Saturday 8th
It was a six hour ride from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap, eventhough we were picked up at 8:10am for an 8:45am bus, our mini bus got to the station last and the cargo hold was full. My bag at to sit at the front of the bus along with two others. At least this meant we wouldn't be picking up people along the way, surely? Well we did get a few but they only had hand luggage.
We had organised a guesthouse through our one in Phnom Penh because it was the same sort of room for the same price and included free pick up from the bus station. Although the driver didn't take us to the one we thought we were going to, it turned out to be better because this place was close to the centre of town and was still the same price. The tuk tuk driver asked us about going to the temples, we hadn't decided where we were going or how much so we said he can come back tomorrow if he wants and we can discuss a price.
Sunday 9th
Looking at both the 'LP South East Asia on a shoestring' and the 'LP Cambodia' guide we decided to go with the latter's three day itinerary. We met the driver downstairs and presented him with this itinerary, he gave us a price of $65, which we got down to $62 as a final price. However as we had told him, we were not 100% about doing it with him because we had not got any other quotes from tuk tuk drivers or any other source for that matter. So we said we would take his offer into consideration and call him later in the afternoon if we were to go with him. At this stage we didn't know you couldn't rent motorbikes in Siem Reap so we were keeping in mind we could do that for ~$8 a day.
He was not happy, he even said himself "that is not good for me"and that we WILL find a cheaper price from someone else. Poor justification for us to go with him that's for sure. We still would not accept and he absolutely cracked the shits, throwing a pool cue across the pool table and swearing in a mix of English (fuck) and Khmer. We simply walked away from him at this point, why should we put up with this nonsense. As we were walking away he called out to give a better price but Kay simply said "why would we go with you when we can see you're not a very nice person".
We explored the centre of town including the Psar Cha (Central Market), had lunch at the Mandalay Inn as they served Burmese food and i was craving a particular dish (pepeo). However they didn't have it, we ate there anyway. Whilst in the area we got airfare quotes for our flight to Laos, the Mandalay turned out to be the cheapest ($127 each) so we booked there. We originally wanted to go on Friday but it was booked out so we booked for Saturday, which turned out to be better anyway as we had more rest time from doing the temples.
As we headed back from dinner we asked a tuk tuk driver and got a price for our temple tours. We had found out it was prohibited to rent motorbikes in Siem Reap so we had no other option, unless we wanted to do countless kilometres on a push bike ($1/day). We got it down to $42, which was pretty good and much better than the arsehole. The guidebook said it should be $12-15 per day excluding temples out of town. We got it for $14/day and that included going out of town twice for temples, one in particular as it's 30km from town. Our first day would be Monday and we would do the temples in chronological order by their period of construction.
Monday 10th
Today was our first day of doing temples, we headed out at 7:30am but stopped for breakfast along the way. It was a bit chilly, particularly when you were driving along in the tuk tuk, but it was not enough to have to take more clothing, particularly since by 9am you would not need it. We had to head towards Angkor to get our tickets ($40 for three days) eventhough we were to head in the opposite direction.
First was the Roulos group - Lolei, Bakong and Preah Ko. The Roulos group are 13km eat of Siem Reap and are not in the main Angkor area, they are the oldest temples, dating from the ninth century A.D. As such, Lolei in particular, they are not in the best of condition. Bakong was surrounded by a large moat and had an active monastery next to it on the 'island'.
After the Roulos group we headed back to Angkor to complete what is called the 'grand circuit' - Preah Khan, Preah Neak Pean, Ta Som and Eastern Mebon. Preah Khan (sacred sword) is one of the largest temples in Angkor as well as being in pretty good condition. As is the norm, our driver was supposed to drop us at the West gate so that we would walk to the East and meet him at the North gate. However we were dropped off at the North unknowingly, we realised this when we walked all the way to the South gate to find it wasn't worth looking at and no one else had been that way.
When we got back inside i asked a Cambodian security guard which way was North, he did not understand but a little boy did. He told us to go to the East as it is the most beautiful way. I had asked him why some door ways were very short but some so large, he said it was so you were forced to bow, we found this very interesting. Although the average Cambodian wouldn't have had to bow as it fitted them, but certainly not Westerners.
Although we did not ask, the little boy took us all through the East side and back through the North explaining everything about the temple. His English was some of the best we had heard and he was only 10! By the end i went to give him some money as we thought he did deserve it. He asked for more though, but i met him halfway. I believe that you can't give something to someone that didn't ask for it and then expect money, but i suppose there's no such thing as a free lunch. We've basically learnt that if we're ever offered something to just not accept, incense for a Buddha is an example.
We went for lunch to the restaurant our driver asked us to go to. We realised that it is because he got a free feed out of it but it was fine by us. Lunch was pretty basic and quite pricey at $5 for a noodle dish, it would be $3 back in town. The roads were very dusty so i bought a krama (traditional Cambodian scarf) to keep the dust off my face and out of my nose, mouth and throat.
Preah Neak Pean was our next temple, it was very different to Preah Khan. It was a large pool of water surrounded by four smaller pools. More of a swimming complex you would think, however, the pools were used for ritual purification rites not recreation. At the spout from the central pool to each smaller pool were different heads - elephant, lion, man and a horse.
Ta Som is East of Preah Neak Pean, it is not in that good condition and not that big, it is most known for the huge tree completely overwhelming the eastern gopura and is a very popular photo spot.
Eventhough it wasn't planned it was along the way and we had time to kill, so we went to Eastern Mebon. It would've once been on an islet in the centre of what was called the Eastern Baray (kind of like a lake/dam) it was now on dry land. This temple is a smaller version of Pre Rup and was built 15 to 20 years after it. It is quite high and has five towers, the corners had guard elephants, which were in pretty good shape.
We were supposed to do sunset at Pre Rup but it was 3pm (sunset at 6pm) and we were ready to head there, which was pointless as we weren't going to hang around for three hours so we decided to add it to our second day (Wednesday).
Tuesday 11th
We went back into the centre of town today and went around the central market again, we didn't buy anything though. We went back to the Mandalay Inn to collect our ticket and went to several banks to inquire about how much they charge for a cash advance on Kay's credit card, we tried so many but either their ATMs and/or their in bank EFTPOS machine would not read the card. Very very weird considering it's a Visa card and it is accepted at all of banks. We had success at the very last bank we went to (ANZ Royal Bank) but it still took 20 odd minutes to get the cash, alot of red tape involved.
Previously we had seen a restaurant that offered an Apsara performance (traditional Cambodian dance) for $6 but we had seen on the main street (Pub St) that a place called Temple restaurant and nightclub had it for free so we headed here for dinner. I had Khmer roast duck for dinner, it was very very nice. The dance itself was very slow moving with an emphasise on the wrist and ankle movement.
After dinner we went to the night market which covers a few streets and an open area. There were lots of tanks full of fish that eat your dead skin cells along the way but we had found one for $2 and an unlimited amount of time. We both tried it but i couldn't stand them biting my feet, it was way to ticklish. Kay did it for about 20 minutes, she said she noticed a difference in the way her feet felt. The night market was nothing special and we didn't get anything.
Wednesday 12th
We had breakfast at the hotel and were picked up at 9am. Our first temple would be Banteay Srei, which is around 30 km from Siem Reap. Banteay Srei is considered by many to be the jewel in the crown of Angkorian art as it has the finest stone carving out of all the Angkor temples. It is believed that women did the stone carving as it is too fine for the hand of a man. Banteay Srei was also not commissioned by the King at the time but one of his advisers. It was quite packed at the temple and as it was not very big, it made it a bit hard to move around freely. The stone carvings were very nice.
Our second temple was back in the Angkor area - Ta Prohm. Ta Prohm is known for the fact that the jungle has had much more influence on it. It is covered in huge trees growing on it's ruins. It's big but alot is in ruin. Ta Prohm is a temple of towers. close courtyards and narrow corridors, many of which you can not enter.
