Bangkok, Thailand, 10-11 August 2012

This will be a short entry I hope; we were only in Bangkok for 20 hours! We arrived late, wandered up Ratcha-something-something (just off the infamous Koh San Road) and found a dirt cheap little double which looked just like the room Daffy is in at the start of 'The Beach' if a little smaller, cleaner and less dead bodies in it.

We went straight out and had pad thai from a street stall and I fell in love. So fulfilling, so many ways to alter the taste, and so bloody cheap! I was over the moon! We then had a wander down Koh San Rd, which wasn't nearly as mad and bustling as I expected, and then found a little bar on a parallel street with cheap Chang and live music to top off the night.
Next morning we ate then went out to try and sort out our bus to Chiang Mai. We didn't realise that the Queens birthday was the following day, and as a national holiday the whole population were boarding buses and trains back to see family, and there weren't any beds or seats together for 6 days! Luckily, we found one place with 2 seats on a night bus that evening at a silly price, so we bit the bullet, legged it back to our guesthouse to check out, then wandered around getting our bearings and relaxing for a few hours before getting "picked up" for our bus. I put this is quotations as in reality it was a man getting dropped off at our pick up point and leading us on foot for a mile through windy alleys and a muay thai gym to the bus! As expected, the bus was chocka, but we had good seats, and dozed off as we weaved our way north to Chiang Mai!

Pursat, Cambodia, 9-10 August 2012

Our big bus rolled along the main highway and stopped in a small town. In this small town only a handful of locals got on and off, and Jo and I were the only westerners to get off. A few other travellers on the bus looked on at us as if to say "why are you getting off here?!" This is because Pursat is a tiny place and with little to do there or go there for. The reason we were going there was for one reason solely; the biggest floating village on the Tonle Sap lake. As we had no idea where we were or any map, we got a tuk-tuk to take us the couple of hundred metres to a guesthouse, where we resumed our roles of Jo going to check out the room and I stay put, laden with bags. She came back out of the corridor laughing, so I knew it wasn't good. She reported that it was ok for one night, but a touch small. It was a prison cell with pink curtains. It just fitted a bed with enough room to open the door. She was right though, it'd do for the night, especially at about a pound each.

We abandoned the bags and looked for a tuk-tuk to take us to the floating village. One guy wouldn't budge on his price, but continued to follow us up the road to the bus ticket office (we were getting out of this place as soon as we could!). We then found someone to take us at the right price, and after a quick purchase of bus ticket to Bangkok for the next morning, we set off on the hour journey, of which, it rained for 45 mins. Luckily, it stopped and brightened up when we arrived. The place isn't really a tourist hotspot, with very poor families littering the road up to the lake, although all very happy people, with lots of kids playing and screaming "HELLO" and waving like lunatics at the white people.
We got a boat to take us on an hour ride around the 'village' which is actually the size of a small town. There were buildings floating on bamboo or proper boat hulls, containing everything from small shops, to ironmongers, to petrol stations. Was really surreal to see, especially the latter, which for some odd reason doubled as an animal sanctuary, with lots of chickens and dogs running about amongst the petrol pumps. We went right out onto the lake, and anchored up was a big modern looking yacht very similar to the boat that took us around the islands in Fiji. It turned out this was the hospital ship, and came past once every week and spent its entire time circling all of the floating villages on this vast lake. Tethered to it was a much smaller boat which was the pharmacy.
When we were done, we got back in our tuk-tuk and headed back, in the evening sunshine. We then went in search of food. We found a little local place almost opposite where we were staying where no-one spoke English either, and had a really good meal of fried rice and spicy fried beef with ice-tea (this is just a cold teapot in the middle of the table and they bring you a glass of ice, I have to remember to try it with cold stewed tea at home!). We went for a wander to see if there was a town or centre to this little place straddling the main highway between Battambang and the capital and found a few more streets, one or 2 tiny hotels and a couple of shops and a market, but nothing too built up. Eventually, we made our way back to our cell, found a movie in English on the little tv and dozed off.
The next morning we got up early for our bus, showered with a bucket of cold water and went back to breakfast at the place we ate at the night before. Then it was onto the bus and onwards to Bangkok, via Battambang! Our penultimate country of the trip complete in no time at all! We'd done a lot and seen everything we could and Cambodia had to offer, but we were still sad to leave, and knew that if we stayed longer in Cambodia we'd just be dragging it out in a vain attempt to deny the inevitability of finishing our trip and going home.

