Leaving Luang Prabang behind, we loaded our rucksacks and belongings onto a slow-boat and prepared for the long two-day sail down the Mekong. The boat, a long barge-type motorised boat was owned by a young Laos couple, a wedding gift from the groom's father.
We meandered slowly down the Mekong past large rock outcrops and trees and small villages perched on hillsides. Past fishermen casting their nets and small groups of children swimming and playing in the river who waved and shouted to us. Past bathing water buffalo and mountain goats and dogs roaming the beaches or mountainside at either side of the river while dragonflies darted in and out of the boat.
We spent our time, around ten hours each day, chatting, reading, playing games, sleeping or drinking. On the evening of the first day we stopped off at a small town Pakbeng, consisting of one main street, and stayed in a local guesthouse for the night, venturing out briefly to sample some food at the Indian restaurant in town before heading back to our rooms. The town looked like it was a stopping off point for boats such as ours and catered almost exclusively for tourists.
Next day it was more of the same, interrupted with a brief excursion to a local village and a quiz after lunch. Otherwise it was a slow, lazy trip down the third longest river in Asia to our final destination on the second day, the border town of Huay Xai, Laos. The next day we were heading back into Thailand. There would be elephants, tigers and opium trails. But first, a final meal in Laos - an interesting meal of a traditional Laos dish 'Larp' made with tofu and a potato curry - followed by an early night.
Laos, like Cambodia, took me completely by surprise in that I hadn't known what to expect and even after I thought I'd figured out Laos it constantly exceeded my expectations. We had only scratched the surface of the country after our all too brief journey into Laos, one of the pay-offs of being on a tour. The itinerary was set and our time was limited but Laos is somewhere that I fell completely in love with and somewhere I fully intend to return to. It's a beautiful, intoxicating, charming country and a definite highlight of my South-East Asia trip. As to the rest of the trip, I'll keep you posted...
Sunday 27 May 2012
Saturday 26 May 2012
Luang Prabang, Laos
After an early start from Vang Vieng in two private minivans, we took the long and winding road through the mountains to Luang Prabang. A journey of around six hours, it took in some of the most incredible scenery yet in Laos as we passed through lush, green mountains covered in trees and draped in early morning cloud, a remnant from the previous night's thunderstorm. We stopped en route to take photos and gaze at the view before continuing on our way past sleepy little villages consisting of little more than a few bamboo houses perched at the side of the road or that hung precariously off the side of a slope, many looking like they'd blow over in a strong wind. Children, dogs, chickens and kittens played in the dust, a copper-coloured dust that seemed to permeate everything including the inside of the minivan.
The roads were riddled with potholes and uneven tarmac. In many stretches, the road was reduced to little more than rubble and dirt-tracks as the driver manoeuvred his way around steep inclines and hairpin bends, dodging lorries, motorcycles and road-fixing trucks coming in the opposite direction. It was a bumpy ride but one that was also quite exhilarating.
After a few stops along the way, we arrived in Luang Prabang in the early afternoon and were immediately struck with the place. Before the separate kingdoms of Laos were unified, Luang Prabang was a kingdom in its own right. Also, as part of French Indochina it has retained its colonial past both in its beautiful architecture and street layouts and in the many French-style bakeries in the town. Nowadays Luang Prabang is also an UNESCO World Heritage site.
We wandered into town eager to make the most of the rest of the day by exploring. The night market was just setting up. A whole street was closed off and lined with stalls selling local handicrafts like bags, jewellery, scarves, paintings, t-shirts and wooden carved souvenirs. As markets go, it was one of the best we had seen so far on our trip. Dinner that night was also one of the highlights of the trip.
In an alleyway off to one side of the market was a fascinating and intoxicating mix of food stalls selling stews and curries in large metal bowls, barbecued meat and fish on skewers, packets of curious looking dried foods and baked goods and, at the end, a couple of makeshift restaurants where for 10,000KIP or around 80p you could get a plateful of freshly-prepared Laos food. Various rice, noodle and vegetables dishes as well as spring rolls and pasta, we couldn't believe our eyes. The place was packed with other travellers eager to sample the food and keen to bag a bargain. We piled our plates high and struggled to finish it all.
After taking in the atmosphere and enjoying a leisurely stroll back to the hotel, I headed to bed as I had an early start next day.
Next day I was awake before 5am to go and see the traditional dawn ceremony that takes place in many of South-East Asia's mainly Buddhist countries, the monks receiving morning alms. We stood and watched as saffron-robed monks from each of the town's Wats filed barefoot and silent past local townspeople receiving offerings of sticky rice into the metal containers concealed beneath their robes. This food would later form the basis of their only meal of the day. As the final line of monks filed past us to return to the temple, we wandered down to the river and watched the town come to life as food stalls and street sellers set up their stalls for the day. After coffee and bagels at a Western style coffee house we headed back to the hotel to get ready for that morning's excursion.
We were headed by songthaew to the Kuang Si waterfall and bear sanctuary, forty or so minutes outside Luang Prabang. After a short walk to the waterfall, the more energetic took a longer hike to the top of the waterfall while the less energetic wandered downstream to the swimming spot to cool off against a charming, picturesque backdrop. As we left the waterfall we headed to the bear sanctuary within the park to see endangered Asaiatic Black Bears that had been rescued from poachers. While it was heartening to see the charity operating in Laos, it was still sad to see them behind cages in captivity.
That afternoon, on another baking hot day, I took a walk into town to the National Museum and Royal Palace. Until 1975 when the monarchy was overthrown by communists, Haw Kham was the royal residence for King Sisavang Vong. Rooms were laid out as they would have been during his reign with an impressive collection of Buddhist statues behind glass cases in the main hall. Dinner that night, on our last night in Luang Prabang, was a return visit to the food market then it was back to the night market to pick up more gifts for family and friends back home.
Despite having spent such a short amount of time there, Luang Prabang and the Laos people had made an indelible impression on me. Such beautiful faces, a mixture of Thai and Chinese ethnicity, endearing kindly faces, that formed into instant smiles whenever you smiled at them or greeted them with 'sabaidee'. Laos bewitched me with its beautiful people and its amazing scenery. As we left Luang Prabang the next day, we passed through more beautiful tree-lined avenues of colonial-style buildings housing boutique hotels and fancy restaurants. It feels like a town and a country that is on the way up. If ever you're in South East Asia I would urge you to visit Laos, Luang Prabang in particular.
Early next morning we caught another songthaew to take us and our bags down to the river to catch a slow boat that for the next two days would be our home as we sailed down the Mekong to the Thai border. Sadly our time in Laos was almost over...
The roads were riddled with potholes and uneven tarmac. In many stretches, the road was reduced to little more than rubble and dirt-tracks as the driver manoeuvred his way around steep inclines and hairpin bends, dodging lorries, motorcycles and road-fixing trucks coming in the opposite direction. It was a bumpy ride but one that was also quite exhilarating.
After a few stops along the way, we arrived in Luang Prabang in the early afternoon and were immediately struck with the place. Before the separate kingdoms of Laos were unified, Luang Prabang was a kingdom in its own right. Also, as part of French Indochina it has retained its colonial past both in its beautiful architecture and street layouts and in the many French-style bakeries in the town. Nowadays Luang Prabang is also an UNESCO World Heritage site.
We wandered into town eager to make the most of the rest of the day by exploring. The night market was just setting up. A whole street was closed off and lined with stalls selling local handicrafts like bags, jewellery, scarves, paintings, t-shirts and wooden carved souvenirs. As markets go, it was one of the best we had seen so far on our trip. Dinner that night was also one of the highlights of the trip.
In an alleyway off to one side of the market was a fascinating and intoxicating mix of food stalls selling stews and curries in large metal bowls, barbecued meat and fish on skewers, packets of curious looking dried foods and baked goods and, at the end, a couple of makeshift restaurants where for 10,000KIP or around 80p you could get a plateful of freshly-prepared Laos food. Various rice, noodle and vegetables dishes as well as spring rolls and pasta, we couldn't believe our eyes. The place was packed with other travellers eager to sample the food and keen to bag a bargain. We piled our plates high and struggled to finish it all.
After taking in the atmosphere and enjoying a leisurely stroll back to the hotel, I headed to bed as I had an early start next day.
Next day I was awake before 5am to go and see the traditional dawn ceremony that takes place in many of South-East Asia's mainly Buddhist countries, the monks receiving morning alms. We stood and watched as saffron-robed monks from each of the town's Wats filed barefoot and silent past local townspeople receiving offerings of sticky rice into the metal containers concealed beneath their robes. This food would later form the basis of their only meal of the day. As the final line of monks filed past us to return to the temple, we wandered down to the river and watched the town come to life as food stalls and street sellers set up their stalls for the day. After coffee and bagels at a Western style coffee house we headed back to the hotel to get ready for that morning's excursion.
We were headed by songthaew to the Kuang Si waterfall and bear sanctuary, forty or so minutes outside Luang Prabang. After a short walk to the waterfall, the more energetic took a longer hike to the top of the waterfall while the less energetic wandered downstream to the swimming spot to cool off against a charming, picturesque backdrop. As we left the waterfall we headed to the bear sanctuary within the park to see endangered Asaiatic Black Bears that had been rescued from poachers. While it was heartening to see the charity operating in Laos, it was still sad to see them behind cages in captivity.