Next was the 'small circuit' consisting of Banteay Samre, Ta Keo, Chau Say Tevoda, Thommanon, Banteay Kdei and Sras Srang. Banteay Samre is in good condition due to some extensive restoration, however it has been ravaged by looters over the years. It is another temple that was once surrounded by water but no more.
Ta Keo is an undecorated temple as it was unfinished, possibly because the King died during it's construction. Ta Keo consists of five towers, a high central one surrounded by four smaller towers. It's summit is 50m high and didn't we know it. You could walk right up to the main tower in the middle. The stairs were very steep and not always even. We then went to Chau Say Tevoda and Thommanon, these two temples are twins and are across the road from each other. Chau Say Tevoda is not in as good condition as it's twin, although there is restoration ongoing to bring it up to scratch.
Banteay Kdei is a huge temple complex surrounded by four concentric walls. It is in a ruinous state due to it's hasty construction. There are garudas (bird/human creatures) at the entrances. Across the road is Sras Srang, it is more of a what used to be. It's simply a large lake which once had a temple on an island in the middle. All that's left is the island, bare of any temple.
We had used our day well and were at Pre Rup for the beginning of the sunset. The only problem was that it was an extremely overcast day and you could not see what you wanted to see. However it didn't stop scores of people crowding around the tallest tower to see (nothing). Pre Rup is very much like Ta Keo although not as big although the towers are not in as good shape.
Thursday 13th
Big big day today, we were up at 4:30am to be picked up at 5am to get to Angkor Wat for sunrise. It was quite chilly as expected and very dark. We got something to eat before we crossed the moat, although all i had was a bread roll and a red bull. We could not see a thing all the way to Angkor Wat, i say this now because on the way out in the day light we could see how the causeway was all over the place in terms of places to trip up or roll your ankle.
Unfortunately it was another overcast day so we did not see the beautiful sunrise we were supposed to see, luck of the draw. On the plus side the temple was not busy, there were alot of people but the tour groups were starting to roll in when we left at 9:30am. The other bummer was that the front of the temple has scaffolding over it in the middle section, necessary i suppose but frustrating.
Angkor Wat on it's first level surrounding the temple has huge and detailed 3D carvings depicting historical Cambodian events and Hindu stories, they're called bas-reliefs. The Cambodia guidebook was enough for us to get the jist of what was depicted on the bas-reliefs.
We were able to go all the way to the top of the highest Angkor Wat tower but it had proper wooden stairs built over it's old stone stairs. You can see the old stairs they used to use, i can remember when i went to Angkor Wat with my family that Heather and I went up and came down on a different side and it was very hard to do. All of these staircases have been blocked off.
We then met up with our driver and had breakfast, it was good value this time. Next stop was Angkor Thom, the largest complex at Angkor, it's more like a citadel, with many things inside it's walls. We started at the Bayon, the second most famous temple after Angkor Wat. It's where all of the towers have faces on them, 216 faces to be exact.
Second was the Baphoun, which you can only view as it is not safe to go up and is closed off. The Baphoun is a pyramidal representation of Mt. Meru (think Mt. Olympus in Greek Mythology), the rear of the temple has an unfinished reclining Buddha carved into the wall, this was done hundreds of years later.
We walked from the Baphoun to the Phimeanakas, another pyramid looking temple representing Mt. Meru. It was around midday at this time and the heat did not help the way we felt. We had a look at the temple but did not climb the steep stairs. We soldiered on and walked to Preah Palilay and what's left of Tep Pranam, which isn't much more than some stone slabs. We went across to road to our tuk tuk and i ran over to get a picture of the Preah Pithu group. On the way out we saw the terrace of the lepers, the terrace of the elephants and the Kleangs on the other side, which are big towers.
Unfortunately since we had to get up so early to get to Angkor Wat for sunrise it made us so tired and we really didn't want to do anything. Eventhough we started small and built up, i feel it's probably best to do Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom on your first day if you're going to do three days. It would also seem possible to do alot around the Angkor temples if you only had one day and you started at Angkor Wat for sunrise and finished off at sunset. It was still 1pm by the time we left Angkor Thom so we had still had near to a full day (5am-1pm) eventhough we didn't look at all of Angkor Thom's temples properly.
Friday 14th
We didn't particularly sleep in as we went to bed early but we didn't get out of bed til 11am. We went back to the other market where Kay got quoted the best price for the bracelet she wanted. The bracelet in question she did not get, but bought two others instead. I had a look at the t-shirts but they were not as good quality as the Vietnamese ones and i bought some reed/silk placemats and coasters for home. Basically every place in the market sold the same things. DVDs are $2 each, whereas we paid between $0.50 and 0.75 in Vietnam so we didn't get any.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Phnom Penh
Tuesday 4th
We were told to be ready by 8:30am, we were eating our breakfast at the place next door to our hotel when the bus turned up at 8:15am to collect us, so we didn't get to finish our food. Worst of all i was having a soup so i couldn't take it with me and i hadn't had much as it was still hot. Waste of money that was.We left Sianoukville at 9:30am, eventhough we were on the bus waiting, there were people who came late and we had to pick up more people from another bus office.
We arrived four hours later in Phnom Penh to a horde of tuk tuk drivers wanting us business. We went to our hotel of choice (Spring Guesthouse), which the tuk tuk driver insisted was no good (opposite to Lonely Planet's view) and that we should go to his suggestion, love the feeling of proving them wrong, $9 a night, beautiful. The plan was to have yum cha for dinner, well at least some dumplings, as we had two Chinese restaurants close by, neither had any. We went to a Khmer restaurant instead.
Wednesday 5th
Kay was still wanting prawn dumplings, luckily Monivong Blvd. which leads to the central market had many Chinese restaurants, including one that sold dumplings.
We got to the market and had a look around, pretty much the same stuff you see everywhere, although there were a heap of watch stores in the centre and jewellery stores down another side. We had decided to get a watch since Kay's phone is our only source of the time and we have had it die on us previously. I'm not a watch person (although i might get one in Bangkok) so it was a watch for Kay. We looked at so many from the one store, after half an hour of deciding and bargaining we got a very nice '(and i mean very nice) 'Rado' watch for $20, down from $35.
I wasn't particularly after anything as i got what i immediately needed in Vietnam but i did finally find a belt that i wanted. After very hard bargaining, more so because i wasn't fussed if i got it or not, meaning i was a real hard arse, i got my 'Louis Vuitton' belt for $10, down from $25. They played the "i make no profit"card yet still gave it to me for that price as i walked away, fancy selling something for no profit.
Once again most of the day was consumed by shopping, i can't imagine what it's going to be like in Bangkok when we really plan to shop.
Thursday 6th
Today was dedicated to the Royal Palace and the Silver Pagoda (next door to one another). We didn't realise that the Palace had a siesta so we had to wait 45 minutes to get in, which wasn't too bad as it allowed us to rest after our long walk in the middle of the day heat. It was quite hot today, however when you found some shade, combined with a nice breeze, it was not too bad. The main thing when it comes to the heat in Cambodia is the sun, when you're directly in it, you really feel it.
There was a whole bunch of people waiting to get it, some women were rejected for being under-dressed (idiots), it's common knowledge that you (boys included) must cover the shoulders and knees (shorts ok, not short shorts) in Buddhist countries before entering a pagoda or respectful sight like a Palace. The guidebook which was printed in March '09 stated $3 for entry and $2 for a camera, entry was $6.25 regardless of camera or not, talk about a price hike.
I suppose the Palace is one of those things you do in Phnom Penh, but you can't really see much and the entry fee in no way reflects what you do see. On the way back we stopped off at a Belgian chocolate shop for a rest and nibble. It was very nice. We also found a proper dim sum place on our way back and had a few things to eat (not a full meal) as the other Chinese place didn't suffice.
Friday 7th
We went to the Killing Fields of Choeng Ek and S-21 Tuol Sleng Prison today. We started at the killing fields, which are located 13km out of Phnom Penh. We considered renting a bike but the traffic within Phnom Penh is pretty bad, although not as many people as Saigon, there are many more cars. Although it worked out fine because we got a tuk tuk driver to take us to the killing fields and drop us at Tuol Sleng for $8 (he opened at $13).
