Siem Reap, the Temples of Angkor and Bangkok

On Friday morning we took a 6 hour bus to Siem Reap, arriving in the mid-afternoon. At first sight the town appeared to be nothing less than a dirty dustbowl and our hearts sank! However, we were on the outskirts and had to take a tuk-tuk into the town centre where we were relieved to see a slightly more developed town. After settling into our hostel we wandered into the touristy town centre and looked around the market, selling the usual tourist tack. That evening we ate dinner at a quirky restaurant called the 'Dead Fish Tower' which had many different open wooden levels inside where you sat on cushions on the floor and ate your meal. There was also a live crocodile pit. It was a shame the Thai food didn't match the atmosphere!

The following morning, Saturday, we were up early and hired a tuk tuk driver for the day to take us on a tour around the temples of Angkor. A huge UNESCO World Heritage site, the temples of Angkor were built between the 10th and 12th centuries and are spread throughout the jungle outside of Siem Reap. They are considered by some to be the eighth wonder of the world and they did not disappoint, despite the hefty $40 entry fee each! As we approached the entrance, elephants came plodding through the main gate which really set the scene for the day ahead.

To start, our driver Sumat took us into a huge temple area called Angkor Thom which houses some of Angkor's most important monuments. Our first stop was the Bayon, the King's state temple which rises from the centre of the Angkor Thom compound in a cluster of beautiful stone conical towers. Carved into almost every stone wall are huge, smiling stone faces of the 10th Century king, and we climbed the steep steps of the central tower for views of the temple and surrounding jungle. From the Bayon we walked north and around the Baphuon, a huge 3 tiered temple pyramid before strolling along the 350m Terrace of Elephants where stone marching elephants are carved. We finished by walking the Terrace of the Leper King.

From Angkor Thom we headed east, wandering the smaller, quieter but no less beautiful temples of Thommanon, Chau Say Tevoda and Ta Keo before we stopped at Ta Prohm. The temple is stunning, having been nearly engulfed by the jungle, and was Ash's favourite! It is a series of dark galleries and pillars held together by gigantic tree roots and the experience of walking through the ruins was extremely atmospheric. It felt like something straight out of the Indiana Jones movies! From Ta Prohm we visited the huge lake where the King used to bathe before heading around to see the area's highlight, Angkor Wat. It was baking hot by this point so we were really grateful of the cool breeze we had when being driven around in our open sided tuk tuk.

We arrived at Angkor Wat at lunchtime, which was perfect as the site was devoid of the usual noisy tour groups. Angkor Wat was built in the 11th century and even though we were almost 'templed out' it was a real feast for our eyes. Angkor Wat is surrounded by a wide moat and enclosed by a huge wall, and the centrepiece of the temple are five magnificent stone towers. The temple is the national symbol of Cambodia and a source of enormous pride for the people and it is easy to see why. We wandered through the huge stone hallways and courtyards, admiring the stone bas-reliefs that had been so intricately carved nearly 1,000 years ago, and took in the great views from around the outside of the towers. Having been on the go for nearly 8 hours we returned to Siem Reap mid-afternoon and relaxed for the rest of the day, enjoying an authentic Khmer meal that evening.



On Sunday morning we met our tuk-tuk driver Sumat again to spend a day exploring the more distant, remote temples. We drove north for nearly two hours to Kbal Spean, passing through small, rustic villages, open farmland and along some seriously bumpy and dusty roads. In our little open-sided tuk-tuk we were exposed to all the elements and it became so dusty we had to share a bandana to breathe through! After fishtailing around in the deep, sandy drive up to Kbal Spean we arrived safely and our driver was in need of a rest! We walked 30 minutes along a sandy, uphill path through thick jungle to reach Kbal Spean, the skilfully carved river bed, known as the 'River of Thousand Lingas' for the thousand phallic shapes that have been carved into the river bed. The river flowed over many other beautiful carvings and cascaded in a waterfall. It was amazing to us that anybody had found this place as it was buried so deep in dense jungle. We returned to our tuk-tuk and headed back towards Siem Reap to see Banteay Srei, the 'Citadel of Women' which is the most ornate of all the temples we have visited. Although tiny in comparison to the other temples, it has the most detailed, intricate carvings and every doorway, lintel and wall is absolutely beautiful.