That afternoon, on another baking hot day, I took a walk into town to the National Museum and Royal Palace. Until 1975 when the monarchy was overthrown by communists, Haw Kham was the royal residence for King Sisavang Vong. Rooms were laid out as they would have been during his reign with an impressive collection of Buddhist statues behind glass cases in the main hall. Dinner that night, on our last night in Luang Prabang, was a return visit to the food market then it was back to the night market to pick up more gifts for family and friends back home.
Despite having spent such a short amount of time there, Luang Prabang and the Laos people had made an indelible impression on me. Such beautiful faces, a mixture of Thai and Chinese ethnicity, endearing kindly faces, that formed into instant smiles whenever you smiled at them or greeted them with 'sabaidee'. Laos bewitched me with its beautiful people and its amazing scenery. As we left Luang Prabang the next day, we passed through more beautiful tree-lined avenues of colonial-style buildings housing boutique hotels and fancy restaurants. It feels like a town and a country that is on the way up. If ever you're in South East Asia I would urge you to visit Laos, Luang Prabang in particular.
Early next morning we caught another songthaew to take us and our bags down to the river to catch a slow boat that for the next two days would be our home as we sailed down the Mekong to the Thai border. Sadly our time in Laos was almost over...
Saturday 19 May 2012
Vang Vieng, Laos
After an all too brief visit to Vientiane, we were back on the road again, this time to Vang Vieng. For the uninitiated, in recent years Vang Vieng has gained a reputation as something of a party town for backpackers keen to take part in the tubing craze. More about that in a moment.
After cramming eighteen people, rucksacks and daypacks onto an open back truck or 'songthaew', we left the hotel in Vientiane to catch the public bus to Vang Vieng. After some juggling of the other passengers between different buses to make way for us we headed off.
Driving north into the Laos mountains, the scenery was stunning. We passed through villages with simple houses made of wood or woven bamboo, through lush green paddy fields and beautiful tree-lined fields. Vang Vieng is without a doubt in one of the most beautiful settings in Laos with the backdrop of the mountains behind and the Han Song river running through it.
Our hotel for the duration of our stay was actually a series of wooden chalet-style buildings on stilts laid out around a garden courtyard. At night the sounds of crickets, geckos and other nocturnal creatures provided an interesting soundtrack.
If you're into kayaking, trekking, tubing, quad-biking, boating or mountain-biking you'll be in your element as Vang Vieng is a haven for all these activities. Quite a few of our group took part in kayaking and tubing and said they had a fantastic day. Otherwise, as a destination Vang Vieng has very little else to offer. It's a small, sleepy backwater that got caught up in the tubing craze and has now become a town catering almost exclusively to backpackers, arguably at the expense of its identity. A series of bars, many with day beds, show back to back episodes of Friends or Family Guy whilst serving buckets of cocktails to backpackers; every other shop is a convenience store or a shop selling flip-flops, t-shirts or sunglasses; restaurants tend to serve mostly Western food such as burgers, chips, omelettes and pizza or American style breakfasts. The locals, perhaps now bored by the drunken antics of the thousands of travellers who pass through every year are a little more detached, a little more distant in their dealings with you than the friendliness you encounter in the rest of Laos. In a nutshell, that's Vang Vieng. Same same but different. It saddened me a little.
We spent two nights in Vang Vieng. The first I spent sleeping after the heat and lack of sleep of the previous few days finally caught up with me, missing a trip the rest of the group made to the Blue Lagoon just outside the town. The second I spent drinking large measures of gin and tonic in a couple of the bars and eating disappointing pad thai at a vegetarian restaurant before going on for more drinks, buckets of cocktails and games of table tennis at yet another bar. Disappointingly, I too became a Vang Vieng cliché.
After exhausting the bars and restaurants I was glad to move on because the next place we were headed to, Luang Prabang, was one of the most memorable of the whole trip with a journey to match.
After cramming eighteen people, rucksacks and daypacks onto an open back truck or 'songthaew', we left the hotel in Vientiane to catch the public bus to Vang Vieng. After some juggling of the other passengers between different buses to make way for us we headed off.
Driving north into the Laos mountains, the scenery was stunning. We passed through villages with simple houses made of wood or woven bamboo, through lush green paddy fields and beautiful tree-lined fields. Vang Vieng is without a doubt in one of the most beautiful settings in Laos with the backdrop of the mountains behind and the Han Song river running through it.
Our hotel for the duration of our stay was actually a series of wooden chalet-style buildings on stilts laid out around a garden courtyard. At night the sounds of crickets, geckos and other nocturnal creatures provided an interesting soundtrack.
If you're into kayaking, trekking, tubing, quad-biking, boating or mountain-biking you'll be in your element as Vang Vieng is a haven for all these activities. Quite a few of our group took part in kayaking and tubing and said they had a fantastic day. Otherwise, as a destination Vang Vieng has very little else to offer. It's a small, sleepy backwater that got caught up in the tubing craze and has now become a town catering almost exclusively to backpackers, arguably at the expense of its identity. A series of bars, many with day beds, show back to back episodes of Friends or Family Guy whilst serving buckets of cocktails to backpackers; every other shop is a convenience store or a shop selling flip-flops, t-shirts or sunglasses; restaurants tend to serve mostly Western food such as burgers, chips, omelettes and pizza or American style breakfasts. The locals, perhaps now bored by the drunken antics of the thousands of travellers who pass through every year are a little more detached, a little more distant in their dealings with you than the friendliness you encounter in the rest of Laos. In a nutshell, that's Vang Vieng. Same same but different. It saddened me a little.
We spent two nights in Vang Vieng. The first I spent sleeping after the heat and lack of sleep of the previous few days finally caught up with me, missing a trip the rest of the group made to the Blue Lagoon just outside the town. The second I spent drinking large measures of gin and tonic in a couple of the bars and eating disappointing pad thai at a vegetarian restaurant before going on for more drinks, buckets of cocktails and games of table tennis at yet another bar. Disappointingly, I too became a Vang Vieng cliché.
After exhausting the bars and restaurants I was glad to move on because the next place we were headed to, Luang Prabang, was one of the most memorable of the whole trip with a journey to match.
Friday 18 May 2012
Vientiane, Laos
To travel into Laos we caught the overnight sleeper train from Bangkok to Nong Khai on the Thai-Laos border. Following our experiences on the overnight train in Vietnam we were pleased and a little relieved to find that this time the carriage was arranged in a two-tier bunk arrangement running the length of the carriage, rather than the six-berth arrangement in Vietnam. Sleeping arrangements were spacious and comfortable. Porters made up the beds with cotton sheets and blankets and each bed had its own curtain for privacy. As experiences go it was very pleasant and one of the better overnight travel experiences so far.
Next morning, the conductor woke everyone up by walking the length of the carriage making rooster noises before offering options of breakfast and coffee. It was then we discovered that we were going to be delayed by some four or so hours and would be getting into Nong Khai nearer midday rather than the 8.20am printed on our tickets. We still had to cross the Thai and Laos borders so, allowing for any delays, we would be getting into Vientiane quite late in the afternoon. Given that we were leaving the very next day to go to Vang Vieng, it allowed us little or no time in the Laos capital.
Finally arriving at Nong Khai we crammed ourselves and our belongings into tuk tuks for the short drive from the train station to border control. This time we were through the Thai border pretty swiftly, though as usual I seemed to have chosen to stand in the slowest moving queue with the most officious and miserable-looking immigration official. We then caught a public bus the short distance over the Friendship Bridge to the Laos border.
After filling in an immigration form, submitting a passport photo, paying $35 and waiting for a few minutes, I was rewarded with a Laos visa and duly made my way into the People's Democratic Republic of Laos. We caught minivans to travel the 20km or so to Vientiane. Luggage had to be stored on top of the van, secured, somewhat optimistically, by a single piece of rope. We spent the journey wondering which of our backpacks would fly off the roof first but amazingly the rope held everything in place.
Laos is one of the poorest countries in the world but I was immediately struck by how lush the country seems. Green paddy fields and trees lining the horizon give way to surprisingly well built and elegant-looking houses, interspersed with simpler wooden built homes. Vientiane, much like Phnom Penh, has remnants of its French heritage in the colonial style buildings and wide boulevard-style avenues. I felt an instant connection with Laos. Much like Cambodia the people seemed friendlier and were quick to smile. It was refreshing after our experiences in Thailand.
We arrived in Vientiane late in the day. After dumping bags and a quick bite to eat we decided to make the most of the remaining day by hiring a tuk tuk to bring us around the city. What we realised having done the tour is that there isn't a great deal to see in Vientiane apart from the odd Wat or temple. However I'm glad I got to see at least a little bit of the city. I should also mention our tuk tuk driver who had one of the kindest, smiliest faces I've ever met. Indeed, as we leaving next morning he was outside the hotel and smiled and waved. He's the one in the photo above.
Dinner that night was at another charitable restaurant Makphet, part of the Friends network of restaurants that we had visited in Phnom Penh. One of the dishes I had - eggplant in a traditional Lao sauce served with sticky rice - was absolutely delicious and had a real kick to it. As a first introduction to Lao cooking, it was a triumph. After a long day and night travelling, and with another long day ahead we all headed home for an early night. Tomorrow we were off to Vang Vieng, the party capital of Laos.
Thursday 17 May 2012
Bangkok, Thailand
There's an expression we came across in Vietnam that you could use to describe my experience of Bangkok - 'Same same but different'. More of that in a moment.
