Monday, 28 September 2009
Our time spent in 'Nam
I'm writing this blog from my tiny apartment in Hong Kong and I'm reminiscing about what it was like back in 'Nam - you weren't there, man! So I'll have to tell you all about it.
After deciding I didn't like the place, I had an early night and woke up on a mission to make it through a day without complaining. I lasted until about 2 O'clock, but I hasten to add that these were mere comments rather than complaints: 'there are just too many motorbikes here', 'it's too noisy here', 'it's too hot here' - all statements of fact rather than derogatory whinges!
Anyway, we spent to day wandering around and I realised that we were actually staying on the busiest road in the whole of Hanoi - perhaps not strictly a statement of fact here, but something very close to the truth! The rest of Hanoi didn't seem too bad once we wandered away from our hostel (which I have to admit, despite hating it the moment we arrived, I did grow to like, the staff were so lovely that they made the mouldy walls seems like nothing to worry about). We walked to the lake which was absolutely beautiful and the cooling breeze coming off the water made me happy.
I think every single person we've spoken to on this trip that had already been to Hanoi had a story to tell about having their bag or their camera or their money, or something, stolen while they were wandering around. There are pick pockets and thieves everywhere in Hanoi it seems and apparently it's the worst place for getting scammed. It was good that we were aware of that and it made us extra cautious and we are lucky to say that we made it though 'Nam without getting anything stolen. However, they are so clever with their scams! This woman carrying one of those traditional baskets (you know the two baskets on either end of a stick which they lug around town on their shoulder). She literally put the basket on my shoulder, chucked a hat on my head and shouted 'photo, photo'. I knew we were about to get ripped off, but i did actually really want that photo!! So Kev reluctantly snapped away with the camera and I gave the woman her very heavy basket of fruit back. Then she insisted that as she had been so awfully kind to let me take a touristy photo with her basket, that I HAD to buy some fruit from her. I agreed to buy one banana, but she gave me three and charged me 60,000 dong (before you worry, it's not that bad, it's only £2!). I exclaimed, 'how much? 60,000?!' to which the sneaky little con artist replied with a sad facial expression 'ah, basket so heavy!' I handed over the cash and walked off. Later than evening she approached me again and tried to slip that basket on my shoulder - I was having none of it this time and snapped at her that I'd already been ripped off by her. She looked at my face, smiled a mocking smile and walked away!
We stopped off for a drink in a very western pub called 'Le Pub' and then headed to 'Peperoni's' Restaurant for a genuine slice of Vietnamese food - NOT! We had another burger and chips I'm ashamed to say. It was necessary, I don't think our stomachs could handle any more rich Vietnamese food - as nice as it is, we're just to used to the bland old blighty grub!
After a very satisfying lunch we headed back to the hostel. The mid day heat was setting in (and we all know how I feel about mid day heat!) and we were getting tired so we wanted an afternoon nap. That evening we headed out and randomly bumped into one of the guys off out Halong Bay cruise who was also heading to Hong Kong the following day. We had a couple of drinks and walked by the famous night market - which was so unbelievably busy! We sat at a roof top beer garden and watched the chaos below and we established that when Kev is happy seeing things (like the busy streets and the crowds) I'm not happy, when I'm doing the things I like, practising fishing, swimming or generally being active as opposed to walking around crowded streets looking at buildings, Kev is not enjoying himself. I think we're perhaps as opposite as we could be, you'd think that doesn't bode well for us, but somehow it seems to work and we're still getting on great (I think Kev has the patience of a saint).
We wandered back to our hotel and with just 60,000 dong (£2) left in our pockets, we popped into a cheap restaurant for dinner. In there were two little kids who thought it hysterical to run up to us and shout 'how are you?', then they'd run away giggling and then run back to say 'What's your name?' These kids, unlike last night's restaurant brats, were very cute and their English was amazing.
And that was pretty much the end of our time in 'Nam. We have loved it but we're both really ready to move on from South East Asia. It's been hard work and we've packed a lot into a short space of time so we were looking forward to moving on to Hong Kong and Japan.
The following morning we got up early and got on the plane to Hong Kong. I began sneezing and were became very concerned that of all the places to sneeze- the airport at Hong Kong was not the place to do it! But we made it through the heat detectors and out the other side. I did feel a bit coldy but I think perhaps it was nerves or something as I seem to be OK this morning.
We found our bus easily and I was pleased to discover that the journey barely went underground at all (people had warned me that I was going to struggle not going underground in Hong Kong, which hadn't pleased me at all). We found out hostel reception and observed the Tropical Cyclone Weather Warning Level 1 notice on the wall. The hostel lady proudly boasted that the cyclone that had just killed over 100 people in the Philippines might be coming here, to which my face dropped and I glared at Kev as if to say, we're turning back right this minute and getting the hell out of here! (That weather warning will probably explain why our Hong Kong flight was possibly the most turbulent one so far, Kev didn't enjoy it at all and neither did my hand which was being gripped so tightly that the circulation nearly cut out!!) The hostel lady then informed us that if it gets to Level 8 warning, the whole place goes into shut down and the transport stops - 'no-one's getting in or out of here' she remarked! Kev reassured me that we were only on level 1 and level 8 was a long way off so we checked in and were shown to out apartment (which is actually a box about the size of our bathroom at home, with a glass wall separating out bed from the toilet - but we're getting used to that kind of thing!).
Once we were settled in our room I went on the internet to look into this cyclone stuff and found out that the warning system goes from 1 to 3 to 8. Now level 8 and total lock down was not looking so far away!! But I'm tracking that bad boy and it's currently heading for central Vietnam, so fingers crossed. While I was worrying my little head about that, so my friend John back home text me to say, rather worryingly, 'send me a text to let me know you guys are OK, I saw something on the news and although I'm being stupid just let me know you're OK'. Suddenly I had visions of cyclone warnings in Hong Kong being all over the news back home and that perhaps things were more serious here than everyone was making out!! I text back and said we were fine and asked whether he had seen about cyclones on the news. To this he replied, no, he had seen that 2 British tourists had died on a boat accident in Vietnam and he was glad it wasn't us. I was glad too and I went on the BBC news website to check it out. We discovered that the night before we did out cruise in Halong Bay (back when we were in 'Nam), a boat had overturned and 5 people had drowned - NO ONE TOLD US THAT WHEN WE WERE GETTING ON BOARD THAT BOAT IN HE POURING RAIN!! I remember that on the cruise they had told us that usually we would be docking somewhere else for the night but because there was a storm we weren't allowed. Now I realise why!! It's crazy how none of us had a clue that that had happened just the night before! As Kev keeps joking, treacherous is the word of choice for me when describing this trip, but it really is!! South East Asia's health and safety is very different to back home!!
Anyway, back to Hong Kong. So we ventured out to find some food and I was really surprised at how little English there is here. I know that's going to sound like a really blonde thing to say, but I expected there to be loads of English on restaurant menus and signs and stuff, what with there being a lot of tourists here, but there doesn't seem to be a lot in English, at least not round by where we're staying (which I'm told isn't where most tourists stay, so maybe that's why). We were just about to give in and go to MacDonalds when we saw a restaurant with English on the menu. We went in there but the food was horrible - try eating duck on the bone with chop sticks - not easy.
