There are not many things to keep you busy at night in Phnom Penh, but by day there are a few breathtaking sights to see. First we visited the Killing Fields, where Cambodians were sent to their death, by the truck load. Sometimes up to a hundred a day. At first glance it comes across as a beautiful and tranquil place, that is until you see the monument and read the plaques. The scripts on the plaques tell the tragic story of the killings, and the monument displays hundreds of the victims skulls along with some of their clothes.
When you visit the S 21 prison, you begin to comprehend the brutality of what went on. This is definitely the most shocking thing we have ever seen. You walk around the prison (which was converted from a school) and see the many torture and detention rooms, which still contain weapons and blood stains. You also witness the small cells they were locked up in. The most graphic part was seeing the display of photographs of the victims. The photos showed head shots of all the detainees, some old, some young and some still cradled in their mothers arms. There were some photos showing the prisoners after they had been tortured, some even when they were dead.
On a slightly lighter note the views of the Royal Palace were lovely and very grand. We also visited a shooting range where you got to buy your own bullets for whatever gun you wanted, it was absolutely mental and completely surreal. Kim got to have a go with the James Bond hand gun and both Greg and Kim fired a machine gun. The machine gun was brilliant if not a little scary. To top it all off we bought a hand grenade. After a short briefing greg reluctantly pulled the pin and threw the grenade into a pond. The explosion shook the ground like an earthquake... We couldn't believe they let you do such things.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Ho Chi Mihn City (Saigon), Vietnam
We were prepared to face the meyhem of Hanoi but instead Saigon came across as a lovely city full of cheerful people. Before sunset everyone would be out exercising in the parks, the men would be playng badminton or football while the woman would be in their groups doing aerobics, with the kids joining in wherever they could.
We visited the Cu Chi Tunnels which were fascinating. It was where the viet cong fought the Americans. The tunnels had three layers, and were so small you had to crawl through them. We got given the chance to go through some of them and it was horrible. Greg managed to make it through the whole 120 metres however Kim only made it through the first 20 before having to go out through one of the exits!!! That day we learnt a lot about what went on and how they fought. We even got to have a go at shooting an AK.47 at the end. The gun shots were so loud but so exciting! We loved every second of it.
Link to photos of Hoi An, Nha Trang and Saigon:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2302157&l=87694&id=197810485
We visited the Cu Chi Tunnels which were fascinating. It was where the viet cong fought the Americans. The tunnels had three layers, and were so small you had to crawl through them. We got given the chance to go through some of them and it was horrible. Greg managed to make it through the whole 120 metres however Kim only made it through the first 20 before having to go out through one of the exits!!! That day we learnt a lot about what went on and how they fought. We even got to have a go at shooting an AK.47 at the end. The gun shots were so loud but so exciting! We loved every second of it.
Link to photos of Hoi An, Nha Trang and Saigon:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2302157&l=87694&id=197810485
Nha Trang, Vietnam
Nha Trang has a long stretch of beach that seems to be never ending. Due to tummy bugs we spent most of our time here chilling out in Louisiana's cafe which is set right on the beach front. If we were feeling better we would have made it to the nearby island with a water park, which you get to by cable car, but instead we opted to do some of the local sightseeing.
We visited the Long Son Pagoda to see the Buddha that looked over the whole of Nha Trang. We also went to the Po Nagar Cham towers just before sunset. Both were very impressive.
We visited the Long Son Pagoda to see the Buddha that looked over the whole of Nha Trang. We also went to the Po Nagar Cham towers just before sunset. Both were very impressive.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Hoi An, Vietnam
Hoi An is a charming and pretty little town. It has a bustling market down by the riverside along with plenty of little places to eat. We sampled some of the local cuisine here and it was delicious.
You cant walk very far without coming across one of the many tailor shops there, we definitely got carried away. You go in, point out some clothes from a magazine, or bring in one of your favourite tops from home and they will copy it all for you. You then go back for a second fitting and they adjust it until its perfect. They are unbelievably cheap too!
While we were here we also hired out bicycles and cycled to the beach. It was beautiful and strecthed for miles. There are several little islands too that you can visit by boat.
