Siem Reap is great. There's not much to do in the town itself, it's really just a tourist base to discover the temples of Angkor, which are about 5 km to the north of the town. Most guidebooks make out that its far too touristy and commercialised and not that great, so our expectations of the town weren't that high. But actually, if you compare it to some of the more touristy parts of Europe - think the spanish Costas or Falaraki - its not at all touristy. Yes, there are plenty of tourists around and yes, there are plenty of bars, restuarants and markets catering to them. One of the main streets in town is actually called "Bar Street". But what else would you expect?? After all, Angkor Wat is the most famous icon of Cambodia (its even on the national flag!) and the tourist industry is vital to the country which is still trying develop like its neighbours Thailand and Vietnam
Most people only come to Siem Reap for a couple of days; they head out to the temples in the day, go for some scram at night and then move on - usually back into Thailand. We were quite unusual in that we had plenty of time to kill here, and we stayed for six days. Because of the sheer number of accommodation options on offer, it's all very competitively priced meaning that for just a little extra expenditure you can get some really fancy digs for the night, we decided to take full advantage of that and treat ourselves to a places with a pool.
While in Phnom Penh we researched a little and found a place amusingly called "The Kool Hotel". It looked good and they had a deal on which meant it was well priced and within our budget so we booked up 3 nights there to start with. Marie was excited by the prospect of the pool and the free internet.
It turned out to be very fancy, especially compared to our usual standard (which isn't that low anyway). We had a nice big room, good quiet aircon and a bath in the bathroom! On arrival our bags were taken up for us and we were given an introduction to the town and the temples by one of staff. All the staff were great, very friendly and chatty. We were pretty tired after the bus journey from PP and it was still really warm so decided to go down to the hotel's restuarant and have tea. A Khmer feast of Amok Fish, Khmer Spring Rolls and, ahem, Quesadillas. It was all lovely and washed down with a bottle of red wine (the first for weeks!).
Next day we found it a struggle to leave the hotel confines. A leisurely breakfast, a bit of internet surfing (see last post!) and some chillaxing in and by the pool. The only downside is that the pool was a bit murky because of some recent rains and it was being cleaned. It was still safe to use but full of oily little globulets of chemicals which floated around you. Still, it was bloomin' lovely.
That evening we caught the free shuttle bus into town (the hotel was little bit out from the town centre) and ate at a bar/restuarant called The Red Piano. It was very proud of the fact that Angelina Jolie once went there when she filmed Tomb Raider. They even have a cocktail "inspired" by her on the menu, I'm not sure what that means. We then headed down Bar Street and had a (very) quick drink before getting the last shuttle bus back to the hotel. The next couple of days were pretty similar, we decided there was no hurry to rush out to Angkor Wat as we had all week so spent the next day doing very little again and then the next day moving to a new place to stay.
We decided to head nearer to the town centre, and found a great place called the Central Boutique Hotel. It wasn't particularly central, or a boutique hotel, but it was, again, really nice with a big pool. We spent a good few hours splashing around, generally making a nuisance of ourselves.
We decided to head to Angkor the following day. Our tuk-tuk driver that transfered us from The Kool Hotel to the Central Boutique Hotel, Mr Sena, quoted us a price of $13 to take us out there for the day, which was cheaper than the Lonely Planet quoted as a good price, so we went out with him the following day.
There are two options of what to see if you go to Angkor: the Big Circuit and the Little Circuit. The Big Circuit takes a couple of days to see everything on it and the Little Circuit just day. We decided that two days might be overkill and we'd get all templed-out so went for the option of the Little Circuit as that had the main tourist draws on it anyway. And it meant we only needed a one day ticket- which was cheaper!!
We also decided to fore-go the prospect of "watching sunrise" over Angkor which companies try to sell to you and we were glad we did. After 5 days of pure blue skies, we awoke that morning to a grey blanket of cloud covering us. That was fine we thought, as it would hopefully keep the temperature down a bit too. Our driver was waiting as promised at 7.30 outside and we jumped in the tuk-tuk and were off, heading out the town towards the temples.
We stopped and got our tickets, a reasonable $20 each for a day ticket - complete with photo so you don't give it to someone else - and as soon as the transaction was completed it began to rain. Rain alot. Once we got to Angkor Thom, our first stop, it was still throwing it down and we were surrounded by poor coach-loads of ill-prepared tourists running around drenched to the bone. A lot of Chinese tourists had huge umbrellas which we eyed enviously from our tuk-tuk which while waiting for the rain to ease. It didn't ease though and our driver went and bought an unbrella for us. Hurrah! We could actually get out of the tuk-tuk and have look at things.
We looked around the ancient royal city of Angkor Thom, seeing the famous Bayon temple and the old royal pavillions and terraces. It's a very beautiful place and even though there were quite a lot of other tourists it wasn't too crowded. The rain finally eased off as we walked to the Terrace Of Elephants so the umbrella became a useful walking stick as I tried to navigate the ancient walkways and paths- now horrendously muddied- in my wet, slippery flip-flops. As expected, there were a lot of people (mostly children unfortunately) who try to sell you things such as books or bracelets, or even just beg and some are very persistent.
There is still a strong divide between rich and poor here and I guess you just have to except that unfortunately this is the only way that many people, espeically from rural areas, can make a living. You just have to accept it although it can get tiring after a while. You can never be sure exactly who will benefit from any money given, as often kids are effectively pimped out to beg so giving them money only makes the situation worse and continues a cycle of dependance. Most temples usually had little stalls and shops where people were selling things so when we did buy a few little things - bracelets, fabric, water - we at least knew that the money was going to these family "businesses".