Battambang, Cambodia, 7-9 August 2012

Battambang should actually be spelt 'Bat Dambong' as it means 'lost stick' after a former Kings magic stick he lost which caused him to lose his throne. Loving the facts these days I am.
Battambang is a smallish city, though supposedly Cambodias second largest. It's a busy and bit dirty little place with a big local market and some really run down old French buildings. Lonely Planet raves about the French architecture, but the little I found was either hidden behind signage, or crumbling to pieces. I don't think the Cambodian people know this is a potential tourist puller, so don't make anything of it. The reason people DO go though is the bamboo train amongst a few other things. Our tuk-tuk guy, a bloke with a huge grin permanently bolted to his face was eager to give us the lowdown on where he could take us that afternoon and how much for. The price was silly money, so we said we'd think about it, and ventured off to wander the streets seeing the city, then ended up in a place called Gecko for dinner overlooking the bustling streets. We went to the bar opposite our hotel that night as it seemed to have the most life and the cheapest beer, and went back to our room where I watched ESPN until the wee hours cheering Chris Hoy to his deserved gold medal, and getting thoroughly annoyed at the judges pissing around which caused Pendleton to have to settle for silver to the Ozzies.
Next morning we had breakfast in a nice little place next door to the hotel, and our tuk-tuk driver came bounding over. He said he had 2 people going on his little tour that morning and we could go for $5, so we polished off our coffees and joined them. The 2 people he had we a pair of Irish girls called Sarah and Emily, and turned out they were the people who I sneered to Jo "who goes travelling with a bloody guitar" when we saw them arrive the day before but discovered they bought it along the way, (so proof you shouldn't judge!) and we got on great with them.
Our first stop was the bamboo train. This is a length of track left by the French (so now almost 100 years old) with little bamboo trains that go up and down, though almost entirely for tourists now. The trains are ingenious; they are 2 axles with a set of bearings close to each wheel and a fixed hub in the centre of one axle with belt around it. There is then a bamboo raft that sits on the bearings so that the whole axle can spin freely and a small engine on the back of the raft on a sliding track. This is so that the driver levers the whole engine back with a stick, which increases the tension in the belt connected to the axle, which increases friction and so drives the whole thing forwards! So bloody clever! Just a huge clutch system whereby the engine moves wholesale by a man pulling a stick! I was thoroughly impressed, and pretty surprised, as were Sarah and Emily, at the speed we got up to. We flew through the countryside for a couple of km, then pulled up as we saw a row of 3 or 4 other trains coming the opposite way. This is where the simple nature of the train proves its cleverness again; you just lift the bamboo platform off the axles and put it by the side, then lift each axle off and the whole thing is dismantled in seconds! Within 5 mins, our train was reassembled and we were flying down the rickety track again. We got to another sort of station and stopped for a bit, a little girl made me a grasshopper out of leaves, we turned around and headed back. We pulled up to the start again and a bit miffed to be told to tip the driver as apparently the $5 each we paid at the start mostly gets pocketed by the bent police. Bloody corruption everywhere, and it just seems the rich get richer and the poor stay put. Cambodia seems terrible for this and it's so sad as they're such a happy nation who've been through so much in recent history.
Anyway, enough of that. Next up was a winery! For a couple of dollars we got some grape juice, ginger juice, red wine, and brandy! I have to be honest, the red wine was fruity and crap, and the brandy like fire-water, but the ginger stuff was spicey and really nice! The grape stuff also made the brandy pretty nice too! We finished our drinks and headed to a Wat with a couple of big trees by the entrance packed with fruit-bats. There were hundreds of them making a right racket, and flying all around us. We took some pics, then carried on up to a set of temples on a hill that the locals reckon were the inspiration for Ankor Wat. I really doubt this after looking at them, and they are falling to pieces with no sign of any restoration going on sadly, but they were quite impressive, especially considering how many stairs we had to climb to get up to them. We had a drink and moved on to another big hill with temples at the top, but this one was where the Khmer Rouge took the temple and turned it into a prison, and used some caves up there for murdering people. Not a nice place, although the temple is now almost complete in its return to original use complete with many painted depictions of Buddha. The killing caves have also been turned into a place of worship, and some bones and skulls kept on display. This may seem horrible, and it is to behold, but in a nation where nation where you can really feel and notice the lost generation, it is necessary to remember.
We were then done for the day, and wanted to head back and get some circus tickets, but sadly it wasn't on, so we ate, got showered, caught up on some Olympic action, and went to the bar opposite for a few drinks. Emily was wiped and hadn't been feeling too hot all day, so it was just Jo, Sarah and I, and we chatted for hours in the warm evening with cold beer.
The next morning we found our way to the post office, found a cashpoint to flex the credit card, ate brekkie and said goodbye to Sarah and Emily as they moved onto Phnom Penh, and we boarded a bus to Pursat!