If you know about this period in Cambodian history then you can skip this paragraph and the next. In 1975 a group called the Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot took over Cambodia. Soon after taking Phnom Penh from the Lon Nol regime they moved everyone out of the city. This was Year Zero, a fresh start for Pol Pot's utopia. Over the next three and a bit year's millions of Cambodians were used as slave labour on projects and rice fields. About two million people were either killed or starved to death during this period. The Vietnamese invaded Cambodia in 1979 and liberated it's people.
The irony is that the West (mainly the US) helped the Khmer Rouge take power and did nothing to help the people of Cambodia. In fact they condemned Vietnam for invading Cambodia. It must be said that Vietnam's main reason for invading was that the Khmer Rouge were causing problems on the border and the war hardened Vietnamese had had enough. Pol Pot was never brought to justice for his crimes, he died of old age in 1998. Many of his comrades have been charged, thirty year's too late though.
Tuol Sleng was a once a school before it became S-21. The killing field of Choeng Ek was the principal killing field for prisoners from S-21, there are many more like it all over the country. Over 20 000 people went through S-21 during it's operation, all but seven ended up in the killing field. When it was abandoned due to the coming Vietnamese forces, there were fourteen dead people and the aforementioned seven survivors left in Tuol Sleng. The Khmer Rouge, like the Nazi's were meticulous record keepers, every person that went through S-21 had their photo taken and a file kept on them. Some of the photos are displayed on giant boards at the prison now.
The killing field contains over 100 mass graves, although not all have been exhumed, the largest had over 300 bodies inside it. At the site is a memorial stupa, which contains the skulls of thousands of the people that died there. If you look carefully you can see how some of them died, be it a hole from a bullet or a 'cut' from a knife (well machete). In an effort to save bullets not all were shot. Many were killed with primitive instruments such as hoes, axe handles and even palm leaves (the sharp ones).
There were constant hassles in Phnom Penh, we were been asked if we wanted a tuk tuk or moto a hundred times a day, it became really annoying. The other thing bout Phnom Penh is the volume of cars and the fact that there is no on-street parking, rather they park on the FOOTpath, facing the shops of course. Phnom Penh is definitely not pedestrian friendly. Walks become so much longer because you're constantly side stepping cars, bikes and the wares of shops. It's actually easier to walk on the side of the road, albeit more dangerous.
We were told to be ready by 8:30am, we were eating our breakfast at the place next door to our hotel when the bus turned up at 8:15am to collect us, so we didn't get to finish our food. Worst of all i was having a soup so i couldn't take it with me and i hadn't had much as it was still hot. Waste of money that was.We left Sianoukville at 9:30am, eventhough we were on the bus waiting, there were people who came late and we had to pick up more people from another bus office.
We arrived four hours later in Phnom Penh to a horde of tuk tuk drivers wanting us business. We went to our hotel of choice (Spring Guesthouse), which the tuk tuk driver insisted was no good (opposite to Lonely Planet's view) and that we should go to his suggestion, love the feeling of proving them wrong, $9 a night, beautiful. The plan was to have yum cha for dinner, well at least some dumplings, as we had two Chinese restaurants close by, neither had any. We went to a Khmer restaurant instead.
Wednesday 5th
Kay was still wanting prawn dumplings, luckily Monivong Blvd. which leads to the central market had many Chinese restaurants, including one that sold dumplings.
We got to the market and had a look around, pretty much the same stuff you see everywhere, although there were a heap of watch stores in the centre and jewellery stores down another side. We had decided to get a watch since Kay's phone is our only source of the time and we have had it die on us previously. I'm not a watch person (although i might get one in Bangkok) so it was a watch for Kay. We looked at so many from the one store, after half an hour of deciding and bargaining we got a very nice '(and i mean very nice) 'Rado' watch for $20, down from $35.
I wasn't particularly after anything as i got what i immediately needed in Vietnam but i did finally find a belt that i wanted. After very hard bargaining, more so because i wasn't fussed if i got it or not, meaning i was a real hard arse, i got my 'Louis Vuitton' belt for $10, down from $25. They played the "i make no profit"card yet still gave it to me for that price as i walked away, fancy selling something for no profit.
Once again most of the day was consumed by shopping, i can't imagine what it's going to be like in Bangkok when we really plan to shop.
Thursday 6th
Today was dedicated to the Royal Palace and the Silver Pagoda (next door to one another). We didn't realise that the Palace had a siesta so we had to wait 45 minutes to get in, which wasn't too bad as it allowed us to rest after our long walk in the middle of the day heat. It was quite hot today, however when you found some shade, combined with a nice breeze, it was not too bad. The main thing when it comes to the heat in Cambodia is the sun, when you're directly in it, you really feel it.
There was a whole bunch of people waiting to get it, some women were rejected for being under-dressed (idiots), it's common knowledge that you (boys included) must cover the shoulders and knees (shorts ok, not short shorts) in Buddhist countries before entering a pagoda or respectful sight like a Palace. The guidebook which was printed in March '09 stated $3 for entry and $2 for a camera, entry was $6.25 regardless of camera or not, talk about a price hike.
I suppose the Palace is one of those things you do in Phnom Penh, but you can't really see much and the entry fee in no way reflects what you do see. On the way back we stopped off at a Belgian chocolate shop for a rest and nibble. It was very nice. We also found a proper dim sum place on our way back and had a few things to eat (not a full meal) as the other Chinese place didn't suffice.
Friday 7th
We went to the Killing Fields of Choeng Ek and S-21 Tuol Sleng Prison today. We started at the killing fields, which are located 13km out of Phnom Penh. We considered renting a bike but the traffic within Phnom Penh is pretty bad, although not as many people as Saigon, there are many more cars. Although it worked out fine because we got a tuk tuk driver to take us to the killing fields and drop us at Tuol Sleng for $8 (he opened at $13).
If you know about this period in Cambodian history then you can skip this paragraph and the next. In 1975 a group called the Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot took over Cambodia. Soon after taking Phnom Penh from the Lon Nol regime they moved everyone out of the city. This was Year Zero, a fresh start for Pol Pot's utopia. Over the next three and a bit year's millions of Cambodians were used as slave labour on projects and rice fields. About two million people were either killed or starved to death during this period. The Vietnamese invaded Cambodia in 1979 and liberated it's people.
The irony is that the West (mainly the US) helped the Khmer Rouge take power and did nothing to help the people of Cambodia. In fact they condemned Vietnam for invading Cambodia. It must be said that Vietnam's main reason for invading was that the Khmer Rouge were causing problems on the border and the war hardened Vietnamese had had enough. Pol Pot was never brought to justice for his crimes, he died of old age in 1998. Many of his comrades have been charged, thirty year's too late though.
Tuol Sleng was a once a school before it became S-21. The killing field of Choeng Ek was the principal killing field for prisoners from S-21, there are many more like it all over the country. Over 20 000 people went through S-21 during it's operation, all but seven ended up in the killing field. When it was abandoned due to the coming Vietnamese forces, there were fourteen dead people and the aforementioned seven survivors left in Tuol Sleng. The Khmer Rouge, like the Nazi's were meticulous record keepers, every person that went through S-21 had their photo taken and a file kept on them. Some of the photos are displayed on giant boards at the prison now.
The killing field contains over 100 mass graves, although not all have been exhumed, the largest had over 300 bodies inside it. At the site is a memorial stupa, which contains the skulls of thousands of the people that died there. If you look carefully you can see how some of them died, be it a hole from a bullet or a 'cut' from a knife (well machete). In an effort to save bullets not all were shot. Many were killed with primitive instruments such as hoes, axe handles and even palm leaves (the sharp ones).