You cant walk very far without coming across one of the many tailor shops there, we definitely got carried away. You go in, point out some clothes from a magazine, or bring in one of your favourite tops from home and they will copy it all for you. You then go back for a second fitting and they adjust it until its perfect. They are unbelievably cheap too!
While we were here we also hired out bicycles and cycled to the beach. It was beautiful and strecthed for miles. There are several little islands too that you can visit by boat.
Harlong Bay, Vietnam
Harlong Bay was absolutley beautiful. We spent two days on a gorgeous boat, sailing through some of the 3000 limestone islands which are there. We also walked and kayaked through one of the largest caves. Everything about it was spectacular.
There was a good bunch of us on the boat so when it came to the evening, the drinking games started to flow and by the end of the night the boys decided it would be a good idea to jump of the boat wearing only their birtday suit... typical!
Link to photos of Hanoi and Harlong bay:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2299064&l=1cef3&id=197810485
There was a good bunch of us on the boat so when it came to the evening, the drinking games started to flow and by the end of the night the boys decided it would be a good idea to jump of the boat wearing only their birtday suit... typical!
Link to photos of Hanoi and Harlong bay:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2299064&l=1cef3&id=197810485
Hanoi, Vietnam
Unfortunately we didn't get a very good view of Hanoi, except from the hostel we stayed in and the people we met.
Hanoi is extremely hectic. It is a constant struggle to walk the streets without being run over by motorbikes or being hassled by locals who are definitely out there to scam you. The sound of everyone's horns are deafening, you cant go 2 seconds without hearing one, some even play a little tune!
We spent a whole day wandering around the city and thanks to Thomas (a friend we met at our hostel) we didn't get lost. We went to the Temple of Literature, had a look at the opera house and a few old buildings around the same area before doing a bit of shopping! While we were here we also went to see the famous puppet show... it was brilliant and hilarious to say the least.
Hanoi is extremely hectic. It is a constant struggle to walk the streets without being run over by motorbikes or being hassled by locals who are definitely out there to scam you. The sound of everyone's horns are deafening, you cant go 2 seconds without hearing one, some even play a little tune!
We spent a whole day wandering around the city and thanks to Thomas (a friend we met at our hostel) we didn't get lost. We went to the Temple of Literature, had a look at the opera house and a few old buildings around the same area before doing a bit of shopping! While we were here we also went to see the famous puppet show... it was brilliant and hilarious to say the least.
Vientiene, Laos
There is not much too vientiene, and it certainly feels more like a small town rather than a city. As a result we only spent a few hours here before catching a flight to Veitnam. We had a wonder along the river front, a bit to eat and then went to see the famous 'That Luang' Temple. It has three levels and being painted gold it looks very impressive.
Link to photos of Laos:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2297514&l=22107&id=197810485
Link to photos of Laos:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2297514&l=22107&id=197810485
Monday, April 14, 2008
Vang Vieng, Laos
Vang Vieng is a little town, which is best known for its 'tubing'.
Tubing involves getting in a big rubber ring and floating down the river, stopping at all the make-shift bars made out of bamboo on the way. It takes up the whole day. We started at around 11am and Kim and Jenny were still floating down it when it got dark!!! It was brilliant, everyone is in high sprits, drinking buckets, swinging off the rope swings or eating a bit of grub. Definitely the best bar crawl ever invented.
We were only here for a couple of days as there is not much else to do. So after spending the whole day tubing we nursed our hangovers the next day by paying to use the swimming pool at a near by hotel... luxury!
Tubing involves getting in a big rubber ring and floating down the river, stopping at all the make-shift bars made out of bamboo on the way. It takes up the whole day. We started at around 11am and Kim and Jenny were still floating down it when it got dark!!! It was brilliant, everyone is in high sprits, drinking buckets, swinging off the rope swings or eating a bit of grub. Definitely the best bar crawl ever invented.
We were only here for a couple of days as there is not much else to do. So after spending the whole day tubing we nursed our hangovers the next day by paying to use the swimming pool at a near by hotel... luxury!