By far our most arduous border crossing was that between Cambodia and Thailand. We left at 6.30am by private bus to drive for a couple of hours to the Cambodia-Thai border. Heaving our increasingly heavy rucksacks off the bus, we walked with them to the border departure line and after being photographed and finger-printed once again, exited Cambodia. Still carrying our rucksacks, we trekked in increasingly hot temperatures through No Man's Land where we stood in line and waited. And waited. And waited. Eventually, after a couple of hours all of us were through and we trekked to find our two minivans that would drive us the six or so hours to Bangkok. Cramming nine people and nine rucksacks and day packs into each minivan we settled down for the long journey. It was uncomfortable and cramped, with the long-legged boys trying to come up with ingenious ways to fit legs into any available gaps. We made petrol stops every couple of hours and, under Thai law, all passengers had to get out of the vehicle and sit in a waiting area while the vehicle refuelled. It was both an inconvenience and a relief as we sat and waited to be summoned back to the minivan each time.
Thai drivers seem to be a lot more considerate than their Vietnamese or Cambodian counterparts. Not once did our driver beep his horn. He overtook after making sure there was enough space. He drove at the speed limit. He slowed down without driving so close to the other vehicle that they were practically touching. It's probably the safest I've felt on the road while on this trip. Plus Thai drivers drive on the left like the UK. Same same but different.
Arriving on the outskirts of Bangkok we hit rush hour traffic. After coming from Cambodia and Vietnam, Bangkok is like a whole other world. Four lane super highways, concrete expressways weaving their way around the city, huge towering skyscrapers, Bangkok is bigger and richer than any city we had visited on this trip so far. I disliked it immediately. On every street huge gold-framed pictures of the King and Royal Family can be seen. Huge statues and elaborate sculptures of Buddha or elephants or lotus flowers are everywhere. We drove to our hotel close to the Khao San Road. It was a cheap backpacker hotel typical of the area and my heart sank. It looked like a Thai knocking-shop only with its own travel agents and currency exchange. That night, foregoing any group activity, I went out for beer and pizza with one of the Aussies on the group and wondered how I was going to fill the next three days.
Next morning, having found some enthusiasm overnight I decided to spend the day in Chinatown and worshipping at one of Bangkok's most impressive retail temples, the Central Plaza Mall. Catching the public riverboat, we disembarked into the heady, dizzying labyrinth streets of Chinatown. Through market stalls selling cheap trinkets and toys, past cloth merchants and street sellers and food stalls selling just about everything, we tried to take it all in. Finally overwhelmed by it all we ducked into a restaurant to escape the heat and get a drink where I tried green chrysanthemum tea - a bit like green tea only sweeter - before deciding it's definitely an acquired taste.
We decided to get a taxi to the mall and after a couple of unsuccessful attempts to get a taxi a) because the driver claimed not to know where the mall was or b) because they wouldn't put the meter on which would have meant paying a ridiculously over-inflated price, we got a cab to the Central Plaza mall. Seven floors of retail hedonism, the mall really is a thing of wonder. The seventh floor is made up of some of the most amazing and opulent-looking eateries catering for the most discerning foodie. I spent the day wandering around all seven levels, eating at a delicious but ridiculously expensive all-you-can eat buffet and going to the pictures, which included standing for the Thai national anthem to pay your respects to the King before the film starts. The protected environment of the air-conditioned mall was the perfect antidote to the temperatures nudging the high thirties outside. We came home via sky train and taxi where we encountered similar problems with taxis to the ones we'd had earlier in the day.
That evening we enjoyed some of Bangkok's finest cultural entertainment. First up Calypso, one of the classier ladyboy shows. Well-choreographed dance and lip-synch routines with elaborate costumes covering the spectrum of traditional Thai, Japanese and Korean singing; melodramatic mini-dramas that told a story; excerpts from Broadway shows or movies like Chicago or Burlesque and individual and humorous set pieces with pole-dancing and even a Thai Shirley Bassey, it was all going on. There were both male and transsexual performers and it was refreshing to see how gender was played around with, so some of the routines featured the guys in diamanté studded underwear and stockings. From a distance the 'ladyboys' looked stunning, really beautiful. Up close there were a few tell-tale signs that they weren't the real thing.
From the sublime to the ridiculous and next up we ventured into the seedier underbelly of Bangkok to check out an infamous ping ping show. Catching the sky train we disembarked into the seething mass of a Bangkok Saturday night, through the night markets and past the strip clubs and girlie bars, where girls and ladyboys hung around doorways. We were in search of a club whose name we'd been given and which we were assured was one of the better establishments. Unable to find it and led by a couple of the locals, we found ourselves at the entrance to another bar where for 200 baht and a free drink we were told we'd see a show. And see a show we did. Was is sleazy? Yes it was. Was it entertaining? Yes it was. On a raised podium in the middle of the floor, three topless ladyboys danced around poles with disinterested expressions on their faces. In the middle a girl wearing only a bikini top performed a series of routines where she inserted various items into her vagina and expelled them. As we walked in she was bursting balloons by firing darts out of her nether regions, then it was bananas, inviting members of the audience to catch them which one of our group did. Then she proceeded to pick up plastic rings by means of a tube stuck up her vagina, then opened bottle tops the same way, firing the tops into the audience and finally pulling out a seemingly never-ending string of plastic flowers. Finally, she performed the thing that we'd all come to see. Inserting one ping-pong ball after another, she fired them into the crowd whilst we shrieked and dodged out of the way. All except one of our group who caught it, put it in his pocket and brought it home with him.
Deciding we'd seen enough, we got up to leave and were presented with a bill for around 4,000 baht. We had come as a group and had been told it would only be 200 baht each but this bill worked out to be nearer 500 baht each. The next few minutes turned a little uncomfortable as we were prevented from leaving and various hard-faced 'madam' type women screamed at us, no doubt in an attempt to intimidate us to pay 300 baht each plus extras because one of our party had had a brief interaction with one of the girls. Standing our ground we refused to pay more than 200 baht each and eventually, after a bit more shouting, the staff relented and let us pay that amount and leave. None of us were naive enough to think they wouldn't try to extort more money out of us and none of us were surprised that the experience had ended the way it did, but we were still mighty relieved to get out of there in one piece. After another disappointing wrangle with a couple of taxi drivers who wanted to charge us 250 baht to drive us home or claimed not to know where our hotel was, we finally agreed to pay 120 baht off-meter to one we flagged down in the street. It was midnight and the streets around the hotel were still busy with people having massages or smoking hookah pipes or watching football on a makeshift screen so we found an outdoor bar strewn with lanterns and fairy lights and, over a beer, reminisced on what had been a very eventful evening.
The following day was a chill-out day. It involved a lie-in, a late breakfast, some reading and some lounging around. It was Sunday after all. That night at dinner we met some more new faces who would be joining us for the journey into Laos, two more Aussies, a Brit and an American. As with everyone we had met so far on the trip they seemed lovely and would make a welcome addition to our group.
The final football matches of the season were being played at home to decide the winners of the Premiership League. Normally I couldn't care less about football but on this occasion I made an exception. The atmosphere in the bar was electrifying as all three matches were being screened on separate screens. Roars would suddenly erupt in the bar and you'd have to swing your head around to one of three screens to see whether Manchester United, Manchester City or Arsenal had scored. When Man City scored the winning goal to be crowned Premiership Champions, the bar went crazy and celebrations began in earnest. Our night was rounded off by the in-house band All Around The World. An eclectic mix of crazy female Russian lead singer, laid-back to the point of coma Japanese backing singer and Thai backing band. They sang rock songs in English while the female singer in silver sequins pouted and writhed and jumped around a lot and the guitarist channelled Jimmy Page and pulled the appropriate face during the guitar solos. After an enjoyable evening where I'd danced, showed just how bad I am at pool and sunk a few beers, I headed home.
My final day in Bangkok was spent at yet another mall, the MBK, watching or rather snoozing through The Avengers. We also found out that one of our group had been arrested coming back from the bar the previous night after he'd given chase and apprehended a girl who'd stolen his wallet. After three hours at the police station during which time it came to light that the girl had stolen several wallets belonging to tourists, he made a statement and was allowed to leave.
My experience of Bangkok thus far had been very disappointing and the incident the previous night had merely served to complete my disillusionment. With the exception of one taxi driver who had been very nice, I hadn't encountered any of the renowned Thai courtesy or hospitality. People weren't especially friendly. Some were downright rude. Trying to get anywhere felt like a battle of wits and it felt like people were constantly trying to rip you off. Where we were staying, in the heart of the backpacker district, was full of Western faces with bars and cafes that offered Western food and played Western music. There were Westerners slouched in doorways sleeping off the effects of too much alcohol and the Khao San Road with its Irish bars, KFCs, McDonalds and mass crowds of tourists could have been any road in any Spanish resort. Same same but different. I hadn't come travelling to experience this. The whole point of coming to SE Asia was to experience new cultures and see things I had never seen before.
For this reason Bangkok disappointed me and I spent my whole time there just wishing we could leave. The fact that we would be returning to Bangkok later on in the trip didn't fill me with joy.
Next up was Laos, one of the places I had heard so many incredible things about. I couldn't wait to get there. It would involve another sleeper train, a conductor who made rooster noises and a four-hour delay.
