Thirteen weeks

An arial view of Angkor Wat taken during a balloon flight

Hello everyone!Firstly we'd like to apologise for the lack of recent blog entries, we have had difficulty getting Blogabond up in Cambodia but have finally found somewhere that appears to be able to locate the site. So here goes, brace yourselves it's been a busy two weeks!
Well, our last entry was from Phnom Penh, the capital city. On Saturday 10th of Feb, we got on a bus and headed north to a town called Siem Reap which is the nearest place to the Angkor ancient temples. The journey was actually ok and this bus was air conditioned which was lovely. It was quite quirky, and decorated inside with loads of fake flowers and bright throws and even had a t.v at the front. I was hoping for a nice film to break up the five hour journey, not so. After we'd been travelling for about ten minutes, the driver put a DVD on, Cambodian Karaoke! Seriously, I've never seen anything quite so random or tacky in my life, the singing was utterly atrocious but we had a giggle and making fun of the videos passed the time. The Cambodians love it so much there is even a whole t.v channel devoted to it here!
We finally got to Siem Reap which is experiencing rapid growth thanks to the booming tourist trade. The Central bus station was basically a few sheds in a giant sandpit! Getting off this bus was something else. As soon as a bus pulls up literally hundreds of tuk-tuk drivers and motorbike men crowd round the doorway and even try and get on the bus! You have to push your way through crowds of shouting, smelly men who grab you and try to get you to go in their whatever to Guesthouses that pay them to get tourists there. It's Very hot, very sandy and very scary! All you want to do is grab your backpack which is just lobbed out of the bus and hold on to it as tight as you can because they will try to grab it and put it in their tuk-tuk! Corinne located a decent bloke who was happy to take us to the place we'd booked rather than where he wanted to take us and off we went to find Jasmine lodge. On the way there, he informed us that he would like to be our driver for the temples, we agreed a decent price, arranged to meet him the next morning at nine and feeling rather pleased with ourselves we went to check in. Our smiles were greeted by a rather grumpy looking man. This was because he had apparently sent his tuk-tuk driver to get us and obviously we'd gone. Basically because it's impossible to find anyone in all that craziness and they hadn't confimed they were going to send anyone! Oh well! The Lodge was decent and had a lovely rooftop restaurant with a free pool table and the food there was really nice. But there were loads of mosquitos!
The following morning we met our tuk tuk man outside, he introduced our assigned driver for the three days who looked about fourteen, was really shy and didn't really understand a word we said! ( We realised the first guy was obviously a kind of middle man who did all the talking as he spoke good english). Off we went firstly to get our three day passes and then to the temples. This had been something we'd both been looking forward to, these temples are a pretty big deal, one of the seven wonders of the world and we were really excited. We weren't disapointed. We went to the biggest and most famous first, Angkor Wat (should be Angkot hot!) Wow! Nothing prepares you for the sheer size of the place it's gigantic and awe-inspiring. It's surrounded by a giant moat which was man made and the stones to make it were shipped from 50km away! All over a thousand years ago! Once you've fully expolred the outer levels you go into the middle with the towers. There are loads of very high, very steep stairways up to the top, this was because accending to the gods should not be easy. No fear of that! Once I saw what you had to climb and then come down again, I have to admit I was a little reluctant. I thought sitting in the shade with my bottle of water and watching Lara Croft (Corinne) do it would be much better. But wussing out is never an option with Lara and so I began climbing to the top. Going up was fine actually a real buzz and I throughly enjoyed it, plus it was well worth seeing the view from the top and there are loads of passage ways and things.You keep expecting some mystical creature to pop out and try and eat you it's a real adventure! But you can only put off the inevitable for so long and the time came to decend the stairs of terror. When you look down it's just a sheer drop and you can't actually see the second step until you're on the first one! Gulp! The trick is to take your time, don't let anyone rush you, concentate and never under any circumstances look down!