Luang Prabang, Laos
Luang Prabang is known as the prettiest town in Laos. We could definately see the potential, however we arrived as the locals were celebrating their new year (to them it is the year 2552)... absolutely mental!!! They celebrate by having 5 days of water fights. You cannot walk along the street without being soaked by water guns, hoses or buckets, or being covered in powder or black grease.... even when you are carrying your big backpack and trying to find a hostel to stay in... no one escapes it!!!
After a good nights sleep we woke up, went out on to the streets, armed oursleves up with our own water pistols and joined in the festivities. We have never experienced anything like it, it was brilliant. All the kids would be out, some so young their water pistols were bigger than them, and as for the adults... they got more carried away than the kids!!!! What a great way to celebrate new year!
We also visited the waterfalls here, again due to it being new year it was manic and not as tranquille as we had hoped but it was still definately worth the visit. It was so pretty and formed gorgeous turqouise pools at the bottom that you could swim in. A nice way to cool down and escape the humidity.
After a good nights sleep we woke up, went out on to the streets, armed oursleves up with our own water pistols and joined in the festivities. We have never experienced anything like it, it was brilliant. All the kids would be out, some so young their water pistols were bigger than them, and as for the adults... they got more carried away than the kids!!!! What a great way to celebrate new year!
We also visited the waterfalls here, again due to it being new year it was manic and not as tranquille as we had hoped but it was still definately worth the visit. It was so pretty and formed gorgeous turqouise pools at the bottom that you could swim in. A nice way to cool down and escape the humidity.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Chaing Mai, Thailand
The 36 hour journey we made to get to Chaing Mai was definately worth it.
Chaing Mai's old town is surrounded by a moat and the whole town is a maze of little streets. Getting lost is a given, especially if you have Kim's sense of direction. The night bazaar here was amazing, we went two nights in a row and still did not manage to see it all! It had everything there... clothes, jewellery, art work, ornaments, lights, gadjets, on one stall we even saw kittens and puppies for sale... they were tiny and only cost 15 pounds!!!
Trekking - hardest thing we have done so far but definately rewarding and good fun. The first day involved a 4 hour trek in the midday heat. We were constantly hiking up stupidly steep hills or stumbling down them. We were all dripping with sweat, our legs were shaking like leaves and we are proud to say that not one of us gave up.
We were the happiest people when we made it to the tiny long neck tribe village that we were staying at for the night... they even had cold beers ready for us... just what we needed!
The long neck tribe are very shy so we only met them briefly. There are several stories behind why they wear the rings around their necks. One is that they believe it makes the woman more beautiful, another is that they believe it will protect them from the tigers.
That night they cooked us green curry (not very nice but we couldnt go hungry so down it went), then we lit a bonfire, had a few more drinks and a sing song around the fire.
After waking up to the sound of cockrells, our second day began. We started off to another hour and a half trek which eventually brought us to the elephant camp. Here we got to ride on the elephants, on land and through the water, and got to feed them bananas to say thank you, they were adorable.
In the afternoon we did white water rafting down the river, stopping as we passed little villages on the water edge, where all the children were playing. We then floated down the rest of the river on a bamboo raft before returning back to our hotel in Chang Mai. The funniest part was seeing us try to get onto the rafts, Kim and Greg fell over several times and Greg managed to put his foot through one of the rafts... definitley a 'youve been framed' moment.
Link to photos of Chaing Mai:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2293143&l=1f2df&id=197810485
Chaing Mai's old town is surrounded by a moat and the whole town is a maze of little streets. Getting lost is a given, especially if you have Kim's sense of direction. The night bazaar here was amazing, we went two nights in a row and still did not manage to see it all! It had everything there... clothes, jewellery, art work, ornaments, lights, gadjets, on one stall we even saw kittens and puppies for sale... they were tiny and only cost 15 pounds!!!
Trekking - hardest thing we have done so far but definately rewarding and good fun. The first day involved a 4 hour trek in the midday heat. We were constantly hiking up stupidly steep hills or stumbling down them. We were all dripping with sweat, our legs were shaking like leaves and we are proud to say that not one of us gave up.
We were the happiest people when we made it to the tiny long neck tribe village that we were staying at for the night... they even had cold beers ready for us... just what we needed!