Anyhow, after Angkor Thom we headed to a few other temples out in the forests, including Ta Phrom - more commonly referred to as the Tomb Raider Temple. I've never seen it but know that it's in the film and it was amazing, probably the best bit of the day. Its very well photographed and the publicity generated by the Tomb Raider film means that its now definately part of the tourist circuit. The jungle has taken back the temples of the complex after it went to ruin and is a wonderfully beautiful place'where giant trees are weaved in and around the crumbling temple walls. You could even appreciate the magical quality of it all in amongst a ginormous Vietnamese tour group - it really did look like a film set but it was all real.
After that we headed to the main attraction - Angkor Wat - reputedly the largest religious structure in the world. We had driven past it quickly in the early morning downpour but couldn't make it out at all in the low visibility but now that the sun had come out it was really quite impressive. It's surrounded by a huge man-made moat (1.3 x 1.5 km in size) and you cross over on a stone causeway through the main pavillion entrance. Most tour groups had gone for lunch so it wasn't too busy and a good number of monks in saffron robes were going about their normal business which added to the experience. It's still used as a working temple. We walked around the whole place and after an hour or so decided it was time to head home.
As we came out, a guy came running over to us and said "You're Marie!"to Marie. It took us a couple of seconds to realise it was Rudy, one of our Fraser Island camping buddies! It was bizarre to bump into him but good all the same and we had a brief chat and catch up before heading back to town for some lunch.
A day at Angkor is definately worth doing, we both really enjoyed it, although we both really enjoyed cooling off in the pool afterwards too and then heading into town for 50 cent beers! The two main beer brands are 'Angkor' and 'Anchor' - whether the similarity is intentional I don't know but Anchor is cheaper and just as nice.
On our last day we bought our bus ticket back to Phnom Penh and sorted out some accomodation there too. The bus tickets were only $5 each, under half the price we paid to get to Siem Reap, although we realised thats because the bus wasn't quite so.... salubrious. Three words sums it up: Least Legroom Ever. Still, it was cheap and got us back to Phnom Penh with all afternoon to spare.
We're staying at the Cara Hotel - a good place which is comfortably mid-range ( no pool though!) and yes, has free internet. We're here for 5 days, we needed time to sort out our visas for Vietnam. You've got to give it at least 3 -4 days according to the voices of experience. Well, we went yesterday morning and after 5 minutes filling in the form and paying our money were told to return at 4.30 that afternoon to pick it up. So we did. That was it. It was the easiest, quickest, least hasslely visa of the whole trip. So now we have 4 days to kill in PP before heading to Vietnam and meeting up with Helen, Nicky and Steph.
Writing this has taken one day it seems, so only another 3 to go!
Wednesday, 28 April 2010
Wednesday, 21 April 2010
Lovely Jubbly!
Our journey from Koh Maak to Phnom Penh was - an experience.
The speed boat from Koh Maak was much better as we managed to get a seat at the back this time. You can't feel the bow of the boat bouncing off the waves so much. It was actually quite nice.
We had arranged the complete journey with a travel agency so we felt we had nothing to worry about. It was up to others to make sure we made our connections. At Kaittipol Tours on Trat mainland we hung around for about 20mins in the suffocating heat (I was forced to buy a watermelon smoothy) and the mini bus arrived to collect us.
We were adorned with smiley face stickers and climbed aboard with the other travelers. After about an hour on the road we reached the border with Cambodia. We were asked to leave the bus. Having done this before crossing into Laos, James and I shot off to the immigration window, where we were stamped out of the country. We shouldn't have assumed (but we did anyway) that the minibus would trundle across the border with our bags and meet us on the other side. We watched helplessly as some of the other travelers unloaded their bags and carried them through with them.
If I have learned anything from this trip it is, wait and see. There's a lot to be said for waiting and seeing. We did not panic and peered across to Thailand at our bags on the dusty ground. Just then a young chap was began loading the larger bags into a big trolley, including ours, he was bringing them all the way into Cambodia - all 20 foot of the journey.
Once we were reunited with our baggage we didn't let it out of our sight again. Bustling men took it upon themselves to fill in any paperwork for us and take us through the whole process. It was a whirlwind of activity. We were provided with bottles of water and we proceeded to be separated from our money in a variety of ways: the quarantine check and scan (A laser gun held to our heads - I squeezed my eyes shut waiting for something to happen - but nothing. The 'doctor' told me with a broad smile that I was very healthy.); the kid with the bag trolley wanted paying for bringing our luggage all the way from Thailand; the cost of the Visa itself, and finally money for helping us fill in the extensive paperwork and getting us through to the officials.
Some people were visibly irked by paying for serviced they hadn't expected, asked for, or factored in. A bit over the top we thought. Visas aside (which were about 20 quid each, and cheaper than the guidebook said) it all came to about 2 pounds each. It's nothing to us, but is comparatively a lot of money for them. Cambodia is poorer than Thailand.
We think people took issue with the fact that they thought people were being friendly and weren't told they were going to have to pay. People just work differently over here. It's not right and it's not wrong. It's just the way it is. I'd rather give money to someone providing a 'legitimate' service than someone just begging - which happens all the time here.
We were ushered to a taxi with 2 other younger travelers and transferred to Koh Kong where our coach was to pick us up and take us the rest of the way to Phnom Penh. This taxi driver guy devoid of a sense of humour, informed us we'd have to give him Rial (Cambodian currency) for the toll road. We obviously didn't have any yet, which everybody knows, so he graciously offered to pay the toll and we would all pay him back once he'd dropped us at the money exchange of his choice. Needless to say the exchange rate was not good but suspecting this already we only changed a small amount. It was probably the taxi drivers mum running the place.
