A Year In Motion

We did not want to leave Vang Vieng, another tubing adventure was tempting. But Luang Prabang (LP) was at the top of my list from the start of the trip, so off we went in a minivan. The journey was only 230 km, but it took us almost 7 hours to get there. This time we had been warned plenty about the nauseating journey we would have through the narrow potholed roads of Laos that snake through its tall mountains. Being a perpetual sufferer of motion sickness I did not risk it and took plenty of medication that made me too drowsy the whole way, but it was worth it. If there is ever a journey where you need motion remedies, this is it.

Luang Prabang was everything we wanted and more, it was the jewel of our Asian leg. The pace of life in LP is very relaxed, blending perfectly with the French Colonial architecture and innumerable Buddhist temples and monasteries. We were in awe by the richness of culture and heritage this small town had to offer. LP, a UNESCO World Heritage site, has about 100,000 inhabitants, including many many Buddhist monks.

Finding accommodation proved to be tricky. There is plenty of it, but the quality is not as good as we had hoped. In Vang Vieng we had easily found a great room for $10 (expensive for Vang Vieng) so we had arrived with preconceptions. LP gets a lot package tourists and not as many backpackers so it was different. We looked at probably all the guesthouses and small hotels in the town. We actually checked into three of them, we unpacked, and then we packed again and left a couple of hours later. When looking for a room, the first thing we ask is if the room has a bathroom inside. Secondly if it has air conditioning, and third if it has internet. In the first hotel they told us (and advertise big outside) there was free wifi. After unpacking and relaxing we decided to do some work on the blog. Surprise! No internet. We asked and they said it was not working these days. What!! We had clearly asked before checking in and they confirmed they did. Sometimes we take a room with no internet, but in this case it was the deceit which we did not appreciate, so we checked out.

We checked into a second place, unpacked, went out for a walk, went for dinner and came back to sleep. Surprise! The air conditioning wasn’t working at all. 3 different men came in and tried to fix it. After an hour, around 10 pm, Tony told them that was enough, we could not wait anymore. They did not have any more rooms left with AC but did not want to lose our business so they offered to take us to another hotel. The other hotel was out of the town and they intended to charge us more. We checked out again! We walked through the town again checking all options we had not seen before. They were all booked or not good enough. It was getting very late so we ended up staying at a really nice place, but more expensive than all others in town. Tony had checked this place out from the beginning and it was tempting but it was too expensive. He went back 2 more times to ask for a discount but they wouldn’t nudge. In the end we had to take it, and when we checked in the receptionist asked me: “Is it true that my colleague is saying that this is the 4th time that he comes in?”. Yes it was, and this time we stayed there until we left LP.

It turned out to be a real good move. In the end, all things happen for a reason. Our room had a balcony with chairs to sit in, from where we watched every morning before 6 am the Alms Ceremony. Basically we did not have to get out of bed to see the daily procession as our balcony was on the monks route. Everyday at sunrise the Buddhist monks make a single file procession to the temples. The devotees offer them food, which sustains the monks; but also the poorest people in the community, as the monks give some of it back to them. The offerings are mainly sticky rice wrapped in banana leaf, biscuits, candy and packed juices. The women have to kneel to present offerings to the monks, while the men may stand. Those differences between men and women I will never understand or appreciate. Anyway, the point of the ceremony is for the devotees to “make merit” according to Buddhism. We personally chose not to participate by giving offerings, but some tourists do. There are warnings all over town about how tourists should not interfere. First of all, if you take pictures, you should do it very discreetly. It was sickening how some tourists get in the monks way to get a snap. Secondly if you decide to give them an offering, you should not only follow the etiquette of dress, but should only offer fresh food (you should to buy the rice in the morning before 6 am). There were some women befriending tourists and giving them rice so they could participate in the ceremony. Then they demand money from you. We had seen the warnings so were not caught out, the monks end up throwing this rice as it is not fresh. We even read somewhere that some monks had gotten very sick from tourists offerings (provided by the touts) and that they wanted to stop doing the daily ceremony, but the authorities told them the tradition had to be continued to keep the tourists coming to LP. In any case, there is a very special feeling to witnessing this ceremony.

We continued our Laos gourmet tour in LP as there is an abundance of haute cuisine restaurants. It was a big change, as normally in SE Asia we have been struggling to find fine local food. We dii not even have time to try all the ones we wanted. One that is very worthy of a mention is Tamarind, a very small restaurant with awesome menus and tapas, as well as cooking classes. I was delighted that in Laos they use a lot of aubergine, cilantro, and fresh chili. We left Laos and for a change we had not had enough of the local cuisine. Laos did feel more expensive than Cambodia and Thailand, but maybe it was because of our taste in food… The night market does not have food, but it does have beautiful handwork from the natives. We said we would come back, especially to buy my father his Xmas present: giant scorpion in liquor. He is proud of his astrological sign Scorpion, and like Tony, is always willing to try crazy food and drink. Sorry papi!

We could also not pass up the opportunity to try a Laotian massage at the Red Cross. Nothing like Thai massage, Lao massage is really soft. We also rented bikes and cycled through LP and its outskirts stopping at numerous temples. LP is full of Buddhist temples and you get a sense of their traditional customs. The days we were there were extra special as they were preparing for the End of the Buddhist Lent, during which the monks fast. All the locals were building paper boats that they will light on and place them on the Mekong River. Everyday we saw the progress done as they display them at the front of their houses. Every temple we passed by was being beautifully decorated by the monks, with paper stars and other artsy creations they made themselves. Some of the temples were spectacularly beautiful. The temples in LP are definitely the prettiest we have seen. On the last day of the lent, the Alms Ceremony was even more special as more than 300 monks marched through town, all with a fresh shaved head.

There were also boat races going on. Groups of men from different villages in different colored t shirts race against each other down the Mekong River. We saw them practicing daily and also saw several races. Tony hired a motorboat to race the boats, actually he wanted to film them as they raced so he went with them at their speed to see it side by side. It was a pity that we could not stay for the culmination of the festival, the night where the paper boats are lighted on the Mekong. We had no desire to travel by bus to Hanoi, Vietnam as it takes about 40 hours. We decided to go by plane, and since it was last minute there were no seats left for the day after the culmination of the festival. LP was just fantastic: beautiful and relaxing. Now on to something completely different: crazy Hanoi!

Luang Prabang is fantastic for photographing, some of our best pictures of the trip are here. Or check out a video diary, an introduction to a traditional Laotian meal, a few short videos of the alms ceremony, and Tony’s attempts at becoming a sports commentator on the boat racing in our videos below.

Every establishment in the 4000 islands sells the bus ticket to Vientiane, the capital of Laos; our next destination. The journey involves a 20 minute boat ride, a 2 hour bus ride to Pakse, a 6 hour wait in Pakse, and an overnight journey of 10 hours in a sleeper bus. We did not want to risk arriving in Pakse and not finding a seat on the bus so for the second time we bought the tickets from an intermediary. Most operators sell them for 200,000 Kip, but we managed to negotiate it down to 170,000. Once again, everything turned out fine. Either we have been lucky or smart, as there are plenty of scam stories going around.

We are no fans of overnight buses. The only one we have taken in the whole trip was in Turkey in the first week of the trip. We did not enjoy that, so we have avoided them like the plague since. Strangely enough, VIP buses only depart Pakse for Vientiane at night. We were surprised to see that the bus was quite nice, and all the places are beds, not reclining seats, but real proper beds. The whole bus was set as “double beds”, so 2 persons to one bed; a double bed that is smaller than a Western single bed though. In Asia it must not be a problem as everyone is tiny, but to Western guys…not comfortable. Our vendor, back in Don Khone, had done a good job of assuring us the best bed, the one with the longest leg space (as they all vary). Not only that, but we were so lucky that the bus was half empty; so we were allowed to take a double bed each. Service was good: two drivers, an attendant, and a goody bag for each of us. All this time we were worried about the comfort of the bus that we had forgotten about the state of Laos roads. It didn’t matter how nice the bus was, the ride was extremely bumpy, even though the drivers were quite good. Getting a good night’s sleep proved to be difficult.