From Banteay Srei we stopped in at the small Cambodian Landmine Museum which has been set up by an ex-Khmer Rouge soldier in an effort to raise money to remove landmines from Cambodia and to educate about the terrible effect they are still having today. During the Khmer Rouge regime and Vietnam War, hundreds of thousands of landmines were placed across the country and they are still killing and maiming hundreds of farmers, field-workers and children today. Inside the museum, there was a glass cage containing thousands of different landmines, all found and defused by the owner of the museum. There is a small orphanage at the back of museum for the children who have lost their parents because of landmines. From the museum we headed to our final temple for the day, Preah Khan, and climbed to the top for views across the temple and the surrounding jungle. We returned back to Siem Reap and that evening dined at the same Khmer restaurant we had eaten at the night before as the food was so good (and so inexpensive!).

On Monday morning we were up at 6am and after checking out of our hostel took a taxi 180km west to the border with Thailand. The taxi was a beaten up, old car and before leaving the driver filled up with petrol from a hand-operated pump and stopped in to fill the tyres with air... we were grateful for the safety check! The road was largely unmade, dusty and very bumpy, but this didn't stop the driver from racing along at breakneck speed and we arrived safely at the border town of Poipet after three hours. After a long queue to cross the border into the small town of Aranya Prathet we took a tuk-tuk to the main bus station and jumped on a bus to Bangkok that took 4 hours. In Bangkok we took another bus back to the Bangalamphu area, where we started our time in Asia 5 weeks ago. We found a small, if slightly dingy hostel and enjoyed a Pad Thai from a local food vendor before treating ourselves to a 1 hour Thai massage. After the long travelling it was much needed!

Today is our last day in this part of Asia as tomorrow we will take a flight to Kathmandu to begin the next leg of our trip through Nepal and India.

Phnom Penh

On Thursday morning we were up early and hired ourselves a Tuk Tuk driver to take a tour of the major sights in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. Our driver took us 13 km out of the city centre to our first stop, the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek where tens of thousands of civilians were killed and buried by the Khmer Rouge regime in the late 1970s. We hired a guide to learn a little more about this dark period of Cambodian history. Between 1975 and 1979 Cambodia was subjected to a brutal and unimaginable social experiment by a corrupt and evil government called the Khmer Rouge. Under the direction of Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge implemented a 'Maoist Agrarian Revolution' whereby anyone with an education was exterminated so that only a poor, uneducated workforce remained. In three years, nearly 2 million Cambodian men, women and children were tortured and executed, effectively reverting the country back to the Stone Age.

On arriving at the Killing Fields, the area seemed remarkably quiet and peaceful, and looked like a large grassy area with a tall memorial stupa in the middle. As our guide took us through for a closer look, we saw that the grassy areas were actually mounds of mass graves. The paths we walked on between the graves still had human bones and clothes embedded in them, slowly being washed out by the rain. Around the area were trees where speakers were hung to play music at high volume so as to drown out the screaming of victims. We saw mass graves for women and children and the many sickeningly inventive ways the Khmer Rouge soldiers used local farming machinery and trees to torture and execute the people because they did not want to waste their bullets. The stupa in the centre, whilst beautiful from a distance, actually contained inside a glass tower full of 8,000 human skulls. The whole experience was very disturbing and sombre, but at the same time was remarkably dignified and peaceful. What we couldn't get over on our visit were the huge number of butterflies flying around the mass grave areas... to us, it was almost a symbol of peace for these people. Whilst we find visiting these places quite upsetting, they have huge historical significance and it has been extremely educational because neither of us really understood what happened here in Cambodia before our visit. It has given us a better understanding gives and it has had such an impact on us as well as providing a stark reminder of how very very lucky we are.