We waited at the Apex hotel in Koh Kong where we had a less than average lunch of noodles. Just wasn't very fresh. Mouldy bits of cabbage. At about 13:30 we boarded a rather salubrious Mercedes people carrier. For once James and I were first on (never happens - always last) and we bagged the seats directly behind the driver, with all the leg room. Get in!!!!
The journey was easy. The roads were better than expected and we had good suspension in our posh minivan. Apart from our terror that our driver liked overtaking so much we felt we were mostly on the other side of the road facing oncoming traffic. I had to not look in the end. We had one stop at a roadside restaurant and reached Phnom Penh just after dark (what a surprise!). About an hour away from the city I began to feel not great. I didn't think I got travel sick anymore so I couldn't work out why I felt so nauseous.
Cambodia is the only place we didn't have a guidebook for in advance. We had booked good accommodation via Hostelbookers so we knew we were staying somewhere nice, but now we had to get there, and we didn't have a map to show our tuk tuk driver. The guy who stopped for us looked about 17 and his crash helmet swallowed up most of his face. He didn't look certain when we gave him verbal instructions but he set off with gusto anyway. We had previously agreed on a price so we weren't unduly worried, except I was about to upchuck in the back of the tuk tuk if we didn't get there soon.
We didn’t get there soon. Our driver stopped to ask 4 other tuk tuk drivers where the Spring Guest House was, and each time his colleagues would point back down Monivong Blvd, from where we had just come. We must have doubled back on ourselves at least 3 times. He was a determined chap though. There were a couple of hairy moments, Phnom Penh, being the capital city, is hectic (an understatement) at any time. We were traveling in rush hour. Once he saw fit to pull across 3 lanes of oncoming traffic and another time we were clearly going the wrong way down a dual carriageway. At the time I thought we might be going to die, but we have since realised that vehicles don’t stop, they just slow down and swerve around. It’s actually much safer. Given the amount of traffic on the roads we haven’t seen a single accident.
Finally we reached the Spring Guest House and James gave him a tip of 1000 Rial (15p) for his valiant efforts. I legged to reception and started the process of checking in. Thankfully this didn’t take long and as soon as we have been shown to our room I locked myself in the bathroom. It was definitely the horrible noodles from earlier.
The thing a body must realize about Phnom Penh is the pavements are not for pedestrians, they are for parking your SUV on. Pedestrians must share the congested roads with mopeds, tuk tuks, cars and lorries in their constant state of near miss. There are such obvious extremes of wealth and poverty, as we haven’t witnessed until now. It isn’t uncommon to see men with limbs missing who have probably been the victims of land mine explosions. Land mines are still undetonated all over the country side. Tourists are urged to stick to marked paths if they fancy a trek.
Having said all this we really liked Phnom Penh. After our auspicious arrival in the capital city things much improved. We went to the waterfront, and shared an ice cream at the Garden Bar In The Shade. It all felt rather European (French influence again). We bought a Lonely Planet copy book off a 10yr old girl called Monica, who had a selection of books in a basket and was really cute and chatty. She asked us where we were from and when we told her said in her best English, “Lovely Jubbly!” Del Boy has a lot to answer for. She also insisted on asking us our ages, and in return told us her mum’s.
There are lots of restaurants around that employ people from underprivileged backgrounds, or donate money to causes such as HIV/AIDS, prostitution prevention, education programs etc. They are usually lovely new air-conditioned places with great food and you get a clear conscience when you spend your money there.
We spent 3 days in the capital city, and after a 6 hour coach trip yesterday, arrived in Siem Reap. We haven’t been outside the The Kool Hotel confines yet. It has a pool, air con in the beautiful rooms and free internet (could you guess??). We’re venturing out this evening into town for tea.
I have prattled on for far too long. Until next time…
M&J
The speed boat from Koh Maak was much better as we managed to get a seat at the back this time. You can't feel the bow of the boat bouncing off the waves so much. It was actually quite nice.
We had arranged the complete journey with a travel agency so we felt we had nothing to worry about. It was up to others to make sure we made our connections. At Kaittipol Tours on Trat mainland we hung around for about 20mins in the suffocating heat (I was forced to buy a watermelon smoothy) and the mini bus arrived to collect us.
We were adorned with smiley face stickers and climbed aboard with the other travelers. After about an hour on the road we reached the border with Cambodia. We were asked to leave the bus. Having done this before crossing into Laos, James and I shot off to the immigration window, where we were stamped out of the country. We shouldn't have assumed (but we did anyway) that the minibus would trundle across the border with our bags and meet us on the other side. We watched helplessly as some of the other travelers unloaded their bags and carried them through with them.
If I have learned anything from this trip it is, wait and see. There's a lot to be said for waiting and seeing. We did not panic and peered across to Thailand at our bags on the dusty ground. Just then a young chap was began loading the larger bags into a big trolley, including ours, he was bringing them all the way into Cambodia - all 20 foot of the journey.
Once we were reunited with our baggage we didn't let it out of our sight again. Bustling men took it upon themselves to fill in any paperwork for us and take us through the whole process. It was a whirlwind of activity. We were provided with bottles of water and we proceeded to be separated from our money in a variety of ways: the quarantine check and scan (A laser gun held to our heads - I squeezed my eyes shut waiting for something to happen - but nothing. The 'doctor' told me with a broad smile that I was very healthy.); the kid with the bag trolley wanted paying for bringing our luggage all the way from Thailand; the cost of the Visa itself, and finally money for helping us fill in the extensive paperwork and getting us through to the officials.