Siem Reap, Cambodia, 1-7 August 2012

Siem Reap means 'Siam Defeated' after Ankor Wat was captured back from the Thais, bet you didn't know that did you? Thought I'd start with a fact this time. We rolled into a bus station bloody miles from town, where the gates were locked behind the bus as it entered to keep all of the tuk-tuk drivers at bay. Was quite funny to watch as we had the benefit of booking our guesthouse ahead and sorted our free pickup, so had no need to deal with the hyper blokes shouting and postulating at the gates. We got to our guesthouse after a good bit of fresh air in our little tuk-tuk, and immediately headed out to find a shop to get some cold drinks. Jo and I both still felt crap from our bargain pizza the night before in Phnom Penh, and had no interest in eating, so we collapsed on the bed with the ceiling fan going full tilt in a vain attempt to cool the room. Jo dozed off by about 7.30, and I lasted 'til a bit later.
We awoke next morning with rumbling stomachs after not eating the day before, and sat down to the free brekkie of tea, coffee, eggs and toast. Was modest, but did the trick. We then found our way into town, and spent the day planning our route of the famous Ankor Wat and other many sundry temples. We spoke to a few tuk-tuk guys, and one nice bloke got the hump with me when I wouldn't 'promise' him I'd go with him. I then got wound up with the bloke in our guesthouse who wanted $12 for one day, but $45 for 3 days! He couldn't work out what was wrong with that! We abandoned hope and went to pub street for some grub and watch some Olympics.
In the morning after some grub, we found a bloke who wasn't trying to flog a 'tour' (not a tour, just a route that they take) and was willing to go to where we wanted and in the order we wanted. Jo found it funny in all the negotiations that barely anyone listened to us and just said "no, we won't do that, I'll take you there instead"! Imagine a taxi driver in the UK saying that! "No mate, I won't take you to Oxford, I'll just drop you off at Milton Keynes"! Anyway, he was a nice bloke, and whisked us off to the ticket office and onward to an array of temples increasing in size and stature as we progressed. I can't decribe them all (this blog is boring enough as it is for you few readers), but I can summarise that:
• Baphuon looks like the castle in Mario 64
• Phimeanakas at the top looks like King Louies palace in The Jungle Book
• Bayon is the one with the cool but bit freaky heads everywhere
• All of the temples are being sponsored and repaired by different countries, which is unfortunately meaning that some are delicately and sympathetically done (France, Germany), some are taking forever (Japan), and some look terrible and are being repaired with shitloads of concrete (China... Who else) which just looks terrible.
• Trees can straddle thousand year old stone walls like lapdancers
• We didn't make it to Ankor Wat on day 1
That is the long and short of 8-9 hours walking around the temples. We got showered, headed out and found a brilliant little family run place doing great Khmer food, then had a drink watching the Olympics again before an early night.
