Cambodia - Phnom Penh

17 - 19 June '08

Our 6 hour bus journey from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh was a smooth one. However, half way through, we stopped within the Kom Pot province for lunch where a few locals on board picked up some delicacies for the trip - fried, herbed crickets, spiders and beetles. The constant sound of crunching ensued for the remainder of the trip... cringe! We stayed in an area by the river, where there were few guesthouses but many local hangouts. We had hit the jackpot... with bars like Red Fox, Pussy Cat and 69, we couldn't go wrong :-) Later that evening, we dined at "Happy Herbs Pizza" - as the name implies, the pizzas came with special ingredients ('a la ganja'). Whilst Preya struggled to feel the effects, Yatin was certainly a happy chappy.

The next day was undoubtedly our most emotionally intense experience so far. We rose early and found a young tuk-tuk driver (called Umsy) to take us to the Killing Fields. Enroute, Umsy offered to take us to a shooting range... and naturally we accepted. Here, we bought ourselves a $40 cartridge of bullets and experienced first hand what it was like to pull the trigger of an AK-47. The gun was heavy... the shot blast was immensely loud... and the backfire forceful (unfortunately, they had run out of grenades!). After a further 20km of dusty roads, we arrived at the Killing Fields of Choeng Ek. It was naturally peaceful, and a large white memorial which housed the skull and bones of many thousands of victims, featured prominently in the grounds. As we visited the mass graveyards and locations of torture sheds, we stumbled across bone fragments and items of clothing that had yet to be unearthed - this was our first taste of the heinous crimes of the Khmer Rouge that had existed only 30 years ago (For those of you who don't know, the Khmer Rouge were a Communist group that were led by an individual called Pol Pot - they savaged and murdered millions of Cambodian people... even those that merely wore glasses or spoke another language... they wanted to create a society of surpressed peasant workers... there were noticeably fewer old people about because of this very reason). Umsy explained to us how his uncle had managed to escape from this very place before having to survive on insects, water lilies and the like for one year until the Pol Pot reign had ended. Lost for words, we continued our journey onto S21 (Tuol Sleung) - a former school turned into prison camp. The site was once again very disturbing, filled with torture chambers and shackled cells. Distressing images and photos of the victims were plastered across the building site. Feeling quite drained, we relaxed for the rest of the evening with some wine and good food.

Our final day in Phnom Penh, and Cambodia, was spent drinking and reading by the river. Next stop... Chiang Mai... Thailand.

Cambodia - Siem Reap

13 - 17 June '08

After another turbulent and indirect flight, we arrived in Siem Reap, where the magnificent Angkor temples lay. We caught a tuk-tuk to the centrally located Psar Chaa area where we routinely sought for accommodation... 3 hostels later, we found one with availability and within budget. The area we stayed in boasted some modern bars and restaurants, yet retained a lot of its rural qualities. As we explored the surrounding neighbourhood, there was an abundance of tuk-tuk drivers offering their services for the temples. We took a liking to a smiley guy with good English... his name was Chhin and he would be our guide over the next couple of days. That evening our craving for indian food and beer was once again satisfied at the Kama Sutra restaurant.

The following day was a complete washout and we gladly postponed our trip to the temples. Instead we immersed ourselves in our books: 'The Killing Fields' and 'First They Killed My Father'. These books had been recommendations and we wanted to heighten our experiences of Cambodia.

With a fine new day, we ventured out to the Angkor temples. We won't bore you with the intricate details of the temples we saw, albeit that we visited a handful of the smaller and older temples on the first day; a mixture of Hindu and Buddhist ones. It was easy to lose yourself within these old stone-made buildings - the game of hide and seek was effortless. What's definitely worth a mention though is the swarms of 'cute' little children at each temple that would hurtle themselves towards you in a desperate bid to sell something. They would lay down some heart-wrenching lines like "If you don't buy... I will cry". They were very serious, and in fact one little boy set up camp with a box of tissues and forced the tears out - it was hard to resist sometimes and we walked away with some tacky bracelets and books. Chhin was very kind and accommodating towards us and as we shared a hot, khmer lunch with him, he explained how his parents had survived the Pol Pot Regime. His stories really hit home and made us realise once again how lucky we were. As the evening drew closer, we headed back feeling exhausted from the humidity and the climbing of the temples. But before we did, Chhin made one more stop at a village, and more specifically, at an orphanage that he supported where we met some talented young artists. That evening, we experienced a traditional 4-handed Khmer massage... 2 masseuses at one time... what a great tradition!

