while the camera recharged. We were both really upset with ourselves for having wasted half a day of our passes.

We headed back out just after lunch and saw everything at Angkor Wat before the post lunch tour buses arrived. Actually the crowds were not bad. I suspect it gets a lot busier later on in the year judging from the size of the carpark outside the Wat. The Wat itself was everything we expected. Surrounded by an impressive moat which dwarfs every English castle moat we have seen. We walked around the galleries admiring the detailed bas reliefs before exploring the interior. A lot of restoration is going on but the bulk of the complex was free of scaffolding.

We moved onto the Angkor Thom complex, passing through a gate with a massive four-sided face atop it. Very cool. The walls were also surrounded by another massive moat. There were a number of different sights within the Angkor Thom complex, including the Bayon, the Baphuon (closed for restoration), the Elephant Terrace and Leper King Terrace plus a number of smaller ruins that we did not bother with.

After all this clambering over and around half restored, mostly crumbling but all just amazing ruins, it was starting to get late. We headed over to the Bakheng Temple to catch the sunset. The LP and Travelfish guides both say that this is a good spot. They both warn about the crowds though. We thought they were mistaken about the view but spot on about the mayhem that was hundreds of people all trying to get up on top of the temple to catch the sunset. After getting to the top and seeing the disappointing view, we decided that sunsets were overrated and headed back down via the elephant trail. Yes, you can ride an elephant to the top if you want.

Tired and thoroughly pleased with the way the day had turned out, we headed back to our hotel. Topping off the day, we found that the staff at the hotel had decorated our bed with flower petals arranged in a heart. It was very sweet of them and we are glad we stayed here on our Gibbon friends’ (Jessica and Christian) recommendation.

More Angkor tomorrow…. Yes please!

[Pictures: Us at Angkor Wat, we made it ! The Bayon Temple, Sim fooling about on Phimeanakas. The crowds on Bakheng]

– Posted from my iPhone via WiFi

[Phnom Penh to Siem Reap] So far the extreme weather around South East Asia has gone out of it’s way to steer clear of us and today was no different. We had an easy (thanks House and SGU) 6 hour bus ride on empty straight roads up to Siem Reap (Angkor wat). The scenery was that of wide open plains dotted with a trees – refreshingly different. We don’t normally book accommodation but since it is a popular destination and we wanted to try a recommendation from Jessica and Christian we booked with Golden Temple Villa. The booking included pick-up but I had forgotten to include the name of the bus company so we ended up grabbing a tak-tak into town. We were joined by a talkative and pushy local chap trying to sell us a tour or at least the services of the driver for the next few days. It was a little annoying but when we finally arrived and chatted to the driver he seemed a really decent chap so we decided to ride with him tomorrow.

Golden Temple Villa is incredibly well presented. The staff are polite and attentive to the point of almost being annoying. They have done a fanastic job of making your basic Cambobian hotel look special by adding a few simple and strategically placed decorations. You can feel like royaly here for $15 a night.

The tourist centre of town where we had dinner is packed with restaurants to suit all tastes, endless shops selling the usual clothing, crafts and trinkets, and a lot of those silly ‘fish massage’ tanks. We found a shop called ‘Wanderlust’. It must be a sign? Come to think of it, it did have a sign outside. Not a ‘sign’ in the burning bush sense, just a regular sign :p

Tomorrow we hit the temples.

[Pictures: Or is it just a Sign ?]

– Posted from my iPhone via WiFi

[Phnom Penh, Cambodia] Today we performed our humanitarian act for the week. We harmlessly (unless you are a coconut) disposed of 50 rounds of AK-47 ammunition. It won’t make much of a dent in the billions of bullets out there, but as Tesco says “Every little helps”.