By far our most arduous border crossing was that between Cambodia and Thailand. We left at 6.30am by private bus to drive for a couple of hours to the Cambodia-Thai border. Heaving our increasingly heavy rucksacks off the bus, we walked with them to the border departure line and after being photographed and finger-printed once again, exited Cambodia. Still carrying our rucksacks, we trekked in increasingly hot temperatures through No Man's Land where we stood in line and waited. And waited. And waited. Eventually, after a couple of hours all of us were through and we trekked to find our two minivans that would drive us the six or so hours to Bangkok. Cramming nine people and nine rucksacks and day packs into each minivan we settled down for the long journey. It was uncomfortable and cramped, with the long-legged boys trying to come up with ingenious ways to fit legs into any available gaps. We made petrol stops every couple of hours and, under Thai law, all passengers had to get out of the vehicle and sit in a waiting area while the vehicle refuelled. It was both an inconvenience and a relief as we sat and waited to be summoned back to the minivan each time.
Thai drivers seem to be a lot more considerate than their Vietnamese or Cambodian counterparts. Not once did our driver beep his horn. He overtook after making sure there was enough space. He drove at the speed limit. He slowed down without driving so close to the other vehicle that they were practically touching. It's probably the safest I've felt on the road while on this trip. Plus Thai drivers drive on the left like the UK. Same same but different.
Arriving on the outskirts of Bangkok we hit rush hour traffic. After coming from Cambodia and Vietnam, Bangkok is like a whole other world. Four lane super highways, concrete expressways weaving their way around the city, huge towering skyscrapers, Bangkok is bigger and richer than any city we had visited on this trip so far. I disliked it immediately. On every street huge gold-framed pictures of the King and Royal Family can be seen. Huge statues and elaborate sculptures of Buddha or elephants or lotus flowers are everywhere. We drove to our hotel close to the Khao San Road. It was a cheap backpacker hotel typical of the area and my heart sank. It looked like a Thai knocking-shop only with its own travel agents and currency exchange. That night, foregoing any group activity, I went out for beer and pizza with one of the Aussies on the group and wondered how I was going to fill the next three days.
Next morning, having found some enthusiasm overnight I decided to spend the day in Chinatown and worshipping at one of Bangkok's most impressive retail temples, the Central Plaza Mall. Catching the public riverboat, we disembarked into the heady, dizzying labyrinth streets of Chinatown. Through market stalls selling cheap trinkets and toys, past cloth merchants and street sellers and food stalls selling just about everything, we tried to take it all in. Finally overwhelmed by it all we ducked into a restaurant to escape the heat and get a drink where I tried green chrysanthemum tea - a bit like green tea only sweeter - before deciding it's definitely an acquired taste.
We decided to get a taxi to the mall and after a couple of unsuccessful attempts to get a taxi a) because the driver claimed not to know where the mall was or b) because they wouldn't put the meter on which would have meant paying a ridiculously over-inflated price, we got a cab to the Central Plaza mall. Seven floors of retail hedonism, the mall really is a thing of wonder. The seventh floor is made up of some of the most amazing and opulent-looking eateries catering for the most discerning foodie. I spent the day wandering around all seven levels, eating at a delicious but ridiculously expensive all-you-can eat buffet and going to the pictures, which included standing for the Thai national anthem to pay your respects to the King before the film starts. The protected environment of the air-conditioned mall was the perfect antidote to the temperatures nudging the high thirties outside. We came home via sky train and taxi where we encountered similar problems with taxis to the ones we'd had earlier in the day.
That evening we enjoyed some of Bangkok's finest cultural entertainment. First up Calypso, one of the classier ladyboy shows. Well-choreographed dance and lip-synch routines with elaborate costumes covering the spectrum of traditional Thai, Japanese and Korean singing; melodramatic mini-dramas that told a story; excerpts from Broadway shows or movies like Chicago or Burlesque and individual and humorous set pieces with pole-dancing and even a Thai Shirley Bassey, it was all going on. There were both male and transsexual performers and it was refreshing to see how gender was played around with, so some of the routines featured the guys in diamanté studded underwear and stockings. From a distance the 'ladyboys' looked stunning, really beautiful. Up close there were a few tell-tale signs that they weren't the real thing.
From the sublime to the ridiculous and next up we ventured into the seedier underbelly of Bangkok to check out an infamous ping ping show. Catching the sky train we disembarked into the seething mass of a Bangkok Saturday night, through the night markets and past the strip clubs and girlie bars, where girls and ladyboys hung around doorways. We were in search of a club whose name we'd been given and which we were assured was one of the better establishments. Unable to find it and led by a couple of the locals, we found ourselves at the entrance to another bar where for 200 baht and a free drink we were told we'd see a show. And see a show we did. Was is sleazy? Yes it was. Was it entertaining? Yes it was. On a raised podium in the middle of the floor, three topless ladyboys danced around poles with disinterested expressions on their faces. In the middle a girl wearing only a bikini top performed a series of routines where she inserted various items into her vagina and expelled them. As we walked in she was bursting balloons by firing darts out of her nether regions, then it was bananas, inviting members of the audience to catch them which one of our group did. Then she proceeded to pick up plastic rings by means of a tube stuck up her vagina, then opened bottle tops the same way, firing the tops into the audience and finally pulling out a seemingly never-ending string of plastic flowers. Finally, she performed the thing that we'd all come to see. Inserting one ping-pong ball after another, she fired them into the crowd whilst we shrieked and dodged out of the way. All except one of our group who caught it, put it in his pocket and brought it home with him.
Deciding we'd seen enough, we got up to leave and were presented with a bill for around 4,000 baht. We had come as a group and had been told it would only be 200 baht each but this bill worked out to be nearer 500 baht each. The next few minutes turned a little uncomfortable as we were prevented from leaving and various hard-faced 'madam' type women screamed at us, no doubt in an attempt to intimidate us to pay 300 baht each plus extras because one of our party had had a brief interaction with one of the girls. Standing our ground we refused to pay more than 200 baht each and eventually, after a bit more shouting, the staff relented and let us pay that amount and leave. None of us were naive enough to think they wouldn't try to extort more money out of us and none of us were surprised that the experience had ended the way it did, but we were still mighty relieved to get out of there in one piece. After another disappointing wrangle with a couple of taxi drivers who wanted to charge us 250 baht to drive us home or claimed not to know where our hotel was, we finally agreed to pay 120 baht off-meter to one we flagged down in the street. It was midnight and the streets around the hotel were still busy with people having massages or smoking hookah pipes or watching football on a makeshift screen so we found an outdoor bar strewn with lanterns and fairy lights and, over a beer, reminisced on what had been a very eventful evening.
The following day was a chill-out day. It involved a lie-in, a late breakfast, some reading and some lounging around. It was Sunday after all. That night at dinner we met some more new faces who would be joining us for the journey into Laos, two more Aussies, a Brit and an American. As with everyone we had met so far on the trip they seemed lovely and would make a welcome addition to our group.
The final football matches of the season were being played at home to decide the winners of the Premiership League. Normally I couldn't care less about football but on this occasion I made an exception. The atmosphere in the bar was electrifying as all three matches were being screened on separate screens. Roars would suddenly erupt in the bar and you'd have to swing your head around to one of three screens to see whether Manchester United, Manchester City or Arsenal had scored. When Man City scored the winning goal to be crowned Premiership Champions, the bar went crazy and celebrations began in earnest. Our night was rounded off by the in-house band All Around The World. An eclectic mix of crazy female Russian lead singer, laid-back to the point of coma Japanese backing singer and Thai backing band. They sang rock songs in English while the female singer in silver sequins pouted and writhed and jumped around a lot and the guitarist channelled Jimmy Page and pulled the appropriate face during the guitar solos. After an enjoyable evening where I'd danced, showed just how bad I am at pool and sunk a few beers, I headed home.
My final day in Bangkok was spent at yet another mall, the MBK, watching or rather snoozing through The Avengers. We also found out that one of our group had been arrested coming back from the bar the previous night after he'd given chase and apprehended a girl who'd stolen his wallet. After three hours at the police station during which time it came to light that the girl had stolen several wallets belonging to tourists, he made a statement and was allowed to leave.
My experience of Bangkok thus far had been very disappointing and the incident the previous night had merely served to complete my disillusionment. With the exception of one taxi driver who had been very nice, I hadn't encountered any of the renowned Thai courtesy or hospitality. People weren't especially friendly. Some were downright rude. Trying to get anywhere felt like a battle of wits and it felt like people were constantly trying to rip you off. Where we were staying, in the heart of the backpacker district, was full of Western faces with bars and cafes that offered Western food and played Western music. There were Westerners slouched in doorways sleeping off the effects of too much alcohol and the Khao San Road with its Irish bars, KFCs, McDonalds and mass crowds of tourists could have been any road in any Spanish resort. Same same but different. I hadn't come travelling to experience this. The whole point of coming to SE Asia was to experience new cultures and see things I had never seen before.
For this reason Bangkok disappointed me and I spent my whole time there just wishing we could leave. The fact that we would be returning to Bangkok later on in the trip didn't fill me with joy.
Next up was Laos, one of the places I had heard so many incredible things about. I couldn't wait to get there. It would involve another sleeper train, a conductor who made rooster noises and a four-hour delay.
Friday 11 May 2012
Siem Reap & Angkor Wat, Cambodia
Angkor Wat was one of main draws of me making the trip to SE Asia and I was excited to finally be making my way to Siem Reap.
We left Phnom Penh early the next day, catching a minibus to the bus station then the public bus to Siem Reap. The four hour journey was interrupted only once for a brief lunch stop during which a few of our group took advantage of the opportunity to sample some roadside cooking - cockroaches, grasshoppers and other assorted insects deep-fried in chilli.
We finally arrived in Siem Reap late in the afternoon and checked into the hotel. Dinner that night was at a local restaurant near the hotel where the service was attentive and polite and the food simple but delicious. Tomorrow we were off to Angkor Wat and it would be an extremely early start.