There were constant hassles in Phnom Penh, we were been asked if we wanted a tuk tuk or moto a hundred times a day, it became really annoying. The other thing bout Phnom Penh is the volume of cars and the fact that there is no on-street parking, rather they park on the FOOTpath, facing the shops of course. Phnom Penh is definitely not pedestrian friendly. Walks become so much longer because you're constantly side stepping cars, bikes and the wares of shops. It's actually easier to walk on the side of the road, albeit more dangerous.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Sianoukville
Friday 31st
We thought we better book ahead since we had trouble in Kampot with finding accommodation and the fact that we would be getting in on NYE, we called about 20 places on the 29th and the only one that actually had a room was charging $40 and it was only a fan room. We took this as we had no other option.
We got into Sianoukville around 2pm, put our stuff in our rooms and immediately went out to look for our next hotel. Straight away we were hassled by tuk tuk drivers, one said that everyone was booked and that he could take us to the other side of town to a place that might not be full, oh yeah...for $5. No thanks. The entire beach area was covered in hotels so we figured we'd try there first. We asked at a few and they had rooms but wanted way too much, the third try had a room and we got it down to $20 (on arrival she gave us air con as well). So we booked there for the next three nights, so much for everything being full. I should note that they wanted $40 for NYE as well, so it would appear everyone hiked they're prices up. It was basically across the road which was very convenient.The area we stayed in was called Occhuteal Beach. The hotels were less than 100m away.
Before dinner we went to the mini mart where we got a bottle of vodka and coke for $7.50. The mart also had fireworks so i indulged myself. We had dinner at the place next door to our next hotel as well as NYE drinks. $2 buckets, $2 cocktails and $1 mixers. We went to the beach after dinner, it's not a very big beach in terms of depth, it is however 4km long. The sand was full of revellers letting off fireworks, although they all seemed to have the same shitty ones. We went back to the restaurant to sit and drink some more as they were cheaper than the beach side establishments. In hindsight this was not a god move, considering we had a bottle of vodka to drink.
Before heading to the beach i got some more fireworks. There was no countdown (even in Khmer) and no official fireworks. Since people were constantly letting them of it was hard to tell when new year's was without looking at the time. By 1:30am we weren't in the best of shape, Kay felt sick so we headed back, along the way i was talking shit to anyone who would listen, or not listen. Like clockwork after going inside our room, Kay was throwing up in the toilet and i followed in the sink. Overall a good night, bar that.
Saturday 1st
We had to get up to move hotels, which wasn't very pleasant to do. We went straight to bed, i wasn't feeling good and threw up again after midday. We didn't go out for lunch, i tend not to be hungry when hungover. We did a combination of sleeping and watching t.v all afternoon. Went out for dinner, did nothing more.
Sunday 2nd
We got up very late, went out for lunch and went along the beach. Surprisingly the beach was full of locals, not tourists. The street we were on was full of restaurants and at night they all had a bbq out the front. We went to a place that was full of people for dinner, it was pretty good as well.
Monday 3rd
We went to the same restaurant that we had dinner at for lunch. Today was the day that we would finally go to the beach!! The nicest beach (Otres Beach) was 7km away so we decided to go there instead of the packed Occhuteal or Serendipity beaches. We rented bicycles for the trip, the bikes were pretty crap, hard seats, bad brakes and both were to tall for Kay. Weird considering she's the same height as the average Cambodian girl.
The ride was fine (other than the seat) until we got to a dirt road, which is very hard on a non-mountain bike. We eventually got to Otres Beach, the water was crystal clear and the sand was an off-white colour. The water was very shallow, we had to go in so far just to get shoulder deep. It was the typical Cambodian day - 30+ degrees and the water was warm but very very nice. We spent a few hours here. Unfortunately, eventhough we charged Kay's camera the night before, the battery was dead so we could not take any photos.
We went to the beach for dinner, although they were doing the same things as everywhere else. It was annoying on the beach as we had beggers and people selling shit constantly asking us. Some kids actually took some bread of the guy on the table next to us.
Sianoukville was a place where we were meant to do things, particularly since we didn't do much in Kep and Kampot. We decided against renting a motorbike since the police like to 'fine' tourists, we saw many being pulled over. Prices for tours in Cambodia are so much more expensive than in Vietnam, just to go to Ream National Park was $22 and snorkeling trips were $15+. Nha Trang was better than Sianoukville, although Otres Beach was very very nice and the perfect place for a relaxing dip. I would say Sianoukville is worth visiting, we just didn't ultilise our time here effectively, although NYE was to blame.
Sianoukville was annoying in terms of touts. We were constantly bombarded with offers of moto and tuk-tuk rides. You couldn't walk out of your hotel without someone asking you.They don't seem to realise that if we want to go somewhere, we will ask. You shouldn't bother asking when you can see we've walked past five who asked us already. Even if we wanted to go on a tuk-tuk, they simply asked way to much for the distance and time of your trip.
We thought we better book ahead since we had trouble in Kampot with finding accommodation and the fact that we would be getting in on NYE, we called about 20 places on the 29th and the only one that actually had a room was charging $40 and it was only a fan room. We took this as we had no other option.
We got into Sianoukville around 2pm, put our stuff in our rooms and immediately went out to look for our next hotel. Straight away we were hassled by tuk tuk drivers, one said that everyone was booked and that he could take us to the other side of town to a place that might not be full, oh yeah...for $5. No thanks. The entire beach area was covered in hotels so we figured we'd try there first. We asked at a few and they had rooms but wanted way too much, the third try had a room and we got it down to $20 (on arrival she gave us air con as well). So we booked there for the next three nights, so much for everything being full. I should note that they wanted $40 for NYE as well, so it would appear everyone hiked they're prices up. It was basically across the road which was very convenient.The area we stayed in was called Occhuteal Beach. The hotels were less than 100m away.
Before dinner we went to the mini mart where we got a bottle of vodka and coke for $7.50. The mart also had fireworks so i indulged myself. We had dinner at the place next door to our next hotel as well as NYE drinks. $2 buckets, $2 cocktails and $1 mixers. We went to the beach after dinner, it's not a very big beach in terms of depth, it is however 4km long. The sand was full of revellers letting off fireworks, although they all seemed to have the same shitty ones. We went back to the restaurant to sit and drink some more as they were cheaper than the beach side establishments. In hindsight this was not a god move, considering we had a bottle of vodka to drink.
Before heading to the beach i got some more fireworks. There was no countdown (even in Khmer) and no official fireworks. Since people were constantly letting them of it was hard to tell when new year's was without looking at the time. By 1:30am we weren't in the best of shape, Kay felt sick so we headed back, along the way i was talking shit to anyone who would listen, or not listen. Like clockwork after going inside our room, Kay was throwing up in the toilet and i followed in the sink. Overall a good night, bar that.
Saturday 1st
We had to get up to move hotels, which wasn't very pleasant to do. We went straight to bed, i wasn't feeling good and threw up again after midday. We didn't go out for lunch, i tend not to be hungry when hungover. We did a combination of sleeping and watching t.v all afternoon. Went out for dinner, did nothing more.
Sunday 2nd
We got up very late, went out for lunch and went along the beach. Surprisingly the beach was full of locals, not tourists. The street we were on was full of restaurants and at night they all had a bbq out the front. We went to a place that was full of people for dinner, it was pretty good as well.
Monday 3rd
We went to the same restaurant that we had dinner at for lunch. Today was the day that we would finally go to the beach!! The nicest beach (Otres Beach) was 7km away so we decided to go there instead of the packed Occhuteal or Serendipity beaches. We rented bicycles for the trip, the bikes were pretty crap, hard seats, bad brakes and both were to tall for Kay. Weird considering she's the same height as the average Cambodian girl.
The ride was fine (other than the seat) until we got to a dirt road, which is very hard on a non-mountain bike. We eventually got to Otres Beach, the water was crystal clear and the sand was an off-white colour. The water was very shallow, we had to go in so far just to get shoulder deep. It was the typical Cambodian day - 30+ degrees and the water was warm but very very nice. We spent a few hours here. Unfortunately, eventhough we charged Kay's camera the night before, the battery was dead so we could not take any photos.
We went to the beach for dinner, although they were doing the same things as everywhere else. It was annoying on the beach as we had beggers and people selling shit constantly asking us. Some kids actually took some bread of the guy on the table next to us.