We went back to our little, bright green cell of a room on the 16th floor (Kev took the stairs because my claustrophobia has obviously worn off on him and he didn't want to get in the tiny lift!). We watched a film and fell asleep ready for a new day today. So we're heading out now to explore Hong Kong properly. The rain seems to have died down for the meantime so fingers crossed we'll not get too wet today but I won't hold my breath on that. I don't mind anyway, it's actually cold in some places here and I rejoice at that feeling (I put a jumper on yesterday and it felt so good against my skin!! I'm longing for the day I get to put on some woolly tights, but I think I might be a couple of months away from that yet so for now that remains a distant dream!).
Will try and update the blog on Hong Kong tonight, but for now I will pass you over to Kev for some photos. xxx
After deciding I didn't like the place, I had an early night and woke up on a mission to make it through a day without complaining. I lasted until about 2 O'clock, but I hasten to add that these were mere comments rather than complaints: 'there are just too many motorbikes here', 'it's too noisy here', 'it's too hot here' - all statements of fact rather than derogatory whinges!
Anyway, we spent to day wandering around and I realised that we were actually staying on the busiest road in the whole of Hanoi - perhaps not strictly a statement of fact here, but something very close to the truth! The rest of Hanoi didn't seem too bad once we wandered away from our hostel (which I have to admit, despite hating it the moment we arrived, I did grow to like, the staff were so lovely that they made the mouldy walls seems like nothing to worry about). We walked to the lake which was absolutely beautiful and the cooling breeze coming off the water made me happy.
I think every single person we've spoken to on this trip that had already been to Hanoi had a story to tell about having their bag or their camera or their money, or something, stolen while they were wandering around. There are pick pockets and thieves everywhere in Hanoi it seems and apparently it's the worst place for getting scammed. It was good that we were aware of that and it made us extra cautious and we are lucky to say that we made it though 'Nam without getting anything stolen. However, they are so clever with their scams! This woman carrying one of those traditional baskets (you know the two baskets on either end of a stick which they lug around town on their shoulder). She literally put the basket on my shoulder, chucked a hat on my head and shouted 'photo, photo'. I knew we were about to get ripped off, but i did actually really want that photo!! So Kev reluctantly snapped away with the camera and I gave the woman her very heavy basket of fruit back. Then she insisted that as she had been so awfully kind to let me take a touristy photo with her basket, that I HAD to buy some fruit from her. I agreed to buy one banana, but she gave me three and charged me 60,000 dong (before you worry, it's not that bad, it's only £2!). I exclaimed, 'how much? 60,000?!' to which the sneaky little con artist replied with a sad facial expression 'ah, basket so heavy!' I handed over the cash and walked off. Later than evening she approached me again and tried to slip that basket on my shoulder - I was having none of it this time and snapped at her that I'd already been ripped off by her. She looked at my face, smiled a mocking smile and walked away!
We stopped off for a drink in a very western pub called 'Le Pub' and then headed to 'Peperoni's' Restaurant for a genuine slice of Vietnamese food - NOT! We had another burger and chips I'm ashamed to say. It was necessary, I don't think our stomachs could handle any more rich Vietnamese food - as nice as it is, we're just to used to the bland old blighty grub!
After a very satisfying lunch we headed back to the hostel. The mid day heat was setting in (and we all know how I feel about mid day heat!) and we were getting tired so we wanted an afternoon nap. That evening we headed out and randomly bumped into one of the guys off out Halong Bay cruise who was also heading to Hong Kong the following day. We had a couple of drinks and walked by the famous night market - which was so unbelievably busy! We sat at a roof top beer garden and watched the chaos below and we established that when Kev is happy seeing things (like the busy streets and the crowds) I'm not happy, when I'm doing the things I like, practising fishing, swimming or generally being active as opposed to walking around crowded streets looking at buildings, Kev is not enjoying himself. I think we're perhaps as opposite as we could be, you'd think that doesn't bode well for us, but somehow it seems to work and we're still getting on great (I think Kev has the patience of a saint).
We wandered back to our hotel and with just 60,000 dong (£2) left in our pockets, we popped into a cheap restaurant for dinner. In there were two little kids who thought it hysterical to run up to us and shout 'how are you?', then they'd run away giggling and then run back to say 'What's your name?' These kids, unlike last night's restaurant brats, were very cute and their English was amazing.
And that was pretty much the end of our time in 'Nam. We have loved it but we're both really ready to move on from South East Asia. It's been hard work and we've packed a lot into a short space of time so we were looking forward to moving on to Hong Kong and Japan.
The following morning we got up early and got on the plane to Hong Kong. I began sneezing and were became very concerned that of all the places to sneeze- the airport at Hong Kong was not the place to do it! But we made it through the heat detectors and out the other side. I did feel a bit coldy but I think perhaps it was nerves or something as I seem to be OK this morning.
We found our bus easily and I was pleased to discover that the journey barely went underground at all (people had warned me that I was going to struggle not going underground in Hong Kong, which hadn't pleased me at all). We found out hostel reception and observed the Tropical Cyclone Weather Warning Level 1 notice on the wall. The hostel lady proudly boasted that the cyclone that had just killed over 100 people in the Philippines might be coming here, to which my face dropped and I glared at Kev as if to say, we're turning back right this minute and getting the hell out of here! (That weather warning will probably explain why our Hong Kong flight was possibly the most turbulent one so far, Kev didn't enjoy it at all and neither did my hand which was being gripped so tightly that the circulation nearly cut out!!) The hostel lady then informed us that if it gets to Level 8 warning, the whole place goes into shut down and the transport stops - 'no-one's getting in or out of here' she remarked! Kev reassured me that we were only on level 1 and level 8 was a long way off so we checked in and were shown to out apartment (which is actually a box about the size of our bathroom at home, with a glass wall separating out bed from the toilet - but we're getting used to that kind of thing!).
Once we were settled in our room I went on the internet to look into this cyclone stuff and found out that the warning system goes from 1 to 3 to 8. Now level 8 and total lock down was not looking so far away!! But I'm tracking that bad boy and it's currently heading for central Vietnam, so fingers crossed. While I was worrying my little head about that, so my friend John back home text me to say, rather worryingly, 'send me a text to let me know you guys are OK, I saw something on the news and although I'm being stupid just let me know you're OK'. Suddenly I had visions of cyclone warnings in Hong Kong being all over the news back home and that perhaps things were more serious here than everyone was making out!! I text back and said we were fine and asked whether he had seen about cyclones on the news. To this he replied, no, he had seen that 2 British tourists had died on a boat accident in Vietnam and he was glad it wasn't us. I was glad too and I went on the BBC news website to check it out. We discovered that the night before we did out cruise in Halong Bay (back when we were in 'Nam), a boat had overturned and 5 people had drowned - NO ONE TOLD US THAT WHEN WE WERE GETTING ON BOARD THAT BOAT IN HE POURING RAIN!! I remember that on the cruise they had told us that usually we would be docking somewhere else for the night but because there was a storm we weren't allowed. Now I realise why!! It's crazy how none of us had a clue that that had happened just the night before! As Kev keeps joking, treacherous is the word of choice for me when describing this trip, but it really is!! South East Asia's health and safety is very different to back home!!
Anyway, back to Hong Kong. So we ventured out to find some food and I was really surprised at how little English there is here. I know that's going to sound like a really blonde thing to say, but I expected there to be loads of English on restaurant menus and signs and stuff, what with there being a lot of tourists here, but there doesn't seem to be a lot in English, at least not round by where we're staying (which I'm told isn't where most tourists stay, so maybe that's why). We were just about to give in and go to MacDonalds when we saw a restaurant with English on the menu. We went in there but the food was horrible - try eating duck on the bone with chop sticks - not easy.