From the Killing Fields, we headed back into the city centre to visit the Tuol Sleng prison museum which was a former high school used as the notorious Security Prison 21 (S21) by the Khmer Rouge. We spent a few hours walking through the many cells, seeing hundreds of picture taken of the innocent people who where tortured by the Khmer Soldiers in the prison before they were sent to the Killing Fields. After the museum we headed back to our hotel to grab our bags and check into another hotel in the riverfront area. We had lunch, then in the searing heat we walked to the Royal Palace to wander the grounds, temples and Silver Pagoda. By late afternoon we were so hot and grubby that we decided to wander back to the hotel to sit in the air conditioning for a while. We made the most of having a window and a breeze and hand washed all our clothes and hung them in the window so that it looked like a gypsy site! In the evening we wandered out for a Thai meal. As soon as we set one foot outside the hotel door, we were bombarded with the usual 1,000 offers to take a tuk tuk! Phnom Penh as been a pleasant surprise to us. Many travellers we had spoken to while travelling through Vietnam had referred to the city as 'the armpit of Asia'. To the contrary, we have actually found Phnom Penh to be an interesting place and not at all as bad as it had been described. Within one day, we have found the Cambodian people to have a more pleasant and genuine nature as compared to our experiences with the Vietnamese people.

Tomorrow we take a 6 hour bus to Siem Reap, our final stop in Cambodia and the location of the Temples of Angkor.

Saigon, the Cu Chi Tunnels & Mekong Delta

On Sunday morning we wandered the Danang waterfront, stopping for a coffee in an overpriced cafe. We headed back to our hotel mid-morning and took a taxi to the airport where, after a 1.5 hour delay, we boarded our Vietnam Airlines flight to Saigon (aka Ho Chi Minh City). Saigon can only be defined as chaotic and heavily polluted with motorbikes everywhere. There is little in the way of defining architecture; it is really just another city ... a concrete jungle and a lot less developed than we were expecting with the buildings taking on that typical half finished, slightly decrepid look.

After sharing a taxi ride to the centre with some other backpackers, we dumped our bags and headed out to check out the local area and find a reputable travel agency to book our passage into Cambodia (via the Mekong River Delta). It was Chinese New Year's Eve the day we arrived (also celebrated in Vietnam) and which is followed by a 3 day 'Tet' public holiday and the hotel and some travel agencies were telling us that everything would be closed for the next 4 days. Not good news for our overland trip through Cambodia and into Bangkok for our flight to Kathmandu by Feb 3rd. Thankfully, the information we were given was inaccurate. We have learnt that people will give you information to suit themselves. Some of the agencies were closing for the holiday and we suspect they were misleading us in order to get us to defer our departures so that we would book with them!

We had dinner then waited for midnight to see in the Chinese New Year and watch the fireworks with the locals and other tourists. Even more memorable than the fireworks was the number of mopeds stopped on the wide streets in front of us to watch the fireworks..... there must have been thousands of them, some with their families piled onto the back including tiny babies. It is a sight you would never ever see in the Western World. Saigon has over 3 million mopeds flying around the streets and boy do we know it! The air was thick with the exhaust fumes and you take your life into your hands everytime you try and cross a the road. You have to just step out and let the the bikes weave around you as you make your way across. By the time the fireworks had finished we both had burning eyes and our clothes stank. That said, it was absolute sheer madness seeing and hearing the thousands of mopeds moving off like a stampede!

On Monday we were up early and took a tour 60km north to see the Cu Chi tunnels (with the obligatory 40 minute stop at the tourist tack shop!). The Cu Chi tunnels are an immense network of connecting underground tunnels and were the location of several military campaigns during the Vietnam War. They were used by Viet Cong guerrillas as hiding spots during combat, as well as serving as communication and supply routes, hospitals, food and weapon caches and living quarters for numerous guerrilla fighters. We began by watching a short documentary about the tunnels, which gave an interesting insight into the war from the Vietnamese perspective before walking to see the various animal traps and pits that the Viet Cong set to trap American GIs. We then entered one of the tunnels, dug at 3 different levels, of 3, 6 and 9 metres through a section of them we were exhausted and dripping in sweat... amazing to think people lived in them for 21 hours a day.

We returned to Saigon at lunchtime and in the afternoon we walked through the city to visit the War Remnants Museum, dedicated to the memories of those who fought in the Vietnam War. We had been told the museum was closed by all the tourist agencies but thought we'd check ourselves and it was open. The museum was very educational but very harrowing; a stark depiction of the brutality of warfare. There were displays and photos in the museum that we had never seen the likes of before. Some were quite gruesome and Bi found it very hard to deal with and burst out crying in the museum. It is shocking and upsetting to see the barbaric treatment of another human being in such graphic form and to see people's facial expressions, women and children especially, in photos taken just moments before they were killed. Particularly disturbing also was a tank of preserved foetuses which had been horrifically deformed by the US use of chemical Agent Orange during the war. It was upsetting but an all too important lesson in the pointlessness of war.