Sianoukville was a place where we were meant to do things, particularly since we didn't do much in Kep and Kampot. We decided against renting a motorbike since the police like to 'fine' tourists, we saw many being pulled over. Prices for tours in Cambodia are so much more expensive than in Vietnam, just to go to Ream National Park was $22 and snorkeling trips were $15+. Nha Trang was better than Sianoukville, although Otres Beach was very very nice and the perfect place for a relaxing dip. I would say Sianoukville is worth visiting, we just didn't ultilise our time here effectively, although NYE was to blame.
Sianoukville was annoying in terms of touts. We were constantly bombarded with offers of moto and tuk-tuk rides. You couldn't walk out of your hotel without someone asking you.They don't seem to realise that if we want to go somewhere, we will ask. You shouldn't bother asking when you can see we've walked past five who asked us already. Even if we wanted to go on a tuk-tuk, they simply asked way to much for the distance and time of your trip.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Kampot
Tuesday 28th
We were due to leave Kep for Kampot at 11:30am, we waited on the side of the road for two hours!!! And still no bus came, well not our bus. We went up to the hotel to enquire, he made some phone calls and refunded our money. Great. We got a tuk-tuk to the main part of town where a travel agent was, we booked another company and were off to Kampot finally at 2:30pm. The Kep tuk-tuk drivers were very greedy, wanting $2 to literally go 1km down the road and would not go below $1. Put it this way, it's $4 for a four hour bus ride. The wait was further compounded by the fact that neither of us had eaten anything all day.
We arrived in Kampot within an hour and went to The Magic Sponge for our first night as they only had one night available. We put our stuff in our room and went searching for our next hotel. Our street was full of them but the first four we went to were fully booked!!!! Luckily we found one which wasn't, same price as the Sponge so it was fine. The Sponge had a mini golf course so we played two games as Kay beat me the first time and i could not let that stand lol. I won the second game, with a much better score than her winning score. By this stage we discovered my arms and neck were sunburnt. This was considering we were in partial shade waiting for the bus. I didn't wear sunsceen as i thought i would just be on the bus and wouldn't be waiting too long.
We went for a walk along the riverside for dinner and ate there.
Wednesday 29th
Very lazy day, we got up, went to our new guesthouse and watched t.v. We then had lunch, went to a massage by the blind place and got shiatshu massages ($4/hr), which was painful in some parts of my back but i didn't wake up sore the next day so it was ultimately fine.
Eventhough we didn't do much the time seems to fly when you've got cable t.v with lots of things on, we particularly watch national geographic and discovery channel. The movie channels are constantly repeating the same movies.
Thursday 30th
Today we went for a big walk around town, we decided not to get a motorbike or bikes, which in hindsight was silly. The map we had and the few streets surrounding our street made the whole place seem quite small, but it wasn't.
The plan was to cross the river and go to the zoo, we crossed the river and when we saw the next major point of the railway was ages away we decided to turn back. On the way back we went through the market, which was quite crappy. It was very cramped, the roof was so low in some parts that i had to duck my head and...it smelt. By this time we had been out and about for hours so we headed back.
All in all Kampot isn't worth visiting unless like us, you have the time. The guide describes it as a place "you come and feel, not do", but we already did that in Kep. The other main attraction is the nearby Bokor Hill station, but that was $22 for a tour there, which is very pricey considering what it involves - not that much. It turned out to be a good decision because on our way to Sianoukville the travelers sitting behind us were talking about it and they weren't saying anything good at all.
We were due to leave Kep for Kampot at 11:30am, we waited on the side of the road for two hours!!! And still no bus came, well not our bus. We went up to the hotel to enquire, he made some phone calls and refunded our money. Great. We got a tuk-tuk to the main part of town where a travel agent was, we booked another company and were off to Kampot finally at 2:30pm. The Kep tuk-tuk drivers were very greedy, wanting $2 to literally go 1km down the road and would not go below $1. Put it this way, it's $4 for a four hour bus ride. The wait was further compounded by the fact that neither of us had eaten anything all day.
We arrived in Kampot within an hour and went to The Magic Sponge for our first night as they only had one night available. We put our stuff in our room and went searching for our next hotel. Our street was full of them but the first four we went to were fully booked!!!! Luckily we found one which wasn't, same price as the Sponge so it was fine. The Sponge had a mini golf course so we played two games as Kay beat me the first time and i could not let that stand lol. I won the second game, with a much better score than her winning score. By this stage we discovered my arms and neck were sunburnt. This was considering we were in partial shade waiting for the bus. I didn't wear sunsceen as i thought i would just be on the bus and wouldn't be waiting too long.
We went for a walk along the riverside for dinner and ate there.
Wednesday 29th
Very lazy day, we got up, went to our new guesthouse and watched t.v. We then had lunch, went to a massage by the blind place and got shiatshu massages ($4/hr), which was painful in some parts of my back but i didn't wake up sore the next day so it was ultimately fine.
Eventhough we didn't do much the time seems to fly when you've got cable t.v with lots of things on, we particularly watch national geographic and discovery channel. The movie channels are constantly repeating the same movies.
Thursday 30th
Today we went for a big walk around town, we decided not to get a motorbike or bikes, which in hindsight was silly. The map we had and the few streets surrounding our street made the whole place seem quite small, but it wasn't.
The plan was to cross the river and go to the zoo, we crossed the river and when we saw the next major point of the railway was ages away we decided to turn back. On the way back we went through the market, which was quite crappy. It was very cramped, the roof was so low in some parts that i had to duck my head and...it smelt. By this time we had been out and about for hours so we headed back.
All in all Kampot isn't worth visiting unless like us, you have the time. The guide describes it as a place "you come and feel, not do", but we already did that in Kep. The other main attraction is the nearby Bokor Hill station, but that was $22 for a tour there, which is very pricey considering what it involves - not that much. It turned out to be a good decision because on our way to Sianoukville the travelers sitting behind us were talking about it and they weren't saying anything good at all.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Kep
Saturday 25th
We left Phnom Penh at 9:30am for our 3 hour trip to Kep on Cambodia's South Coast, very close to the Vietnam border. Cambodia's roads have one of the worst reputations in South East Asia but it wasn't too bad on the way to Kep. I would say it was better than Vietnam simply because there wasn't so many people on the road and so many villages/towns along the way. The bus was 50/50 Cambodians and foreigners, with several locals getting off at stops along the way.
We got off in the centre of town and got a tuk-tuk to take us to our hotel of choice - it was only available for tonight, booked out thereafter. So we went to a some places up the road. One was the same situation, another was absolutely terrible (fit for a dog) and others too pricy. We decided to check out the place that our driver recommended, we tend not to listen to them because they get commissions to do so. It was suitable, only $10 with a fan but no hot water and no tv. Alot of places didn't have it so we had to settle.
Small town, buddhist country = nothing for Christmas.
Sunday 26th
Had a very lazy day today. Went for a walk for lunch and did alot of reading, which was good because i haven't done any and now i've got right into it - The Silmarillion (again, very difficult and confusing book the first time). We had dinner at the crab market restaurants again at sunset, took some great photos. The water looked like liquid silver (think Stargate portal/event horizon). We had Kampot pepper crab, fried squid and grilled fish. The other thing about Kep is that you can see the stars so clearly at night.
Monday 27th
Hired a bike today and went all around Kep.We went down to the market, which was so small, not worth it at all. We went to a Wat up in the mountains, it was very hard going up steep dirt roads on a 110cc bike with Kay and I on board, i had to go into first at one stage.
We then went to a small village off the main road where i helped a man get the rice out of the rice plant, ten locals came to watch (and laugh). Next stop on the other side of Kep was a Cham village. The Cham are a minority in Cambodia, you can tell because they're Muslims. Saw a far few (of the women) around Kep.