We went back to our little, bright green cell of a room on the 16th floor (Kev took the stairs because my claustrophobia has obviously worn off on him and he didn't want to get in the tiny lift!). We watched a film and fell asleep ready for a new day today. So we're heading out now to explore Hong Kong properly. The rain seems to have died down for the meantime so fingers crossed we'll not get too wet today but I won't hold my breath on that. I don't mind anyway, it's actually cold in some places here and I rejoice at that feeling (I put a jumper on yesterday and it felt so good against my skin!! I'm longing for the day I get to put on some woolly tights, but I think I might be a couple of months away from that yet so for now that remains a distant dream!).
Will try and update the blog on Hong Kong tonight, but for now I will pass you over to Kev for some photos. xxx
Saturday, 26 September 2009
Quick Note
Hia, we just thought we'd mention that obviously we're only putting the odd few photos on our blog, but we're taking loads and loads of photos and to keep them safe we're uploading them all to Kev's flickr account. So if you've got an afternoon to spare (there's a lot of photos up already) become a friend of Kev's on flickr and you'll be able to browse them all. If not, I'll bore you with them all when we get home!! So go on to www.flickr.com and set up an account. Then email us your account name and Kev will become your friend (maybe! :)) and then you'll be able to see all the photos. xxx
Halong Bay, Vietnam pics
Oh the other thing as well that was pretty funny. We got on the boat and I said to Kev, I'm really looking forward to getting out to sea and being rid of those blinking people constantly trying to sell me something. Sure enough, got out to sea, dropped anchor and this little lady rowed across in her tiny little rowing boat full of supplies and began shouting to us 'buy something?' - she stayed there all evening, going from Junk to Junk selling water and beers - you literally can't get away from them anywhere!! God knows where she lived or how she got home, maybe she slept on that little boat, who knows! Anyway, enjoy the photos of Halong Bay xxx
Halong Bay, Vietnam
As expected, Hanoi is very clearly not as nice as Hoi An, but that's because it's a crazy mad busy city and I'm not so keen on crazy mad, big cities. Anyhoo! We flew to Hanoi and got picked up at the airport and taken to our hostel. Having been spoilt with such beauty in Hoi An, the road trip to our hostel was a journey back into the chaos that is South East Asian city centers. Having been spoilt with such beautiful hotels in most other places we've stayed, when we arrived at our hostel in Hanoi I was immediately disappointed. It's fine...it's where backpackers are meant to stay, but it smells horrible and it's basic - but I'm being a snob and once I settled in, I realised it really is fine and the staff here are lovely (I realised that after one of them said I was very skinny - I decided I loved the staff after that comment!).
We headed out to get some dinner and managed to make it to a restaurant about three doors up from the hostel. I found the streets pretty intimidating in the dark. There were people sat all over the streets eating and there were like a million mopeds speeding up and down the streets and I didn't fancy venturing far from the hostel in the dark. So we went into this nearby restaurant and Kev ordered Beef in black bean sauce while I ordered stir fried beef. When the dishes arrived, Kev's looked perfectly like nice bits of beef - mine however didn't look like beef and Kev took great joy trying to convince me that I was eating dog! It tasted good though so whatever it was, I ate it all (it wasn't dog!!).
We started chatting to a couple of Swedish guys who were sat across from them and we soon showed our geekiness! They asked us whether we were heading out to find the local night clubs and I said 'oh no! We've got an early start in the morning, we're heading to Halong Bay', to which they replied 'Oh yeah, so are we but that's no excuse!' - pretty embarrassing how uncool we are, but I was tired!!
So the next morning the bus arrived to take us to Halong Bay. It stopped and picked up a fair few more people and then headed off on the bumpiest 4 hour journey we've ever been on - honestly, at some points I thought my head was going to hit the ceiling of the bus it was so bumpy - Kev thought it was hysterical to watch me getting more and more annoyed with every bump! At Halong Bay we were ushered off the bus and through all the confusion we found our way onto the little boat that would take us to our Junk (the name of the type of boats they use, not to condition of the boats - although as one of the guys we met on the boat did joke, it could explain the reason for the name of the boats!!).
As soon as we got on board the sea was choppy and as we sat down in the restaurant I though, blimey, this is going to be a long night and there might well be a lot of sickage along the way! But once we got out to sea the choppiness calmed down and it was fine, despite the terrible weather - it was pouring down with rain, and I mean pouring down! We settled down to the first of our many varied meals on board - a platter of numerous little dishes for each table, lots of seafood and in general really good. It also gave us a chance to get to know the other guys on the boat and I genuinely think we were really lucky with our trip that everyone on the boat was so lovely, we all seemed to get on really well and just had a great time chatting. We met two guys from LA (one who works in TV out there) who were really hoping to meet up with when we get out there - it'd be great to see them again. And we also got on really really well with two Australian couples, one from Melbourne and one from a national park outside of Sydney (they showed us photos of their home and man, it looks awesome!). I don't think the overnight trip would have been half as good if we hadn't met all these guys, they really made the trip for us.
After lunch we went to look at some caves - I had a moment of hesitation when we began entering through a tiny hole in the rock and had visions of tunnels of tiny spaces, but I persevered through and the cave inside was so massive there was no way in the world I could have been claustrophobic in there! Kev really enjoyed the cave and took some good photos - we also bumped into the Swedish guys in that cave who were doing a similar tour to us - the ones who had been out partying the night before!). We got back to the boat and the weather had eased so we decided we'd go for a swim. It was brilliant to jump off the boat and into the water, although the first time I jumped in I suddenly though, blinking heck, I hope there are no sharks here! I was assured there weren't, but nevertheless I didn't stray far from the ship just in case!!
More food and more drinks and plenty of great chat later and it was bed time. Our room was really sweet, but very bizarre - rose petals on the bed and a really comfy bed, but just a shower curtain (with a big hole in it) separating that lovely room from our toilet - needless to say, not many secrets between me and Kev now!!
This morning we got up early and went out Kayaking through some more caves - it was good fun and so beautiful with the sun beating down on us, but unfortunately it only lasted half hour or so and then we were back on the boat. Really wanted another swim but the boat was beginning it's trip back to shore so unless we wanted left behind we didn't really dare jump into the sea.
Back on land about lunch time and back in the bumpy bus back to Hanoi. It was actually really sad when everyone started getting dropped back at their hotels because we really did like everyone and it felt like we'd all spent longer together than just one day. But hopefully we'll keep in touch.
We got back to our hostel in Hanoi and Kev's tummy dictated that we head out to get some food. It wasn't long before I was getting stressed again with all the noise and the traffic and after much moaning we finally went into a pizza restaurant that was recommended in the guide book. I sat down and tried to relax and block out the deafening noise of the roads outside. But before I'd had time to chill so some Vietnamese family came in to eat with their three young boys. They proceeded to allow the three young boys to sit on the floor by my feet and play with some stupid spinning top - they were shouting at the top of their voices and their silly toy kept knocking into me and I just though, how come their parents aren't staying 'boys - watch out for the other people in the restaurant', no, they didn't care. Then the spinning top hit Kev's leg and that was it, one of the little brats started screaming in Vietnamese at Kev - Kev thought it was funny, but that was the last straw for me - I either hit the little brat or got our food to take away - hence Kev persuaded me to take the latter option.
We came back to the room and ate our take away (burger and chips, man it was good!!). Managed to get through to my folks on Skype which was so good as I'd been trying for ages but with time differences and stuff it'd been proving difficult. Cheered me up speaking to them and seeing them. Kev's sister is due to have her baby today we think so the mobile is constantly by our side waiting to hear as soon as it happens - Debs if you're reading this, good luck and I bet you can't wait!!!