Next morning at 4.30am, as the rooster was crowing, we left the hotel while it was still dark to make the short trip to Angkor Wat to watch the sunrise. Walking over the moat and bridge that surrounds the temple and into the main complex, we could see the distinctive pineapple-cone towers of Angkor Wat silhouetted against the pre-dawn sky. Quite a few tourists had made the early morning trip too and local people, canny to the potential of making some money, had laid out blankets to sit on and were selling drinks, guide books or scarves and cheap jewellery. Sadly, it detracted from the experience somewhat that every five minutes you were being asked to buy something.
The sky began to change colour and the towers of Angkor Wat became more distinctive as the sun rose higher in the sky. The chatter of people around was distracting so I found a tree to stand under, put on my iPod, found a suitable song and watched as the sun rose fully over the temple, revealing it in all its glory (let's gloss over the scaffolding). The combination of music, the view and the setting was one of those magical, goosebump moments. I tried to make it last for as long as possible but eventually the spell was broken and we were called away to head back over the bridge and off to breakfast.
Following breakfast, we headed off in search of more temples. Although it is the most famous, Angkor Wat is only one of a series of temples in the area. Our next destination was Angkor Thom and other smaller temples, Phnom Bakheng, Ta Prohm (where Tomb Raider was filmed), Preah Khan and Preah Neak Pean. Embracing the genius of the Khmer civilisations a thousand years ago, the temples are an intoxicating mix of Hindu Buddhist statues and carvings, towers and terraces. Some are very much intact and some are in a state of disrepair and little more than piles of rubble while some are enveloped in jungle-like creeping plants. Wild monkeys roam the grounds or, like one we saw, sit atop one of the towers and survey the crowds below.
After an extremely long morning in increasingly seething heat and humidity, we returned to Angkor Wat to explore it by daylight. By now we were beginning to grow tired of temples and of clambering up and down steps but Angkor Wat really is an incredible feat of architecture. Built in the early 12th century by Suryavarman II, the man who unified Cambodia and built up the Khmer dynasty, it stands as a symbol of his devotion to Vishnu, and also as a modern day source of Cambodian national pride. We spent an hour there exploring and marvelling at the stunning towers and intricate carvings then hot, tired and finally templed-out we returned to the hotel to rest aching feet.
I had had a recommendation about a vegetarian restaurant and that night a few of us decided to check it out. Chamkar is a modern, fusion-style restaurant in The Passage, near Pub Street in Siem Reap. It's a small blink-and-you'll-miss-it place that serves interesting and well-conceived dishes. Between us we enjoyed some traditional Cambodian cooking with a veggie twist - spring rolls and dipping sauce, an incredible aubergine dip, a red curry with potato and tomato (and one of the best dishes I've eaten on this trip) and stuffed tofu. It was a fabulous meal and the equivalent of about £6 each, including drinks. At that price it was a steal.
After a quick drink with some of the others, a small group of us decided to check out the night markets. We wandered through stalls selling anything and everything: t-shirts and other clothing, jewellery, books, souvenirs, trinkets, Buddha statues, fake Rolex watches. You could have a massage for the equivalent of a few pounds or have your feet nibbled by fish, including a free beer for $1. As the clock nudged 11.30pm and as stalls began to close up we caught a tuk tuk back to the hotel after a long but extremely memorable day.
Our final day in Siem Reap was a relaxed affair. After breakfast at the restaurant next to the hotel, I took a stroll around Siem Reap, down to the river and along its banks then into the main town and another market area where the stalls were similar to the ones at the night market. I bought gifts for family and friends then wandered into the food market with its heady sights and smells - meat laid out on slabs with flies flying around, fruit and vegetable stalls, fresh noodle stalls, stalls selling tea and herbs and spices and curious remedies.
I stopped for lunch for the princely sum of $1 then after a final purchase of two original oil paintings for $30, I caught a tuk tuk and headed back to the hotel.
All too soon our time in Cambodia was coming to an end and tomorrow we'd be on our way to Bangkok to say goodbye to some people and say hello to yet more people on the tour. I didn't know what to expect from Cambodia but the country and its people had really charmed me. Despite the fact we were only there a matter of days, I had seen and done a lot and grown very fond of a country that had survived such an horrific ordeal and, rather than emerge cynical and hardened by it, had emerged with a beautiful spirit of kindness and complete lack of guile in its dealings with foreigners. I wanted to reach out and put my arms around the whole country. I left Cambodia really hoping it wouldn't be the last time I'd see it. Still, ever onwards, tomorrow we were off to the Kingdom of Thailand.
Thursday 10 May 2012
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
We left Saigon early on Sunday morning to drive by public bus to the Vietnamese-Cambodian border at Bavet. To aid the border crossing process along we had the services of a local guide who accompanied us on the bus, distributed the necessary forms for us to fill in, collected in passports then disappeared into the immigration hall at the border while we wondered if we'd ever see our passports again.
After a brief wait in stifling heat, we were individually called to collect our passports and cross over the Vietnam border into No Man's Land ready for entry into the Kingdom of Cambodia. After having photographs and fingerprints taken, passports were stamped and we drove into Cambodia. After a brief lunch stop at a makeshift roadside restaurant we continued on our way to Phnom Penh, some three hours away.
First impressions of Cambodia were of surprise and a little sadness. I knew, given her history, that Cambodia was much poorer than her neighbour Vietnam but I didn't expect to see such abject poverty in the countryside. Houses or shacks on stilts made of little more than bamboo, wood or corrugated iron lined the roadside. Occasion lush green fields would be interspersed with dry, dusty road tracks and the river, the Mekong, was a murky, brown colour. Throughout our journey we saw children in bare feet and ragged clothes playing in the dust, cows in the fields or wandering across the road into the direct line of traffic, chickens and dogs and roadside shacks selling drinks, snacks, tyres or petrol in old Pepsi bottles. After the built-up towns in Vietnam with their bright advertising signs and throngs of people sitting or milling about the streets, I expected Cambodia to be the same so initially it was something of a shock. It was much quieter with considerably fewer cars or motorbikes on the roads. However, we did pass a fatal accident at one point, where a truck had gone off the road and the deceased were laid out, covered in tarpaulins, next to the wreckage.
We arrived in Phnom Penh in the late afternoon. After the sparseness of the countryside, the capital of Cambodia was a pleasant surprise. Foreign investment is helping to build modern shops and hotels that sit alongside the more traditional family-run businesses. Roads are wide and well laid out, with streets following a numbered, grid system. But the poverty is still there to see in Phnom Penh and the juxtaposition of rich and poor doesn't always sit well. Unfortunately, it's a legacy of the Khmer Rouge years, of which more later.
After checking into our hotel we took a walk into the city as dusk was falling. We walked down tree-lined boulevards and past the Royal Palace and Independence Monument, which marks Cambodia's freedom from the French in 1953. Everywhere in the city France's legacy can still be seen. Beautiful colonial style buildings and French names still remain in the city, a throwback to when Cambodia, with Vietnam and Laos was part of French Indochina.
In the main thoroughfare close to the Palace we saw huge groups of people who had gathered to dance en-masse, something, we were told, they do every night. It was wonderful to see and quite magical.
After dinner at a restaurant serving both local Khmer specialities and pizzas topped with 'happy' herbs, though my pizza wasn't particularly 'happy', we caught tuk tuks back to the hotel. It had been a long day and tomorrow we were going to be delving into Cambodia's devastating history. It would be a day that would leave us all somewhat shaken.
Monday morning dawned with a tour of S21 or the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. A former high school, during the reign of the Khmer Rouge it was transformed into one of several hundred prisons throughout Cambodia where tens of thousands of Cambodians - teachers, professors, intellectuals, ministers, farmers, men, women and children - were brought to be interrogated and tortured. Between 1975-1979 around 3 million Cambodians were killed by the Khmer Rouge, headed by Pol Pot. His vision for Cambodia was a return to its agrarian roots with an uneducated peasant stock working the land. The educated or middle classes were deemed dangerous and his plan was to eradicate them. He did away with education and currency and forced the people to work the land, effectively as slave labour. Almost forty years on, his legacy is still there to see. Indeed our guide, a man in his early forties described how his family was affected. He was separated from his parents and sent to a Children's Centre. His uncle went missing and was never seen again, presumed dead at the hands of the Khmer Rouge. His mother was forced into an arranged marriage, another of Pol Pot's decrees, despite being already married.
At S21 you can still see the cells where people were held, the photos of people who were imprisoned there, the instruments of torture, the testimonies of the women who were raped or people who were tortured and still see their blood on the ceilings and floors of the cells. There are also paintings depicting some of the utterly horrific scenes that took place at the prison and at Cheong Ek Genocide Center or the Killing Fields, where people were taken to be executed and their bodies buried or thrown into the river. At the end of the tour we were introduced to a survivor of S21 and one of the few people who managed to escape. It was humbling.
The experience of seeing S21 left an indelible impression on us. With heavy hearts we took the short trip to the Genocide Center, on the outskirts of Phnom Penh. There were 343 similar centres in Cambodia at the height of the Khmer Rouge, a fact I find too unbelievable for words. You can see the mass graves where hundreds of men, women and children were executed and buried, and walk over ground where the clothes of those who died is still visible under the soil. We were brought past the palm tree where long shards of palm leaf were used to slit the throats of victims and past the Killing Tree where babies were beaten to death by being repeatedly thrown against the trunk of the tree. And in the midst of all this horror is the recently built towering glass pagoda housing the skulls and bones of the victims as a permanent monument to those who died. The experience of S21 and the Genocide Center was difficult to articulate and we drove back to the city pretty much in silence trying to make sense of it all.