On our second day around the temples, we worked our way some more eerie temples (and some more cute kids). We ended with Angkor Wat itself (the temple of all temples), the walls of which were adorned with carvings from the Ramayana... although we had seen many temples by this point, this really was an impressive creation. That evening, as we continued to walk around and talk to locals (who took a real interest in the fact that we were Indian), it was inspiring to see how things had changed since the dark days of the Khmer Rouge. We ended our final night at the Dead Fish restaurant (previously a crocodile farm - it still actually retained a couple of them) where we saw some traditional Apsara dancing. We bumped into a girl we had met in Hanoi (we tended to see a lot of familiar travelling faces) and she shared her experiences of Phnom Penh.

Laos - Vientiane

10 June - 13 June '08

An interesting fact about Laos is that there is a curfew in place - locals should be at home by 10.30pm and foreigners by midnight. We were told this was to control noise pollution and to retain the characteristic charm of the buddhist culture. Whilst this regulation was apparent in Luang Prabang, it didn't seem so noticeable here. Vientiane definitely had a capital city feel to it and although there were various monk-inhabited temples about, they didn't feel as genuine and unique as those in Luang Prabang.

On our first day we spent a lot of time walking, and talking to locals who were more than happy to explain their cultures. We learnt a lot from a young girl who ran a cafe called 'House of Fruit Shakes' - she created really tasty and nutritious fruit shakes and platters (mental note for parents.... we are eating fruit!). We were particularly interested in a daily tradition (alms service) whereby the orange-robed monks would wake up at the crack of dawn and walk around the streets to collect rations for the day from kneeling down locals. In return they would provide blessings.... we decided to partake. After a night of 10 pin bowling (in which Yatin crushed Preya in his typical effortless way ;-) , we woke up at 5am the following morning to provide food to the monks. We knelt alongside a couple of locals (you kneel as a show of respect), and as the 7 monks approached, they opened their holdalls so that we could make our offerings (we had prepared several bags of fruit the previous day). We were careful not to touch their containers since we are considered impure. After chanting some blessings, they continued barefoot along the street, leaving us with a feeling of self-fulfilment.

Another day, another early start. Our tuk-tuk driver picked us up at 4am and dropped us at the deserted airport where we would catch our flight to Siem Reap... next stop Cambodia.

Laos - Luang Prabang

4 June - 10 June '08

Our evening flight from Hanoi to Luang Prabang was undoubtedly the smallest aircraft we had ever flown in (capacity 60.....passengers 17). When we arrived at our destination, it was pitch black and the only way to get into town (old quarter) was on a sawngthaew (converted pick-up truck with 2 wooden benches down either side). The driver was amicable and took us to his guesthouse where we crashed out for the night.

The next morning we could see why UNESCO has placed this city on its World Heritage list - delicately decorated buddhist wats (temples) surrounded by emerald green mountains. Luang Prabang had a unique village feel to it and the young orange-robed monks roaming around gave it a sense of charm and isolation. Everything was at a slow pace (even moreso than Vietnam) and the people clean and respectful to the extent that you couldn't wear shoes inside guesthouses and many shops. Our first full day was spent exploring the characteristic roads and sampling the local cuisine. At night we walked through the very peaceful Hmong market which was home to many tough little negotiatiors (some as young as 12) where Preya finally met her match. It was very easy to get caught up in the lathargic atmosphere which is why we decided to spend a good few days here.

The next 3 days we continued down our streak of laziness, but managed to visit some of the sights including Luang Prabang Museum (a converted palace which had previously been home to the King of Laos) and Luang Prabang's most magnificent temple, Wat Xieng Thong, which was situated at the northern tip of the peninsula where the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers met.