From the Museum we walked to the Reunification Palace, a rather drab 1960's building which has been preserved as it was when the communist North Vietnamese Army tanks smashed through the gates in 1975, signifying the reunification of North and South Vietnam. With the major sights of the city done, we headed back to our hotel area for an ice-cream and to get out of the scorching heat!

The following day, Tuesday, we began our 2 day trip to Phnom Penh, Cambodia via the Mekong River Delta. The Mekong is a huge 2,700 mile long river, flowing south from Northern China through China, Laos, Burma, Thailand and Cambodia before forming a huge delta in southern Vietnam. A trip on the delta is considered a highlight in Vietnam. We got on a rather old and cramped bus at 8.30am (after fighting for our seats!) and were driven 4 hours west to the small town of Cai Be. Here we boarded a motorised canoe and cruised down one of the delta's branches to see the local production of rice paper, puffed rice and coconut candy which was clearly put on for the tourists but interesting nevertheless. The slow journey along the river was fascinating for the rickety wooden shacks that line the banks of the river and for seeing the local people going about their everyday lives. We finally had before us the scenery we expected from Vietnam. Our boat took us onto the main river and after a brief stop for lunch we sailed on to the town of Vinh Long where we disembarked and met our bus for a 4 hour drive to our destination for the night, the small town of Chau Doc. In Chau Doc we checked into the hotel reserved by the tourist agency and were given a room with a ''fake'' window.... it opened up onto a brick wall which was pleasant.. not! The town was quite rustic so it was bit of challenge finding somewhere to eat that looked like it might be kind to our stomachs. As per usual here in South East Asia, the town was buzzing with people and street vendors until late.

The following morning, Wednesday, we had a 6am start and after breakfast we walked to the riverfront where we transferred onto a small wooden canoe. An older Vietnamese woman then 'rowed' us down the river and through a floating village, essentially a collection of houseboats (and by that we mean higgeldy piggeldy wooden shacks actually built so they sit on top of a boat) and floating buildings. The inhabitants were busy doing their washing and bathing in the river and some were even drinking the river water which was brown and filthy. The same water would probably do us some very serious harm! We came back to shore to walk around a small muslim Cham village before transferring onto a small boat that was to take us up the Mekong river and into to Cambodia. The journey was fascinating as we saw real life on the river as opposed to a show put on for the tourists. The scenery changed from rice paddy fields as far as the eye could see to jungle but consistently all the way along people were coming down to the river from their small, crooked wooden houses to fish, bathe (with their cattle at some points!), wash their clothes or to swim and cool off. The people live in such poor conditions that it makes you feel guilty about the luxuries you take for granted every day. After 3 hours we reached the Cambodian border and after formalities we transferred to a very narrow and uncomfortable boat where we sat on a wooden bench for the next 3 hours to Phnom Penh. At the end of our boat journey we peeled our aching backsides from the bench and boarded a minibus that took us the final 35km into Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia.

Hue, Hoi An and Danang

We were up at 4.30am to catch a 1 hour flight from Hanoi down the Vietmanese coastline to Hue, in the centre of the country. We flew with Vietnam Airlines and had no idea what to expect but they weren't bad at all! We took a transfer to our accommodation in the centre of the town and were told we had been upgraded to a 'deluxe room'.. yipee! Our room was on the 4th floor, nice and big and had a balcony overlooking the town, however, it was so damp and musty and the sheets on the bed smelled strongly of mould. Bi's face said everything but we had read on many travel reviews that this was quite common here so changing to another room or even hotel wasn't likely to make much difference. We opened up every window and the balcony doors and put on the air conditioning and thankfully the room became a lot more tolerable! We dumped our bags and headed out into the city for some breakfast. Although a million times quieter than Hanoi there were still millions of motorbikes zipping around and tooting their horns.