Day 2 in the temples was a more relaxed affair. We hired bikes (would have used motorbikes for the whole thing, but you can't rent them anywhere in Siem Reap, probably so that tuk-tuk drivers won't go out of a job) and cycled the 6km to Ankor Wat, then spent about 4 hours wandering around it. Very impressive, especially the moat around the outside. Took lots of pics, then headed back to town, dropped off the bikes and showered, then went to town for coffee in the Blue Pumpkin, a trendy little cafe chain with air con and lovely big sofas. Jo then wanted to be pampered, but not by me, by some fish. She somehow persuaded me to join in (think it was the free beer that swayed it) and we sat down to have out tootsies munched by fish, but not like the ones in shopping centres in the UK, these were big buggers (you could gut and eat them) and we pretty hungry... Either that or we have minging feet... I'll pick the former. Due to me being unused to the experience, it took me 18 of the 20 minutes to stop giggling like a little girl. We then had a foot massage (I'm losing man points by the second here, it feels more like confession than a blog) and then sat in a bar for 20p beers and more Olympics. We got chatting to a really nice kiwi couple, but as is the way, we were meeting Jos friend from Ghana, Elysia and her boyfriend that night for drinks, and the kiwis were off the next morning. We spent so long chatting that we had to leg it to meet Elysia and her boyfriend Nathaniel at a cool little bar with $1 cocktails. We stumbled back and asked at our guesthouse about getting a tuk-tuk to Ankor Wat for sunrise the next morning. They quoted a silly number and said we would have to pay for him for the day despite our argument that he would be back by 9ish, so, convinced we could do better, we found a moto guy (a man with a scooter basically) and asked him and he said yes. The next morning, we blearily made our way towards the meeting spot and a man on a bike waved at us. We waved back and he came over, but I'm almost certain it wasn't the right bloke. This fact was reinforced by him asking me at every junction which way to go! Surely a moto-man would know the way to Ankor Wat in his own town! He then announced as he dropped us off that he wouldn't wait as we'd agreed (see, told you; wrong bloke) so we paid him half fare and away he went.
Sunrise at Ankor Wat is a bit hit and miss in wet season, and we weren't very lucky. The sky was pretty cloudy on the horizon, and the most interesting part of it was seeing all of the people around us, there were hundreds! As well as a western couple in wedding dress and morning suit there for a photo shoot. We sat down for a cup of coffee, as people dispersed after we saw nothing, then suddenly it broke through thr clouds. I legged it over to the big pond and got a couple of pictures of what we got up and crammed onto the back of a moto-man for before it quickly disappeared. We then had a wander around, went up to the very top, took some nice pics then found a cheap tuk-tuk to take us back to the guesthouse. The plan when we got back was to kip for an hour. I awoke at midday, and we eventually made it to town around 1 for lunch (with the best and cheapest ice coffee we've found so far), coffee, beer, Olympics, fish feet eating (forgive me Father, for I have sinned...), and dinner. We stumbled home late via the night markets and looked forward to a lie-in.
We decided to stay one more day a relax in Siem Reap by a pool, but this meant finding one, but all we found we tiny hotel pools and scattered rain showers, so we spent the day reading, playing Bananagrams, drinking, eating, and hunting down the gymnastics (which we also failed at). Had a great meal that night with our own little gas barbie, some beef, chicken, crocodile, goat and shrimp, a load of veg, noodles and rice and a load of soup/stock to cook it up with.
Next morning we were up earlyish and on the bus bound for Battambang!