But relaxation had had its day and the following morning we decided to get off the beaten track. We hired ourselves a couple of mountain bikes and a guide, and cycled a hard 40km. The initial 10km took us up some steep, scenic mountainous terrain where we visited a wat. There, our knowledgeable guide Chongken (we called him Ken), explained the daily rituals of monks. He himself had been a monk for 5 years but had returned to the outside world in order to support his family (his monthly salary was only $40). We continued our cycling along some dirt-tracks by the Mekong River to visit the grave of Henri Mouhot (French explorer of Ankor Wat) and thereafter visited an elephant camp. Here we had a refreshing lunch whilst chatting to a scottish girl volunteer who was attending to some of the elephants. The riding was becoming quite intense, and just as the storms were above us, we arrived at a small village where we sought shelter at Ken's cousin's home. It felt surreal being in such a remote place; watching the local people bathe in the thunderous downpours whilst we patiently waited for the storm to pass from within their wooden huts. The final 12km felt like an eternity, but as we crossed the finish line, we had a huge feeling of self-satisfaction and rewarded ourselves with a 3 hour massage.... that night we slept like babies.

After a day of recovery from aching limbs, we took a packed tuk-tuk to the station where we boarded a 10 hour bus to Vientiane. Our vehicle was full of backpackers and was supposedly a VIP bus (we hate to think what a normal bus would have been like... the VIP should really stand for Vomitting Inside Permitted). The queasy first leg of the journey took us through some incredibly winding mountainous roads and unsurprisingly a couple of people at the back of the bus were sick... thankfully, from previous experience, we had strategically placed ourselves at the front. The driver continually made brief stops along rural villages so that he and his accomplices could pick up cheap fruit and veg. We made friends with a bubbly Canadian girl on board and when we arrived at Vientiane, the 3 of us hired a tuk-tuk to help us hunt down some accommodation.

Vietnam - Hanoi/Halong Bay

30 May - 4 June '08

We arrived in the capital in the early hours of the morning and made our way to our nominated hostel in the old quarter.... it was shut.... but immediately a boy approached us who wanted to show us his hostel... so we followed. The place was run by an interesting outfit - a set of kids who looked between 7 and 20 years of age - we decided to stay because the smallest one was wearing an Arsenal top. After some rest, we walked around the old quarter... it was very claustophobic and you couldnt 'walk 5 metres without someone hassling you to buy something which was very 'Hanoiying' (sorry couldn't resist that one!). We visited Ngoc Son Temple which was situated on a small island in Hoan Kiem Lake (in the city centre), and then took shelter in a lakeside cafe whilst a short shower passed. The French influence in Hanoi was very noticeable, moreso than anywhere else we had visited so far. That evening we went to see a popular water puppet show... we were slightly anebreated when we went, but you probably needed to be on ecstasy to fully appreciate it!

The following morning after sorting out some overdue laundry, we walked a couple of miles to the Temple of Literature - a place where talented individuals from around the country would learn, adapt and live by the teachings of Confucius. The Temple surroundings included a small lake and courtyard, and it seemed somewhat peaceful. After sorting out our flights to Laos and booking our tour to Halong Bay (where we would spend the night on a junk boat), we headed out to the elegant 'Little Hanoi' restaurant for dinner. The next day we relaxed; went for a relaxing ride on a 2-seater cyclo ride around town; and then relaxed some more before hitting the night market where we picked up some tacky souvenirs.

After getting picked up at our hostel, we took a cramped 3 hour minibus ride to Halong Bay. After boarding our designated junk boat (all the boats are pretty much the same, but it's amazing how everyone will pay vastly different prices), we had a drink with the other 11 guests and then lay on the top deck whilst the boat slowly cruised to the 'Amazing Cave'. The cave was huge and the rock formations within had created weird and wonderous shapes including a buddha, a turtle and a dragon. Two-seater kayaking around the bay was next on the agenda.... what hard work... especially since all the women in the group sat like princesses at the front of each kayak. That evening, whilst we lay anchored in the middle of Halong Bay with numerous other boats, we had a nice meal with the group.... and then the karaoke started! The captain and his crew initially hogged the microphone, but after consuming lots of vodka, some of the group (mentioning no names) braved their singing talents. There was lots of laughter and the night ended at 2am at which point we retired to our tiny, cockroach-infested cabins.