Back in Phnom Penh, and still somewhat subdued, we went to the FCC, or foreign correspondents' hangout, for lunch with views out across the waterfront. Lunch was a local Khmer fish amok dish, and very tasty it was too. Later that afternoon we headed to the National Museum where thousands of priceless artefacts from Angkor Wat, some of them almost 1,500 years old, are housed. After being asked to make an offering to Buddha which inevitably involved parting with cold, hard cash we started to make tracks only to get caught up in the most incredible tropical thunderstorm. The rain fell fiercely and within a few minutes the streets became flooded. When we eventually decided to leave the shelter of the museum to find a tuk tuk, we had to wade through shin-deep water to get out of the grounds. The main streets came to resemble a river as cars, motorbikes and bikes waded through.The tuk tuk drove through the flooded streets until eventually the driver admitted defeat and decamped to a petrol station forecourt to wait it out. For the next forty-five minutes, we along with several scooters, tuk tuks and saffron-robed monks, waited for the water to subside. We eventually made it back to the hotel, taking several detours to avoid heavily water-logged streets. But it had certainly been an adventure.
For our last night in Phnom Penh we went to a restaurant, Friends, not that dissimilar to Streets in Hoi An in that it helps disadvantaged young people train to become chefs. The incredibly adventurous opted for deep fried tarantula followed by beef with red ants. I played it safe with tofu.
All too soon, our time in Phnom Penh had come to an end. I would have given anything to stay a little longer. Despite the fact that many middle-aged Cambodians are undoubtedly still haunted by their past, people were kind and extremely good-natured. They smile a lot. Many spoke surprisingly good English. Phnom Penh was a bit of a revelation and Cambodia had stolen a little bit of my heart. Still, at least we had a few more days in Cambodia. Our next destination was Siem Reap home of temples, temples and more temples including the daddy of them all Angkor Wat.
After a brief wait in stifling heat, we were individually called to collect our passports and cross over the Vietnam border into No Man's Land ready for entry into the Kingdom of Cambodia. After having photographs and fingerprints taken, passports were stamped and we drove into Cambodia. After a brief lunch stop at a makeshift roadside restaurant we continued on our way to Phnom Penh, some three hours away.
First impressions of Cambodia were of surprise and a little sadness. I knew, given her history, that Cambodia was much poorer than her neighbour Vietnam but I didn't expect to see such abject poverty in the countryside. Houses or shacks on stilts made of little more than bamboo, wood or corrugated iron lined the roadside. Occasion lush green fields would be interspersed with dry, dusty road tracks and the river, the Mekong, was a murky, brown colour. Throughout our journey we saw children in bare feet and ragged clothes playing in the dust, cows in the fields or wandering across the road into the direct line of traffic, chickens and dogs and roadside shacks selling drinks, snacks, tyres or petrol in old Pepsi bottles. After the built-up towns in Vietnam with their bright advertising signs and throngs of people sitting or milling about the streets, I expected Cambodia to be the same so initially it was something of a shock. It was much quieter with considerably fewer cars or motorbikes on the roads. However, we did pass a fatal accident at one point, where a truck had gone off the road and the deceased were laid out, covered in tarpaulins, next to the wreckage.
We arrived in Phnom Penh in the late afternoon. After the sparseness of the countryside, the capital of Cambodia was a pleasant surprise. Foreign investment is helping to build modern shops and hotels that sit alongside the more traditional family-run businesses. Roads are wide and well laid out, with streets following a numbered, grid system. But the poverty is still there to see in Phnom Penh and the juxtaposition of rich and poor doesn't always sit well. Unfortunately, it's a legacy of the Khmer Rouge years, of which more later.
After checking into our hotel we took a walk into the city as dusk was falling. We walked down tree-lined boulevards and past the Royal Palace and Independence Monument, which marks Cambodia's freedom from the French in 1953. Everywhere in the city France's legacy can still be seen. Beautiful colonial style buildings and French names still remain in the city, a throwback to when Cambodia, with Vietnam and Laos was part of French Indochina.
In the main thoroughfare close to the Palace we saw huge groups of people who had gathered to dance en-masse, something, we were told, they do every night. It was wonderful to see and quite magical.
After dinner at a restaurant serving both local Khmer specialities and pizzas topped with 'happy' herbs, though my pizza wasn't particularly 'happy', we caught tuk tuks back to the hotel. It had been a long day and tomorrow we were going to be delving into Cambodia's devastating history. It would be a day that would leave us all somewhat shaken.
Monday morning dawned with a tour of S21 or the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. A former high school, during the reign of the Khmer Rouge it was transformed into one of several hundred prisons throughout Cambodia where tens of thousands of Cambodians - teachers, professors, intellectuals, ministers, farmers, men, women and children - were brought to be interrogated and tortured. Between 1975-1979 around 3 million Cambodians were killed by the Khmer Rouge, headed by Pol Pot. His vision for Cambodia was a return to its agrarian roots with an uneducated peasant stock working the land. The educated or middle classes were deemed dangerous and his plan was to eradicate them. He did away with education and currency and forced the people to work the land, effectively as slave labour. Almost forty years on, his legacy is still there to see. Indeed our guide, a man in his early forties described how his family was affected. He was separated from his parents and sent to a Children's Centre. His uncle went missing and was never seen again, presumed dead at the hands of the Khmer Rouge. His mother was forced into an arranged marriage, another of Pol Pot's decrees, despite being already married.
At S21 you can still see the cells where people were held, the photos of people who were imprisoned there, the instruments of torture, the testimonies of the women who were raped or people who were tortured and still see their blood on the ceilings and floors of the cells. There are also paintings depicting some of the utterly horrific scenes that took place at the prison and at Cheong Ek Genocide Center or the Killing Fields, where people were taken to be executed and their bodies buried or thrown into the river. At the end of the tour we were introduced to a survivor of S21 and one of the few people who managed to escape. It was humbling.
The experience of seeing S21 left an indelible impression on us. With heavy hearts we took the short trip to the Genocide Center, on the outskirts of Phnom Penh. There were 343 similar centres in Cambodia at the height of the Khmer Rouge, a fact I find too unbelievable for words. You can see the mass graves where hundreds of men, women and children were executed and buried, and walk over ground where the clothes of those who died is still visible under the soil. We were brought past the palm tree where long shards of palm leaf were used to slit the throats of victims and past the Killing Tree where babies were beaten to death by being repeatedly thrown against the trunk of the tree. And in the midst of all this horror is the recently built towering glass pagoda housing the skulls and bones of the victims as a permanent monument to those who died. The experience of S21 and the Genocide Center was difficult to articulate and we drove back to the city pretty much in silence trying to make sense of it all.
Back in Phnom Penh, and still somewhat subdued, we went to the FCC, or foreign correspondents' hangout, for lunch with views out across the waterfront. Lunch was a local Khmer fish amok dish, and very tasty it was too. Later that afternoon we headed to the National Museum where thousands of priceless artefacts from Angkor Wat, some of them almost 1,500 years old, are housed. After being asked to make an offering to Buddha which inevitably involved parting with cold, hard cash we started to make tracks only to get caught up in the most incredible tropical thunderstorm. The rain fell fiercely and within a few minutes the streets became flooded. When we eventually decided to leave the shelter of the museum to find a tuk tuk, we had to wade through shin-deep water to get out of the grounds. The main streets came to resemble a river as cars, motorbikes and bikes waded through.The tuk tuk drove through the flooded streets until eventually the driver admitted defeat and decamped to a petrol station forecourt to wait it out. For the next forty-five minutes, we along with several scooters, tuk tuks and saffron-robed monks, waited for the water to subside. We eventually made it back to the hotel, taking several detours to avoid heavily water-logged streets. But it had certainly been an adventure.
For our last night in Phnom Penh we went to a restaurant, Friends, not that dissimilar to Streets in Hoi An in that it helps disadvantaged young people train to become chefs. The incredibly adventurous opted for deep fried tarantula followed by beef with red ants. I played it safe with tofu.
All too soon, our time in Phnom Penh had come to an end. I would have given anything to stay a little longer. Despite the fact that many middle-aged Cambodians are undoubtedly still haunted by their past, people were kind and extremely good-natured. They smile a lot. Many spoke surprisingly good English. Phnom Penh was a bit of a revelation and Cambodia had stolen a little bit of my heart. Still, at least we had a few more days in Cambodia. Our next destination was Siem Reap home of temples, temples and more temples including the daddy of them all Angkor Wat.
Wednesday 9 May 2012
Saigon, Vietnam
After two weeks in Vietnam during which time we'd travelled the length of the country from Hanoi in the north through Halong Bay, Hue, Hoi An, Nha Trang to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) and the Mekong Delta in the South, our last day had finally arrived.
We left the homestead in the Mekong Delta early that morning and, after visiting the floating markets that sold just about anything you could possibly need and seeing how rice paper and rice cakes are made, we said goodbye to our guide Nam and our trusty riverboat and caught the bus back to Saigon.
Our free afternoon was spent seeing the remaining sights of the city that our packed itinerary had so far not allowed us to see. We headed to the Reunification Palace, a time warp of a place stuck in the 1970s and the War Remnants Museum where tanks and planes and heavy artillery were packed into the museum forecourt.