Phnom Penh (again), Cambodia, 30 July - 1 August 2012

We boarded a tuk-tuk, then a minibus, then finally a big bus back to Phnom Penh, after umming and ahhing whether to stay another day (that put East 17 in my head AGAIN!) and hope for sun or head off. We made the right decision as the skies darkened above Sihanoukville.
Like all decent travellers, one of the main reasons for being in these foreign countries is to try new and exciting foods. For this reason, I took it upon myself to be brave and tried something completely new; Jalapeno Pringles. Bloody nice they were too.
Anyway, arrived safe and sound and found a nice place to stay, then went out for cheap drinks and tacos on the riverside, then, as the rains caught up with us, we took a tuk-tuk to a cinema and watched Dark Knight Rises. Amazing film, but this is my travel blog, not a film review, so we'll carry on.
The next morning after breakfast we found our way to a big Wat temple, then to the central market. En route to the market, Jo popped into a corner shop, and as she came out she bumped into a girl she had spent 4 months in Ghana with 5 years ago, and hadn't seen since! Small world! At the market Jo had some great success. She got a pair of Beats headphones for under 4 quid, and a shoulder bag for 3 quid! We wandered back through town, stopping for a bit of lunch and a drink, then onto the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda which were both rather disappointing. Almost half of the estate was closed off to the public, and the Silver Pagoda looked a bit like a kleptomaniacs front room, crammed with lots of Buddha statues but in ageing and mismatching cases. We stopped off for another drink and then headed back to the room to freshen up. We popped down the road and got a cheap pizza which, was nice at the time, but both of us awoke the next morning with stomach aches, making for an unhappy busride to Siem Reap! Par for the course, we didn't get picked up from the hotel until we called up to say "where are you", and were the last on the bus!

Sihanoukville, Cambodia, 26-30 July 2012

The three of us arrived in the seaside town of Sihanoukville after a short minibus trip from Kampot. We were expecting a bit of a tourist town centred around a few beaches, but we discovered something far more developed. Sihanoukville is like Ibiza, with dozens of bars, most Western run, serving up cheap beer and full English breakfasts all day and night. We stayed at a place called Monkey Republic for less than a London pint in our own bungalow with en-suite. We wandered down to the closest beach that afternoon, and were a little shocked; the bars all dominated the beach, stretching all along, and covering the sand in front of the bars with their own seats and sunloungers leaving pretty much no room to lay down between the end of the bar and start of the sea. If you bought a drink in a bar it was free to use the sunloungers, so we milked a couple of cans of coke and topped up our decreasing tan. Jen however fancied a bit of shade after a while and sat a chair away under a brolly, but this made her look like she was on her own and the ladies coming around offering manicure/pedicure/threading/massage wouldn't leave her alone! Was quite funny to a point, but when they perched on her seat and wouldn't listen to her firm "no thank you", she was forced to get a bit ruder to get them to go away. We sat down at another bar as the sun went down and enjoyed some 50c beers.
After some Western grub at our hostel bar, we decided to give the impersonation cinema (it was a room with a big tv rigged up to a network drive packed with movies) across the road and watched The Help.
The next morning the clouds didn't want to budge, but it was still bright and warm. We wandered around, played bananagrams in the bar, drank ice coffees and beer, and finished the day watching the sun go down on the beach again. A lazy day, and the most productive bit being Jo skyping Lou and her niece and nephews!
The next morning the sun had come back out proper, so we got a tuk-tuk to Otres Beach, about 7km away. This was a great move as it had some of the same style bars on a bigger beach, but nowhere near the number of people or sellers offering sunglasses/bracelets/massage/pedicure, and the surf wasn't so violent so you could chill out in the sea a bit more. We spent a happy few hours in the sun when a huge black rain cloud started to envelope the beach, so we went into the bar for grub. A little later we our tuk-tuk picked us up and took us back. It was Jens last evening with us, so we found a nice Italian place and had a few drinks afterwards watching some Olympics. I eventually managed to skype Vegas late that night too after a month of trying and failing.
We got up early next morning to see Jen off on her bus. She got picked up by a tuk-tuk, and there was very little proper 'goodbye', but we'll see each other in 2 months anyway, so no bother. She set off for the bus to Phnom Penh, and a flight the following day to Bali - a place on our original itinerary, but that was soon scratched off when we realised how far our money would stretch.
The weather was still a bit pants, so we watched some "How I Met Your Mother", played bananagrams, and went back to the bar showing the Olympics, where we drank beer for hours watching cycling, swimming, rowing and gymnastics. We finished off the evening by wandering down to the market for some cheap dinner with the locals.
We waited until morning to make the decision to stay or go as we didn't want to spend another day sat indoors if the weather was pants, and alas, the clouds closed in, so we packed and had brekkie where a dog walked up and peed on my bloody bag! That wasn't even the worst bit, as I then knew that other dogs would smell it and want to mark ME as their territory, even though I tried to clean it with Windowlene - the only thing they had behind the bar -  and sure enough, first stop we made on the bus a german sheepdog was sniffing around me! Anyway, we were off and away, back to Phnom Penh.