After breakfast we crossed the river and walked to the Old Citadel in the heart of the city which is a UNESCO world heritage site. From the chaos of the surrounding streets we walked into the comparatively empty and peaceful citadel. We spent several hours wandering the deserted gardens and ceremonial halls of the old emperors which was quite impressive and most importantly a well needed restbite from the chaos just outside! From the relative peace of the citadel we headed to the Dong Ba market selling the conical hats that the local women wear in Vietnam and lots of other tourist tack. We got hassled so much that we left after 5 minutes! We were also pretty shattered by this point having been up so early so returned to our hotel and relaxed for the rest of the day watching cable tv in our nice, big, damp room! Within minutes, our clothes had absorbed the wonderful mouldy smell of the bed covers.. it was bliss... NOT! We didn't do too much in the evening, just had dinner and wandered the town which is made up of mainly restaurants and souvenir shops. Anyone can set up shop or a food stall here and you commonly see the locals sitting on the pavement or at makeshift tables eating meals which are made by ladies on the street.

On Wednesday we took a dragon boat trip along the Perfume River and hopped on and off at the various tombs of the Nguyen dynasty emperors. We boarded a nice big dragon boat for 25 people and with only 16 of us on the boat it looked like we might have a nice spacious trip. However, in true Vietnamese 'never give anything for free' style the boat owners (they are operated by families who also live on the boat) made us change boats and crammed the 16 of us onto a tiny, narrow boat that had a maximum speed slower than our own walking pace! We sat on our garden chairs and set off up the river where for the first 15 minutes the owners tried to sell us drinks and souvenirs over and over again! We were next handed menus (with restaurant prices) to place our lunch orders which the owners cook for you on the boat. We all actually had lunch included in the price of our boat ticket but the boat operators sneakily pass a menu around in hope you order 'extra' food and pay them more money! We have noticed that the Vietnamese can be quite sneaky and mercenary when it comes to money and we have had to be careful not to be trusting. They are also seem to be very mistrusting towards us..... they don't miss a trick and it can be rather tiresome.


The scenery along the banks of the Perfume River ( a lovely muddy brown river!!!!) is not particularly beautiful but watching the local river life is quite interesting. We saw one woman bent over her boat, washing her hair in the river as her husband rowed past us. Some of the conditions that people live in, on tiny wooden boats is beyond belief and a millions miles from how our life is. To see the babies and small children sat balanced on the edge of boats is always a sight to see as it would never be done in the western world. We chugged slowly down to our first stop, the iconic 16th Century Thien Mu Pagoda picturesquely situated on a hill. On display within the complex was the car made infamous in the photo of the Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc who burned himself to death in Saigon to protest against the persecution of Vietnamese Buddhists. From this pagoda we headed further upstream and took a 2km ride on the back of a motorbike to the Tu Duc tomb where the main Emperor of Hue is buried. The tomb complex was peaceful to walk around but was more like a temple than a tomb, with several oriental buildings and a small lake. Nobody actually knows where the emperors tomb is located on the site. We returned back to our boat by motorbike and where the motorbike drivers 'demanded' a beer from the local store as a tip (in addition to payment) for the 2 minute ride. Ash refused but his driver picked up a beer and drove off leaving him with the stall holder asking for payment. We haggled begrudgingly down from 40,000 to 20,000 dong (about 80 pence) for 2 beers. In hindsite we should have just said 'no' on principle as by letting them get away with it we only encourage them. We have no problem tipping where it is deserved..... these guys were just greedy and unpleasant.

Next stop was the small women's pagoda which wasn't particularly interesting so we sat on the banks of the river to wait for our lunch to be set up on the boat. The owners had set up mats on the floor and laid out bowls of rice, tofu and vegetables and a cold drink.... which of course turned out not to be free... it was the usual trick of putting something in front of you as if it is included and then stinging you for it afterwards. We live and learn and will be asking "how much" before we take or use anything! After lunch we returned to Hue via the Minh Mang tomb which is a very pretty and peaceful complex with a huge lake and ornate oriental buildings. It was our last stop for the day as we were all completely 'templed' out. We made the slow journey back to Hue and arrived back late in the afternoon.