One of the many faces of Bayon

After we'd completed AW we went to meet our driver who took us on to the next temple, called Bayon at Angkor Thom. Bayon is much smaller than AW but it's really interesting the theme there is carved faces out of stone. Some are immense and others small it's much quieter than AW so you can take your time a bit more. After a busy morning we decided to have lunch and a rest. This is when Corinne got accosted by the demon child. There are loads of kids in these places trying to sell you souvenirs, they are really cute and love to talk to you, most are very sweet and move on to a polite no thanks. Others are more persistant and you have to a bit firmer. This child would not take no for an answer and I thought maybe Corinne had met her match in stubborness after alot of glaring, rude words in Cambodian and English from both sides and an almost full blown tantrum (from both of them) he eventually got the message. What sealed the deal where Corinne was concerned was when he said "if you no buy I no go away"!Well he'd set her a challange then hadn't he?! We no buy and he eventually stormed off muttering darkly.
The rest of that afternoon and the following morning was spent seeing yet more temples, all very interesting but if I describe everyone I'll be here all day and a cold beer is calling!
On the afternoon of the second day, our driver suggested a trip to see a floating village on the Mekong. This was very welcome as we weren't sure just how much more traipsing round temples we could take. We had a lovely breezy ride in the tuk tuk to the booking office and then went off to find our boat. Again the road turned into a dirt track lined by lots of tiny houses made from bamboo and reeds. This was an extremley poor area, I just couldn't believe it. Amongst all this poverty were loads of big posh coaches and tuk tuks like ours bringing tourists by the load to go on boat trips. There we all are well fed with cameras which cost more than it would to feed two of these families for a year. I think we both felt a bit ashamed and uncomfy. But again they are so welcoming and friendly hard to comprehend really. Anyway our driver found our boat man (I have no idea how, it's utter chaos!) and we followed him to the boat. There were loads all squashed together, you have to hop from boat to boat to get to the one you've booked it's so cool. British health and safety would have a fit! We had a really nice trip, going past floating schools and basketball courts until we got to the main village which is great. They have shops, churches and cafes. There are floating rafts where people grow food. We sailed round for a bit and then our driver took us to the middle and switched off the engine. It was perfect, late afternoon watching people go about their business and listening to the gentle sloshing of the water. Our peace was short lived though, as people in canoes came paddling furiously across to sell us drinks and bananas! Corinne bought a huge bunch of bananas for one dollar, they were delicious. Then our driver asked if we wanted to visit the crocdile farm, so we went to have look. They were quite well kept and very well fed. Turns out it's ilegal! Rich nations get poorer ones to farm the crocs and then ship them out to kill them for their skins so that rich people can get crocodile skin handbags and shoes! We got back in the boat and ready to go back. There are lots of beggers in Cambodia and many of them are children. This place was no exception, there were two

Transport of the floating village children

young boys floating around in tiny tin bowls with little paddles. They came to the side of the boat to ask for money, one was badly scarred and had an arm missing from a landmine. It just breaks your heart. Instead of money though, Corinne gave them some of the bananas she'd bought. They were so chuffed! You'd think we'd given them a hundred pounds! We got safely back to our tuk tuk driver and headed back towards town, with loads of people and kids waving and shouting hello! Our driver stopped at the foot of the hill and told us there was a temple on the top to watch the sunset, we were pretty exhausted but walked up this hill that seemed like everest to a stunning view. You could see all the way around and it was pretty spectacular. We slept well that night!
Next day was a long ride out to a couple of temples about 30km away, one was called Bantay Srei and was very beautiful with lots of inticate carving. Then we headed back. Corinne had read that you could go up in a hot air balloon and see Angkor Wat from the sky so we got our driver to take us. It turns out its a giant helium balloon attatched to ropes which goes really high and takes you up for ten minutes. It was really cheap and not very busy so we decided to go up. It was incredible, absolutley amazing. I don't like heights but it felt very safe and was great fun. Then we headed back for a well earned rest.
There isn't really a whole lot more to see in Siem Reap once you've done the Temples so the next few days were spent chilling and walking around the town. We got talking to really interesting young man who told us lots about Cambodia's history and about his work which was going into the country side and bringing children back to Siem Reap so they would have the chance of regular meals and education. Then we went on to see a temple and got abducted by toddlers! Seriously we just walked through the gates of this place and about five kids aged between two and three grabbed us by our hands and dragged us round chattering like little monkey's. We had no idea what they were saying but they liked us and they even melted my heart ( I generally prefer animals to small children and avoid them at all costs!) it was hilarious. It's so bizarre there were no adults in sight and these kids were just left to their own devices!
We headed back to Phnom Penh on Saturday and checked in to Rory's Irish pub and Guesthouse. Its a pretty interesting place! It's off to Laos soon so we'll catch up with you from there!