We've got a day looking round Hanoi tomorrow so I've promised I'll get an early night, get well rested and prepared and try and have a day with no moaning tomorrow. Watch this space to see how that goes!! xxxx
We headed out to get some dinner and managed to make it to a restaurant about three doors up from the hostel. I found the streets pretty intimidating in the dark. There were people sat all over the streets eating and there were like a million mopeds speeding up and down the streets and I didn't fancy venturing far from the hostel in the dark. So we went into this nearby restaurant and Kev ordered Beef in black bean sauce while I ordered stir fried beef. When the dishes arrived, Kev's looked perfectly like nice bits of beef - mine however didn't look like beef and Kev took great joy trying to convince me that I was eating dog! It tasted good though so whatever it was, I ate it all (it wasn't dog!!).
We started chatting to a couple of Swedish guys who were sat across from them and we soon showed our geekiness! They asked us whether we were heading out to find the local night clubs and I said 'oh no! We've got an early start in the morning, we're heading to Halong Bay', to which they replied 'Oh yeah, so are we but that's no excuse!' - pretty embarrassing how uncool we are, but I was tired!!
So the next morning the bus arrived to take us to Halong Bay. It stopped and picked up a fair few more people and then headed off on the bumpiest 4 hour journey we've ever been on - honestly, at some points I thought my head was going to hit the ceiling of the bus it was so bumpy - Kev thought it was hysterical to watch me getting more and more annoyed with every bump! At Halong Bay we were ushered off the bus and through all the confusion we found our way onto the little boat that would take us to our Junk (the name of the type of boats they use, not to condition of the boats - although as one of the guys we met on the boat did joke, it could explain the reason for the name of the boats!!).
As soon as we got on board the sea was choppy and as we sat down in the restaurant I though, blimey, this is going to be a long night and there might well be a lot of sickage along the way! But once we got out to sea the choppiness calmed down and it was fine, despite the terrible weather - it was pouring down with rain, and I mean pouring down! We settled down to the first of our many varied meals on board - a platter of numerous little dishes for each table, lots of seafood and in general really good. It also gave us a chance to get to know the other guys on the boat and I genuinely think we were really lucky with our trip that everyone on the boat was so lovely, we all seemed to get on really well and just had a great time chatting. We met two guys from LA (one who works in TV out there) who were really hoping to meet up with when we get out there - it'd be great to see them again. And we also got on really really well with two Australian couples, one from Melbourne and one from a national park outside of Sydney (they showed us photos of their home and man, it looks awesome!). I don't think the overnight trip would have been half as good if we hadn't met all these guys, they really made the trip for us.
After lunch we went to look at some caves - I had a moment of hesitation when we began entering through a tiny hole in the rock and had visions of tunnels of tiny spaces, but I persevered through and the cave inside was so massive there was no way in the world I could have been claustrophobic in there! Kev really enjoyed the cave and took some good photos - we also bumped into the Swedish guys in that cave who were doing a similar tour to us - the ones who had been out partying the night before!). We got back to the boat and the weather had eased so we decided we'd go for a swim. It was brilliant to jump off the boat and into the water, although the first time I jumped in I suddenly though, blinking heck, I hope there are no sharks here! I was assured there weren't, but nevertheless I didn't stray far from the ship just in case!!
More food and more drinks and plenty of great chat later and it was bed time. Our room was really sweet, but very bizarre - rose petals on the bed and a really comfy bed, but just a shower curtain (with a big hole in it) separating that lovely room from our toilet - needless to say, not many secrets between me and Kev now!!
This morning we got up early and went out Kayaking through some more caves - it was good fun and so beautiful with the sun beating down on us, but unfortunately it only lasted half hour or so and then we were back on the boat. Really wanted another swim but the boat was beginning it's trip back to shore so unless we wanted left behind we didn't really dare jump into the sea.
Back on land about lunch time and back in the bumpy bus back to Hanoi. It was actually really sad when everyone started getting dropped back at their hotels because we really did like everyone and it felt like we'd all spent longer together than just one day. But hopefully we'll keep in touch.
We got back to our hostel in Hanoi and Kev's tummy dictated that we head out to get some food. It wasn't long before I was getting stressed again with all the noise and the traffic and after much moaning we finally went into a pizza restaurant that was recommended in the guide book. I sat down and tried to relax and block out the deafening noise of the roads outside. But before I'd had time to chill so some Vietnamese family came in to eat with their three young boys. They proceeded to allow the three young boys to sit on the floor by my feet and play with some stupid spinning top - they were shouting at the top of their voices and their silly toy kept knocking into me and I just though, how come their parents aren't staying 'boys - watch out for the other people in the restaurant', no, they didn't care. Then the spinning top hit Kev's leg and that was it, one of the little brats started screaming in Vietnamese at Kev - Kev thought it was funny, but that was the last straw for me - I either hit the little brat or got our food to take away - hence Kev persuaded me to take the latter option.
We came back to the room and ate our take away (burger and chips, man it was good!!). Managed to get through to my folks on Skype which was so good as I'd been trying for ages but with time differences and stuff it'd been proving difficult. Cheered me up speaking to them and seeing them. Kev's sister is due to have her baby today we think so the mobile is constantly by our side waiting to hear as soon as it happens - Debs if you're reading this, good luck and I bet you can't wait!!!
We've got a day looking round Hanoi tomorrow so I've promised I'll get an early night, get well rested and prepared and try and have a day with no moaning tomorrow. Watch this space to see how that goes!! xxxx
Wednesday, 23 September 2009
Hookers and Amputees: Welcome to Vietnam
I think I last updated this on the evening before we left Siem Reap in Cambodia. The next morning then, we got up and went to catch our bus to Phnom Pehn, the capital. I wasn't impressed with the bus at first but it turned out to be fine and the 6 hours passed really quickly. We passed through loads of little rural villages which were amazing – all the houses were on stilts and we're about as big as our bathrooms back home. Every little wooden shack home had at least one Ox, Oxen, what's the word – I don't know, anyway, but so many of them looked starving and you could see all their bones. We were really glad we got the bus though as it gave us a really good chance to see different parts of Cambodia.
We arrived in Phnom Pehn and as soon as we got off the bus we were pounced on by people offering us tuk tuks. Eventually, we decided to go with one guy who charged us $5 for a really short ride, he was a total con artist because then when we arrived at the hotel I went inside to ask how much we should expect to pay for a tuk tuk to take us to the Killing Fields and S21. The hotel told me no more than $12 but when I went outside this tuk tuk driver had agreed $20 with Kev and he would be back at half two. We decided we didn't want to go with him so got our hotel to arrange a tuk tuk for us to arrive at 2!
Our hotel was so nice, the pool was amazing and I was really glad to be there. I just had to make it through S21 and the Killing Fields and I could be back and straight in that pool! So the nice tuk tuk driver picked us up and went to the Killing Fields first. I was surprised at how few tourists were there and we wandered around, read the information and saw the skulls and left – pretty grim! We then went to S21, the old school that was converted into a prison by the Pol Pots regime. Again, pretty grim, but I chose not to study the endless photos of the dead and left Kev to wander around and read all the information in more detail. It was horrible, but didn't depress me like I thought it had – I think I'd already imagined the worst!
We came out only to find that our tuk tuk drive had gone! We were pretty confused as he hadn't been paid but there was plenty of other drivers around touting for business so we haggled and got one back to the hotel for $2. That evening we swam in the pool and ate some awesome food and had some great cocktails. As it got dark and we were swimming, there were huge bats flying over our heads which was awesome, I love bats!