The following morning, Thursday, we took a tourist bus from Hue to Hoi An; a journey of approximately 80 miles but which took 3.5 hours. Travel here is very slow and transport is not particularly easy or frequent. True to form, the bus was 1.5 hours late leaving Hue and after driving only 45 minutes it laughably pulled in for a 40 minute break at one of those tourist cafes where there are a million staff members waiting out front with big smiles because they expect you are going to spend all your money in their shop. Most people on the bus were less than impressed and did not go inside! You can complain about these things but it falls on deaf ears here! We finally arrived into Hoi An in the early afternoon and as luck would have it, the bus drop-off was directly opposite our hotel. We treated ourselves to a nice hotel but were so disappointed to find that our room was damp to the point it was almost wet. You could hardly breathe when you walked into it and it was so unpleasant that we decided to find somewhere else to stay. Ash headed out to find a new hotel while Bi looked after the bags. The reception staff were of course less than pleased when we decided to leave and refused to hand back our passports until a full check of the room had been done by security! Within ten minutes we were in a much more pleasant and dry hotel 2 minutes down the road. It was nearly half the price and a hundred times better! We dumped our bags and headed out to check out Hoi An.


Hoi An is an old trading port established in the 15th century, and the central old town is another UNESCO world heritage site. Hoi An lived up to its reputation and more... the city is quaint and beautiful with pretty colonial French architecture and much to Bi's delight there are coloured lanterns hanging up everywhere!! Similar to Chiang Mai, the city has a nice gentle pace to it which is largely to do with its situation on a river and most importantly only a few mopeds! We instantly liked Hoi An and it was a breath of fresh air, both metaphorically and literally! We enjoyed a late lunch on a balcony overlooking the river before walking through the Central Market, which actually functions as a real market rather than being set out for the tourists... we wandered the stalls selling everything and anything: herbs, spices, fruit, vegetables, fish from the river and pig heads and entrails! Ash was pleased with his photo of an old lady beheading fish from the river with a fag hanging out her mouth! From the market we crossed a rickety wooden bridge to the other side of the river and wandered back along the quiet south bank. In the evening we headed out for dinner and went to a recommended French-Vietnamese restaurant called Cafe Des Amis, where we were served 5 huge courses of traditional Vietnamese food. There's no menu and what it served is dictated by what the owner feels like cooking that night! The food was excellent and it was nice to try some things that we might not have been game enough to order otherwise! We returned along the river and Bi dived into the silk oriental lantern stalls that were all lit up along the bank and we returned to the hotel with a bag full.


On Friday we were collected from our hotel just after 8am by another tourist bus (the lack of transport links here makes it difficult to get around independently) and were transported 40km out of the city to the ruins of My Son, another UNESCO site comprising many ruined Hindu temples in a forested valley surrounded by mountain ranges. The site was heavily bombed during the Vietnam War as the VietCong army hid out in the area which at the time was dense jungle.There was one main ruined temple complex surrounded by some smaller ruins, pot-holed with huge bomb craters. The site was interesting but not particularly spectacular and after an hour we had walked the whole site. We returned at lunchtime by bus, disembarking half-way back to finish the journey by boat. Again we were crammed onto a boat which leaned heavily to one side from all the weight in it! We had a gentle hour's cruise back, stopping for 15 minutes at a woodcutter's station to see a workshop and boat-building area. We returned to pretty Hoi An mid-afternoon and found a nice cafe where we treated ourselves to a capuccino and a surprisingly good chocolate fudge brownie! We relaxed for the rest of the afternoon and returned back to the waterfront for an inexpensive and very tasty Vietnamese dinner.


This morning, Saturday, was pouring with rain so we didn't venture out of our hostel until midday. The cleaners helped themselves into our room 30 minutes before check-out time to get us out but Ash chased them out so we could finish packing!! They were not happy. We wandered back into Hoi An old town and visited some of the old houses, assembly halls and museums: Quan Cong temple, Tan Ky House and the pretty Japanese covered bridge. Along the way we stopped for lunch at the Cargo Cafe and enjoyed baguettes, cakes and capuccinos! Mid afternoon, we took a taxi 30km to Danang where we will spend the night before flying to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh city) tomorrow. We have a huge room with big balcony and views over the city and spent the afternoon wandering around the city, markets and along the riverfront. We seem to be the only tourists here which is nice because we are getting a glimpse of real life here in Vietnam.