Kampot, Cambodia, 24-26 July 2012

A little minibus took us the few hours to Kampot along with a very unhappy couple who were picked up from the same guesthouse as us, an hour and a half before us while we were still in bed.
On arrival Kampot seemed a bit quiet and run down, with the skies looming dark and heavy. Some hawkers trying to get commission from hotels met us, but they wouldn't listen to our need for a triple room, so we just ignored them. It then typically started to rain, so Jo and Jen stayed in a cafe and had a cup of tea while I went hotel hunting. Not far away I found a huuuuuge room for well in budget.
Kampot is a very quaint little place, but looked to be well out of season and having a lot of work done. A big market in the square is still being built/refurbished, and lots of building work was going on all around. This didn't inspire us much, and coupled with the bad weather, things weren't looking good. We found somewhere cheap and really good to eat and bumped into the German girl we wandered around the paddy fields of Yuanyang in China with, but she was anything but pleased to see us for some reason so we gave up even making polite conversation as she obviously wasn't bothered and left her to it. Jo and I then wandered around exploring the town a bit and found a nice little cafe/bakery to sit and play Bananagrams for a bit. That evening we found a nice little place to play some pool, drink some happy-hour beers and have some decent grub.
The next morning the rain had subsided from the downpour overnight, so we went out for breakfast where I chose to have steak and chips (I'm on holiday! I'm allowed!). Jen then decided to stay around the town wandering about as she still felt crappy, and Jo and I rented a motorbike. The joy of having a bike licence is I can ride manuals which are cheaper to rent! We went off across the river and up towards some rapids. We then pulled in to take some pictures and a shower opened up so we had a drink in a shack which was actually a womans living room/kitchen. The rain didn't last long and we continued up to see the rapids. We actually went straight past and I ended up riding around a hydro-electric dam, but we figured we really shouldn't be there, so we went back down to the rapids. It was really more of a fast flowing river, but was a bit of a locals highlight as there were lots of elevated wooden platforms with little roofs, with locals sat in having picnics and teenagers tubing a short way down the river. We headed back to town, with Jo shooting lots of pictures over my shoulder, and had some lunch. From there we rode around town, found a market, but was a local one full of car parts, kitchen appliances and food, so we headed back to find Jen, said hello and then went back over the bridge to do some more exploring. Before we knew it we were in the middle of nowhere, bouncing over the bumpy, bloody red track, paddy fields and water buffalo flanking us as far as we could see. Was great fun riding it, and beautiful scenery to boot. I did go a little further off-piste, and ended up riding along a sandy beach on the rivers edge on the way home.
That afternoon and night was the same as the day before; cake, coffee and beer with Bananagrams, followed later by cheap beer and good food on the riverside again!
In the morning we had just enough time for a quick breakfast before it was time to catch the bus to Sihanoukville!