The next morning we got up and went straight to the bus station ready to catch our next bus to Vietnam. We got on the bus and were just making ourselves comfortable when the disappearing tuk tuk driver from yesterday got on and came up to us. He told us that while he had been waiting for us at S21 yesterday the other tuk tuk driver (the rip off one) had arrived to have a go at him for taking us for less money. Our tuk tuk driver decided it wasn't worth the hassle and left! So we had to pay the driver, but we didn't have anything less than $20, so we just had to give him that as we didn't have much choice. We were so annoyed with the first tuk tuk driver – it really didn't help our impression of Phnom Pehn and we were glad when the bus left the city. We'd been in Phnom Pehn during a major holiday so the streets were quiet, so I don't think we got a real impression of what the place is like, but I don't think we'll bother going back – Siem Reap was way better.
The bus to Vietnam seemed to take ages! We had to go through immigration at the border which was just a real pain. First we gave our passports to the bus guide who went and got them stamped and then a bit further on we all had to get off the bus with our bags and go through security. By this time our bus guide had given everyone's passports to the officials at immigration and their genius system was to get everyone into the building and then gradually shout out the names of the people who's passports were ready for collection – there was so many people you could hardly hear and it just seemed totally chaotic. Eventually...., an I mean eventually, they called my name and I went through the barrier but Kev was still waiting. The pile of passports was getting smaller and smaller and when our bus guide looked at me and shrugged his shoulders, as if to say, 'I've no idea where your boyfriend's passport has gone' I really was beginning to worry! Finally the last passport to be called, I think, was Kevin's and he hurried through the barrier where we both chucked our bags on to the X-Ray scanner. The official wasn't even sat in his chair when our bags went through, let alone looking at what we had in them! We quickly jumped back on the bus and that was us in Vietnam and on our way to Saigon.
We got dropped off not far from our hotel in Saigon. We'd been upgraded to a nicer room for free which was ace and I was so pleased to see it had a bath – I'd been craving a soak for so long. We popped out to get some dinner and were struck by how different Saigon was to anywhere we'd been so far. There were no tuk tuk's here, just millions and millions of motorbikes – it's a crazy place that is constantly noisy and busy. It was pouring with rain but we didn't mind as it took the edge off the heat. We decided to have an easy night that night and we just headed back to the room where I had a long hot bath and then we watch some films on HBO (which seems to be the only channel we can ever get, anywhere). Fell asleep really early and must have needed it.
The next morning the plan was to get out early and explore the city by foot (no way was I get on one of those motorbikes). As soon as we went outside I was freaked out by the unbelievable noise of traffic and unbelievable amount of motorbikes on the roads – honestly never seen anything like it. Every photo we took of the roads just don't seem to do justice to how mad it is there. Crossing the road means taking your life in your hands and the key is to step out and walk slowly across, allowing the motorbikes to go around you. I didn't like it at first, but the more we walked around the more I got used to it and managed to ignore the noise and chaos eventually.
Constant offerings of coconuts or motorbikes or anything else you can think of really was starting to wear me down here and I was close to losing my temper with many of them. They trick you by pretending to just be friendly and having a chat and then they force a coconut into your hand and pretend it's a gift, then they cut it open, stick a straw in it and charge you a fortune – I was getting so fed up with them and I had a moment where I needed to calm down before I punched one of them!
We visited the war memorial museum which was such a bloke thing – all the girls in the place were sat fanning themselves in the foyer, while all the guys were enthralled in the guns, tanks and horrible pictures of the effects of Agent Orange! It was good to learn a bit about the war though although it was more interesting when here in Hoi An (where I am now) we chatted to one guy who told us how everyone here had no news or anything and when the Americans arrived and gave them guns, they had no idea why they were fighting.
So in Saigon we also went to central market where I bought a dress that I'll never wear and one of those awesome cone hats they wear here – only to realise I've got to carry that around for the next 3 months! We generally wandered and then late in the afternoon headed back to the hotel. We hit rush hour and school kick out time in the street by our hotel and I could not believe the ridiculous amount of traffic – they bikes had taken over the pavements and there was literally no where to walk. For some one who is so anal about rules and organisation as me, seeing this ridiculous traffic chaos was hard to comprehend, but I guess that's just normal for them here.
Anyway, we then went out to have a drink and decided upon one bar that looked OK. When we sat down and got a drink we saw a load of girls inside tarting themselves up. They then came outside and tried to encourage other people (or should I say, men) to come to the bar – we realised this was not an innocent bar and we decided to drink up quick! We were getting fed up of the endless amputees begging us for money.
We went to a different bar and ended up chatting to this woman who was sat next to us. She was from Holland and was 52. She was single and loved to travel so she did, on her own, and she didn't care. Her two grown up sons back home were constantly on at her for not emailing and letting them know she was safe!
Got an early night after that and got up at half 3 to go to the airport. We'd decided to fly to Da Nang rather than get the 15 hour train ride, it wasn't much more expensive and a quick flight gave us more time everywhere. So we flew to Da Nang, arrived about 7am and then got picked up and taken on the 40 minute drive to Hoi An. It's a small fishing village which is becoming more and more touristy, but we love it here. The hotel is nice and the centre is so beautiful. It's got an ancient city centre which is flooded with tailors as this is the place that everyone comes to to get a suit.
We first visited the fishing market, which was crowded and cramped and hot, then we wandered around avoiding the beggars and touts. I made one mistake and went into one of the tailors to ask how much it would cost for a dress. It was cheap, about $25, but I didn't really want it, I'd just been curious – but that was a mistake, for once you've asked the price in one of these places, it's very difficult to leave without buying anything – they're measuring you up before you know it pretty much. The lady in the shop tried everything, even filled her eyes up and nearly cried saying she hadn't had any customers that day and she was begging me to buy the dress. Luckily for me I'd already splashed out on a ring (yes, the Vietnam ring has been purchased) and so I knew Kevin would kill me if I spent any more money – that made it possible for me to stand my ground and run away from the shop! Haven't been into another shop here since!
We stopped for lunch and tried the local dishes, White Rose and Cao Lau (or something like that), which were amazing and then went back to the hotel, pretty tired. We had an early start the next day as we were going on an eco tour to visit the local fishermen. They picked us up at 8am and we joined with a lovely Australian couple who were also on the trip that day. It was the best morning. First we went to a fisherman's house and helped him sew the tears in his nets. Then we got on a boat and went out into the river to learn how to fish with nets – it's really not easy! I managed to catch one decent sized fish and you'll see the photo they made me take of me holding the fish – my face says it all, it was gross!
We stopped off at the shore line and learn how to use the big static nets that they lower and then raise to scoop up the fish. It was great because when I was researching for Extreme Fishing 3 in work I looked into all these types of fishing techniques, so it was great to be able to have a go myself. We then got on the boat again and went round the water coconut plantations. We stopped there and they cooked us up some lunch from the fisherman's catches – it was amazing and we had a nice cold beer to go with it and it was great! I'd say that morning was the most fun we'd had so far, I think.
We went back to the hotel and then into town. It was raining so we didn't get to go to the beach, but that was fine, the ancient town centre was much nicer anyway. We stopped for lunch and met some more Australians (oh, forgot to say, in the hotel this morning we met a Scottish – Australian, random!). These guys were from Melbourne and were a really good laugh. They told us all about the bush fires and it was really interesting because even though we'd seen it all over the news when they were happening, talking to people who were actually there made it so real. One of the guys was a biker. He and his partner had a Harley and they were going to retire in 4 years and head off for about 3 years travelling the world on their bikes – how cool would that be! We had a really good laugh chatting to them for hours and then headed back to the hotel.