We arrived in the capital of Laos on a Sunday morning. Vientiane is situated on the left bank of the Mekong river, it’s divided into 9 districts, and has a population of about 650,000 people. It recently celebrated its 450 years of foundation. Yes it was a sleepy capital (as it is known), but it was a Sunday at 6 am. In my opinion, Vientiane is not sleepy, it’s relaxed, cultured and pleasant. We had no need of taking any transport, we walked everywhere and visited most of the important sites of the city.

Vientiane has wide tree lined boulevards and avenues and an architecture reflecting its past, French colonialism. There is a long promenade bordering the Mekong, but at the time it was being reconstructed for the upcoming boat races and events to celebrate the End of the Rains Festival. There was carnival atmosphere at night, people out on the streets playing games for prizes, having drinks and street food, quite an ambience for a sleepy capital.

We strolled to Wat Si Saket, passing many other temples and the Presidential Palace en route. This temple is the only one in Vientiane to survive the Siamese invasion and destruction. It houses more than 10000 Buddha images of all shapes and sizes. Buddhist temples in Laos are notorious by displaying a big cobra and the coiled cobra head over Buddha, signifying protection.

We then continued our walk to Patuxay, the Victory Monument. It was built in 1968 in memory of those who fought in the Independence War against France. Funny enough, it is a tacky version of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. There is even a plaque under it describing it in English as a “concrete monster”. We climbed the seven levels to get a view of the city from the top. We did not expect to find a souvenir market inside it.

On the way back we stumbled upon the Official Tourism Office, and we were quite surprised to find it open on a Sunday, but not surprised to find out they had no information and hardly spoke any English. We visited the surroundings of the Morning Market, as the original one is being remodeled. We observed the Laotians on their daily Sunday activities. In Laos you will find more monks in their orange robes than in any other country, including child monks. They are supposed to keep away from women, but more than once we observed them innocently flirting with girls. After all, they are only young boys.

On our way to That Dam Stupa we witnessed more corruption. A police officer was observing the traffic, then he stopped the fanciest looking car he could spot. We don’t know what infraction he committed, but we knew what was coming. 3 minutes later we saw the exchange, a folded bill; and without delay both of them were on their way. That Dam literally means Black Stupa, it was constructed in the 15th Century and legend says that it is the resting place of a seven headed dragon that failed to protect the city from invasions. Because it failed, it is not well preserved, it’s not even black anymore.

Tony and I have always enjoyed experimenting with different cuisines, but to be honest we were quite tired of Asian food so we were quite happy to discover that Laos still retains much French influence, including its cuisine. There were so many cafes serving French fare, International restaurants and Lao Haute Cuisine. We had a dilemma, so many good restaurants, so little time. We had French style breakfast at Joma, a popular bakery and cafe. We like French food, but not French prices while in Asia. For lunch we went for gourmet Italian and for dinner we had our first taste of Royal Lao cuisine.

Kau Lao is an upscale touristy restaurant, but it has maintained its quality standards, and locals still frequent it. Among others, one of its visitors is the Prime Minister of Japan. We seem to be on the right track of finding good restaurants as we have eaten in several restaurants visited by him. We had two different set menus to share and they were absolutely delicious. Lao food is served all at the same time in small bowls, starters and mains together. That is the only thing we dislike, as we like to savor course by course, as in Europe; without our food getting cold. Like in all SE Asia, all food is served with rice. Same same but different; in Laos, the rice is not steamed, but cooked sticky (white, purple, or black), and served in a bamboo closed container. You make little rice balls with your hands and then pick the food with it and put it in your mouth. Lime leaves, mint, chilies, bamboo, little ball aubergines, mushrooms and lemongrass are staple ingredients. Laos cuisine grabbed us by surprise, it is absolutely delicious and different from any other we have tasted. We thought we were going to be eating French all the time, but Laos cuisine was so good that we had to pass up on the French.

There was traditional Lao music and dance. As the language, the music and dance is very similar to Thailand’s. The highlight of the night came when Tony spotted some strange jars at the bar. He made his way up there, chatted with the barman and manager and before I knew it he was back with two small cups of Laotian specialties, saved for connoisseurs (not in the menu). The first one was a brandy of an exotic rare aged mushroom, apart from the strong smell, it was quite nice and sweet tasting. The second one was a strong aged liqueur with many big dead bees in it. Innocently enough, I thought it would taste like honey. Wrong, quite the opposite, very strong. The staff at the restaurant were quite friendly and explained to us about Lao culture. Tony then inquired about his new craving: snake blood. They told him that it’s now illegal, but maybe in the countryside he could find it. Stay tuned, watch this space!

A short pleasant stay in Vientiane, and on to our next destination, the infamous Vang Vieng. We bought a VIP bus ticket for $ 5 each. The distance between the two points is only 160 km, but took us almost 4 hours! Apart from the usual delays (bus driver stopping whenever he gets hungry), the road in Laos is the worst we’ve encountered so far and the speed limit is 80 kph, but the worst part is that it is very narrow, and very curvy as it goes up and down the mountains of the territory. Not a pleasant ride for those with delicate stomachs like myself.

We arrived in Vang Vieng (VV) and it was very easy to find a decent place to stay. In Lao, there are not many touts, and the few are not very persistent. We started walking through the town with our bags and we were approached several times by hotel agents in tuk tuks, cars, motorcycles or walking. We took our time to see what they offered and we ended up scoring a nice quiet traditional AC ensuite cabin with wifi and cable tv for $10. There are so many hotel rooms in Vang Vieng that a good deal is easy to find. The rest of the day we walked around the town, as it was too late to go tubing. VV is nothing but a small town full of restaurants and bars all showing reruns of Friends, The Simpsons and Family Guy; as well as offering “Magic Menus”. If you don’t plan on tubing in VV then there is no point in going. There are caves and waterfalls to visit, but then again, where aren’t there any in SE Asia?

Tubing is the star of the show in VV and that’s what we came for. Basically you rent a tube (inflated old tyre) from the cartel in town (owned by all the families in VV) and a tuk tuk takes you to the launching point about 10 km out of town. You float back to VV in your tube down the Nam Song River which is surrounded by impressive beautiful karst formation mountains. But it’s not only that, the peculiarity of it is the dozens of ”interesting” stops you end up making along the way.

We had heard and read mixed reports about VV from fellow travelers. From those that said it was so awesome they did it many days in a row, to those who thought it was not even worth visiting VV, to those who tell stories of others ending with serious injuries or death by drowning because of intoxication. For moments I thought we were too old for something like that and our time in Laos was limited anyway; but as I always say “I’d rather regret doing it, then never knowing what I missed”, so we went for it.

By nightfall of our first day in VV the tubers started returning back. We saw many barefoot girls in bikinis walking through town, a guy carrying his passed out girlfriend over his shoulders (caveman style), excessively drunken loud guys, many with spray painting over their bodies. These are daily normal scenes in VV. Tubing looked promising.

Next day and our time had come. We rented the tube and signed a disclaimer form liberating them from accidental death or injuries, got a big number imprinted on our hand (with permanent black marker) which matched our disclaimer form. We asked where the return point was, but they couldn’t be bothered in explaining us anything else. Off we went in the tuk tuk to the launch point. Our first consolation was that the other people in the tuk tuk were even older than us.

We arrived and couldn’t believe what we were seeing. It was surreal! Right In the middle of the countryside in Laos were these bars playing really loud techno music, very old Laotian countrymen and women were dancing and singing to the music, sliding face down to the river, ziplining and offering us free shots of insect and reptile infused Laos alcohol, and to spray paint our bodies. What is this place? This is what tubing is all about.

Unfortunately we don’t have photos to show as we didn’t want to risk our camera getting wet, but trust me Vang Vieng is one messed up place out of reality. Tubing? Most people don’t get to do any tubing at all, as they pass the time going into the many bars that are about 200 meters away from each other. As you pass by in your tube, the staff from each bar throws you a rope and pulls you back. It looks like everybody is having so much fun, that we couldn’t resist joining them and stopping at almost every bar. Personally we were in control of the situation the whole time, but so many were not. It is scary to think what could happen to them. Every bar has different activities to participate in such as water slides, zip lines, mud volleyball, mud wrestling, etc. We did all of them and it was a blast.