Apologies again everyone but have had a bit of difficulty getting our blog up in Laos. Last time we wrote we had not long arrived here in Laos and were absolutely loving it. Well our opinion certainly hasn't changed but we move on again tomorrow to Bangkok and have to leave this stunning country that we've both come to love so well. Last time we checked in we were about to go for a trip to some waterfalls just outside Luang Prabang, it was fabulous, just beautiful. When you first get there there's a little bit of a trek through the forrest, they have moon bear rescue center there and a Indochina Tiger that was rescued from poachers when she was just a cub. We were a little bit nervous when we discovered there were animals there, as we imagined them living miserable lives in tiny cages. But we were pleasantly surprised to find them in spacious enclosures, beautifully kept and contented. So that actually turned out to be a bonus! There was a path up the side of the waterfalls which passed several deep, green-blue pools where people were swimming. We decided to do the walk first and then relax in the pools on the way down. It was nothing short of idyllic. Although the water is pretty chilly! On the way back we stopped at a tribal village for a look around it was interesting but obviously the point is for you to buy things and you get bombarded by people and children trying to sell you stuff!
The next day we completed a walking tour of the town seeing yet more wats! (Buddist temples) Although they are very pretty to look at and some are very old. That afternoon we went to the royal palace museum which was interesting, the kings reception room was our favourite, painted a deep, rich red with stories depicted on the walls made from multicoloured pieces of glass.
On Saturday we had to get up early and catch our bus to Vang Vieng which is an absolute must on the backpacker circuit as it's surrounded by rivers, mountains, caves and tribal villages. This makes it a haven for climbing, trekking, tubing, kayaking and caving! Laos has only really been tourist friendly for about 4-5 years now and there are a lack of decent roads just due to the terrain and money really. What this means is the bus to Vang Vieng ,which is no more than 200km away, takes 7hours and winds slowly up and down mountains not exactly fun! Especially without air con! Now let me paint the picture for you here, we have just left Luang Prabang a sleepy little town where most people are tucked up in bed by 10pm and the national curfew ensures the remaining party animals are home by 12 midnight! It's beautiful, old fashioned, relatively untouched by the tourist trade and very clean. When we turned up at Vang Vieng I couldn't quite believe it. We had been warned that it had been transformed from a tiny town to tourist mecca overnight but nothing prepares you for it! It's a really weird place, basically all traces of Laos tradition have gone leaving a town that caters for a travellers every need. It's full of guesthouses, T.V bars, restaurants, tour operators and souvenir shops and the whole place is like a massive building site! The huge influx of foreigners has encouraged building on a massive scale and new streets, roads and buildings are popping up everywhere. We soon found our guesthouse and checked in. It was run by a british guy and an american girl, both seriously chilled out (as is everyone there!). We went for a walk around and the town was busy and noisy. T.v bars are everywhere. They are full of these wooden platforms that are covered with cushions and pillows and you can watch friends, The Simpsons or films all day! The funny thing is that you can sit in one of these bars watching one episode of friends whilst three or four surrounding bars play different episodes! There is no getting away from that theme tune. Infact we were both singing it in the shower! Our first full day there we took full advantage of this and watched a couple of movies and then read all day, getting our strength up for all the adventures coming our way! The day after we decided to go tubing, an absolute must in Vang Vieng. What this entails is floating down the river all day in an inflated tractor tyre inner tube! But when we got to the place it was closed and all the tubes were gone. Not to worry though we found a posh hotel with an outdoor pool overlooking the river and for the bargain price of 20,000 kip ($2) we did a bit of sun worshipping! On Tuesday we had booked a trip to see some caves, trek to a village and then Kayak back to town. This was a brilliant day. We had a young guide called Nom who was friendly and had a cracking sense of humour. We were dropped of at our first cave named Elephant cave after a curious rock formation within which looks exactly like an elephant, but apart from that there wasn't much else to see as it's tiny. We then walked to Caves 2 and 3. Cave 2 was amazing, it was