After a good amount of relaxation in Laos it was time for the 7 of us to head to Cambodia. We arrived late at night with nowhere to stay so the boys went in search of a place to stay while us girls enjoyed a bottle of wine at a restaurant watching over all the bags. The boys finally found us a place so we dropped off our bags and headed out for dinner.
The following morning we got picked up by our driver for the day who took us around the various temples in Angkor Wat finishing off with the Big Daddy of Angkor Wat itself. It was a tiring but really interesting day out and the temples are unreal. The weather in Siem Reap was surprisingly bad but we decided to take a chance and got up early the following day to watch the sunrise over Angkor Wat but the clouds only started to clear later in the day so we didnt get to see the sunrise but watching it get light drinking a mug of milo was awesome. Once we got back to the hotel we hopped on a bus to Phnom Penh, the capital city of Cambodia.
6 hours later we got to our hotel in Phnom Penh and spent the following day walking around the S21 museum which used to be a school until Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge took over in the 70's and it was turned into a prision and torture chambers. It is now obviously a museum - a very depressing one. We took a good few hours to get round, it was really interesting but so horrific what all the people in Cambodia went through and as recently as the 1970s. We then took a tuk tuk to the killing fields which is just outside Phnom Penh and where most of the prisioners in S21 ended up. So not the happiest day!
Next day we were up early to catch our bus to sihanoukville which is a little beach town in the south of the country. We even managed to find a place that was doing Sunday roasts which was a real treat....the following day Kath joined us and we went to a beautiful beach for the day and all got a bit roasted ourselves.
Unfortunately that was our whirlwind trip of Cambodia over. Now its a flight to Bangkok and then a flight to Mumbai, India for 2 weeks.
Only 1 month left....sob!
Wednesday, 27 January 2010
Monday, 25 January 2010
Photos - Cambodia
Tuk Tuk to our hotel in Siem Reap
Angkor Wat, Siem Reap
Angkor Wat
S21 Museum
Killing Fields, Phnom Penh
Actually Clydo and Greg ended up losing overall!
TV dinners at the sports bar in Phnom Penh
Sihanoukville
Sunday, 24 January 2010
Laos
Our 9 days in Laos began in the enchanting UNESCO protected heritage city of Luang Prabang. The city lies between the Nam Khan and Mekong rivers and is home to Lao’s Royal Palace and many golden temples (wats). It has orange robbed monks wondering the streets and awesome food found in the many French influenced bistro’s – Luang Prabang is a perfect spot to explore for a few days.
As we arrived we again met up with Lara, Liese and Clydo and soon found ourselves at a place called Utopia where we had an awesome lunch and our introduction to beer Lao overlooking the Nam Khan river. Lunch was followed by a gruelling 5 hr, 5 set match of beach volley ball which was keenly contested by everyone. Well done to those who prevailed (the “Gangs” and Al).
Feeling a bit stiff and wearing a few war wounds from the previous evening we explored the old quarter of Luang Prabang and visited many of the temples and attractions. For me the treasure of the city lies in the peacefulness with the hundreds of orange robed monks wondering the streets, delivering offerings to the Gods.....
The cities peacefulness is also maintained due to it being a UNESCO World Heritage city and therefore there is a ban on all trucks, buses and all major transport routes give the city a wide berth and mostly because there is a 11:30pm curfew on the bars and restaurants. Except it seems for the late night ten pin bowling which only opens at 10pm and closes at 3am. Once again, there was a keenly fought contest.
Our last day in Luang Prabang was spent at the beautiful multi-tiered Tat Kuang Si waterfalls where we also visited the bear Sanctuary.
It was then time to make our way down to Vang Vien where we met up with Craig, Sash, Kath and Shev and Jeff again to celebrate Sash’s 30th birthday. Happy Birthday Sash. Vang Vien should be a sleepy, beautiful little village alongside the Nam Song River with jagged limestone karsts all around but for those of you that have been will know that it is far from sleepy! There are plenty of travellers enjoying the many outdoor activities and cheap beer Laos has on offer. Our days were spent visiting beautiful lagoons on motorbikes or tubing down the Nam Song for which the village is world famous.