We left Phnom Penh at 9:30am for our 3 hour trip to Kep on Cambodia's South Coast, very close to the Vietnam border. Cambodia's roads have one of the worst reputations in South East Asia but it wasn't too bad on the way to Kep. I would say it was better than Vietnam simply because there wasn't so many people on the road and so many villages/towns along the way. The bus was 50/50 Cambodians and foreigners, with several locals getting off at stops along the way.
We got off in the centre of town and got a tuk-tuk to take us to our hotel of choice - it was only available for tonight, booked out thereafter. So we went to a some places up the road. One was the same situation, another was absolutely terrible (fit for a dog) and others too pricy. We decided to check out the place that our driver recommended, we tend not to listen to them because they get commissions to do so. It was suitable, only $10 with a fan but no hot water and no tv. Alot of places didn't have it so we had to settle.
Small town, buddhist country = nothing for Christmas.
Sunday 26th
Had a very lazy day today. Went for a walk for lunch and did alot of reading, which was good because i haven't done any and now i've got right into it - The Silmarillion (again, very difficult and confusing book the first time). We had dinner at the crab market restaurants again at sunset, took some great photos. The water looked like liquid silver (think Stargate portal/event horizon). We had Kampot pepper crab, fried squid and grilled fish. The other thing about Kep is that you can see the stars so clearly at night.
Monday 27th
Hired a bike today and went all around Kep.We went down to the market, which was so small, not worth it at all. We went to a Wat up in the mountains, it was very hard going up steep dirt roads on a 110cc bike with Kay and I on board, i had to go into first at one stage.
We then went to a small village off the main road where i helped a man get the rice out of the rice plant, ten locals came to watch (and laugh). Next stop on the other side of Kep was a Cham village. The Cham are a minority in Cambodia, you can tell because they're Muslims. Saw a far few (of the women) around Kep.
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)
Sunday 19th
We were on the bus at 7:45am to leave for Saigon but we didn't leave til 8:15am for some reason, if we knew this, we would've had breakfast. About an hour from Dalat I realised that i didn't have my passport, Kay didn't have hers or mine either...the Dalat hotel forgot to give them to us and it didn't cross our minds. Not good. We had their card so we rang and they would send it to Saigon to arrive tomorrow.
The ride wasn't too bad but it was quite long considering the distance we needed to travel, particularly as we got close to Saigon where the traffic was very heavy and slow. We arrived around 3pm, went to our hotel of choice and relaxed. We went out for dinner in the area, hit up by several people asking if i wanted (low voice) "marijuana" and plenty of sunglasses and book salespersons.
Monday 20th
We slept in and headed to Ben Thanh market to have lunch and shop. There were many street style stores within the market. The one we ate at tried to rip us off, our meals were 35 000VND each and we had a drink each plus Kay had some Durian. They wanted 210 000VND, how is it that two drinks and some fruit could cost 140 000VND? We debated this and they gave us a better price, although i still feel we were ripped off. We informed some German girls who sat down as we were leaving about the rout.
We spent 2.5 hours shopping! I got some shirts, hunted for a gucci bag but the belts were two short, Kay got sunglasses, make up and some bangles. There was alot more touting from the shopkeepers than in previous markets, some were very forceful. One lady actually grabbed my forearm with some force trying to get me in. Once again the t-shirt person tried to rip me off. First offer was 950 000VND, i stayed firm on 300 000VND and we finished on 310 000VND. They always try to tell you how it's better quality and all that bullshit.
On the way back we went round the travel agencies to get quotes for Mekong and Cu Chi tours plus our ticket to Cambodia. We got our Mekong tour for $7, Cu Chi for $4 and our ticket to Phnom Penh for $10. We also got a $2 discount overall. We wanted to go straight to Vietnam's lowest border crossing since we wanted to start off on Cambodia's southern coast but we had to go to Phnom Penh first and connect from there. We could've done what we wanted but it would mean a combination of local transport on both sides of the border and would certainly cost more than $10 each.
Tuesday 21st
We went to the Mekong Delta today, left early in the morning, almost missed our bus due to bit of a stuff up but the agency. It felt like we never left Saigon because they was continual shops and houses on the road all the way to the Delta.
Once we arrived we got on a boat and headed to Tortoise Island where we had lunch. Lunch was fairly poor. The set lunch was fried pork with rice, funny considering there was a group of 10 Malaysian Muslims within our group. 14 people ended up not getting pork and had to settle for good 'ol tofu, unless you wanted to buy something else of course. Kay doesn't like pork so we had a beef dish to share.
From there we got back on the water and went to a place that made coconut lollies, which were pretty nice. We also had coconut whiskey and lemon honey tea (really nice). They had a python which people were allowed to have on there shoulders (15kgs) . It was an interesting experience since it wrapped itself around 80% of my neck and was either looking at me or trying to, not a nice feeling. It was incredible to feel the snake's muscles move.
We got onto smaller boats this time and got to our bus. The day went so fast, it would seem that half the time was actually travelling to and from the Delta. No wonder they offer two and three day trips. I think it was better the last time i did it.
Wednesday 22nd
Today we went to the Cu Chi tunnels which were used by the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War. Another long journey considering it wasn't too far away. On the we way we stopped at a factory where disabled people made handicrafts, a good cause yes, but $20 for a wooden card holder? I can bet that the workers don't get even half of that.
For some reason our group of 20 became 40 as we merged with another group. It was our tour guide who was 'guiding' everyone. This was absolutely terrible. Imagine trying to listen to someone with an accent and see what he is pointing out when you are surrounded by 40 odd people. By the time you could have a look and/or a picture he would be onto the next item.
I was expecting not to go into the tunnels because i was just small enough when i was 15 let alone now. However since then the first tunnel had been widened and made higher. It was still had for me, at some points my shoulders were wall to wall. It was very hot and yucky inside, quite tiring aswell.
Surprisingly when we got to the gun range i was the only person who wanted to shoot. It was $13 for 10 bullets on the AK-47. I did 6 shots on semi-automatic trying to hit the target then the last 4 on automatic. I remember the gun being alot stronger last time. Kay couldn't handle the gun fire at the range, it's loud but bearable.
We were there two hours and we were already returning to Saigon. We decided to go to the War Remnants museum on the way back since it was offered to us. It was now 3pm and we had not eaten since breakfast, we found a place called Latino bar and restaurant, it sold no Latin/Spanish food at all. By the time we ate, we didn't have time to go to the palace as it closed at 4pm, we would do that tomorrow. We went straight to the War Museum, which worked out fine as we were there til it almost closed at 5pm.
It had been done up since i was last there, it actually had a proper building and you could call it a proper museum, another notable absence was the still born babies that were preserved in jars, although there were pictures of them. The museum contained old weapons, artillery, tanks, planes and many photos of the War. A must see in Saigon.
Thursday 23rd
Slept in til 10am today, had lunch (left hotel at 12) and headed for the palace. We arrived after 1pm, which was when it reopened after the Vietnamese siesta from 11:30am-1pm. The clouds looked stormy but it was still very hot. The Reunification Palace as it is called now was the old South Vietnamese Presidential Palace pre-1975. We explored all the levels, it wasn't much to be honest. Alot of rooms for hosting people etc. When we were in the lower ground floor we heard rain, so we headed into a video room about the Vietnam War. We spent around 25 minutes watching and headed out. It had stopped raining thank god (alot of walking still to come).
We headed to the near by Notre Dame Cathedral, wanted to see the People's Committee Building but we got lost. This part of town is very fancy with Louis Vuitton and Rolex shops (real ones), as well as top 5 star hotels. We walked way too far and ended up at the Saigon River. So we double backed a bit and finally got to the market where we knew our way back.
I spoke to Steven Vo from school, who is back living in Vietnam now about meeting up. We had dinner with him and his girlfriend (yum cha) and went to a coffee shop where they were having a fashion show at the time. We didn't have long together because the traffic was hell (Steven has a car) and we had to be back before 12 midnight as we were to get up at 6am to get ready to go to Cambodia. Good to see him nonetheless.
It was very hot in Saigon the whole time. Would've been above 30 degrees without a doubt combined with humidity.