This is a place for adults and there are no rules. There is all kinds of alcohol on sale (plus free shots), free bananas and crackers, and a special menu (for those that know about it). Time goes by so quickly and everyone ends up paying the fine for not returning the tube before 6 pm. After the last bar you can return by tuk tuk. We still wanted to tube for real so we decided to continue on the river. It took us more than 90 minutes to get back, so night and rain had fallen on us. Honestly, it was a bit scary not knowing how much distance you had left, the night creatures, and the occasional men you would see in the river. A Spaniard guy caught up to us and asked if he could hang with until the end as he had the same concerns. In the end (as we supposed) the ending point is not marked and there is no one waiting for you. We ended tubing all the way back to our hotel (way past the point). The day before and that day we saw several tubers reappearing in the river really late way past the point and on their own, scary…

So do we regret tubing? Absolutely not! The only thing we regret is not renting our tubes early enough and having a longer day tubing. We had so much fun, probably the most fun filled day of all the trip. And there were many people our age and older. We recommend to anyone young at heart to do it, just start it no later than 12 p.m and be responsible for yourself and companions.

For the complete photo gallery, click here.

We left Cambodia and headed to Si Phan Don in Laos, literally meaning and better known as the 4000 Islands. We waved goodbye to Tony’s father and departed Kratie, Cambodia. We had come to Kratie to see the rare and endangered Irrawaddy Dolphins who live in the Mekong River. We drove about 15 km out of town and then took a boat. It seemed like an impossible task to spot one of the few specimens in the huge Mekong, especially at that time of year when it is at its mightiest. We had been looking for them for almost two hours, and losing hope by the minute. Just when we were about to turn back, Tony spotted one of them. We stayed for longer and caught a few glimpses of them. They are very cute, but only come up for a quick breath of air once in a while. We all had our cameras ready to snap, but it was impossible to catch them. Still we were really excited we spotted them.

4 hours after leaving Kratie we had arrived at our next destination, the island of Don Khone. We took a minivan from Kratie to Stung Treng with a journey time of 1.5 hours, then a one hour bus to the border, 30 minutes at the border, 15 minutes from the border to Ban Nakasan, and 20 minutes on a small boat to Don Khone. The journey did not go without incidents though. The border crossing from Cambodia (Dong Kralor) to Laos (Dong Kalaw) is notorious for its corrupt officials. On many occasions during our travels we have been warned about situations like this, but being very aware and informed we have been able to elude them, so far we had done all our travels without having to pay any bribes, or additional “fees”. That was until Laos. Lao visas are available at this border since this year, but to avoid being the prey of this infamous officials we applied for them in advance at the Lao Embassy; a very straightforward process that only took one day and $40 each, no additional charges.

This border crossing is quite rustic, simple and fast. Exiting Cambodia, I handed my passport to an official and he murmured “1 Dollar”. I replied very loudly: “1 Dollar! For What?”. He did not reply back. There were four other travelers with us and another official told one of them “1 Dollar for stamp” before returning his passport. He replied he didn’t have any money, and that was the end of the story; they gave all of us our passports back, stamped and with no further demands. Easy enough saying “no money”. 200 meters and we were in Lao territory. We filled the entry card and handed it in with our passport. “2 Dollars for entry stamp” said the official. The first traveler said he didn’t have any money. It didn’t work this time…To make the story short, after more than 30 minutes of arguments, begging, insults, threats, etc, the six of us had no choice than to pay the bribe. Every traveler had a different strategy to get out of it, and none worked. From the Japanese girl’s strategy of I am so innocent I don’t understand, to Tony’s tough guy attitude, nada; we all had to swallow our pride and cough up the bucks. Tony verbally expressed all his sentiments to the officer, but of course the only English he knew was “2 Dollars”, if not he would have been deported before getting the entry stamp. Needless to say it’s not about the $2, but about the principle. We all felt robbed, violated, impotent, it’s a horrible feeling. After venting out all our frustration, we were all quiet the rest of the way. Tony and I played with the idea of just entering Laos without the stamp (as you can easily walk in and out), but we didn’t risk it because our plan was to leave by air; if we were leaving by land, we would have called their bluff and not give in to the bribe. We all had our visas which are not cheap, we all were coming to spend money in a country that really needs it; Laos is one of the 10 poorest countries in the world, and it does not receive the tourism that its neighboring countries do. How can the central government allow this situation? They are very aware of it because it’s written in guidebooks, traveler blogs, etc. Welcome to Laos!

Just a few kilometers into Laos and we realized how different than Cambodia it was. For starters, the roads are really bad, while in Cambodia they are in pretty good conditions. The farther we went into Laos, the better the weather, we had left the humidity of Cambodia behind as we headed North and up in the mountains. Surprisingly people were not as friendly, and they were not wearing pijamas (common in Cambodia). 18 km after the border we arrived in Ban Nakasan, the gateway to the islands. From there we were taken by boat to Don Khone, our selected island. 4000 islands is still not in most traveler’s itineraries as it is off the beaten path, except for those traveling overland between Cambodia and Laos. It makes a good stopover to break the long journey, considering especially the border crossing closes at 4 pm (or you can pay a big bribe and they will open it especially for you, but no transport at that time anyway). Out of the 4000 Islands, most travelers choose Don Dhet, as it is the most easily accessible, with the cheapest accommodation and food, and the party vibe. Don Khone is a bit more upscale, quieter and more beautiful, boasting 2 interesting waterfalls and more authenticity as it gets fewer tourists.

Apart from the border incident, the travel went well. We were hesitant about buying the ticket from an agent in Kratie (called Mr. Cheat) all the way to Don Khone, as it involved 4 transfers. Usually we are very careful, purchasing always every segment personally and directly from the operator ourselves, but this time we gave it a shot. We paid $14 each from Kratie to Don Khone. Mr Cheat did not cheat us.

The 4000 Islands are in the province of Champasak, South Laos. They are a group of islands in a winding part of the mighty Mekong River. When the rainy season is over, the water levels drop dramatically and more islands appear. Apart from the muddy brown waters of the Mekong, the setting was postcard perfect. Lushness everywhere, tall palm trees and bamboo plants adorned the isolated rustic villages. We walked the main strip looking for accommodation. We couldn’t believe how cheap it was, we were offered waterfront AC ensuite rooms for 7 US Dollars. However we wanted something nicer, so we kept searching until we found a duplex hut with a private balcony directly on stilts over the water for $25. Our accommodation was brilliant, we could lay in the hammock and just watch life on the Mekong pass by, even from the bed you could hear and see the river. It was lovely hearing the rainstorms at night, the sounds of the wild, and looking at the stars and fireflies. I could have easily stayed a long time there doing nothing as in Gili Meno, but Tony was not impressed and the rest of Lao and Vietnam were waiting for us.

One of the few activities you can do is rent a bike and cycle the island, but because of the rain the terrain was too muddy. Instead we walked the island, which is very easy. Into the island you find the locals leading their daily life, planting the scenic rice fields, kids at school, etc. We were shocked and disgusted to find a gibbon trapped in a small cage and a macaque tied with a metallic chain to a tree. I felt like denouncing the situation, but to who, they would have laughed at me. We arrived at the Somphamit waterfalls, and although I have to admit they are more like rapids than waterfalls, they are quite impressive because of their width and the fast flowing huge amounts of water. You can walk up to them from the side and it’s scary to think about slipping falling into them. Another activity is to try your luck at spotting the rare Irrawady dolphins. We had already done it in Kratie, were chances are stronger, so we did not pursue them in Don Khone.

Then the second bad incident in our first 24 hours in Laos occurred. There is an old French bridge connecting Don Khone to Don Dhet. The local “authorities” (there are no formal authorities or police) of Don Khone have imposed a toll fee of 20000 Kip (about US $2.50) to foreigners crossing on foot or bike from Don Dhet to Don Khone. It’s their village and I suppose they can do whatever they please, but I still think it’s steep; especially considering that it only applies to foreign tourists on foot or bike; not to the hundreds of daily Thai tourists that come in package tours and cross the bridge in minibuses as they make a quick visit to the waterfalls. I witnessed how many tourists coming from Don Dhet had to turn back as they were unwilling to pay the fee or did not have money with them. We had no plans of visiting Don Dhet, even less if we had to pay that amount. As we were walking in Don Khone, Tony thought we should step over the bridge to cross a muddy bit. Immediately the man in charge demanded the toll. We explained to him we were not going to cross the bridge, we did not want to go to Don Dhet. He became unreasonable and as the border official, all he could say was “money money”. Tony told him a few things and got on the bridge. Tony is double the size of most men in Laos, so he did not dare stop him; but then he tried to stop me by blocking my path. I thought things would start getting ugly as other men appeared out of the booth, so I told Tony we should get out of there. For agriculture or whatever reason, most men there carry axes and machetes with them, it wasn’t a good idea to fight them. After a cross of English and Laotian insults between both parts, we left. We both felt disgusted, disappointed and angered with Lao attitudes towards foreigners. Further on, every time we passed by the “toll booth”, groups of men (that hang inside the booth all day and do nothing but put tourist money in their pockets) would come out of the booth, and harass us. It was intimidating.