This consists of being taken approximately 4km up river by tuk tuk with a tractor inner tube in hand where you are left to navigate the 4km stretch along the river back to town on your own. Fortunately there are many travellers to help you navigate your way and there are ample watering holes to ensure you are well hydrated. The journey can take anywhere between 2hrs to....well that all depends on how much you are enjoying the big swings, zip lines or water slides into the river and how well you can handle the free shots of local Tiger whiskey.
Well I’m glad to say that we made it out of Vang Vieng in one piece bar a few stiff backs and a couple of bruises. From there we went down to Vientiane and now it’s time to move on to Cambodia.
So as you can tell Laos tested our youth and put us through our paces, we think we stood up to the test pretty well!
Happy Birthday to Gary for yesterday!!!!
As we arrived we again met up with Lara, Liese and Clydo and soon found ourselves at a place called Utopia where we had an awesome lunch and our introduction to beer Lao overlooking the Nam Khan river. Lunch was followed by a gruelling 5 hr, 5 set match of beach volley ball which was keenly contested by everyone. Well done to those who prevailed (the “Gangs” and Al).
Feeling a bit stiff and wearing a few war wounds from the previous evening we explored the old quarter of Luang Prabang and visited many of the temples and attractions. For me the treasure of the city lies in the peacefulness with the hundreds of orange robed monks wondering the streets, delivering offerings to the Gods.....
The cities peacefulness is also maintained due to it being a UNESCO World Heritage city and therefore there is a ban on all trucks, buses and all major transport routes give the city a wide berth and mostly because there is a 11:30pm curfew on the bars and restaurants. Except it seems for the late night ten pin bowling which only opens at 10pm and closes at 3am. Once again, there was a keenly fought contest.
Our last day in Luang Prabang was spent at the beautiful multi-tiered Tat Kuang Si waterfalls where we also visited the bear Sanctuary.
It was then time to make our way down to Vang Vien where we met up with Craig, Sash, Kath and Shev and Jeff again to celebrate Sash’s 30th birthday. Happy Birthday Sash. Vang Vien should be a sleepy, beautiful little village alongside the Nam Song River with jagged limestone karsts all around but for those of you that have been will know that it is far from sleepy! There are plenty of travellers enjoying the many outdoor activities and cheap beer Laos has on offer. Our days were spent visiting beautiful lagoons on motorbikes or tubing down the Nam Song for which the village is world famous.
This consists of being taken approximately 4km up river by tuk tuk with a tractor inner tube in hand where you are left to navigate the 4km stretch along the river back to town on your own. Fortunately there are many travellers to help you navigate your way and there are ample watering holes to ensure you are well hydrated. The journey can take anywhere between 2hrs to....well that all depends on how much you are enjoying the big swings, zip lines or water slides into the river and how well you can handle the free shots of local Tiger whiskey.
Well I’m glad to say that we made it out of Vang Vieng in one piece bar a few stiff backs and a couple of bruises. From there we went down to Vientiane and now it’s time to move on to Cambodia.
So as you can tell Laos tested our youth and put us through our paces, we think we stood up to the test pretty well!
Happy Birthday to Gary for yesterday!!!!
Thursday, 21 January 2010
Photos - Laos
Utopia Bar, Luang Prabang
Marathon volleyball game
Luang Prabang
Night market, Luang Prabang
Ten pin bowling, Luang Prabang
Bear Sanctuary
Greg and Clydo on the swings
Vang Vien
Meeting up with Sash & Craig
Rock Bar
Buckets (again!)
La & Liese on their bike
V and Shev
Kath, Sash and me
Midnight Feast of pancakes
Start of the tubing
Crazy Greg
Shev doing the big slide stylishly
Greg on the big slide
Girls team
Last bar for the day
Tubing for Sash birthday
Greg braving the big swing
Beer Pong
Kath on the swing
Girls at the free cocktail bar
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