We negotiated a small tour with a very polite and friendly tak-tak driver who had been waiting for us while we had breakfast. First stop was the military shooting range out near the international airport. Money talks in Cambodia and the military has decided to cash in by allowing tourists to assist in depleting their excess munitions. It was expensive, but well worth it. On arriving at the range we were seated in a restaurant type setting and presented with a ‘picture menu’ containing the various weapons we could try. Everything from hand guns to grenades and finally, for $350, an RPG! Hmmm… An international airport near twitchy tourists with an RPG – remind me never to fly into Siem Reap ! V and I ordered the AK-47. It’s the popular choice with over 100 million (including derivatives) manufactured world wide. Even with the mandatory sitting position, gun rest and assistant holding our shoulders, coconuts do have much to fear when we are behind the sights (although we did get a couple rounds in – embarrassing video clips to follow). It was a ball but over way to quickly.

Our next stop was bound to be a somber affair. We visited a mass grave site outside Phnom Penh known as ‘The Killing Fields’. Cambodia has over 19 000 mass grave sites and this area has been preserved as a monument and to those men, women, children and babies brutally murdered by the Khmer Rouge regime. A huge Buddhist stupa has been erected to respectfully display all of the bones exhumed in the area. It is harrowing to see and designed to ensure that people never forget the atrocities. It was an emotional place to visit but I’m glad we did.

I HAVE to mention dinner. On a recommendation from TravelFish we went to a wonderful Italian restaurant. ‘Le Duo’ is, as advertised, a small piece of Italy in Cambodia. I had an amazing meal: Home made ravioli stuffed with turkey and aubergine in a creamy sauce with baby tomatoes and artichoke hearts. Desert was ice-cream with ricotta, almonds and hot chocolate sauce – it was brilliant. V was a little disappointed in her spaghetti alle vongole but we had a great evening in the end.

By the way. I know posts have been delayed a little lately. We have been very busy all day and tired in the evenings but the main reason is the iPhone apps I use to type and post. The ‘new and improved’ versions crash. I end up losing posts and having to rewrite them. It’s incredibly frustrating.

[Pictures/Video: Oue cool tak-tak driver Mr Samaly. And us… totally useless (two clips in a YouTube Playlist]

– Posted from my iPhone via WiFi

[Phnom Penh, Cambodia] We decided to take a walk (not so easy with tak-taks hounding you) to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. I have to admit that my knowledge of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge was limited to an Eddie Izzard’s sketch, the LP guide and recent news stories about the ongoing trials of the surviving leaders. None of that prepared us for the horrors of S-21. The place was once a school but during 4 years of the Pol Pot regime it was converted into an interrogation and detention centre where men, women and children were brutally tortured and murdered. It was depressing to walk around but educational – we need to learn a lot more about what happened here in 1975. The short story that we understood (obviously it is a lot more complex): Pot needed 2 million people to create a utopia run by an extreme form communism. The country had 8 million people at the time, so any reason to murder the ‘excess’ was acceptable. It always amazes me just how barbaric human beings can be. Give me a time machine and after buying a few lottery tickets I’ll happily cruise through history armed with a pile of oral contraceptives so I can spike a few drinks and eliminate all traces of psychopaths like Pot.

To cheer ourselves up we grabbed a tak-tak and headed for the riverfront for lunch. We found a great little spot to eat. Great because it is the first time we have ever seen ‘chip butty’ on a restaurant menu. A local beer (we are getting frighteningly good a drinking beer) and a butty put a grin back on my face in no time. V, meanwhile, was challenged and beaten by an excellent but oversized roast beef sandwich. Next stop was the national museum for a taste of what is coming in Siem Reap. A small, beautifully presented museum, it was a pleasure to stroll around – they’ve taken a cue from the British museum with the layout and adjusted it to suit the climate – it’s great. Now we’re really excited to get to Angkor !

The last stop of the day was the Royal Palace complex and Silver Pagoda. Reminiscent (to me) of the palace in Bangkok, just smaller and infinitely less crowded, it was wonderful. Perfectly manicured gardens, ornate buildings and brilliant colours greeted us. It’s how a ‘Palace’ should look – nothing like those boring Russian ones. The throne hall is truly ‘Royal’ – it’s always ‘good to be the king’ – with soft blues adding to the gold and silver making it less gaudy than others we’ve seen.

The Silver pagoda was also a pleasant surprise. ‘Silver’ because the floor is tiled with solid silver tiles – I was looking everywhere for a silver coloured building 🙂 It contains lots of jewelery – the centre piece being a large Buddha statue with 9000 diamonds, one of which is 25 carats. V preferred the tiny and intricately decorated jewelery boxes – phew 😉

[Pictures: The View from the upper floor of S-21. Now THAT is a Palace !]