That night we were meeting five new people who would be joining the tour as we travelled into Cambodia. After two weeks together, the group had definitely bonded and friendships had begun to develop. The group had found its groove and we were interested to see how the new people would fit in. Very well as it turned out. Some Aussies, a Canadian and another Brit were added to the mix and that night at dinner we chatted and got to know each other.
Vietnam had been an amazing experience. I was genuinely sad to be leaving but excited to be going to another country. Vietnam surprised me. It was more beautiful and more diverse than I expected and while the natural character of the Vietnamese strikes you as being somewhat aloof, sometimes to the point of arrogance, away from the big cities I found Vietnamese people to be really rather friendly.
Halong Bay, Hoi An and the Mekong Delta were all highlights for me, though to be honest pretty much all of Vietnam was a joy. Hanoi was in your face and crazy but after a while it grew on me. I didn't feel like I spent enough time in either Hue or Saigon, but then Vietnam is bigger than you think and we had a lot of ground to cover. Sleeper trains and sleeper buses were certainly an experience and not something I'd want to repeat in a hurry but it was a part of the fun of travelling in Vietnam. As were the boats, the junk in Halong Bay and the riverboat on the Mekong. And you can't come to Vietnam without mentioning the motorbikes. The ubiquitous form of transport in Vietnam, they are as much a part of the Vietnamese identity as conical hats.
Food was another highlight and another surprise as we sampled different cooking styles in the different regions we visited. Simple claypot cooking that I sampled in Hoi An and Nha Trang was delicious and probably some of the best food I ate while in Vietnam. Soup, noodles and spring rolls became our staples and I got used to having fried rice and stir fries for breakfast.
Next stop was the Kingdom of Cambodia. Having heard so many things about the country I was keen to see it for myself. Angkor Wat was one of the things I was particularly keen to see. And tomorrow, we'd be on our way. I was nervously excited.
We left the homestead in the Mekong Delta early that morning and, after visiting the floating markets that sold just about anything you could possibly need and seeing how rice paper and rice cakes are made, we said goodbye to our guide Nam and our trusty riverboat and caught the bus back to Saigon.
Our free afternoon was spent seeing the remaining sights of the city that our packed itinerary had so far not allowed us to see. We headed to the Reunification Palace, a time warp of a place stuck in the 1970s and the War Remnants Museum where tanks and planes and heavy artillery were packed into the museum forecourt.
That night we were meeting five new people who would be joining the tour as we travelled into Cambodia. After two weeks together, the group had definitely bonded and friendships had begun to develop. The group had found its groove and we were interested to see how the new people would fit in. Very well as it turned out. Some Aussies, a Canadian and another Brit were added to the mix and that night at dinner we chatted and got to know each other.
Vietnam had been an amazing experience. I was genuinely sad to be leaving but excited to be going to another country. Vietnam surprised me. It was more beautiful and more diverse than I expected and while the natural character of the Vietnamese strikes you as being somewhat aloof, sometimes to the point of arrogance, away from the big cities I found Vietnamese people to be really rather friendly.
Halong Bay, Hoi An and the Mekong Delta were all highlights for me, though to be honest pretty much all of Vietnam was a joy. Hanoi was in your face and crazy but after a while it grew on me. I didn't feel like I spent enough time in either Hue or Saigon, but then Vietnam is bigger than you think and we had a lot of ground to cover. Sleeper trains and sleeper buses were certainly an experience and not something I'd want to repeat in a hurry but it was a part of the fun of travelling in Vietnam. As were the boats, the junk in Halong Bay and the riverboat on the Mekong. And you can't come to Vietnam without mentioning the motorbikes. The ubiquitous form of transport in Vietnam, they are as much a part of the Vietnamese identity as conical hats.
Food was another highlight and another surprise as we sampled different cooking styles in the different regions we visited. Simple claypot cooking that I sampled in Hoi An and Nha Trang was delicious and probably some of the best food I ate while in Vietnam. Soup, noodles and spring rolls became our staples and I got used to having fried rice and stir fries for breakfast.
Next stop was the Kingdom of Cambodia. Having heard so many things about the country I was keen to see it for myself. Angkor Wat was one of the things I was particularly keen to see. And tomorrow, we'd be on our way. I was nervously excited.
Tuesday 8 May 2012
Mekong Delta, Vietnam
Our penultimate day in Vietnam was also one of the most memorable and definitely one of those experiences you don't forget in a hurry.
We left early in the morning to travel the 3.5 or so hours by private bus to Vinh Long to meet Nam our guide for the tour and join our riverboat for our tour on the Mekong. Arriving at our destination we encountered the first thunderstorm of the rainy season, and while the rain bounced off the pavements, we donned white, plastic ponchos and staggered out to board the boat via a precarious rain soaked gangplank trying not to fall in.
The rain was heavy but within about an hour it was over. We sailed up the Mekong stopping off at various villages and homestays along the way to learn about traditional ways of Vietnamese life. We stopped off at a rice merchants and found out how they polish the rice; at a coffin makers; a metal-workers and a traditional bamboo roof weaving place.
Lunch was a delicious home-cooked meal at a traditional homestay: noodle soup, baked elephant fish, spring rolls and for me and my veggie room-mate, tofu and mushroom stew, each course being served with hand carved vegetables in the shape of Vietnamese figures rowing or fishing. It was simple, elegant and delicious like so much Vietnamese food this trip. The homestay also backed onto a crocodile farm so we watched as young crocodiles were enticed with pieces of meat while other crocodiles basked in the sun.
After a brief hammock stop, we rejoined the boat and continued down the Mekong. Next stop was a plant nursery where we were given a tour of the plants and given samples of jackfruits, guava, pomelo, pineapple and plum apples washed down with jasmine tea.
Once tea had been drunk and fruit had been eaten we sailed down river to another homestay where we had a couple of snake encounters. One in the form of a python that we each took turns draping round our necks. He was pretty heavy and when it was my turn to hold him I had to get help from one of the guys as I thought I was going to drop him. He was smooth and incredibly strong but it was quite a pleasant experience. Python dispatched back in his cage, we were then taken into the living room of the homestay and told about traditional Vietnamese life, how families honour their deceased relatives by building shrines to them and learning about offerings that are made at a small altar you'll see in a lot of Vietnamese homes. We were also served shot glasses of what I thought was rice wine or whiskey. It turned out to be snake wine but I had already downed it by then!
Returning briefly to the boat, our next stop was to transfer into traditional sampan rowing boats and, donning the distinctive conical hat, we rowed to our final stop for the night, our homestay.
We were all sleeping in one dorm with simple wooden beds, sheets and mosquito nets. We had been warned that as we were in the country and in a more tropical climate than Saigon, mosquitos would be out in force. The energetic amongst the group went out on bikes, then it was back to showers, cold beers, hammocks and mozzie spray, and to look back over photos and reminisce about the incredible day we had just spent together.
Then there was the small matter of killing and eating a snake. WARNING: THE NEXT PARAGRAPH DETAILS THE SNAKE KILLING. Please don't read if you think it will upset you or if you're squeamish.
One of our group, Jamie, had asked whether it would be possible for him to kill a snake. A rainbow snake was duly caught, kept in a bucket then laid out on a stone slab. Effectively the process consisted of the snake's head being sliced off and its blood drained into a bowl. The decapitated head and body were still moving independently of each other at this stage. The body was placed in a bowl of boiling hot water and descaled while the blood was mixed with rice wine and drunk by whoever was brave enough to try it. I opted out. The descaled body was then laid out and sliced from end to end. The snake's heart was still beating at this stage. Jamie and our guide Nam removed the heart and Jamie then ate it. Apparently, it tasted like chicken liver. The snake was then cooked up and served after dinner in a broth with papaya. Those who tried it said it was very bony.
SAFE TO READ FROM HERE
Pre-dinner entertainment was in the form of some amateur local musicians who played traditional Vietnamese instruments for us, plus singing and story-telling from local performers. Invited to reciprocate with either a song or other entertainment, the guys in our group got up and performed a haka with our resident Kiwi, Jamie, leading proceedings. It was the perfect choice and the Vietnamese joined in with gusto!
Dinner was more of the same simple but delicious food we had become so accustomed to - soup, spring rolls, tofu or chicken dishes with rice - washed down with a bottle of Vietnamese white wine that was surprisingly tasty. Our night at the homestay coincided with two people's birthdays, Jamie and Catherine, so once dinner was over, the lights were dimmed and the birthday cake came out. Both were pleasantly surprised. There can't be any better way to spend your birthday than the day we had just had. I'm not sure how either of them will top it next year, if indeed they will.
The final entertainment of the evening was a pub quiz where three teams answered questions on the trip so far, the US, Australia and the UK. I'm pleased to say my team, Brits Abroad, were the winners. We even had our own little dance!
After a long, eventful but extremely memorable day we settled down under our mosquito nets and enjoyed our penultimate night in Vietnam. It had been an amazing day. We had seen and done so much and now we had only one more day left in Vietnam. It would involve museums, sightseeing and welcoming some new faces.
Saturday 5 May 2012
Ho Chi Minh City and the Cu Chi Tunnels, Vietnam
Travelling by public transport in Vietnam is certainly an experience. For the last leg of our Vietnam trip we took the overnight sleeper bus from Nha Trang to Ho Chi Minh City, or Saigon as it's still known. Sleeper buses in Vietnam have bunk beds, a fact that excited quite a few of us. Bags stored underneath the bus, we took off our shoes and were handed plastic bags to store them in then climbed on board and settled down for the night.