This morning we've just had a lazy day. It's still raining so we just went down to the pool and chilled out. We're just going to pack up now and head back to the airport for our flight to Hanoi – fingers crossed it's as nice as this place, but somehow, I don't think it will be!! xxx
Sunday, 20 September 2009
Saturday, 19 September 2009
Coming soon!
We're in Phnom Penh at the mo and the wifi/internet service in Cambodia ain't too grand! Will get some more pics up soon! Off to Saigon tomorrow so maybe it'll be a wee bit better there! Booyakasha! Captain Kev out!
Friday, 18 September 2009
Holiday in Cambodia!
There's just a couple of things I was meant to say on my last blog so before I go into how much we like Cambodia, I shall just complete my last blog:
So the couple I was talking about, who we shared a taxi with from Singapore Train station - the reason I mentioned them was because I was meant to say how brave they were! The reason they had so many bags was because they had decided after meeting each other on an island off Bali just one year ago, that they were packing up and moving there. They'd spent 3 weeks or something in Thailand, where the bloke had got his diving instructor certificate and then they were bus-ing and train-ing it to this tiny island to live forever, if they could make it work! The girl told me that her father still cries when she speaks to him on the phone - no blinking wonder! If this trip has taught me one thing, it's that I could never do that!!
Second thing I was meant to mention: in some of the Singapore photos you'll see loads of fences all around the side of the road. Kev wanted me to mention that this was because the Grand Prix is about to take place there on the roads.
Third thing: Singapore has a Hooters bar and Kev was very pleased with his purchase of a lovely, classy T-shirt from there!
And finally, I was meant to mention we went for drinks with my friend Dan in a pub just round the corner from our hostel called the Prince of Wales. I was happy to see a lovely Welsh rugby shirt on the wall although the beer in there was exceptionally more expensive than the beer in the Prince of Wales pub in Cardiff. Needless to say the pub was far nicer than the one in the one in Cardiff too!!
So onto the next installment of the trip. We reluctantly left Singapore after getting up at about 3am to go to the airport and catch our early morning flight to Siem Reap in Cambodia. We were really tired and I was a bit nervous getting on the flight, but when we landed I was so pleasantly surprised - the airport was lovely and that was a good start for me!
We walked out of the airport to find the ever-so-lovely Mr Yin, who would be our Tuk Tuk driver for the next couple of days, holding a name card for us. He escorted us to our vehicle of choice and presented us with a cold cloth and ice cold ginger beer and I never knew how appreciative of those things I could be, it was great. The drive to the hostel was far more civilised than any Tuk Tuk ride we got on in Bangkok. We had time to take in some sights and I was happy to see that our driver wore a helmet (I do like a bit of health and safety).
Our hostel is the best hostel (note, the best hostel, not the best 'hotel' - I still prefer my hotels but I'm getting better!) we've stayed at. Although having said that, the air con here is so rubbish it's hard to sleep, but the ice cold swimming pool in the lobby makes up for it. Every night there have a movie on in the bar and there's just loads to do here when you can't be bothered to go out and about.
So the first day we dumped our bags and went for a wander in to the centre. It wasn't what I was expecting although it is hard to not feel guilty when kids beg. At one point Kev had turned around to take some photos and I found myself with a tiny little lad clinging to my arm and he really had a forceful grip for a nipper. Luckily for me, not so luckily for him, I was tired and hot and a little grumpy so I didn't have much trouble ignoring him and walking on until he let go, but today me and Kev are having pangs of guilt about all the little kids.
We walked a fair bit and by then it was the afternoon and I have discovered that I can't cope with afternoon heat in these countries! We got back to the hostel and laid down. Kev fell asleep, but Mr Chilli Crab that I ate yesterday decided to pay me a visit and get his own back on me so I found myself in a wee bit of pain and confined to the toilet!!! Our hostel room is so hot all the time and I couldn't cool down from our earlier walk so I got a bit emotional (no change there) and complained that I wasn't cut out for these hot countries. But the moment passed and the sun went down and the temperature began to drop to something a little more bearable.
That evening Mr Yin picked us up to take us on our first installment of Angkor, the ancient temples that Siem Reap is famous for. They date back to like the 11the or 12the century or something like that and this was one part of the trip that Kev was super looking forward to. So we were taken to the temple that everyone goes to for sunset. We climbed up and saw the temple and realised that the thing to do is to climb the ancient, I want to say 90 degree angled steps (but I'd probably be exaggerating by like a degree or so) and then sit at the top of the temple while the sun goes down. Ever health and safety conscience, I decided to stay at the bottom and watch the sun go down from there. Kev, however, was like a bat out of hell up those ruins. He took a few photos and then clambered back down to meet me and we wandered round to see some elephants - they scared me a bit and made me a little sad that the poor things we having to traipse around with tourists on their back. We'd considered doing an elephant jungle trek when we were in Thailand but had decided against it, when we saw these elephants in Cambodia we both realized we'd made the right decision not going on the trip in Thailand - we don't think we'd have like it.
Anyway, one of the elephants looked to me like it was picking up pace so I decided we should leave the vicinity swiftly and we wandered on a bit more. There we found some more steps to the top of the temple which we only, I want to say 80 degrees steep (but I'd probably be exaggerating by like a degree or so!) so I decided that if the elderly Japanese tourists that surrounded the temple could make it up and down those bad boys, surely I could do it too! So slowly, cautiously, examining every step before placing my foot on it, I hesitantly made my way to the top with Kev scrabbling behind me to catch me if I fell! And we made it to the top. However, to be honest, I was slightly disappointed up there - all you could see where the thousands of tourists who had also ventured to the top and we waiting for that all important, photo-opportunity, sunset.
We climbed back down and headed back to Mr Yim, who was sat patiently waiting for us. A short ride back to the hostel and we settled down to watch 'Mirrors' in the bar (the scary film with Keifer Suverland). We got an early night because we'd decided to begin our second day of temple visiting at 5am - that way we could see sunrise and be done and dusted before that awful afternoon heat - the deal was, if I could do 8 hours of temples, by 1pm I'd be back and the hostel and straight in that ice cold pool - oh yeah!
So 4am we awoke after spending a squashed night on a single bed. Basically in our room we've got a huge, huge double bed and one single bed. The problem is, the single bed, I would say is about 5cm closer to the fan and so ever so minutely cooler. So having tried to sleep in the big double bed, we chose to get up, move the mosquito net and squash into the single bed top and tales. The disadvantage of this single bed was of course that if you moved even slightly you might accidentally touch the other person's arm with your leg and their arm would be hot and that would make your leg even hotter - it was a tough call, but we decided being nearer the fan was the best option.
So anyway, we did get some sleep and then met Mr Yim at 5am as he had promised. We first of all went to Angkor Wat, I think the most famous temple, and there we joined the hundreds of camera-snapping tourists who had also turned out to watch the sunrise there. We walked around until about 6am, Kev wearing his shorts, me wearing a summery dress because it was already blinking boiling! I personally didn't get the big deal with Angkor Wat, yeah it was nice, but I've never really been one for ruins so I wasn't loving it, but Kev was happy to be at the oldest temple of them all and set about taking loads of really great photos.