The long neck tribe are very shy so we only met them briefly. There are several stories behind why they wear the rings around their necks. One is that they believe it makes the woman more beautiful, another is that they believe it will protect them from the tigers.
That night they cooked us green curry (not very nice but we couldnt go hungry so down it went), then we lit a bonfire, had a few more drinks and a sing song around the fire.
After waking up to the sound of cockrells, our second day began. We started off to another hour and a half trek which eventually brought us to the elephant camp. Here we got to ride on the elephants, on land and through the water, and got to feed them bananas to say thank you, they were adorable.
In the afternoon we did white water rafting down the river, stopping as we passed little villages on the water edge, where all the children were playing. We then floated down the rest of the river on a bamboo raft before returning back to our hotel in Chang Mai. The funniest part was seeing us try to get onto the rafts, Kim and Greg fell over several times and Greg managed to put his foot through one of the rafts... definitley a 'youve been framed' moment.
Link to photos of Chaing Mai:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2293143&l=1f2df&id=197810485
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Phuket, Thailand
Phuket is quite a big island but has little that appealed to us. It was very 'touristy' and didnt have a very good feel to it. We stayed on Patong beach, spent one afternoon there and then spent another day at Karon and Kata beach.
We decided to book ourselves on a boat trip and do a bit of fishing while we were here. We had our fingers crossed that we would catch a barracuda or a big sail fish but unfortunately we didnt. We didnt even really get to do that much fishing. But we still made the most of it. Greg caught a big tuna and the rest of us caught groupers and snappers.
Link to Photos of Koh Phi Phi and Phuket:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2292322&l=9e604&id=197810485
We decided to book ourselves on a boat trip and do a bit of fishing while we were here. We had our fingers crossed that we would catch a barracuda or a big sail fish but unfortunately we didnt. We didnt even really get to do that much fishing. But we still made the most of it. Greg caught a big tuna and the rest of us caught groupers and snappers.
Link to Photos of Koh Phi Phi and Phuket:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2292322&l=9e604&id=197810485
Koh Phi Phi, Thailand
After the horrible experience of a night boat, then being crammed onto a mini bus, then having to buy our ferry ticket twice due to being scammed we finally made it to Koh Phi Phi.
Koh Phi Phi is a beautiful little island, with lots of little market stalls, places to eat and places to drink. Hippies and Carpe Diem are two great bars where you can either chill out and watch the fire shows or get up and dance. The Irish pub was also good, its always busy and you get to play connect 4 while ordering your drink! Places like the reggae bar are a little more tacky with a boxing ring in the middle, where they encourage friends to get up and fight each other in order to win a free bucket of alcohol.
Although overall we rate Koh Tao above Koh Phi Phi, Koh Phi Phi is definatley the best place for scuba diving. Greg and Kim did two more fun dives while they were here. They saw sea snakes (extremly poisionus), trumpet fish, angel fish, trigger fish, scorpion fish, yellow box fish, flute fish, barracuda, lion fish (again very poisonus), clown fish, cleaner shrimps (who used their tenticles to clean under your fingernails), black tipped reef sharks and the giant moray eel which was definately the favourite. The giant eel must have been 3 metres long and wider than us, its head being bigger than ours too!!! Incredible!
Koh Phi Phi is a beautiful little island, with lots of little market stalls, places to eat and places to drink. Hippies and Carpe Diem are two great bars where you can either chill out and watch the fire shows or get up and dance. The Irish pub was also good, its always busy and you get to play connect 4 while ordering your drink! Places like the reggae bar are a little more tacky with a boxing ring in the middle, where they encourage friends to get up and fight each other in order to win a free bucket of alcohol.
Although overall we rate Koh Tao above Koh Phi Phi, Koh Phi Phi is definatley the best place for scuba diving. Greg and Kim did two more fun dives while they were here. They saw sea snakes (extremly poisionus), trumpet fish, angel fish, trigger fish, scorpion fish, yellow box fish, flute fish, barracuda, lion fish (again very poisonus), clown fish, cleaner shrimps (who used their tenticles to clean under your fingernails), black tipped reef sharks and the giant moray eel which was definately the favourite. The giant eel must have been 3 metres long and wider than us, its head being bigger than ours too!!! Incredible!
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