Some people were visibly irked by paying for serviced they hadn't expected, asked for, or factored in. A bit over the top we thought. Visas aside (which were about 20 quid each, and cheaper than the guidebook said) it all came to about 2 pounds each. It's nothing to us, but is comparatively a lot of money for them. Cambodia is poorer than Thailand.
We think people took issue with the fact that they thought people were being friendly and weren't told they were going to have to pay. People just work differently over here. It's not right and it's not wrong. It's just the way it is. I'd rather give money to someone providing a 'legitimate' service than someone just begging - which happens all the time here.
We were ushered to a taxi with 2 other younger travelers and transferred to Koh Kong where our coach was to pick us up and take us the rest of the way to Phnom Penh. This taxi driver guy devoid of a sense of humour, informed us we'd have to give him Rial (Cambodian currency) for the toll road. We obviously didn't have any yet, which everybody knows, so he graciously offered to pay the toll and we would all pay him back once he'd dropped us at the money exchange of his choice. Needless to say the exchange rate was not good but suspecting this already we only changed a small amount. It was probably the taxi drivers mum running the place.
We waited at the Apex hotel in Koh Kong where we had a less than average lunch of noodles. Just wasn't very fresh. Mouldy bits of cabbage. At about 13:30 we boarded a rather salubrious Mercedes people carrier. For once James and I were first on (never happens - always last) and we bagged the seats directly behind the driver, with all the leg room. Get in!!!!
The journey was easy. The roads were better than expected and we had good suspension in our posh minivan. Apart from our terror that our driver liked overtaking so much we felt we were mostly on the other side of the road facing oncoming traffic. I had to not look in the end. We had one stop at a roadside restaurant and reached Phnom Penh just after dark (what a surprise!). About an hour away from the city I began to feel not great. I didn't think I got travel sick anymore so I couldn't work out why I felt so nauseous.
Cambodia is the only place we didn't have a guidebook for in advance. We had booked good accommodation via Hostelbookers so we knew we were staying somewhere nice, but now we had to get there, and we didn't have a map to show our tuk tuk driver. The guy who stopped for us looked about 17 and his crash helmet swallowed up most of his face. He didn't look certain when we gave him verbal instructions but he set off with gusto anyway. We had previously agreed on a price so we weren't unduly worried, except I was about to upchuck in the back of the tuk tuk if we didn't get there soon.
We didn’t get there soon. Our driver stopped to ask 4 other tuk tuk drivers where the Spring Guest House was, and each time his colleagues would point back down Monivong Blvd, from where we had just come. We must have doubled back on ourselves at least 3 times. He was a determined chap though. There were a couple of hairy moments, Phnom Penh, being the capital city, is hectic (an understatement) at any time. We were traveling in rush hour. Once he saw fit to pull across 3 lanes of oncoming traffic and another time we were clearly going the wrong way down a dual carriageway. At the time I thought we might be going to die, but we have since realised that vehicles don’t stop, they just slow down and swerve around. It’s actually much safer. Given the amount of traffic on the roads we haven’t seen a single accident.
Finally we reached the Spring Guest House and James gave him a tip of 1000 Rial (15p) for his valiant efforts. I legged to reception and started the process of checking in. Thankfully this didn’t take long and as soon as we have been shown to our room I locked myself in the bathroom. It was definitely the horrible noodles from earlier.
The thing a body must realize about Phnom Penh is the pavements are not for pedestrians, they are for parking your SUV on. Pedestrians must share the congested roads with mopeds, tuk tuks, cars and lorries in their constant state of near miss. There are such obvious extremes of wealth and poverty, as we haven’t witnessed until now. It isn’t uncommon to see men with limbs missing who have probably been the victims of land mine explosions. Land mines are still undetonated all over the country side. Tourists are urged to stick to marked paths if they fancy a trek.
Having said all this we really liked Phnom Penh. After our auspicious arrival in the capital city things much improved. We went to the waterfront, and shared an ice cream at the Garden Bar In The Shade. It all felt rather European (French influence again). We bought a Lonely Planet copy book off a 10yr old girl called Monica, who had a selection of books in a basket and was really cute and chatty. She asked us where we were from and when we told her said in her best English, “Lovely Jubbly!” Del Boy has a lot to answer for. She also insisted on asking us our ages, and in return told us her mum’s.
There are lots of restaurants around that employ people from underprivileged backgrounds, or donate money to causes such as HIV/AIDS, prostitution prevention, education programs etc. They are usually lovely new air-conditioned places with great food and you get a clear conscience when you spend your money there.
We spent 3 days in the capital city, and after a 6 hour coach trip yesterday, arrived in Siem Reap. We haven’t been outside the The Kool Hotel confines yet. It has a pool, air con in the beautiful rooms and free internet (could you guess??). We’re venturing out this evening into town for tea.
I have prattled on for far too long. Until next time…
M&J
Saturday, 17 April 2010
Kop Jai Lei Lei (Thanks a Lot!)
Its been a while since the last post and quite a lot has happened, so lets bring you up to speed in a relatively quickish fashion.... yeah right.
After leaving Luang Prabang we arrived in Vientiane at dusk (just for a change!). We made our way to the Riverside Hotel and booked in for a couple of nights, it was a decent place with satellite tv and air-con although a touch overpriced. But still, after 10 hours on the (not so) VIP bus - although we did get a free hot lunch en route - it was worth it. We were pooped so headed over the road for pizza before falling into bed. That night niether of us slept well, both of us felt a bit ill.