We stayed for only 48 hours and it was enough. Maybe in dry season when they say the Mekong is turquoise clear (hard to believe) and mot muddy brown the 4000 Islands are worth the trip. Laotian food was surprisingly delicious in Don Khone. I was really hoping Laos would start to look up and redeem itself because it was my idea to go there. Tony wanted to skip it, and divide the time between Cambodia and Vietnam. After reading from many travel blogs and hearing from travelers that Laos was so brilliant, I insisted we should come. Curiously enough just before arriving into Laos we heard and read traveler reports stating the opposite, how they disliked Laos. Let’s hope Vientiane, Vang Vieng and Luang Prabang will give Laos a good name.

For more pictures of the 4000 Islands click here.

Angkor Wat is Cambodia’s national pride, a relic of the triumphant era between the 9th and 12th centuries when the Khmer empire stretched west through present-day Thailand and as far east as the Mekong Delta. That the silhouette of Angkor graces the Cambodian national flag, and the country’s most popular (and best-tasting) beer bears the same name tells you a little about how Cambodians feel about the place. And for those outside Cambodia, the name conjures up images of temple ruins overgrown by trees and the passage of time (and for others some not unpleasant images of Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft in the Tomb Raider movie). But Angkor Wat is only one of a number of ancient temples of the former Khmer capital which dot the landscape in the countryside around Siem Reap. Through one of my father’s friends in Siem Reap, we arranged a tuk-tuk driver and guide to show us around the highlights of Angkor in one day.

A one-day entry to Angkor Wat costs $20 per person per day, a three-day ticket costs $40. We paid at the main park entrance, and continued on in the bright sun along the straight tree-lined avenues which stretch out along the moats and through the forests. Our first stop was Angkor Thom, which is a temple complex surrounded by a large moat and covering some three square kilometres. The Khmer empire, for the most part, followed the Hindu religion before converting to Buddhism, and the gate leading into Angkor Thom displays a scene which is often found throughout the temples of Angkor, that of the Naga. The Naga is a Hindu legend where a massive tug-of-war took place between the gods using a snake instead of a rope (I’d opt for the tail end). We stopped for a few photos at the South Gate before continuing on to our first stop, the Bayon Temple.

Bayon is an amazing sight. Supani, our driver, parked the tuk-tuk next to the elephant station, and we followed Ratha, our guide, across to the temple. Bayon is unmistakable – it’s the temple of hundreds of giant smiling faces. We stopped outside for Ratha to explain the reliefs that decorated the walls outside and explained to us the various forces involved – Khmers versus Chinese versus Cham (an Asian Muslim empire), as well as the use of elephants in battle. After this, we took some free time to explore the temple ourselves. Corner after corner, wall after wall, there is face after smiling face. Each pillar has four smiling faces, one in each direction. It’s a unique and marvellous treasure. During our visit, I had been sneaking a few pictures of some of the Buddhist monks who were sightseeing at the temples – their saffron robes against the background of the ancient grey temples makes a beautiful contrast in colour. As were walking out, we got talking to them, and ended up exchanging e-mail addresses and taking a few photos together. Bann Chhun was really nice, and kept thanking us for visiting his country, and asking us to tell others our impressions of it – well Bann, here you go!

Back in the tuk-tuk, we made off for our second stop, Ta Prohm. Ta Prohm is a very famous temple. Although I didn’t know it by name, I have often seen the pictures and postcards of an ancient tree with a root stretching right across the roof of the temple ruins. It is more recently famous for being the setting of many of the scenes of the Tomb Raider film. I read in our guidebook that some people who have visited Ta Prohm in the past may be a bit disappointed today due to the introduction of wooden walkways which steal a little away from the effect of the raw natural power of the jungle that has claimed most of the temple. I agree that it did take away a little from the sensation, but I can understand that this is only for the protection of the ruins themselves. And in any case, there is very little, so maybe I’m just a little difficult. Ta Prohm was actually a monastery, as distinct to Bayon, and therefore the layout is different and there are a few corridors to explore. In fact, the great thing about the ruins in Angkor is that all of them are quite open to exploration so it is quite easy to get some quiet moments for photos or a calmer look around. The highlight of the temple is the jungle – the roots that extend longer than 5 metres along the rooves are just amazing and are a constant reminder of the force of nature, the passage of time, and the age of the Khmer empire.

After Ta Prohm, we drove back to Angkor Wat for a lunch break before continuing on our tour. We stopped at the Blue Pumpkin Cafe (good food!) opposite Angkor Wat and as soon as we set foot outside the tuk-tuk, we were surrounded by 10 or 15 children selling postcards and souvenirs. They were all adorable, and were calling at us to buy them an ice-cream, or buy a postcard, because if not it would make them very sad. Myself and Ninfa try not to give money to children as it tends to rob them of their innocence, and in any case, you could never give enough money to make a significant difference to their lives. We both believe that children especially benefit more from sharing in a moment of happiness, and that this brightens up their life more than a dollar could. Who knows? In any case, in our back-pack we had a lot of balloons which we brought on the trip especially for this scenario, and when we finished lunch, I held a little contest with the children asking them questions and giving them a balloon for a prize. Unfortunately, there were not enough for everybody and a little boy started crying when he saw they were all gone. For the most part, the children had a great time, and one of them gave me a postcard with a little message written in English on the back. I was very touched, and talking or playing with the children, or any of the people, in Cambodia is just a beautiful experience. (Later in our trip, I met another traveller who had been in Cambodia, and he asked me if any of the children had given me postcards with the little message about the nice smile etc written on the back, because he had quite a few. I realised then I was not so special as I thought, but I still treasure this little keepsake all the same).

And so on to Angkor Wat. We stopped on the outside of the 2 square kilometre moat, and watched some children swimming in the moat, before one of them got out and picked a lotus flower and let me take her photo. The Cambodians just love water. We continued to the temple gates across the pathway, half of which is renovated, and half of which is in the original state that time has shaped. Inside the gates, and further on, we arrived at the inner moat. This is the location where the famous photos of Angkor Wat, with its reflection in the water, are taken. We, along with everybody else, took our shots, while the perfectionists were preparing to wait a few hours until sunset. The moat completely dries up in the dry season, so it was nice to see this famous view with our own eyes.

The crowds at Angkor Wat were huge, in no small part to this being the crowning glory of Khmer architecture, and possibly as it was a weekend also. Myself and Ninfa strolled around the back and met some novice monks who were sneaking a cigarette and a sip of soft drinks – naughty, naughty. One of them even tried to chat up Ninfa, a caper that many of the more impressionable monks are not averse to. As we rejoined Ratha and my father, we took a closer look at the relief carvings of Hindu legends and Khmer battles, before heading inside. We could recognise a few of the Hindu figures since we had seen similar characters in the Indian temples. Inside, I had a close look at the carvings lining the walls of hundreds of apsara in various states of dance and dress (or undress!). After that, we climbed up the vertiginous staircases of the central towers – hold on tight! – which are the still the tallest structures in the region, as there is a law prohibiting surpassing this height in any building in Siem Reap.

The next day, Ninfa stayed in as she had a bit of a cold from the dust and breeze in the tuk-tuk, and Daddy stayed put as he had visited Angkor on previous occasions, so I set off on my own to see some of the less-visited temples. Driving through Angkor Thom on a Monday morning, it was noticeably quieter. Supani picked a nice, scenic route to our first temple, Preah Khan, which brought us through the North (or Lost) Gate of Angkor Thom. It was spectacular, here the white lichen and green moss are so vivid in colour that the four giant faces almost seem alive. It was amazing, and hardly a soul around. When we arrived at Preah Khan, there was only one other tuk-tuk parked there, and I walked in to explore this old monastery. Preah Khan is much bigger than but very similar to Ta Prohm in that the jungle has conquered this relic and made of it an atmospheric and magical fusion of man and nature. As I explored the temple, I felt like I was the first person to discover it all, such was the pure and untouched natural state of it. It was pure tranquility and as I explored the side corridors, I came across a young schoolboy asleep in one of the old temples. I managed to sneak away without waking him, and walking further on, met a kind old smiling but almost toothless lady who took my hand and said a prayer for me and gave me a small armband. It’s hard to describe the sights and how these trees did not grow beside the temples, but right on top of them, trapping them in their roots – check out the photos, and see yourself.