Friday 24th
Another early start for our journey to Phnom Penh. The bus was absolutely pumping the air con, everyone had shoved something in there air vents to stop it. Getting through the border was a breeze, they had x-rays and the sort but didn't use them at all.
We arrived in Phnom Penh around 2:30pm, got a tuk tuk to our hotel of choice and went straight to bed. Woke up before 6pm and headed out for dinner. The dinner was at a place full of Cambodians and a few tourists. The meals were huge and the Angkor beer very nice.
We leave for Kep tomorrow morning.
p.s already Kay has been mistaken for a Khmer three times!
We were on the bus at 7:45am to leave for Saigon but we didn't leave til 8:15am for some reason, if we knew this, we would've had breakfast. About an hour from Dalat I realised that i didn't have my passport, Kay didn't have hers or mine either...the Dalat hotel forgot to give them to us and it didn't cross our minds. Not good. We had their card so we rang and they would send it to Saigon to arrive tomorrow.
The ride wasn't too bad but it was quite long considering the distance we needed to travel, particularly as we got close to Saigon where the traffic was very heavy and slow. We arrived around 3pm, went to our hotel of choice and relaxed. We went out for dinner in the area, hit up by several people asking if i wanted (low voice) "marijuana" and plenty of sunglasses and book salespersons.
Monday 20th
We slept in and headed to Ben Thanh market to have lunch and shop. There were many street style stores within the market. The one we ate at tried to rip us off, our meals were 35 000VND each and we had a drink each plus Kay had some Durian. They wanted 210 000VND, how is it that two drinks and some fruit could cost 140 000VND? We debated this and they gave us a better price, although i still feel we were ripped off. We informed some German girls who sat down as we were leaving about the rout.
We spent 2.5 hours shopping! I got some shirts, hunted for a gucci bag but the belts were two short, Kay got sunglasses, make up and some bangles. There was alot more touting from the shopkeepers than in previous markets, some were very forceful. One lady actually grabbed my forearm with some force trying to get me in. Once again the t-shirt person tried to rip me off. First offer was 950 000VND, i stayed firm on 300 000VND and we finished on 310 000VND. They always try to tell you how it's better quality and all that bullshit.
On the way back we went round the travel agencies to get quotes for Mekong and Cu Chi tours plus our ticket to Cambodia. We got our Mekong tour for $7, Cu Chi for $4 and our ticket to Phnom Penh for $10. We also got a $2 discount overall. We wanted to go straight to Vietnam's lowest border crossing since we wanted to start off on Cambodia's southern coast but we had to go to Phnom Penh first and connect from there. We could've done what we wanted but it would mean a combination of local transport on both sides of the border and would certainly cost more than $10 each.
Tuesday 21st
We went to the Mekong Delta today, left early in the morning, almost missed our bus due to bit of a stuff up but the agency. It felt like we never left Saigon because they was continual shops and houses on the road all the way to the Delta.
Once we arrived we got on a boat and headed to Tortoise Island where we had lunch. Lunch was fairly poor. The set lunch was fried pork with rice, funny considering there was a group of 10 Malaysian Muslims within our group. 14 people ended up not getting pork and had to settle for good 'ol tofu, unless you wanted to buy something else of course. Kay doesn't like pork so we had a beef dish to share.
From there we got back on the water and went to a place that made coconut lollies, which were pretty nice. We also had coconut whiskey and lemon honey tea (really nice). They had a python which people were allowed to have on there shoulders (15kgs) . It was an interesting experience since it wrapped itself around 80% of my neck and was either looking at me or trying to, not a nice feeling. It was incredible to feel the snake's muscles move.
We got onto smaller boats this time and got to our bus. The day went so fast, it would seem that half the time was actually travelling to and from the Delta. No wonder they offer two and three day trips. I think it was better the last time i did it.
Wednesday 22nd
Today we went to the Cu Chi tunnels which were used by the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War. Another long journey considering it wasn't too far away. On the we way we stopped at a factory where disabled people made handicrafts, a good cause yes, but $20 for a wooden card holder? I can bet that the workers don't get even half of that.
For some reason our group of 20 became 40 as we merged with another group. It was our tour guide who was 'guiding' everyone. This was absolutely terrible. Imagine trying to listen to someone with an accent and see what he is pointing out when you are surrounded by 40 odd people. By the time you could have a look and/or a picture he would be onto the next item.
I was expecting not to go into the tunnels because i was just small enough when i was 15 let alone now. However since then the first tunnel had been widened and made higher. It was still had for me, at some points my shoulders were wall to wall. It was very hot and yucky inside, quite tiring aswell.
Surprisingly when we got to the gun range i was the only person who wanted to shoot. It was $13 for 10 bullets on the AK-47. I did 6 shots on semi-automatic trying to hit the target then the last 4 on automatic. I remember the gun being alot stronger last time. Kay couldn't handle the gun fire at the range, it's loud but bearable.
We were there two hours and we were already returning to Saigon. We decided to go to the War Remnants museum on the way back since it was offered to us. It was now 3pm and we had not eaten since breakfast, we found a place called Latino bar and restaurant, it sold no Latin/Spanish food at all. By the time we ate, we didn't have time to go to the palace as it closed at 4pm, we would do that tomorrow. We went straight to the War Museum, which worked out fine as we were there til it almost closed at 5pm.
It had been done up since i was last there, it actually had a proper building and you could call it a proper museum, another notable absence was the still born babies that were preserved in jars, although there were pictures of them. The museum contained old weapons, artillery, tanks, planes and many photos of the War. A must see in Saigon.
Thursday 23rd
Slept in til 10am today, had lunch (left hotel at 12) and headed for the palace. We arrived after 1pm, which was when it reopened after the Vietnamese siesta from 11:30am-1pm. The clouds looked stormy but it was still very hot. The Reunification Palace as it is called now was the old South Vietnamese Presidential Palace pre-1975. We explored all the levels, it wasn't much to be honest. Alot of rooms for hosting people etc. When we were in the lower ground floor we heard rain, so we headed into a video room about the Vietnam War. We spent around 25 minutes watching and headed out. It had stopped raining thank god (alot of walking still to come).
We headed to the near by Notre Dame Cathedral, wanted to see the People's Committee Building but we got lost. This part of town is very fancy with Louis Vuitton and Rolex shops (real ones), as well as top 5 star hotels. We walked way too far and ended up at the Saigon River. So we double backed a bit and finally got to the market where we knew our way back.
I spoke to Steven Vo from school, who is back living in Vietnam now about meeting up. We had dinner with him and his girlfriend (yum cha) and went to a coffee shop where they were having a fashion show at the time. We didn't have long together because the traffic was hell (Steven has a car) and we had to be back before 12 midnight as we were to get up at 6am to get ready to go to Cambodia. Good to see him nonetheless.
It was very hot in Saigon the whole time. Would've been above 30 degrees without a doubt combined with humidity.
Friday 24th
Another early start for our journey to Phnom Penh. The bus was absolutely pumping the air con, everyone had shoved something in there air vents to stop it. Getting through the border was a breeze, they had x-rays and the sort but didn't use them at all.
We arrived in Phnom Penh around 2:30pm, got a tuk tuk to our hotel of choice and went straight to bed. Woke up before 6pm and headed out for dinner. The dinner was at a place full of Cambodians and a few tourists. The meals were huge and the Angkor beer very nice.
We leave for Kep tomorrow morning.
p.s already Kay has been mistaken for a Khmer three times!
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Dalat
I forgot to mention in my last entry that i got sunburnt on the top and bottom of my back (the middle was fine) whilst snorkeling in Nha Trang, the top wasn't too bad, the bottom was quite red.
Thursday 16th
Left Nha Trang at 7:45am for our journey into the Central Highlands. It was a slow trip and we were winding up and down mountains and had to deal with dirt, pot-holed roads along the way. We arrived in Dalat around 12:30pm at a hotel/Sinh Cafe travel agency office. We went across the road and decided to stay at the Hang Nga Guesthouse, pretty big room, bathroom a little shabby and only $7 a night!.