Next day is when the fun began, we decided to find another hotel which was cheaper than the Riverside to spend the next few days, so we wandered around town in the baking heat (100 degrees!) and didn't really find anywhere we wanted. In the end we found a fantastic place right next door - the Douáng Duane hotel, where the rooms were quite palacial and breakfast was included and free internet, and it was still cheaper. We reserved a room for the following day.
Back at the Riverside that afternoon, the "slightly bubbly"stomachache I had turned into some "quite hurting now"cramps accompanied by what my Dad would call a case of the 'small French farmhouses". This continued all night and wasn't helped when the most almighty storm happened that night and meant that the walls and windows seeped in rain water through every available gap in the walls. Towels and mop eventually collected from downstairs were put to use and eventually the room was dried out. Marie was useless and lay unhelpfully on the bed with her own stomach ache.
Thank goodness the next day we only had to venture next door and not traipse round town in the 100 degree heat with our bags. Both of us spent the day doing a sort of relay race between the toilet and bed, never before has a comfortable room been more appreciated and thankfully, as cheap. By the next day, another poor nights sleep, Marie had recovered and was quite chipper although I remained in a state. By now, we had abeen in Vientiane for 4 days and only seen about 2 streets, the walls of the hotel room felt like they were shrinking. So, pooey bum or no pooey bum I was determined to head out and see something new, I went for a walk in the evening (it was slightly cooler) and had look around the town. Its nice place, not really very big or much to do but it had a good feel about it and it was good to get out.
I found the local swimming pool on the journey so we headed there next day to try and cool down. It was okay, a bit rough around the edges (literally) and we didn't stay for long. That was about all we could manage before heading back for the hotel. In this time we have watched EVERYTHING on HBO, and we're now watching this weeks selection of films for a second time.
We decided no matter how i was feeling it was time to move on soon, so we planned to spend the next day and the local Water Park - Marie was very excited about this as she has been wanted to go to a water park since the beginning of the trip and this is the first one we've bee nable to get to. My stomach felt better so we heading there one morning arriving half an hour after it opened. It was the worst experience of the trip so far.
Issues with the water park:
1. We were the only people there.
2. Only two slides were turned on for us and you had to go down face first (I went on a couple of times and it was good, but Marie was having none of it!)
3. The slides were really dangerous looking.
4. The swimming pool was really murky and not clean
5. The Tube ride (Maries favourite and the real reaosn for going) looked like it had never been opened.
6. The hire of a ring as not a "deposit"but a non-refundable payment.
7. It was just rubbish
We left after about an hour, consigned to fact that at least we were only about 5 pounds out of pocket for the whole ordeal. At least we'd tried. It was fate telling us it was definately time to leave Vientiane.
We decided that rather than head through southern Laos heading towards Cambodia, we would cross back into Thailand and head to Koh Mak, our favourite island from our visit two years ago which was also convientantly close to the Cambodian border. So after checking out of the Douang Duane we got the "International bus" from the bus station and headed over the Friendship Bridge back to Thailand and the town of Nong Khai. After a lovely air-conned lunch and walk around town we got a sleeper train to Bangkok (and had a really good night's sleep - bottom bunks are definately worth the extra 50p). Thankfully my bowels had returned to a much more normal level of comfort as the day went on.
We had possibly the shortest trip to Bangkok, arriving at Hua Lamphong train station at 9.20 and getting a bus to Trat from Ekamai bus station at 10.30. This was the same trip we did two years previously and just like before we piled off the bus before Trat in the middle of nowhere and went to the tourist office for a songthaw to the pier. When we said "Koh Mak" to the lady she gapsed and looked at the clock, pointing all the time. It was 15:45 and the last boat went at 16:00. Before we knew it we were in a songthaw flying along the backroads and managed to do the 45 minute journey to the pier in 25 minutes, getting to the pier at ten past four. The boat had waited as the lady at the counter had rung them to let them know to expect us but as soon as we were aboard it left, and an hour later we arrived on Koh Mak.
Marie had liked the sound of the Lazy Days resort in Lonely Planet and that was a guy from there to meet the boat at the pier so we went with him to the resort. Once we arrived we were told they only had one room left and it was 2,500 baht per night (50 quid!). This was a little above our budget so we declined and headed off down the beach in search of Monkey Island where we stayed last time.
The beach was much longer than we remembered, it was still really hot and of course, the sun was just beginning to set as we arrived - exhausted! - at Monkey island. They had rooms with in our meagre budgt so we booked a night and eneded up in the cabin next door to where we were last time.
People often say you should never go back to places you really like as you'll only be disappointed. This actually was dead right, we realised that actually, Monkey Island wasn't that great a place. They've changed it around a bit so it wasn't the same, many more cabins then before and the bar had been enlarged. For a holiday it was great - a bit like posh camping, but we know we can get better for a our money and get a lot more comfort, so we only stayed one night. Also, the fan was no good and gave us no respite from the heat and there was a band on in the bar (4 metres from us) which went on until gone midnight. We didn't get the best sleep and were up early next morning looking for new digs.
We went to Baan Chai Laay - further up the beach and booked 5 nights in a one room house(!) on the "main'' road, just back from the beach, breakfast included and much much bigger. In the day it looked great and we were happy with that.