After this amazing sight, we started out on a 40km journey to our next destination, Banteay Srei. 40km in tuk-tuk is an hour’s drive, but it was equal if not better to the sight of the temples. At a slow, relaxed speed, in the open air, I was free to hear and see the Cambodian countryside and its people, the schoolchildren in their identical white shirts and blue-bottomed uniforms, smiling and chatting as they ride their bicycles (sometimes far too big for them) along the country roads against the backdrop of flat flooded rice-paddies and the perpendicular coconut trees. I asked Supani to stop so I could take some photos of some locals herding buffalo along the road, and as soon as I stopped, a lady working in a nearby paddy started calling and waving me over. I thought why not, and started tip-toeing along the narrow dry bank to join her in the field. She spoke no English, and I just a hello and how do you do in Cambodian, but it was a wonderful moment to watch her at work in the field, and to feel this unrivalled hospitality once more. We bid our farewells and continued on to Banteay Srei.

Banteay Srei is a gem among the temples of Angkor, but is seldom visited due to the distance. I arrived there at lunchtime, so it was deserted – even the musicians were having a nap. Passing by the souvenir stands, the girls there were calling me over and pleading me to buy something. I had a chat and a laugh with them. It was a beautiful day, and they were wearing wide-brimmed hats, long sleeves and gloves! In Cambodia, and most of South-East Asia, white skin is considered beautiful and these girls were determined to stay white at all costs. They were good craic!

I moved on to the temple of beautiful pink sandstone. Banteay Srei is renowned as being both the most densely decorated and most intricately decorated temple of all Angkor. I took lots of time to explore and admire the detail in the images, and the contrast of the red sandstone against the rich green of the surrounding jungle and moat. Curiously, all the statues there had their right arm broken off, but I couldn’t figure out if this was coincidence or some sort of symbolic act of vandalism. The Khmer empire see-sawed between Hinduism and Buddhism, with Buddhism finally prevailing, so it’s not uncommon to see some of the Hindu icons defaced or altogether replaced with Buddhist icons. While I was there a woman came with her child and lay down and chanted some prayers – at times its easy to forget that these are still sacred places of worship for the local population, but that was a special moment to witness.

After this visit, we made our way back to Siem Reap, stopping at one more temple en route, Pre Rup. Although paling in level of detail compared to Banteay Srei, Pre Rup is impressive for its size. Here again, a steep and long staircase leads to the top which opens out into commanding views over the Cambodian countryside. It was a beautiful and very peaceful temple to visit, with only a few other tourists there to disturb the water buffalo who roamed and grazed on the grasses in the lower courtyard, and the few schoolgirls who pleaded with me to buy postcards. Everyone there agreed, you couldn’t refuse to buy a few.

To anyone contemplating visiting Angkor, I would strongly advise to take the time to spend at least one day away from the crowds and out in Banteay Srei. Even if you have temple fatigue, you’ll still be captivated by the chance to experience Cambodian life up close and personal.

And so after Pre Rup, we headed back to the hotel and I bid farewell to Supani before rejoining Ninfa and Pete for dinner. Rainy season was officially over, but as our tuk-tuk drove us into town, the heavens opened. As we sat in our restaurant we watched the rain pour down and the water on the street gradually rise up above the pavement level in less than an hour. When it rains here, it really pours. We waited for the water to subside a little and made a dash for a tuk-tuk and back to our hotel. That night there were streaks of lightning in the air and so it signalled that it was time to leave Siem Reap.

The next morning we travelled south by taxi to Kompong Cham, which is the base of an educational NGO called KAPE that my father has helped raise a lot of funds for, as well as securing some of the Irish government’s overseas aid contribution. We paid a visit to the centre and met some of the staff as well as the coordinator there. Things are looking good for the charity, as they have just secured a large amount of funding from USAid, to provide better education in a now extended area in Cambodia. This is no doubt due to their good work in the past. I encourage you to take a look at their new website. While I’m on the topic, you should also check out the website of another educational NGO in Cambodia ASBL, which is run by the wife of a friend of mine (website in French). Cambodia just doesn’t have enough teachers, and they are underpaid even for a poor country. The infrastructure lacks basic requirements such as buildings, desks etc. The innocent young girls who have such beautiful smiles can frequently become the victims of sex trafficking, and when they receive a decent education, frequently excel. So these really are worthwhile recipients of any charity that can be afforded. When you leave Cambodia, one of the richest memories you will take home with you is the sight of the long stretches of schoolchildren on their bicycles, and the smiles and friendliness. In fact the people of Cambodia are so disarming, they should carry a warning.

So from here, we travel on to Kratie, to see the freshwater Irrawaddy dolphins in the Mekong, before continuing on overland to Laos.

All the photos, organised by temple, are here.

It was Pchum Ben (Ancestor’s Day), a Buddhist festival unique to Cambodia where families honour their dead, and most of the country was on the move. We were taking our first Battambang Express, a bus from Phnom Penh to Battambang at 8:30am, which ended up leaving an hour late as the bus wasn’t full yet. Travelling out of Phnom Penh was an amazing sight. There was an exodus of people and a sense of occasion in the air – people were travelling by any means possible to make the journey to their homelands. A large proportion of Phnom Penh’s population is from the countryside and a lot have lost family members in other parts of the country during the time of the Khmer Rouge. One-lane streets were now three lanes wide, with all sorts of vehicles – buses, cars, vans, tractors with trailers packed full of people, mopeds – anything that could carry people.

We arrived in Battambang a gruelling 6 or 7 hours later. Our bus had crawled into town, the wheel underneath us scraping against the bus for the last 20km or so, the air-condtioning unit leaking on the passengers on the far side, and when we got there, we realised our bags stank of fish paste that had leaked all over the luggage compartment. We’ve had many an epic bus ride, but the Battambang Express came right in at the top of the charts. Despite that, the journey itself had been interesting. We were heading north to Cambodia’s rice bowl, and driving along the roads in Cambodia just following the end of rainy season, the roads are like a narrow trail through a wide sea of flooded rice-paddies. Here and there, water buffalo were wallowing in the mud, and beautiful, typical Cambodian wooden houses built of weatherbeaten planks rose up above the water on their high stilts.

Battambang is Cambodia’s second largest city and the administrative capital of the north-west. The town runs along the Sangker river and is a charming, laid-back little place with plenty of nice places to eat and drink. One of the things I like best about travelling in South-East Asia is the remaining French legacy – the colonial architecture makes for some scenic towns, but the best thing is the abundance of French food from baguettes to fine restaurants. We spent a relaxed evening dining al fresco in the gardens of “La Villa” restaurant with cold pinacoladas oozing creamy coconut milk. During our stay in Battambang, I also plucked up the courage to try durian, a fruit unique to the tropics of South-East Asia. It’s banned on public transport in Singapore and Bangkok because of the smell, and the taste is apparently not for everyone. But after gulping down my coconut and durian shake, I was wondering why I had left it so long!

The morning after we arrived, Ninfa wasn’t feeling well so she decided to stay at the hotel for the morning. Meanwhile, Pete and I headed off with our tuk-tuk driver, Samath, on the 12km journey to nearby Phnom Sampeau. Against such a flat landscape, Phnom Sampeau rises up like a mountain, although technically, I think it’s a hill. We were there to see the ceremonies for Pchum Ben, and also to fulfil a request from Borith to light incense there in memory of his parents who were killed there by the Khmer Rouge as Borith did not have enough money this year to make the trip himself. There were more swarms of mopeds and tractors with trailer-loads of people on the road out, and as is the norm in Cambodia, everybody had a big smile and a wave for us as we passed by. Under a glorious sunshine, some children were diving into the temporary (and muddy) pools that the rains had created in the rice paddies along the roadside, having a great time.