We went to the market to have a look and have lunch as they had a proper food section upstairs. We were approached by many vendors wanting us to eat with them but all spoke little English and the signs/menus were in Vietnamese. Sure i could make out the key words of the meat but we had no idea what else it entailed, we could've chosen cow's heart soup. We found a place with a full English menu, but it was still a quasi-street stall. We ended up having all lunch here three times. For both of us having food and drink it was only 90 000VND ($4.50). It was good, didn't make us sick, cheap and had variety, so why not? :)
We went down to the lake, which was empty, so much for going on a paddle boat. They seemed to be building a bridge across it which required it to be dammed. It got chilly at night but nothing like Sapa. The locals all have coats and jackets on but i was out in shorts and a t-shirt. We went to V Cafe (two doors down) for dinner. Full of Westerners, over-priced but not too bad. The mashed potato was great.
Friday 17th
Just had a lazy day today. Went through the market for a better look, got some cashews and lollies. The lolly shops mostly sold dried fruits as opposed to the lollies we think off, although it was gummys that we bought. We tried some dried/sweet flower petals/buds, it was alright but i wouldn't buy it. We booked our ticket to leave for Saigon on Sunday and enquired about tours around Dalat. I would've preferred not to do a tour but Dalat's sights are not within walking distance and the streets are all over the place, not a grid like Nha Trang, so renting a motorbike was out of the question.
A tour would be $12 each and included alot of crap we didn't want to do. Whilst looking for more agencies we were approached by a local motorbike guide belonging to the 'Easy Rider' group, who have a good reputation. We negotiated with him to do what we wanted, it would cost $7.50 each and would take three hours. So we booked for tomorrow morning.
We went to a Korean place for dinner (first we've seen), they didn't have much on the menu and it was quite pricy for some of the meals. We both ordered Bulgogyi but both ended up with some soup, which luckily was pretty good. The lady's here had no English at all. I wanted to try Soju (Korean rice wine) since it was only $5 for a bottle (it's about $15 in Sydney). Wasn't that nice, luckily Kay helped to drink it, otherwise i would've been drunk. It was 19.5% and 365ml. Basically equivilant to eight shots of hard 40% liquor. Would not do it again unless it was shared among four people.
Saturday 18th
We meet our guides at 9am, grabbed some banh mi ga (Chicken rolls) for breakfast and were on our way to the 'Crazy House'. The whole house looks kind of like a tree, it's likened to Alice in Wonderland. There was giant spiderwebs, fake tigers and eagles in the bedrooms too. Weird but not worth seeing to be honest.
Second stop was Bao Dai's summer palace. Bao Dai was the last emperor of Vietnam. By palace standards it wasn't that big or grand at all. It looked more like a Government building inside and out. Another place that wasn't really worth seeing. There were alot of Vietnamese here so it holds some significance for them it would seem.
The third place we went to was Truc Lam (Bamboo Forest) monastry which was situated next to a huge lake. It was the best monastry/pagoda by far that we have seen. Lots of flowers and a beautiful garden. Some hedges were even shaped into dragons. We both makes wishes and leaft incense at the Buddha. It was very busy here, our guides said that it is popular with Saigonese during the dry season on weekends.
Our final destination was Datania falls. We got the tabogen down to the falls. It was not a good experience. The idiots behind us were so stupid that they didn't look at ahead to see that the ride was over and crashed into us at full speed whilst we were stationary. My hat flew off and fell down into the bush. Both Kay and I had whiplash in our necks, it was not a nice feeling. I was in complete shock. The guy went and got my hat for me, although a punch to the back of his and his mate's necks would've sufficed. It ruined the whole experience for us. The falls were nice but not big by waterfall standards. We left and were dropped off at the market where we had lunch.
Overall Dalat doesn't really have that much to offer, it is different from other places in Vietnam. I would say it is worth visiting but only once.
Thursday 16th
Left Nha Trang at 7:45am for our journey into the Central Highlands. It was a slow trip and we were winding up and down mountains and had to deal with dirt, pot-holed roads along the way. We arrived in Dalat around 12:30pm at a hotel/Sinh Cafe travel agency office. We went across the road and decided to stay at the Hang Nga Guesthouse, pretty big room, bathroom a little shabby and only $7 a night!.
We went to the market to have a look and have lunch as they had a proper food section upstairs. We were approached by many vendors wanting us to eat with them but all spoke little English and the signs/menus were in Vietnamese. Sure i could make out the key words of the meat but we had no idea what else it entailed, we could've chosen cow's heart soup. We found a place with a full English menu, but it was still a quasi-street stall. We ended up having all lunch here three times. For both of us having food and drink it was only 90 000VND ($4.50). It was good, didn't make us sick, cheap and had variety, so why not? :)
We went down to the lake, which was empty, so much for going on a paddle boat. They seemed to be building a bridge across it which required it to be dammed. It got chilly at night but nothing like Sapa. The locals all have coats and jackets on but i was out in shorts and a t-shirt. We went to V Cafe (two doors down) for dinner. Full of Westerners, over-priced but not too bad. The mashed potato was great.
Friday 17th
Just had a lazy day today. Went through the market for a better look, got some cashews and lollies. The lolly shops mostly sold dried fruits as opposed to the lollies we think off, although it was gummys that we bought. We tried some dried/sweet flower petals/buds, it was alright but i wouldn't buy it. We booked our ticket to leave for Saigon on Sunday and enquired about tours around Dalat. I would've preferred not to do a tour but Dalat's sights are not within walking distance and the streets are all over the place, not a grid like Nha Trang, so renting a motorbike was out of the question.
A tour would be $12 each and included alot of crap we didn't want to do. Whilst looking for more agencies we were approached by a local motorbike guide belonging to the 'Easy Rider' group, who have a good reputation. We negotiated with him to do what we wanted, it would cost $7.50 each and would take three hours. So we booked for tomorrow morning.
We went to a Korean place for dinner (first we've seen), they didn't have much on the menu and it was quite pricy for some of the meals. We both ordered Bulgogyi but both ended up with some soup, which luckily was pretty good. The lady's here had no English at all. I wanted to try Soju (Korean rice wine) since it was only $5 for a bottle (it's about $15 in Sydney). Wasn't that nice, luckily Kay helped to drink it, otherwise i would've been drunk. It was 19.5% and 365ml. Basically equivilant to eight shots of hard 40% liquor. Would not do it again unless it was shared among four people.
Saturday 18th
We meet our guides at 9am, grabbed some banh mi ga (Chicken rolls) for breakfast and were on our way to the 'Crazy House'. The whole house looks kind of like a tree, it's likened to Alice in Wonderland. There was giant spiderwebs, fake tigers and eagles in the bedrooms too. Weird but not worth seeing to be honest.
Second stop was Bao Dai's summer palace. Bao Dai was the last emperor of Vietnam. By palace standards it wasn't that big or grand at all. It looked more like a Government building inside and out. Another place that wasn't really worth seeing. There were alot of Vietnamese here so it holds some significance for them it would seem.
The third place we went to was Truc Lam (Bamboo Forest) monastry which was situated next to a huge lake. It was the best monastry/pagoda by far that we have seen. Lots of flowers and a beautiful garden. Some hedges were even shaped into dragons. We both makes wishes and leaft incense at the Buddha. It was very busy here, our guides said that it is popular with Saigonese during the dry season on weekends.
Our final destination was Datania falls. We got the tabogen down to the falls. It was not a good experience. The idiots behind us were so stupid that they didn't look at ahead to see that the ride was over and crashed into us at full speed whilst we were stationary. My hat flew off and fell down into the bush. Both Kay and I had whiplash in our necks, it was not a nice feeling. I was in complete shock. The guy went and got my hat for me, although a punch to the back of his and his mate's necks would've sufficed. It ruined the whole experience for us. The falls were nice but not big by waterfall standards. We left and were dropped off at the market where we had lunch.
Overall Dalat doesn't really have that much to offer, it is different from other places in Vietnam. I would say it is worth visiting but only once.
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