More disappointment followed though, as sand flies are a bit of a problem at this time of year so you can't really sit out on the beach- or in our favourite hammocks (a german couple actually shouted at us for sitting in them!) and then we found the sea full of jellyfish so couldn't go in there either. So without being able to go on the beach, or in the sea we ended up back in the cabin which was like an oven and really uncomfortable! Does it sound like we're moaning too much?? Read on...
At night-time it was got worse, not only was the room was a bit grubby (misc drops of poo in the corners and so on) and just didn't feel too secure. Plus it was still stinking hot (the guidebook we realised advised against travel to this area at this time of year because of the heat!) and we didn't get much sleep again.
In fact, we had a bit of a mini crisis in terms of the whole trip and what we wanted to do, how long we wanted to be away and so on and we came to the decision to finish up in Vietnam rather than plough on through China just for the sake of it. It will be much cheaper to come back from Vietnam too. China is a trip in itself and we should treat it as such - why spend 4 or 5 days covering thousands of miles by train just to get to Beijing to fly back???
Once we had made this decision, things seem to get a bit easier and we were able to enjoy our next few days a bit more. We spent the next day on the internet and hiring a golf buggy which got our spitirts back up and had a good day. But the room was getting us down and after a nother tortorous night we asked for an upgrade to an aircon cabin. They didn't have one that night but gave as another fan to help combat the heat - they were so good about it and friendly that we couldn't tell them we had paranoia about creepy crawlies and things that go bump in the night so ended up pretending that we would use the extra fan and then snuck off to the poshest hotel on the island - the Makathanee Resort a couple of doors down.
It was a great decision although I've never paid for two lots of accomodation in one night before. We got the cheapest room but it had aircon, sat tv and a pool. Well worth it as we spent all day there too and also got another breakfast included next morning. After breakfast number one, we checked out and went back to our place (like we'd never been gone!) and had breakfast number two! No need for lunch! After the food, we moved to our new aircon cabin (right on the beach!) and had a much more enjoyable couple of days, in fact we had a lovely time in the end, sleeping and eating, and drinking and hiring the golf buggy again to go exploring!
We lasted the 6 nights on Koh Mak in the end, (we didn't think we would at the start!) and booked a bus to Phnom Penh in Cambodia. It was quite an eventful journey which I'll save for next time as this is far too long already, save to say though we are now in Phnom Penh and its bonkers! Only been here one night so far so still lots to see.
Until next time......
After leaving Luang Prabang we arrived in Vientiane at dusk (just for a change!). We made our way to the Riverside Hotel and booked in for a couple of nights, it was a decent place with satellite tv and air-con although a touch overpriced. But still, after 10 hours on the (not so) VIP bus - although we did get a free hot lunch en route - it was worth it. We were pooped so headed over the road for pizza before falling into bed. That night niether of us slept well, both of us felt a bit ill.
Next day is when the fun began, we decided to find another hotel which was cheaper than the Riverside to spend the next few days, so we wandered around town in the baking heat (100 degrees!) and didn't really find anywhere we wanted. In the end we found a fantastic place right next door - the Douáng Duane hotel, where the rooms were quite palacial and breakfast was included and free internet, and it was still cheaper. We reserved a room for the following day.
Back at the Riverside that afternoon, the "slightly bubbly"stomachache I had turned into some "quite hurting now"cramps accompanied by what my Dad would call a case of the 'small French farmhouses". This continued all night and wasn't helped when the most almighty storm happened that night and meant that the walls and windows seeped in rain water through every available gap in the walls. Towels and mop eventually collected from downstairs were put to use and eventually the room was dried out. Marie was useless and lay unhelpfully on the bed with her own stomach ache.
Thank goodness the next day we only had to venture next door and not traipse round town in the 100 degree heat with our bags. Both of us spent the day doing a sort of relay race between the toilet and bed, never before has a comfortable room been more appreciated and thankfully, as cheap. By the next day, another poor nights sleep, Marie had recovered and was quite chipper although I remained in a state. By now, we had abeen in Vientiane for 4 days and only seen about 2 streets, the walls of the hotel room felt like they were shrinking. So, pooey bum or no pooey bum I was determined to head out and see something new, I went for a walk in the evening (it was slightly cooler) and had look around the town. Its nice place, not really very big or much to do but it had a good feel about it and it was good to get out.
I found the local swimming pool on the journey so we headed there next day to try and cool down. It was okay, a bit rough around the edges (literally) and we didn't stay for long. That was about all we could manage before heading back for the hotel. In this time we have watched EVERYTHING on HBO, and we're now watching this weeks selection of films for a second time.
We decided no matter how i was feeling it was time to move on soon, so we planned to spend the next day and the local Water Park - Marie was very excited about this as she has been wanted to go to a water park since the beginning of the trip and this is the first one we've bee nable to get to. My stomach felt better so we heading there one morning arriving half an hour after it opened. It was the worst experience of the trip so far.
Issues with the water park:
1. We were the only people there.
2. Only two slides were turned on for us and you had to go down face first (I went on a couple of times and it was good, but Marie was having none of it!)
3. The slides were really dangerous looking.
4. The swimming pool was really murky and not clean
5. The Tube ride (Maries favourite and the real reaosn for going) looked like it had never been opened.
6. The hire of a ring as not a "deposit"but a non-refundable payment.
7. It was just rubbish
We left after about an hour, consigned to fact that at least we were only about 5 pounds out of pocket for the whole ordeal. At least we'd tried. It was fate telling us it was definately time to leave Vientiane.