We moved on then to Angkor Thom, which is an ancient walled city. In there we went to Bayon Temple which was a Buddhist temple (Angkor Wat was Hindu) and here I began to see the attraction to this place. This temple was absolutely beautiful and we both really enjoyed walking around this one.
We did a little more of Angkor Thom and then went to Ta Phnom (I think that's how it's spelt anyway) and it was here that they filmed tomb raider apparently. This temple is the one that you see in all the pictures and is amazing. It's so weird because all the trees have grown through it, pushing the rocks out of place and making the most surreal, fantasy type setting. It's hard to do this place justice with a camera, everywhere you look you want to take a photo, it's beautiful.
So we had a really good temple viewing session. The hardest thing was at the entrance to every temple you have to fight your way through loads of little kids who are all trying to sell you postcards or bracelets or something. It's difficult because they're so persistent and they're clever in the way they have learned how to get you to speak to them - they'll say 'where you from?' and it's harder to say 'no thank you' to that question, so you end up saying 'UK' and then they say 'UK, capital London, you have 65 million people there, if you buy, you buy from me, if you don't buy you make me cry, what's your name?' and before you know it you've given them a fake name and then your doomed! One little boy made me smile when he came up to me offering me bracelets 'four for one million dollars, lady' he said - I laughed and said no thank you 'OK!' he said, '4 for 1 dollar' - now that is a swift reduction in price, but I still didn't want them! 'OK! 5 for 1 dollar' - if only these sales techniques were adopted in the UK! And finally, the one little girl that I'm now wishing I gave a dollar too told me I looked 19 and that I was very beautiful - she was my favourite! But the thing is you find yourself automatically saying no to everyone because if you say yes to one then you'd be swarmed, but on reflection, I think we should maybe have just given away a few dollars - it's not much to us. Yesterday, when we were walking up to the temple for Sunset we went through the line of security guards and showed our tickets before we walked up the hill to the temple and it's great because of course, none of the kids can get through the security guards, so you're left in peace. But along that path was a lady sitting by the side with a young son in her arms who was horrendously disfigured, like elephantitus or something. It was a real shock and you find yourself thinking 'oh god, how come she's allowed in here!' You know, you don't want to be reminded of the reality of life here while you're enjoying your privileged view of beautiful temples - it's something that hit me and made me realise how lucky we are.
This afternoon, we came back to the hostel and chilled out in the pool for most of the afternoon, which was so relaxing. Then we went into the centre for dinner. We saw another woman holding a disabled son on the street and a man with no legs selling books and then there was a band playing on the side of the road and as we walked past, one of the men waved half an arm at me and smiled a really friendly smile - it's hard, well, hard for us to see, but I guess it's harder for them eh! Seeing all the little kids as well does get to you, more than I thought it would really as I'm not the most maternal person in the world. But around by the temples, and probably a lot of them in the centre, don't get to go to school. The problem is though that you never know who is genuine and who isn't - yesterday this woman holding a baby came up to us holding an empty bottle for the baby and begging us to buy him one meal - she was totally scamming the tourists though, you could just tell with her. There's so many tourists here and the whole place seems absolutely geared up for us with bars and restaurants. We sat in a restaurant this evening and had dinner and a drink and sat looking around at all the locals who can't even go to these places even though it's their home - it seems wrong that tourists have taken over but I suppose it's a good thing for their economy.
Anyway, I'm sounding a bit stupid going on and I'm probably not getting what I mean across or I'm probably sounding patronising to the people here or something, but if I am, I don't mean to be. The people here are so friendly and helpful and we've really really enjoyed our time in Siem Reap. We're heading on a bus to Phnom Pehn tomorrow, the Capital city, and I've heard the beggars are much worse there, so I think that's going to be horrible but we're only there one night and we're in a really nice hotel - see what I mean, I don't want to be reminded of reality, just give me my air con and swimming pool! Kev really wants to go to the killing fields and that school where everyone got killed in the 70s - I'm not sure if I'm going to go yet, not sure if I need to see that kind of stuff to know that bad things happened here. We'll see.
So, sorry if I ended that on a downer. Just to clarify - we're both in really good moods and have had a great time here, oh, and fear not, my Cambodia ring was bought at approximately 7pm this evening - that's 4 rings now so the mission continues.
Hope everyone else is good, keep us up to date with the gossip.
Speak to you all soon xxxx
So the couple I was talking about, who we shared a taxi with from Singapore Train station - the reason I mentioned them was because I was meant to say how brave they were! The reason they had so many bags was because they had decided after meeting each other on an island off Bali just one year ago, that they were packing up and moving there. They'd spent 3 weeks or something in Thailand, where the bloke had got his diving instructor certificate and then they were bus-ing and train-ing it to this tiny island to live forever, if they could make it work! The girl told me that her father still cries when she speaks to him on the phone - no blinking wonder! If this trip has taught me one thing, it's that I could never do that!!
Second thing I was meant to mention: in some of the Singapore photos you'll see loads of fences all around the side of the road. Kev wanted me to mention that this was because the Grand Prix is about to take place there on the roads.
Third thing: Singapore has a Hooters bar and Kev was very pleased with his purchase of a lovely, classy T-shirt from there!
And finally, I was meant to mention we went for drinks with my friend Dan in a pub just round the corner from our hostel called the Prince of Wales. I was happy to see a lovely Welsh rugby shirt on the wall although the beer in there was exceptionally more expensive than the beer in the Prince of Wales pub in Cardiff. Needless to say the pub was far nicer than the one in the one in Cardiff too!!
So onto the next installment of the trip. We reluctantly left Singapore after getting up at about 3am to go to the airport and catch our early morning flight to Siem Reap in Cambodia. We were really tired and I was a bit nervous getting on the flight, but when we landed I was so pleasantly surprised - the airport was lovely and that was a good start for me!
We walked out of the airport to find the ever-so-lovely Mr Yin, who would be our Tuk Tuk driver for the next couple of days, holding a name card for us. He escorted us to our vehicle of choice and presented us with a cold cloth and ice cold ginger beer and I never knew how appreciative of those things I could be, it was great. The drive to the hostel was far more civilised than any Tuk Tuk ride we got on in Bangkok. We had time to take in some sights and I was happy to see that our driver wore a helmet (I do like a bit of health and safety).
Our hostel is the best hostel (note, the best hostel, not the best 'hotel' - I still prefer my hotels but I'm getting better!) we've stayed at. Although having said that, the air con here is so rubbish it's hard to sleep, but the ice cold swimming pool in the lobby makes up for it. Every night there have a movie on in the bar and there's just loads to do here when you can't be bothered to go out and about.
So the first day we dumped our bags and went for a wander in to the centre. It wasn't what I was expecting although it is hard to not feel guilty when kids beg. At one point Kev had turned around to take some photos and I found myself with a tiny little lad clinging to my arm and he really had a forceful grip for a nipper. Luckily for me, not so luckily for him, I was tired and hot and a little grumpy so I didn't have much trouble ignoring him and walking on until he let go, but today me and Kev are having pangs of guilt about all the little kids.
We walked a fair bit and by then it was the afternoon and I have discovered that I can't cope with afternoon heat in these countries! We got back to the hostel and laid down. Kev fell asleep, but Mr Chilli Crab that I ate yesterday decided to pay me a visit and get his own back on me so I found myself in a wee bit of pain and confined to the toilet!!! Our hostel room is so hot all the time and I couldn't cool down from our earlier walk so I got a bit emotional (no change there) and complained that I wasn't cut out for these hot countries. But the moment passed and the sun went down and the temperature began to drop to something a little more bearable.