Sleep, like the driving, was a little erratic. Next morning as we were getting off the bus, we discovered that during the journey the driver had been texting while driving and had also fallen asleep at the wheel. One of our group had shouted to him wake up and had spent the remainder of the journey sitting bolt upright, watching him like a hawk. About an hour outside Saigon the bus was involved with a minor collision with a truck. Thankfully no-one was injured.
We arrived in Saigon tired and dishevelled. After checking into our hotel, taking a much needed shower and having a couple of hours rest we took off on our excursion to the Cu Chi Tunnels, a couple of hours outside Saigon.
The Cu Chi tunnels are a series of underground tunnels built by the Vietnamese and used during the War to mount a counter-attack against the Americans. Thousands of men and women hid out in these tunnels and fought a ground war against the US. We learned what everyday life was like for these people, how roles and responsibilities were divided up by gender and saw the elaborate and quite ingenious ways the Vietnamese built traps to ensnare any unsuspecting US ground forces.
We also got to go into the tunnels, that got progressively narrowerer and more claustrophic and marvel at how people were actually able to live underground in such cramped conditions for months, sometimes years on end and remain undetected for so long.
One of our group is a former soldier in the Australian army who, as a nineteen year old, took part in the War in Vietnam. He tells the story of how it was his platoon that first discovered the tunnels and how the tunnels were subsequently carpet-bombed by the Americans. He is also something of a conspiracy theorist who questions the authenticity of some of the accounts about the War and the tunnels, but we'll leave that for another day.
One of the optional extras at Cu Chi is to have a go at firing either an M60 or AK47 gun. I opted for the AK47. I'm not a big fan of guns but did enjoy the experience of firing a real weapon. To be honest it wasn't so much different to the firing range at the fair except it was much louder and had more kickback. Plus there was no goldfish in a bag handed out at the end.
After looking at a few more of the exhibits we concluded our tour of the Tunnels and headed back to Saigon. Our driver had clearly been to the same school of driving as our previous driver. We endured a white-knuckle ride as he swerved in and out of the lanes of traffic, overtaking wherever there was a gap, beeping his horn and generally intimidating other drivers to move over. The inevitable accident waiting to happen happened as we reached the rush hour outskirts of Saigon and our minibus was involved in a collision with a scooter, knocking the young girl off. Thankfully she was unhurt. The driver seemed more annoyed that he'd had to stop and get out than the fact that his reckless driving had caused the accident in the first place. We were never more glad to get off that bus!
After two weeks in Vietnam you get to understand how the traffic works. It's basically a free for all. If there's a gap and you can fit in it, go for it. If you're bigger than a motorbike and want to overtake, beep your horn in an intimidating fashion until the motorcyclist or cyclist moves over. At junctions and roundabouts there's no point waiting for another driver or motorbike to pass as he won't extend you the same courtesy. You can transport pretty much anything on a motorbike. Whole families, including babies and toddlers ride on the bike, often without helmets, and usually up front. The most people I saw on a motorbike was four. I've seen freezers, chairs, pots and pans, bottles of beer, dogs riding shotgun, live chickens, dead pigs, you name it it's probably been transported by motorbike.
Saigon has three million people and around two million motorbikes, which is more than Hanoi. It's also the largest city in Vietnam. Where Hanoi, particularly in the Old Quarter, felt cramped and frenetic with bikes and rickshaws, Saigon felt that little bit airier. The roads are wider and the streets seem to be laid out better but the driving is still as crazy as ever as our experience proved.
Our time in Vietnam was drawing to a close. For our last trip we were heading into the Mekong Delta to stay on a traditional homestay. It would turn out to be an incredible experience in more ways than one.
Sleep, like the driving, was a little erratic. Next morning as we were getting off the bus, we discovered that during the journey the driver had been texting while driving and had also fallen asleep at the wheel. One of our group had shouted to him wake up and had spent the remainder of the journey sitting bolt upright, watching him like a hawk. About an hour outside Saigon the bus was involved with a minor collision with a truck. Thankfully no-one was injured.
We arrived in Saigon tired and dishevelled. After checking into our hotel, taking a much needed shower and having a couple of hours rest we took off on our excursion to the Cu Chi Tunnels, a couple of hours outside Saigon.
The Cu Chi tunnels are a series of underground tunnels built by the Vietnamese and used during the War to mount a counter-attack against the Americans. Thousands of men and women hid out in these tunnels and fought a ground war against the US. We learned what everyday life was like for these people, how roles and responsibilities were divided up by gender and saw the elaborate and quite ingenious ways the Vietnamese built traps to ensnare any unsuspecting US ground forces.
We also got to go into the tunnels, that got progressively narrowerer and more claustrophic and marvel at how people were actually able to live underground in such cramped conditions for months, sometimes years on end and remain undetected for so long.
One of our group is a former soldier in the Australian army who, as a nineteen year old, took part in the War in Vietnam. He tells the story of how it was his platoon that first discovered the tunnels and how the tunnels were subsequently carpet-bombed by the Americans. He is also something of a conspiracy theorist who questions the authenticity of some of the accounts about the War and the tunnels, but we'll leave that for another day.
One of the optional extras at Cu Chi is to have a go at firing either an M60 or AK47 gun. I opted for the AK47. I'm not a big fan of guns but did enjoy the experience of firing a real weapon. To be honest it wasn't so much different to the firing range at the fair except it was much louder and had more kickback. Plus there was no goldfish in a bag handed out at the end.
After looking at a few more of the exhibits we concluded our tour of the Tunnels and headed back to Saigon. Our driver had clearly been to the same school of driving as our previous driver. We endured a white-knuckle ride as he swerved in and out of the lanes of traffic, overtaking wherever there was a gap, beeping his horn and generally intimidating other drivers to move over. The inevitable accident waiting to happen happened as we reached the rush hour outskirts of Saigon and our minibus was involved in a collision with a scooter, knocking the young girl off. Thankfully she was unhurt. The driver seemed more annoyed that he'd had to stop and get out than the fact that his reckless driving had caused the accident in the first place. We were never more glad to get off that bus!
After two weeks in Vietnam you get to understand how the traffic works. It's basically a free for all. If there's a gap and you can fit in it, go for it. If you're bigger than a motorbike and want to overtake, beep your horn in an intimidating fashion until the motorcyclist or cyclist moves over. At junctions and roundabouts there's no point waiting for another driver or motorbike to pass as he won't extend you the same courtesy. You can transport pretty much anything on a motorbike. Whole families, including babies and toddlers ride on the bike, often without helmets, and usually up front. The most people I saw on a motorbike was four. I've seen freezers, chairs, pots and pans, bottles of beer, dogs riding shotgun, live chickens, dead pigs, you name it it's probably been transported by motorbike.
Saigon has three million people and around two million motorbikes, which is more than Hanoi. It's also the largest city in Vietnam. Where Hanoi, particularly in the Old Quarter, felt cramped and frenetic with bikes and rickshaws, Saigon felt that little bit airier. The roads are wider and the streets seem to be laid out better but the driving is still as crazy as ever as our experience proved.
Our time in Vietnam was drawing to a close. For our last trip we were heading into the Mekong Delta to stay on a traditional homestay. It would turn out to be an incredible experience in more ways than one.
Wednesday 2 May 2012
Nha Trang, Vietnam
On another blisteringly hot day we left Hoi An and took a bus to Danang to catch a day train to Nha Trang in the former South Vietnam. The day in question also happened to be 30 April, Reunification Day, and one of the major public holidays in Vietnam. We were told the station would be busy and it was. Entire families with huge bags and other belongings were camped out ready to catch the train to visit their extended families, whilst we stood getting in the way with our unwieldy rucksacks and bottles of water.
Vietnamese trains are functional but have definitely seen better days. Cleaning appears to be erratic and actually seems to commence after the train has started its journey. The air conditioning didn't kick in until the train was moving either, so we fought our way to seats whilst sweat rolled off our faces and down our backs and then spent the next ten hours sitting in a sodden state as the air conditioning alternatively worked then didn't and the sun blazed fiercely through the windows.
In between the news, game shows and subtitled American movies on Train TV, we talked, ate, snoozed, read and listened to music to kill the time. A few disappeared to the drinks carriage again, one of our group returning wearing a completely different shirt to the one he'd gone in wearing. He'd swapped his with one of the locals.
We finally arrived in Nha Trang at about 9pm. The town felt like it was already in party mode as young Vietnamese rode around town with two and three to a motorbike, beeping horns and weaving in and out of traffic.
The most attractive thing about Nha Trang is its beaches. Beautiful golden sands, palm trees and clear, blue water. I'm not a beach or sunbathing fan but even I was drawn to the beach cabanas and sat gazing out at the South China Sea, even venturing in on one occasion. When I think of Vietnam, beaches are probably way down the list, but Nha Trang really is a hidden gem. Great beachfront bars, cool lounges, spa and massage places all over town, it really was a great place to take forty-eight hours out from the relentless travelling.
I've been surprised and impressed with Vietnamese food on this trip and a great example of this is Lanterns, a small but excellent restaurant in Nha Trang, that serves Vietnamese as well as Western food. The shrimp claypot was absolutely stunning, so much so I went back and had it again the next day! As well as serving great food, Lanterns raises awareness and support for good causes in the Nha Trang area. You can also volunteer your time to help teach English to local children through Lanterns.
After two days R&R we were back on the road, this time by overnight sleeper bus to Ho Chi Minh City or Saigon, the penultimate destination on our Vietnamese adventure. It would prove to be an adventure in more ways than one.
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