We decided that rather than head through southern Laos heading towards Cambodia, we would cross back into Thailand and head to Koh Mak, our favourite island from our visit two years ago which was also convientantly close to the Cambodian border. So after checking out of the Douang Duane we got the "International bus" from the bus station and headed over the Friendship Bridge back to Thailand and the town of Nong Khai. After a lovely air-conned lunch and walk around town we got a sleeper train to Bangkok (and had a really good night's sleep - bottom bunks are definately worth the extra 50p). Thankfully my bowels had returned to a much more normal level of comfort as the day went on.
We had possibly the shortest trip to Bangkok, arriving at Hua Lamphong train station at 9.20 and getting a bus to Trat from Ekamai bus station at 10.30. This was the same trip we did two years previously and just like before we piled off the bus before Trat in the middle of nowhere and went to the tourist office for a songthaw to the pier. When we said "Koh Mak" to the lady she gapsed and looked at the clock, pointing all the time. It was 15:45 and the last boat went at 16:00. Before we knew it we were in a songthaw flying along the backroads and managed to do the 45 minute journey to the pier in 25 minutes, getting to the pier at ten past four. The boat had waited as the lady at the counter had rung them to let them know to expect us but as soon as we were aboard it left, and an hour later we arrived on Koh Mak.
Marie had liked the sound of the Lazy Days resort in Lonely Planet and that was a guy from there to meet the boat at the pier so we went with him to the resort. Once we arrived we were told they only had one room left and it was 2,500 baht per night (50 quid!). This was a little above our budget so we declined and headed off down the beach in search of Monkey Island where we stayed last time.
The beach was much longer than we remembered, it was still really hot and of course, the sun was just beginning to set as we arrived - exhausted! - at Monkey island. They had rooms with in our meagre budgt so we booked a night and eneded up in the cabin next door to where we were last time.
People often say you should never go back to places you really like as you'll only be disappointed. This actually was dead right, we realised that actually, Monkey Island wasn't that great a place. They've changed it around a bit so it wasn't the same, many more cabins then before and the bar had been enlarged. For a holiday it was great - a bit like posh camping, but we know we can get better for a our money and get a lot more comfort, so we only stayed one night. Also, the fan was no good and gave us no respite from the heat and there was a band on in the bar (4 metres from us) which went on until gone midnight. We didn't get the best sleep and were up early next morning looking for new digs.
We went to Baan Chai Laay - further up the beach and booked 5 nights in a one room house(!) on the "main'' road, just back from the beach, breakfast included and much much bigger. In the day it looked great and we were happy with that.
More disappointment followed though, as sand flies are a bit of a problem at this time of year so you can't really sit out on the beach- or in our favourite hammocks (a german couple actually shouted at us for sitting in them!) and then we found the sea full of jellyfish so couldn't go in there either. So without being able to go on the beach, or in the sea we ended up back in the cabin which was like an oven and really uncomfortable! Does it sound like we're moaning too much?? Read on...
At night-time it was got worse, not only was the room was a bit grubby (misc drops of poo in the corners and so on) and just didn't feel too secure. Plus it was still stinking hot (the guidebook we realised advised against travel to this area at this time of year because of the heat!) and we didn't get much sleep again.
In fact, we had a bit of a mini crisis in terms of the whole trip and what we wanted to do, how long we wanted to be away and so on and we came to the decision to finish up in Vietnam rather than plough on through China just for the sake of it. It will be much cheaper to come back from Vietnam too. China is a trip in itself and we should treat it as such - why spend 4 or 5 days covering thousands of miles by train just to get to Beijing to fly back???
Once we had made this decision, things seem to get a bit easier and we were able to enjoy our next few days a bit more. We spent the next day on the internet and hiring a golf buggy which got our spitirts back up and had a good day. But the room was getting us down and after a nother tortorous night we asked for an upgrade to an aircon cabin. They didn't have one that night but gave as another fan to help combat the heat - they were so good about it and friendly that we couldn't tell them we had paranoia about creepy crawlies and things that go bump in the night so ended up pretending that we would use the extra fan and then snuck off to the poshest hotel on the island - the Makathanee Resort a couple of doors down.
It was a great decision although I've never paid for two lots of accomodation in one night before. We got the cheapest room but it had aircon, sat tv and a pool. Well worth it as we spent all day there too and also got another breakfast included next morning. After breakfast number one, we checked out and went back to our place (like we'd never been gone!) and had breakfast number two! No need for lunch! After the food, we moved to our new aircon cabin (right on the beach!) and had a much more enjoyable couple of days, in fact we had a lovely time in the end, sleeping and eating, and drinking and hiring the golf buggy again to go exploring!
We lasted the 6 nights on Koh Mak in the end, (we didn't think we would at the start!) and booked a bus to Phnom Penh in Cambodia. It was quite an eventful journey which I'll save for next time as this is far too long already, save to say though we are now in Phnom Penh and its bonkers! Only been here one night so far so still lots to see.
Until next time......
Friday, 2 April 2010
Sabaidee (Hello in Lao)
The bedbugs in Pak Beng were dee-sgusting!!
I feel James didn't make enough of a fuss about it in the last blog. That's my job since I came off worse. It makes a girl feel quite ill. Thankfully my itchy lumps and bumps have nearly disappeared now.
So, Luang Prabang. It is quite possibly the prettiest place we have been so far on the trip. It's got South East Asian charm with French rustic chic. You can't go wrong with that combo.
We didn't have any accommodation when we all piled off the slow boat in LP, just as it was getting dark. We headed for the Pakam Guesthouse, where luckily there was a room free for us. 4 other French ladies from our boat had taken 2 other rooms there, so we thought it must be good. Was a lovely place - dark polished wood floors and a terrace to sit out on.