That evening Mr Yin picked us up to take us on our first installment of Angkor, the ancient temples that Siem Reap is famous for. They date back to like the 11the or 12the century or something like that and this was one part of the trip that Kev was super looking forward to. So we were taken to the temple that everyone goes to for sunset. We climbed up and saw the temple and realised that the thing to do is to climb the ancient, I want to say 90 degree angled steps (but I'd probably be exaggerating by like a degree or so) and then sit at the top of the temple while the sun goes down. Ever health and safety conscience, I decided to stay at the bottom and watch the sun go down from there. Kev, however, was like a bat out of hell up those ruins. He took a few photos and then clambered back down to meet me and we wandered round to see some elephants - they scared me a bit and made me a little sad that the poor things we having to traipse around with tourists on their back. We'd considered doing an elephant jungle trek when we were in Thailand but had decided against it, when we saw these elephants in Cambodia we both realized we'd made the right decision not going on the trip in Thailand - we don't think we'd have like it.
Anyway, one of the elephants looked to me like it was picking up pace so I decided we should leave the vicinity swiftly and we wandered on a bit more. There we found some more steps to the top of the temple which we only, I want to say 80 degrees steep (but I'd probably be exaggerating by like a degree or so!) so I decided that if the elderly Japanese tourists that surrounded the temple could make it up and down those bad boys, surely I could do it too! So slowly, cautiously, examining every step before placing my foot on it, I hesitantly made my way to the top with Kev scrabbling behind me to catch me if I fell! And we made it to the top. However, to be honest, I was slightly disappointed up there - all you could see where the thousands of tourists who had also ventured to the top and we waiting for that all important, photo-opportunity, sunset.
We climbed back down and headed back to Mr Yim, who was sat patiently waiting for us. A short ride back to the hostel and we settled down to watch 'Mirrors' in the bar (the scary film with Keifer Suverland). We got an early night because we'd decided to begin our second day of temple visiting at 5am - that way we could see sunrise and be done and dusted before that awful afternoon heat - the deal was, if I could do 8 hours of temples, by 1pm I'd be back and the hostel and straight in that ice cold pool - oh yeah!
So 4am we awoke after spending a squashed night on a single bed. Basically in our room we've got a huge, huge double bed and one single bed. The problem is, the single bed, I would say is about 5cm closer to the fan and so ever so minutely cooler. So having tried to sleep in the big double bed, we chose to get up, move the mosquito net and squash into the single bed top and tales. The disadvantage of this single bed was of course that if you moved even slightly you might accidentally touch the other person's arm with your leg and their arm would be hot and that would make your leg even hotter - it was a tough call, but we decided being nearer the fan was the best option.
So anyway, we did get some sleep and then met Mr Yim at 5am as he had promised. We first of all went to Angkor Wat, I think the most famous temple, and there we joined the hundreds of camera-snapping tourists who had also turned out to watch the sunrise there. We walked around until about 6am, Kev wearing his shorts, me wearing a summery dress because it was already blinking boiling! I personally didn't get the big deal with Angkor Wat, yeah it was nice, but I've never really been one for ruins so I wasn't loving it, but Kev was happy to be at the oldest temple of them all and set about taking loads of really great photos.
We moved on then to Angkor Thom, which is an ancient walled city. In there we went to Bayon Temple which was a Buddhist temple (Angkor Wat was Hindu) and here I began to see the attraction to this place. This temple was absolutely beautiful and we both really enjoyed walking around this one.
We did a little more of Angkor Thom and then went to Ta Phnom (I think that's how it's spelt anyway) and it was here that they filmed tomb raider apparently. This temple is the one that you see in all the pictures and is amazing. It's so weird because all the trees have grown through it, pushing the rocks out of place and making the most surreal, fantasy type setting. It's hard to do this place justice with a camera, everywhere you look you want to take a photo, it's beautiful.
So we had a really good temple viewing session. The hardest thing was at the entrance to every temple you have to fight your way through loads of little kids who are all trying to sell you postcards or bracelets or something. It's difficult because they're so persistent and they're clever in the way they have learned how to get you to speak to them - they'll say 'where you from?' and it's harder to say 'no thank you' to that question, so you end up saying 'UK' and then they say 'UK, capital London, you have 65 million people there, if you buy, you buy from me, if you don't buy you make me cry, what's your name?' and before you know it you've given them a fake name and then your doomed! One little boy made me smile when he came up to me offering me bracelets 'four for one million dollars, lady' he said - I laughed and said no thank you 'OK!' he said, '4 for 1 dollar' - now that is a swift reduction in price, but I still didn't want them! 'OK! 5 for 1 dollar' - if only these sales techniques were adopted in the UK! And finally, the one little girl that I'm now wishing I gave a dollar too told me I looked 19 and that I was very beautiful - she was my favourite! But the thing is you find yourself automatically saying no to everyone because if you say yes to one then you'd be swarmed, but on reflection, I think we should maybe have just given away a few dollars - it's not much to us. Yesterday, when we were walking up to the temple for Sunset we went through the line of security guards and showed our tickets before we walked up the hill to the temple and it's great because of course, none of the kids can get through the security guards, so you're left in peace. But along that path was a lady sitting by the side with a young son in her arms who was horrendously disfigured, like elephantitus or something. It was a real shock and you find yourself thinking 'oh god, how come she's allowed in here!' You know, you don't want to be reminded of the reality of life here while you're enjoying your privileged view of beautiful temples - it's something that hit me and made me realise how lucky we are.
This afternoon, we came back to the hostel and chilled out in the pool for most of the afternoon, which was so relaxing. Then we went into the centre for dinner. We saw another woman holding a disabled son on the street and a man with no legs selling books and then there was a band playing on the side of the road and as we walked past, one of the men waved half an arm at me and smiled a really friendly smile - it's hard, well, hard for us to see, but I guess it's harder for them eh! Seeing all the little kids as well does get to you, more than I thought it would really as I'm not the most maternal person in the world. But around by the temples, and probably a lot of them in the centre, don't get to go to school. The problem is though that you never know who is genuine and who isn't - yesterday this woman holding a baby came up to us holding an empty bottle for the baby and begging us to buy him one meal - she was totally scamming the tourists though, you could just tell with her. There's so many tourists here and the whole place seems absolutely geared up for us with bars and restaurants. We sat in a restaurant this evening and had dinner and a drink and sat looking around at all the locals who can't even go to these places even though it's their home - it seems wrong that tourists have taken over but I suppose it's a good thing for their economy.
Anyway, I'm sounding a bit stupid going on and I'm probably not getting what I mean across or I'm probably sounding patronising to the people here or something, but if I am, I don't mean to be. The people here are so friendly and helpful and we've really really enjoyed our time in Siem Reap. We're heading on a bus to Phnom Pehn tomorrow, the Capital city, and I've heard the beggars are much worse there, so I think that's going to be horrible but we're only there one night and we're in a really nice hotel - see what I mean, I don't want to be reminded of reality, just give me my air con and swimming pool! Kev really wants to go to the killing fields and that school where everyone got killed in the 70s - I'm not sure if I'm going to go yet, not sure if I need to see that kind of stuff to know that bad things happened here. We'll see.
So, sorry if I ended that on a downer. Just to clarify - we're both in really good moods and have had a great time here, oh, and fear not, my Cambodia ring was bought at approximately 7pm this evening - that's 4 rings now so the mission continues.
Hope everyone else is good, keep us up to date with the gossip.
Speak to you all soon xxxx
Wednesday, 16 September 2009
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