When we arrived at the base of the mountain, we had a quick coconut and got talking to a young boy, Phi, who was only fourteen but spoke great English. So we asked him to accompany us to the temples at the top and be our guide. As there are not enough schools in Cambodia, the children only attend school in the morning or in the afternoon. Many of them will work to earn money to pay extra tuition fees for classes in the evening. As teachers are so poorly paid, this helps teachers earn a living, and helps children get a better education, although sometimes the reality is that the children who pay the extra fees are guaranteed the good grades regardless of ability, while gifted children who can’t pay for classes pay a penalty instead.

We had a choice of a hike up the mountain in the sun, or a lift on the back of a motorbike for $1 each. We chose motorbikes – I’ve never seen my father on the back of a motorbike before and never thought I would, but with no helmet, and a fourteen-year old boy holding on to him tight behind him, it gave us both a good laugh. At the top of Phnom Sampeau is a small temple which was used as a prison during the time of the Khmer Rouge. Down a staircase is a small shrine to the dead, and it was here that my father offered the incense for Borith’s parents. This shrine is actually a small cave, and high above our heads the sun shone through the opening where previously the Khmer Rouge threw their victims to their grave. These are the Killing Caves of Phnom Sampeau. We climbed up the stairs again, and at the top, Phi signalled the entrance to another of the killing caves, which is known as the “Children’s Cave” and probably needs no further explanation. From here, we continued to another temple where friendly monks were giving prayers for the faithful and their ancestors. The local monkey population seemed to be what was catching most people’s attention though. It was great to have been able to take part in such a uniquely Cambodian occasion, and we felt completely at home in the warm welcome and happy smiles of the people.

When we got back, we bid farewell to Samath. On parting, Samath thanked us for having given him work for the day, and it was genuinely sincere. So we felt a little guilty by hiring Kim, another tuk-tuk driver albeit with better English and a sharp sense of humour. Kim took us on a little tour through Battambang and showed us the statue in the centre of town which is made entirely of decommissioned arms from Cambodia’s years of war. He also took us past the huge statue just outside town of a folkloric hero who gives Battambang his name. But all this was just a prelude to the main event which lay in a village by the old train tracks a few kilometres outside town.

No trains have run on the tracks outside Battambang for many a year, well … apart from the bamboo trains. As is frequently said, necessity is the mother of invention, and years ago locals began buying up old wheels from military tanks and attaching them to steel rods just wide enough to fit the disused tracks. Then, they would make a small bamboo mat and sit that on top. Through a whole in the bamboo, they fix a small motor, not much bigger than a lawnmower, to one of the axles and there you have it – a bamboo train, or Norrie as the locals like to call it, or the Battambang Express as I like to think of it. It’s all very makeshift, and the tracks are bent and separated in more than one place, but all in all it makes for a good-old fashioned rollercoaster of a ride. For $5 each, we rode a few kilometres down the tracks and picked up a local along the way.

There is one problem though – there’s only one track, so when you meet someone coming the other way, what do you do? Well the locals have an answer for that too. The rule on the Norrie is that the train carrying the heaviest load stays on the tracks, and the other has to dismantle the train, let the other by, and build the train again and continue on. Given the basic build of the Norrie, all this happens in about 30 seconds. We happened to be the heaviest load and didn’t have to dismantle once, but made a few other make way for us. A few kilometres down the track, we stopped for a few minutes to watch the sunset and a few farmers fishing in the rice-paddy pools before we set off back for the village. It was getting dark now, and the insects were out, so sitting at the front of the train, I ended up getting another meal of insects to add to my gourmet editions in Beijing and Bangkok! Alas, the Norrie will not be around for much longer, as plans have been finalised to renovate the track later this year and begin operating scheduled trains, and a piece of history will be lost to progress. Overall though, in Kim’s words, the whole experience was “top notch”.

The next day, we were off again, on the Battambang River Express, the boat to Siem Reap. This proves to the highlight of many a traveller’s trip to Cambodia, and so it proved with us. Travelling in Asia has its challenges at times. There’s no arguing with it, Asian people generally have smaller frames than us, and frequently I end up in seats that are too small for me. With a 6 hour boat ride ahead, this was not what I needed but exactly what I got. But 6 hours in a cramped wooden bench was a price worth paying for the opportunity to see a side of Cambodian life otherwise inaccessible.

Sailing along the Sangker river between the densely populated high banks, we saw another side of Cambodia, the Cambodia whose heart and soul lies on the river. As we sailed by, we saw inside houses where breakfast was being made, while outside villagers stood on boats brushing their teeth, others washed, while others were setting and gathering fishing nets. Sailing further downstream, the houses became sparser and the banks flatter as we sailed into the rice bowl. The river began to twist and turn and the captain would loudly blow the horn as we slowly tracked the rivers course.

After a couple of hours, the deck hand stepped out on the front of the boat and started searching in the bank. Then he started directing the captain to the tiniest of gaps in the overgrowth. He let down all the curtains on the side of the boat, and the boat turned into the narrowest of channels and started floating slowly up along the river. Small rowing boats scraped past us as they came out from nowhere in the side channels, while the deck hand acted as lookout at the front of the boat. After about 15 minutes, we came out into a wide, calm river and shortly after arrived at a floating village. It was an amazing sight – no roads or land access anywhere, and here was a thriving village completely on the water. Small children no older than six or seven were rowing their own boats past us. Others jumped off their doorstep to go swimming. They probably don’t set foot on dry land for months until the dry season takes hold.

After a quick stretch of our legs, we sailed on through other villages. As we arrived, the captain would blow the horn, and villagers would row out to the boat and new passengers would board, or others would disembark. It was amazing. And everywhere we passed, the people would smile and wave. Cambodians are definitely high on the list of the friendliest people we’ve met throughout our travels. We passed through one village where there was a party with loud music, and someone told us (and Ninfa correctly guessed) that they power the electricity off car batteries. In a few villages, we even saw floating schools. Finally, even the villages were no more, and we were now in the wide expanses of the Tonle Sap lake. We crossed through this and through large pools of lotus plants and on to our destination, Siem Reap, and Cambodia’s greatest historical treasure, Angkor Wat.

It really was a unique journey, the chance to witness first-hand the activity on the river, and get an unforgettable glimpse into the heart of Cambodia and its people.

For more photos, click the links: Bamboo Train, Pchum Ben at Phnom Sampeau, Battambang, and the River Boat Ride to Siem Reap.

Rarely do we have a welcome committee when we arrive in a new city, but arriving in Phnom Penh in Cambodia would prove to be different. As we pulled up to our hotel entrance in our tuk-tuk from the airport, I was very excited to see my father waiting outside. This was his third trip to Cambodia having been here on a combination of charity work and tourism on two previous occasions, and this time he was going to travel around Cambodia with us for 10 days. Being the expert in this field, he had agreed to come up with a few ideas on things to do, but had not yet disclosed any of his ideas, so we had little idea how we were going to spend the next 10 days. The only thing we knew is that we were really looking forward to being on the road with my father.

And we didn’t waste any time getting started. Shortly after we checked in, we were off to dinner at the house of one of my father’s friends. Borith is my father’s regular tuk-tuk driver on his visits to Phnom Penh, and he brought us to his modest home on the outskirts of the city. It is a rare but wonderful opportunity to get to spend time with locals in the countries we visit, so we were really happy to get such a chance in Cambodia. Borith introduced us to his wife and two children and we sat around on the floor eating a delicious meal prepared by his wife, drinking cans of cool Angkor beer and talking with Borith and his family. When we had come in, Borith suggested turning on the TV as he had satellite. Our first reaction was to say no, as at home we would normally turn off the TV when we have guests. In a lot of Asia, on the other hand, it is seen as a status symbol to have satellite TV. Ninfa knew this and agreed with Borith that we should watch a little, although by the end of dinner we didn’t understand any more Cambodian than before we arrived. As we ate, Borith told us of the ups and downs of his life as a tuk-tuk driver, his pride at his daughter’s academic achievements (frequently being first in her class), and about his own personal experiences working as a child under the Khmer Rouge after both his parents were killed by the bloody regime. It was an amazing start to our trip in Cambodia, and a wonderful insight into the life of an everyday Cambodian.