– Posted from my iPhone via WiFi

[Chau Doc to Phnom Penh, Cambodia] For the first time since Western Europe we have a border crossing that is not causing us any stress – because we are part of a tour group – almost too easy.

Vietnam was a short but good experience in all. It was VERY cheap (less than £20/p/day), easy and comfortable, but we did feel that being funneled down through the regular tourist route was less adventurous than what we are accustomed to. Ha Long bay was, due entirely to the weather, a disappointment and Hanoi felt more like China than we wanted but the coastal towns we visited were wonderful. It was also great to get a little exposure to the war history in the form of the tunnel tours and our guides. It makes us want to rent all the war movies, read a few books (well for V) and spend a few days online checking out the history of the places we have visited. The local foods were good and got better the further south we went but the availability of western meals meant we were not very adventurous. If (and that is a big ‘if’) we ever come back to Vietnam we would want to travel the country on motorbikes, stay away from the honky route (except for the occasional steak) and spend more time in the Northern highlands.

After a brief (ie. pathetic) tour of a local fishing village and mosque we boarded our speed boat (max 37km/h – I checked) for the hour ride to the border crossing. The floating border post on the Vietnamese side of ‘no mans water’ was a real novelty while the Cambodian side was less impressive. Border procedures were simple but we did get ripped off – the ‘guide’ charged us $2 each more than the visa price – cheeky since this service should have been included in the tour price. We really cannot recommend the Delta Adventures tour/transit from HCMC to Cambodia. Collecting our luggage from the small speed boat was emblematic of the trip. V and I grabbed our gear from the boat and were ready to go in seconds. The rest stood around on shore waiting for the poor guide to offload bags. I finally had a chance to realize my dream of being a baggage handler and grabbed the opportunity to offload packs, wheelie bags and huge suitcases. Sweaty work and it made my sunburnt back look like bubble wrap. Useless wimpy tourists !

It took another entertaining hour on a bus to get into Phnom Penh. The guide was very cool – his sales pitches for accommodation and currency exchange were hilarious and his demonstration of saying ‘Thank You’ in 50 languages (including Afrikaans) was brilliant. We passed dozens of grandiose shiny temples and pagodas on the way into the city but it is obvious that Cambodia is not (yet) doing as well as Vietnam.

Phnom Penh is another sprawling city with enthusiastic tak-tak drivers and chaotic traffic. Wanting to stick to our ‘don’t take the first thing you see rule’ we checked out a few hotels and found a reasonable one not far from the well know ‘Capitol Hotel’. From our room we relaxed to the sound of the BBC, builder’s hammering, chanting monks with their drums and a monsoon style downpour. Tomorrow we’ll hit the sights.

[Pictures: How to gossip on the Mekong]

– Posted from my iPhone via WiFi

[Ho Chi Min City to Chau Doc] Yet another ‘tour’ for us today, but this one will get us out of Vietnam and into Cambodia (country number 11 I think). We are both very tired today – it was a very early start and my sunburn is still not allowing me to sleep. A long bus ride interrupted by a short break at a coffee shop (complete with hammocks – the traffic is so bad sometimes that people stop to snooze) got us out onto the Mekong Delta. Next, a boat tour past a dismal floating market and a ‘product manufacturing center’ where our guide explained and showed the processes involved in the production of various local specialties (puffed rice, coconut toffee sweets, rice paper and rice wine). The remainder of the day was taken up with boat, bicycle and bus rides to eventually get us to a ‘floating hotel’ at Chau Doc.

It was a long day of travel not made any easier by the group of people we were with. I miss our gibbon group friends. We paid bottom dollar for the tour, accommodation and to get out of the country but some of the travelers were expecting 5 (okay maybe 3) star treatment. It was embarrassing to watch them whinge and complain. The Mekong delta was, well, a big delta – nothing special. The tour stops were definitely secondary to the transit and the accommodation was probably the worst we’ve had in Vietnam. Anyway we’re excited to be moving to a new country tomorrow. Tomb Raider country (Cambodia) awaits !