enormous this one had been used for civillians to hide in when Laos was being bombed during the Indochinan wars. There were three huge chambers, the first for young men, second for women and children and a third for the elderly. Nom had got some headtorches for us to use (Corinne had brought her own), I thought it was a joke when he brought them over the battery was so big you had to where it on a string around your neck! Of course Miss Sensible with her lovely streamlined torch thought this was very funny! The cave was full of tunnels and cool stalactites and we had to climb things and through things, brilliant fun! On to the third cave, my least favourite! Before going in, Nom told us how two years ago a French tourist had died in the cave. They had only found him because of the smell! Euww! This was because he'd gone in alone with only a candle and a lighter and got lost in the dark. If that wasn't spooky enough when you're about to head into a pitch black cave, he then announced that it was full of huge spiders! When asked what they eat, he replied "tourists!". He then went on a mission to find one for us! Calling "come on spiders lunch is here!". I decided I didn't really like Nom very much any more! Thankfully we didn't spend to long in there and hiked to the next cave. You had to get in the water, sit in a tube and pull yourself under low hanging rocks and into the cavern by a rope! It was wicked, hauling ourselves along in the echoy darkness. We did a little circuit and when we came out it was lunch time. Nom built a little fire and cooked us meat and vegetable kebabs whilst we swam in the clear water outside the cave. We sat down to a feast. Warm bread, fried rice wrapped in bamboo leaves and the kebabs, washed down with water and followed by delicious sweet bananas. Then we trekked to the village through paddy fields where out tuk tuk driver met us to take us to the river to kayak. We got all the stuff ready and set off, me and Corinne in one, the two other girls on the trip in another and Nom in his own little one. Nom had decided Corinne was the captain (how apt!) and once we got into it we made a pretty good team, infact we had to keep waiting for the others to catch up. We could tell that we had become Noms favourites and he was pretty impressed with us! It didn't take us long to click that the route we took was the tubing route. The biggest clue is all the riverside bars with loud music. We stopped at the last bar, a lovely place with mountains in the background, a log fire and Bob Marley playing. it was perfect. Then it was back to the kayak for the final push home.
Next day was tubing day! Wahoo! We got up early, had breakfast and headed for the tubing depo. The girls that were on our trip the day before joined us and we headed off in the tuk tuk. You get dumped by the river with your tube and off you go. We weren't on the river two minutes before we stopped at the first bar ( well it is all part of the tubing fun!) and had our first beer at 11am! You get free Lao Lao shots aswell (rice whiskey- good stuff!) however we declined because we did actually want to remember some of it! All these bars have jumps, either zip lines or swings and you ( by you I mean Corinne!) climb up rickety bamboo frames and throw yourself off! So that was basically it floating from bar to bar, jumping off things and drinking beer lao! We eventually got to the last bar, the one from the day before, and sat round the fire listening to Bob Dylan having another beer. You could also buy a joint from behind the bar, it was like something from the sixties! (Don't worry mum we didn't!). By this stage the sun had started to set and it was getting abit chilly so we stopped and got a tuk tuk back to town. What a great day! On Thursday we chilled out at a shady bar down by the river and read our books and Friday we made the dreaded journey back to Luang Prabang. It was lovely to be back! Yesterday we went out to the elephant park project and fed and rode some elephants. It was a magical experiance. They are so gentle and when you ride them they're so careful where they step! Today we have had another easy day, reading by the river and eating cake! Off to Thailand next and shopping in Bangkok!

a travel blog by corinne_sarah

And so it begins......................

London, United Kingdom

Ho Chi Minh City

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Temples and Tunnels

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Cu Chi Tunnels

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Cruising on the Mekong Delta

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Escape from the city!

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

We're in Cambodia!

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Same same but different!

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Lovin Laos

Vientiane, Laos

Still lovin' Laos

Vientiane, Laos