When I was a child, I remember watching a remarkable film called “The Killing Fields”, and it left a lasting impression. Now I would visit the most infamous places where all this terrible story actually took place. The next day’s itinerary was to focus on Cambodia’s dark history – the time from Year Zero, when Pol Pot, Brother number 1, tyrannical leader of the savage and cruel Khmer Rouge ruled over Cambodia with a brutal fist in a terrible period during the 1970s. During that time, it is estimated around 2 million people died, one quarter of Cambodia’s entire population, through murder or from starvation and disease. During that time, the Khmer Rouge turned the country into a repressive agrarian economy fed on forced labour. Little more than 24 hours after the Khmer Rouge were cheered into the city by a population weary of five years of civil war and grateful for a victor, any victor, Phnom Penh became a ghost town, the city-dwelling “new people” entirely evacuated to the countryside. Anyone even suspected of opposition to the new regime was brutally dealt with. This included almost anyone with an education. If you knew a foreign language or even just wore glasses, you were likely to be executed. Currency, religion, and private property no longer existed. Slave labour and starvation awaited those fortunate enough to escape imprisonment, torture and execution. Education was restricted to Khmer Rouge brainwashing, separating children from their parents. This has left Cambodia with a legacy of a huge education deficit for the approximately 50% of its population who are under 25.

Our first stop was a former school in Phnom Penh, which had been turned into an interrogation camp, and became known as Tuol Sleng. Tuol Sleng literally translates as “hill of the poisonous trees”, although it was also known as “the place where people enter but do not come out”, or to the Khmer Rouge as Security Prison 21 (S-21). In the hands of the Khmer Rouge, interrogation meant torture and, for all but 7 of the over 14,000 people that passed through there, death. It was run by a man known as Comrade Duch, a sort of Cambodian Rudolf Hoess. When we arrived, however, we had a wonderful surprise. Without our knowledge, my father had arranged for one of these 7 survivors, a man by the name of Chum Mey, to meet us at his former prison and to give us a guided tour. It was an unbelievable honour to meet an incredible survivor, a man who had witnessed and been personally subjected to the brutality of the cruel regime, and yet had survived to tell the tale. So how did 7 people survive when so many others died, you may ask? Our guide, Chum Mey, knew how to repair typewriters. One day he was able to help fix a typewriter, and in that moment he saved his life. All the illustrations of the atrocities in Tuol Sleng are painted by a survivor – his skill was art and he painted whatever the Khmer Rouge ordered, and in return he lived. Another sculpted statues of Pol Pot. Such was the lottery, a terrifying Cambodian roulette.

As we walked around the grounds, we saw many images that burn into your memory never to be forgotten like the bed frames and the shackles that prisoners were chained to, and the blood stains on the floor below them. We went further on and saw the cells where the victims were held. Chum Mey showed us his own tiny cell, showed us how he was shackled to the ground by his ankles. Besides the shackles, the only other thing in the cell was a small empty ammunition box which the victims had to use for a lavatory. We were told how the prison guards degraded the prisoners, forcing them to clean any spills by licking it off the floor, an experience that Chum himself had also been subjected to. We saw pictures outlining the torture methods, heard how our Chum’s fingernails were pulled out and alcohol poured on wounds, and how barbed wire was curtained over the top-floor balcony to prevent the tortured souls from the only mercy available to them – suicide. With the help of Borith as translator, he told us of how hopes of being reunited with his wife and child sustained him through this terrible ordeal. But happy endings didn’t happen under the Khmer Rouge, and sadly they did not survive the Khmer Rouge. And everywhere throughout the S-21 are the photos. The young, frightened faces of everyone who came in with little other than their lives, and left without even that. After having being tortured and forced to denounce their families, neighbours and friends as enemies of the state, the inmates would be transported off the grounds to a killing field where their misery was finally put to a sorry end.

Having bid our farewells to Chum Mey, we drove out of the city to Choueng Ek – the Killing Fields. Phnom Penh now sprawls out the whole way to this site, but during the time of the Khmer Rouge was a quiet country area outside the city – a perfect execution site. I have visited Auschwitz, Gigongkoro in Rwanda, and now Choueng Ek. Always when visiting these places, my mind wanders to think of how these innocent victims felt, the hopelessness of knowing in advance of the brutal and unjust end that awaited them, the humiliation they endured right up to the unmarked grave that awaited them. It is not only the tower of the battered skulls in the Choueng Ek memorial that triggers these thoughts, but the fragments of clothes that appear below your footstep in the damp earth as you walk the paths through the mass graves. Execution at Choueng Ek often had to be conducted at the economy of bullets, and here the tools of the agrarian society envisioned by Pol Pot cut a most sorrowful harvest. I also struggled to understand what was going through the mind of the perpetrators, what could have brought them to a point where they beat their fellow countrymen and women to death, to the point of swinging babies by their legs, smashing them to their death against the trees around us. Such memorials never cease to defy belief, but believe them you must.

Later that afternoon, we bid farewell to Borith, and took a walk along Sisowath Quay, the flaglined boulevard that stretches out along the banks of the Tonlé Sap river on its way to merge with the Mekong river. Much like the Mekong is the breathing heart of South-East Asia, likewise Sisowath Quay is for Phnom Penh. Our spirits lifted by the bustling activity on the quay, we climbed up the stairs to the balcony of the Foreign Correspondents Club, and enjoyed some cocktails at low prices, watching the city pass by below us. The footpath on Sisowath Quay is probably as wide as the road, and the locals throng along it come evening time walking, talking, and even taking public disco-dancing lessons too.

The following day, our last in Phnom Penh, we met Mom, another friend of my father’s. She had invited us to lunch at our home, and what a lunch?! I remember having watched Mom’s wedding video at home before we left, so most of the faces were already familiar. Mom’s husband is a chef in a restaurant, and he was in the kitchen most of the time creating traditional Cambodian dishes which went down a treat. I enjoyed a few beers with Mom’s father, between courses of fish amok, chicken hot pot, and fish stewed in coconut. The hospitality was fantastic and we had a great time eating and drinking, playing with Mom’s newborn baby and having a look at Mom’s wedding photos before heading back into the city.

At this stage we split up – I went to meet an old friend from France for the afternoon, and Ninfa, and Mom ‘n’ Dad went to do some more sightseeing around the city. They visited the Royal Palace, which is beautifully restored, although the main attraction, the Throne Room with its silver floors, was closed for an official reception. Afterward, they visited the Wat Phnom temple that gives the city its name. Ninfa was particularly taken by the worldly taste of the deity there who receives offerings of lipstick and make-up from her faithful and never ceases to look good.

For our last night in Phnom Penh, we decided to eat in a restaurant called Friends, which has glowing recommendations, and also provides training and careers for orphaned children. Unfortunately, when we got there, we saw that the restaurant was closed for the festival of Pchum Ben which was taking place that weekend. We settled for some pizza in a place nearby, and called it an early night. After all, we too were making our Pchum Ben pilgrimage, which would take us north to Cambodia’s second largest city, Battambang. More on that in our next post.

Click on these links for our photos from Tuol Sleng, Choueng Ek and Phnom Penh.

For more on the history and legacy of the Khmer Rouge, visit these sites:
Yale Cambodian Genocide Program
Cambodia Tribunal
Year Zero – John Pilger (watch the 1980′s TV report that brought the brutality to international attention)

“Same same…but different” is an expression we hear constantly in South East Asia. For example, I ask the waiter to describe for me two items on the menu and he gives me the exact same description for both. So I tell them how can it be the same food with different name, and he replies: same same but different. Bangkok is same same since last time I was here, but different…

Back in January I was at home in Honduras looking through important documents and found a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifelong Guarantee for a precious stone white gold ring I had bought in Bangkok over 8 years ago. Most of the stones had fallen off the ring after a few months of use, but I thought I would never again be in that shop I bought it so threw away the documents. I was wrong.

We arrived in Bangkok and the traffic from the airport into our hotel in Sukhumvit was as bad as I remembered it, probably worse now. Same heat. There are many more high rise buildings now, much more malls, and a Starbuck’s in every corner. There are still hundreds of pictures of the Queen and King all over the city. One of the best things of Bangkok is that there is so much accommodation on offer that it is quite easy to find quality hotels at cheap prices.