We were rather hungry so we went over the road to a row of outdoor restaurants that line the Mekong. I had the hottest Papaya Salad known to man, even though I asked for 'only a little bit spicy'. I think someone was having a laugh. Beer Lao helped us to settle in to the rather relaxed pace here. Enough to make us sleepy and send us to bed that first evening.
We decided to spend about a week here, which we have done. Luang Prabang is beautiful and has the best most laid back night market we've come across yet. Food is inexpensive if you know where to look, but you could also spend a small fortune.
One of our favourite places for food so far is Utopia. If you ever come here you should try to find it. We found it by mistake. Thai cushions on a bamboo platform overlooking crops and the Nam Khan River. Lots of butterflies.
We have perused the markets, and bought some items. James was despairing of me when he heard me trying to haggle down a lady for a patchwork duvet cover. I didn't think I was any good at haggling but it's amazing what you can do when you really want something. We now have our special duvet cover. You'd never find it in John Lewis. Bed linen is very important. Men don't understand.
We have been trying not to spend very much each day so we've not been on any trips, which is fine by me. I don't want to see an elephant playing basketball (!?)
We went to a charity book swap library yesterday to swap our existing books. You pay 2 USA dollars per book, and we paid for 5 school books to be distributed to local schools. We even chose the books ourselves. James' was to do with maps. Very apt. We got a bit carried away and ended up spending about 18 pounds. It's better spent on that than an expensive meal or basketball playing elephants.
One evening we bought a little bottle of white spirit alcohol stuff for 50p that we couldn't identify and mixed it with Sprite. Was quite horrid but was nice to sit out on the terrace with a drink watching a huge electrical storm.
The other day while we were eating our baguettes (French influence again you see) the sky went black and the women began packing up their stalls frantically. Within minutes there were the strongest gusts of wind that blew signs off buildings, enormous tree branches snapped off and were flying down the street. Was like being in Hurricane Hugo. Then the rain started and we were drenched. Had to shelter in a shop front. The shutters came down firmly behind us but other people were watching from outside too. Exciting stuff. We walked back to our guesthouse through the devistation. A corrugated fence around a building site was torn down. We have photographic proof - not yet uploaded though.
So we love it here but we are moving on tomorrow morning. We've booked a VIP bus to take us 10hrs to Vientiane, the capital of Laos. We'll be there for probably another week.
Happy Easter Everyone!
M&J
xxxxx
I feel James didn't make enough of a fuss about it in the last blog. That's my job since I came off worse. It makes a girl feel quite ill. Thankfully my itchy lumps and bumps have nearly disappeared now.
So, Luang Prabang. It is quite possibly the prettiest place we have been so far on the trip. It's got South East Asian charm with French rustic chic. You can't go wrong with that combo.
We didn't have any accommodation when we all piled off the slow boat in LP, just as it was getting dark. We headed for the Pakam Guesthouse, where luckily there was a room free for us. 4 other French ladies from our boat had taken 2 other rooms there, so we thought it must be good. Was a lovely place - dark polished wood floors and a terrace to sit out on.
We were rather hungry so we went over the road to a row of outdoor restaurants that line the Mekong. I had the hottest Papaya Salad known to man, even though I asked for 'only a little bit spicy'. I think someone was having a laugh. Beer Lao helped us to settle in to the rather relaxed pace here. Enough to make us sleepy and send us to bed that first evening.
We decided to spend about a week here, which we have done. Luang Prabang is beautiful and has the best most laid back night market we've come across yet. Food is inexpensive if you know where to look, but you could also spend a small fortune.
One of our favourite places for food so far is Utopia. If you ever come here you should try to find it. We found it by mistake. Thai cushions on a bamboo platform overlooking crops and the Nam Khan River. Lots of butterflies.
We have perused the markets, and bought some items. James was despairing of me when he heard me trying to haggle down a lady for a patchwork duvet cover. I didn't think I was any good at haggling but it's amazing what you can do when you really want something. We now have our special duvet cover. You'd never find it in John Lewis. Bed linen is very important. Men don't understand.
We have been trying not to spend very much each day so we've not been on any trips, which is fine by me. I don't want to see an elephant playing basketball (!?)
We went to a charity book swap library yesterday to swap our existing books. You pay 2 USA dollars per book, and we paid for 5 school books to be distributed to local schools. We even chose the books ourselves. James' was to do with maps. Very apt. We got a bit carried away and ended up spending about 18 pounds. It's better spent on that than an expensive meal or basketball playing elephants.
One evening we bought a little bottle of white spirit alcohol stuff for 50p that we couldn't identify and mixed it with Sprite. Was quite horrid but was nice to sit out on the terrace with a drink watching a huge electrical storm.
The other day while we were eating our baguettes (French influence again you see) the sky went black and the women began packing up their stalls frantically. Within minutes there were the strongest gusts of wind that blew signs off buildings, enormous tree branches snapped off and were flying down the street. Was like being in Hurricane Hugo. Then the rain started and we were drenched. Had to shelter in a shop front. The shutters came down firmly behind us but other people were watching from outside too. Exciting stuff. We walked back to our guesthouse through the devistation. A corrugated fence around a building site was torn down. We have photographic proof - not yet uploaded though.
So we love it here but we are moving on tomorrow morning. We've booked a VIP bus to take us 10hrs to Vientiane, the capital of Laos. We'll be there for probably another week.
Happy Easter Everyone!
M&J
xxxxx
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