After an early start we made our way back to Halong City where we caught our minibus back to Hanoi. We were shattered and crashed out early evening. On our final day in Vietnam, we remembered the people we had met, the friends we had made, and the journies we had taken; and we knew this was country we would visit again one day. Next stop... Laos.

Vietnam - Hoi An

26-30 May '08

On arriving in Hoi An, Preya fluttered her eyelashes, and negotiated a huge room with bath tub, a/c, balcony and satellite tv for 6 quid a night - nize baby.... it sure was a sight for sore eyes after that bus ride. Hoi An was a quaint little town beaming with character.... a paradise for clothes shoppers since its central area was littered with silk-tailors. After settling into the hotel we took a walk along the riverside which hosted a selection of charming restaurants and cafes. The 'fresh' beer along here cost 3000 dong (or 10p) and was cheaper than water (a dangerous ploy for beer lovers). After enjoying several beers whilst people watching, we bumped into a few travel-buddies from Dalat and the 6 of us went out for dinner that evening.

The following day after taking in some of the exotic food aromas of the central food market, we enrolled in an evening cooking class (at Hai Cafe).... we were joined by 6 friendly American guys who had just completed their MBA's. Our chef was well-spoken, humourous and sarcastic - he kept referring to a man's asset as his 'population stick'! That evening we learnt how to make vegetarian spring rolls, shrimp salad, and barbecued fish in banana leaf.... after which we all sat down and enjoyed devouring the feast we had just prepared. After a few beers at dinner, we joined the Americans for a few more drinks at the 'Salsa Club' (strange name for a place that had no connection to Salsa at all). The young barman there became friendly with Preya and plowed us full of his speciality cocktails.

Each morning we would have breakfast (and sometimes lunch) at a local cafe where the little old lady owner would wave us onto her outdoor patio from a distance. Amusingly, everytime after taking our order, she would hop onto her moped to go and get the ingredients for our meal.... the overall wait would sometimes be long but mostly worth it. After breakfast the next day under a temperature reaching nearly 40 C (or so we were told), we visited Marble Mountain (about 20km away). We climbed an array of steep pathways to visit various pagodas and bat-infested caves, and once again we saw some impressive views. After retiring back to central Hoi An, we headed out for some more fresh beer and sampled the local speciality dish ('Cau Lac' - salad, noodles, croutons, topped with your selection of tofu or pork - very cheap and highly recommended).

Once bitten, twice shy.... the following afternoon we boarded a 15 hour train to Hanoi. The experience was a lot better than the overnight bus, albeit that the vietnamese love their opera-esque sounding music which they would blare out at all hours of the journey. The train ride from Hoi An to Hanoi is known to be one of the most scenic routes and we weren't disappointed - the railtrack runs right alongside the coast.... a trip we highly recommend by train.

Vietnam - Nha Trang

23-25 May '08

Nha Trang was full of what the locals would call 'Um Tai' and 'Ba Tai' - white foreigners. It was a westernised beach resort; but we really needed the rest after the last few days. After the previous night's drinking session with River and Ocean, we slept-in the next morning and then headed out to stylish La Louisiana Cafe (which had a private beach area with loungers - recommended by a friend in order to avoid continual harassment from beach vendors). After laying there for most of the day and indulging in some $5 beach massages, that evening we had our most expensive meal in vietnam (at a staggering 5 quid!).

Feeling totally refreshed, the following evening we decided to board a 12 hour sleeper bus to Hoi An.... big mistake.... these buses provide so-called sleeper beds which are actually designed for the average vietnamese body size. Feeling claustophobic and with minimal sleep, this was one experience we did not want to repeat in a hurry (even the on-board toilet was out of service). Our recommendations about Nha Trang are to use it more as a stop-over or a place just to chill (unless you are really into your diving); and totally avoid the overnight sleeper buses where possible if you are remotely tall.