The first thing we did was go to the Vietnamese Embassy to get our visas. Irish: no problem, come back tomorrow, Honduras: Where is that? No visa! No no no! Tony tried to reason with him, unsuccessfully. When we came in there was big queue of people, along with them we had to wait 30 minutes for the first official to come to the window, as they were all too busy watching tv. Their English was very poor, they were rude, and the visa was very expensive. Bangkok is not a good place to get a Vietnam Visa. (In Cambodia I got it with no questions asked, the same day and much cheaper.) So we headed to the Laos Embassy where I was successful at getting a visa. First impressions corresponded to the consensus of what we have been told by many: Vietnamese people are not nice, Laos people are really nice.

Our hotel (as all others) offered a “free tour” to see the most important temples. I don’t believe anything in life is free, and having been in Bangkok before I knew exactly the type of tour it was. The tour includes pick up and drop off to wherever you want in Bangkok, air conditioned car and guide to show you the temples (or canals) of Bangkok. If you are prepared for the catch, it’s a great idea to take it.

The first stop was Wat Trimit, the Temple of the Golden Buddha. This is a 700 year old image of Buddha, made of five and a half tons of gold. It is only in recent history that the gold was discovered. Originally it was a Buddha made of plaster, and by accident, as they were moving it, the gold was revealed. It had been covered in plaster to protect it from enemies. The second temple we visited was Wat Pho, the Temple of the Reclining Buddha, the largest temple in Bangkok. Buddha is reclining, not sleeping, as our guide stressed. He is 46 metres long and 15 metres high, gold plated and the feet inlaid with mother of pearl stones, and displaying the 108 auspicious characteristics of the Buddha. The last temple we visited was Wat Indharavihan, housing a 32 metre standing Buddha image, said to contain relics of Buddha gifted by Sri Lanka. The last temple, although the less impressive, was my favorite as it is rarely visited by tourists. Its entrance is free and you can observe the locals praying and making offerings. One of the most important offerings made at this temple is tuna fish, as they say it was the favorite food of the monk who built it. It is then fed to the many cat habitants of the temple. As well as cats, dogs are also taken care of in this temple by an old lady, which made me happy.

After making an offering to Buddha, our guide told us that now we had to go to a gem factory. Surprise! No, not at all, we were expecting it. Since the start of the tour we mentioned to the guide how we had done all our shopping, and how we had no money left, and it was our last day in Asia. The guide was actually a really nice lady, who called herself A (we have another Thai friend who calls herself F). She told us that we didn’t have to buy anything, but asked to please pretend for 10 minutes to look at the stuff, because if not she would get in trouble with her boss. We told her not to worry, we would go along with it. Deja vu! We turned into a street, and I couldn’t believe where we were: Gems International, the same gem factory I had been brought on a tour 8 years ago.

There were many minivans like ours with many tourists who had just visited the temples. If only I had known, I would have brought my ring and certificate back and demand my money back. I can’t believe 8 years later they are still doing the same! We had the welcome drink, saw the short film on how Thailand’s gems are the best and cheapest in the world, saw the workers making gems, and then did a walk through to the very big showroom. I remember the line from the salesman: “We have silver also at a very good price.” The silver is at the end of the showroom, its their last effort to sell. And if not silver, they have silk after the showroom, and then souvenirs before you exit. This time around, not even a postcard, they got me to buy. I felt like telling them off about my experience last time and the ring, but didn’t, just in case the nice guide got in trouble. The moral of the story is: if you are in Bangkok and are offered a free tour, go, as it is nice to be driven around Bangkok sightseeing for free, but be prepared and don’t buy.

Bangkok’s street food is well known, so Tony had intended to eat loads of it. We tried it again and again and couldn’t really find any great street food, except for some fried insects Tony found and this time I tried as well. Instead we followed a gourmet guide made to us by our Thai friend, Naruth. We ended up eating in excellent restaurants frequented mainly by locals and almost no farangs (foreigners). One of the most remarkable was Samboon which has an spectacular crab curry. We ate many curries and seafood of all sorts, and fresh fruit juices. One restaurant worth noting is Cabbages and Condoms in Sukumvit Soi 12. It is one of the projects of a non profit organization whose mission is to reduce the birth rate in Thailand. The food was good, the service outstanding and the concept fantastic. The organization recently won $ 1 million from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for their hard work. On the upper end of the scale, we had an excellent dinner at Baan Khanitha. At lunch they have excellent value menus.

We went back to Wat Pho, for visiting Buddha again, but mainly for getting a traditional Thai massage. Wat Pho was the first center for public education in Thailand and it currently houses a massage school. We each paid for one hour of traditional Thai massage with herbs. Along with many others, in a mattress on the floor we were roughly beaten. Thai Massage is really rough, but that’s how we like it. They used their elbows and knees to massage us. We left quite satisfied by the massage, but not by the time, as they only administered 45 minutes. We hadn’t had enough of it so next day we went to Lavana Spa, also in Sukumvith Soi 12, where we booked a 90 minute massage. It’s almost the same price as in Wat Pho, but much fancier and better service. We both wrote on the questionnaire provided that we wanted hard massage, not soft or medium. Boy oh boy, we definitely are masochists. It was so rough, that I felt they could kill us, as they know how to manipulate every part of your body, including the neck. They even walked on our backs, massaging us with their feet. Tony couldn’t stop laughing because of the pain, and yelled at me “she wants to kill me”. But it was so good, we highly recommend it, if you can take it.

We were surprised by the fact that in Bangkok its cheaper to take a metered taxi than the metro or skytrain. The metro or skytrain does not go everywhere, but taking a taxi can take very long if the traffic is bad, and most of the time it is. Tuk tuks have to bear the traffic as well, and when we did take one, it ended up being more expensive than a taxi, as they charge what they want because they have no taxi meter. One time we ventured and took the bus, which surprisingly wasn’t that cheap. It took long, but we arrived exactly where we wanted to. We didn’t take it more often because the routes are in Thai and it’s hard to find someone with good enough English to help you. The best ride was probably on the taxi boat which goes along the Chao Phraya River. As every evening in Bangkok, it had just started to rain, and by the time we arrived at our destination the boat was filling with water from all sides, the current was high and it was lashing rain. At the taxi boat stop you have to be attentive when the boat comes and jump in it as it only stops for a few seconds at the stop. The conductor whistles different signals to the captain and that’s how he knows where to stop and for how long. It was a good experience, rain and all.

We visited many markets in Bangkok which were all same same including the infamous Patpong. They all sell the same clothes, objects, souvenirs, etc. We were not interested in shopping, we were on the quest for good street food. We didn’t find it, but instead we found all the red light action around it. Many young girls dressed up in special outfits offering “massage”, lots of bars with strip shows and pole dancing, and innumerable offers to go to Ping Pong Show. Same same as 8 years ago so I had told Tony what to expect. Every time they offered him Ping Pong, he would reply by asking them if they had golf, as he was more into golf than ping pong.

The big highlight in Bangkok was attending an authentic Muai Thai (Thai Boxing) event. Our hotel and guidebooks said to go to Lumphini or Ratchadamnoen Stadiums which alternate dates for the fights. We got there and immediately realized it was more of a show put on for tourists than anything else. The cheapest tickets for foreigners were 30 Euros each, there were cheaper seats but they refused to sell them to us. No way we would pay that. By coincidence we found out that on Sunday afternoons Channel 7 hosts fights and transmits them live on tv. We went there and it was free of charge, don’t know why the guidebooks don’t mention this. It was an authentic Thai ambiance, besides a couple of other farangs who are studying Muai Thai in Bangkok, we were the only tourists. Thais really live every moment of the fight with great emotion. Half of the stadium was cheering for the reds and half for the blues. Spectators become so involved into it that during breaks they come up to the corner of their fighter and start telling him what to do, some are even so angry because he is losing that they hit him themselves. And the betting that goes on during the fight is incredible, all communicated by signs, the bookie taking down names and at the end the losers going out giving the money they owe. The fight itself gets pretty intense. One of the contenders had to be carried out in a stretcher. It was an amazing experience being there!

Before leaving Bangkok, we met Pierre for lunch. He is an old friend of Tony from France. It was nice talking to him and listening to his experiences as an expat living for 5 years in Bangkok. Shortly after we made our way to the airport, from where we flew to Cambodia and meet Tony’s dad who was waiting for us there. Bangkok is same same, still a great place to visit!

And another annoying phrase used in South East Asia: “Why Not?”. As in you tell the waiter “Can I please order an Orange Juice” and he replies “Why not?”. Same Same!

For our Bangkok photo gallery, click here