[Pictures: Crossing the Mekong on a huge rusting ferry.]

– Posted from my iPhone via WiFi

[Ho Chi Min City, Vietnam] To satisfy our curiosity we decided to do a a half day tour of the well know Cu Chi tunnels about an hour and a half out of town. Booking through a hotel or agency has become so easy for us. We are getting lazy. No finding a local bus, guessing where to get off and then battling with taxis to get to an attraction. Now we just wait in the hotel reception.

On the way out to the site our guide entertained a bus load of tourists with his non-stop stories and jokes. Some seemed too good to be true, but you never know. One thing is certain, he has been doing the same talk in the same enthusiastic style for quiet some time. Just Google ‘Mr Bean +Cu Chi tunnel tour’ and you’ll find what we experienced. We stopped by a handcraft market run by disabled war veterans and people affected by the war (UXO victims etc). V and I liked some of the shell artwork but it was all too big for us to carry.

The tunnels have been turned into a major theme park but it was well worth the time. After an introductory ‘documentary’ (more like anti-American propaganda) we toured around the complex looking at some seriously viscous traps and bunkers. A tiny covered hole in the ground was explained as a sniper post. Mr Bean offered us to have a go but nobody was interested until I stepped up. It was a tight fit but fun. If i were working there I would have strategically placed a few rubber snakes in the hole 🙂 Next stop was the shooting range where you can choose to shoot with an M-16, AK-47, M-60 or some others. The bullet prices were a little too rich for our blood so we just sat with a cool-drink while the gunfire reigned.

Finally we got to the actual tunnel part of the tour. Only 150m long and with ‘panic’ exits every 30m (V used the first one) they were not nearly as expansive and deep as the Vinh Moc tunnels. They were however much smaller and very cramped making it a lot of fun for me. I always wanted tunnels as a kid. Pity we didn’t have nice clay to work with.

In the end our half day tour grew by a few hours – I think due to the length of Mr. Bean’s presentations – and we arrived back in town after 15h00. Not motivated to see any more pagodas we spent the afternoon relaxing at the hotel. Well by ‘relaxing’ I mean I spent 3 hours removing viruses and junk, and re-installing software on the hotel’s shared Internet PC (even got Facebook working for them by bypassing their ISP’s DNS server). Unfortunately I couldn’t wangle a discount on the room rate for all the ‘work’ but I had a ball in any event 🙂

[Pictures: a bit of a squeeze. Too many twinkies]

– Posted from my iPhone via WiFi

[Ho Chi Min City, Vietnam] We had a bit of a lazy start to the morning and were only out of the hotel by mid morning. By the time we had walked all the way to the reunification palace (via the insane central market) it was closed for lunch. So we killed a bit of time at a coffee shop opposite the Notre Dame Cathedral and the central post office, then some more time people watching in the park outside the palace.

Finally we were able to get in after they had finished their 2 hour lunch break. It was mildly interesting and we suspect all the decor is original (from the 60’s) but Sim thinks they should park a couple of tanks in the front – you know like the famous picture? The palace also has a full sized model of a Huey on the roof to mark from where the last Americans were airlifted at the end of the war (and another famous photo).

Next up was the War Remnants Museum. Formerly known as the museum of American war crimes. It was pretty harrowing stuff. Mostly one sided pictures and details of what the Americans did to the VC. It was incredibly depressing but educational. It was a horrific war. [Sim: to quote the West Wing “All wars are crimes”]

We were too bumbed and exhausted to walk anymore so we grabbed two motorcycle taxis and headed home.  We had walked quite some distance so the 2 dollars it cost us was worth it. Sim took some video of the ride to give people an idea of what it’s like. Motorcycles are the only way you can really get around easily in this congested town. With a motorbike even the pedestrian pavements get used and driving on the wrong side of the road is ok if it gets you where you are going. At one point  I squealed when a car tried to cut in front of us, but my driver patted me on the leg and reassured me that he was a safe driver.

[Pictures: Enemies at the gate – okay, maybe it’s just us.]

– Posted from my iPhone via WiFi