Hello readers!
Another long gap between updates, this time it was not due to illness or internet outage... it was down to sheer inactivity! We've honestly rinsed Cambodia through and through for all of it's activities, and came away with a little bit too much spare time, so much so that even Championship Manager has been installed on the laptop (Yes, it's a sin, however, we have won the Premiership with Hull in two seasons; every cloud...). I will say that out of the cities we've been too, only Saigon can rival Phnom Penh for it's beauty, but there reaches a point where beautiful buildings and architecture can only be seen for what they really are... bricks! Phnom Penh was another city that had the unique American remodelling scheme of the late 60s in which it was carpet bombed and lost many of it's key historical landmarks. What's more, in the mid 70s it was home to one of the most infamous mass murderers of recent times; Poll Pot. For those who don't know this particular name or story, stay tuned for a funtastic history lesson in a bit.. thrilling eh? But, to return to an already overly laboured point, Phnom Penh has lost many of the older buildings from it's past and now consists of a sporadic spattering of unharmed older buildings, Wats and new modern builds that add to the feel of a very clean, modern and well designed city. However, don't misinterpret that as me condoning the destruction they've received, see it more as the Cambodians making the best of a rather disruptive and unjust past.
But, to not race too far ahead, I've left a bit of our Siem Reap adventure unrecorded, so to compensate for an ever-ageing brain, I'd best write it quick before I forget! The day after our first Angkor trip, we still had an open ticket for another trip, so we re-recruited our chauffeur Danny and his Tuk Tuk and set off for Angkor Wat at 5am for a sunrise temple session, and the results are displayed with minimal justice on Facebook for those lucky enough to be a part of the FB empire. For those who are not as blessed/cursed, it was one of those moments in your life where, contrary to the comment of my aforementioned ageing brain, is unforgettable. The photos truly do not even come close, as you would expect them not too, we were there for a full hour and a half watching the progress of the sun come above the horizon, then above the temple walls and finally above the temple itself. There were a few clouds in the sky at the time, but far from distort the view, enhanced the colours by reflecting the sun and shading the entire sky in a mixture of reds, oranges and yellows. Maybe I'm getting soft in my old age, but it was one of those back-of-neck-hair-raising moments where you are convinced you have to either be in a dream, on a film-set or a combination of the two. The one criticism I will post, is that after starting with an Angkor Wat sunrise, it's pretty hard to top it for the entirety of the rest of the day. We saw some pretty incredible temples in the midst of jungles, hilltops and mangrove-esque swamps, but every now and then you caught yourself remembering the start of the day....
It was from that day on that the inactivity really set in, Siem Reap is a city that has thrived due to the booming tourism trade inspired by the Angkor temple complex. So once you've finished exploring the temples, you find yourself stuck with what's left, cheap beer and food! We had a pretty great evening chatting to a Dane about quantum physics and the construct of the details of time and indulged in a bit of cheap clothes shopping, but in the end, it was time to go! So, we had a relatively painless bus journey back to Phnom Penh (it appears you do get used to them!) and have had a rather interesting few days, and for those of you lucky enough to possess such a super power, your history-lesson senses should be tingling, because it is that time....
In the 1970's, the Americans were arse deep in the Vietnam war, and the North Vietnamese army (or Vietcong if you prefer) were spreading into Cambodia and, therefore, so were the Americans. Cambodia itself was very much a country caught in the middle, and due to fighting between their own Democratic government's army, the North Vietnamese Army, the South Vietnamese Army, the Americans and the Khmer Rouge (note: read as bad guys), the country was heavily weakened and found itself a country low on money, resources and troops and a country that was growing weaker and more volatile. In 1975, the Americans had decided to withdraw to avoid unnecessary losses and, ultimately, in April of the same year, the Khmer Rouge defeated the government's army and captured Phnom Penh and with it, claimed leadership of the entire country. The Khmer Rouge were originally an underground communist movement, and in the 1970s were led by a man called Pol Pot. Pol Pot was opposed to what he saw as the ever encroaching threat of Western capitalism and wanted a return to it's original communist basis. He sought to do this via policies of social engineering with a firm emphasis on anti-intellectualism. Initially this was in the form of evacuating all wealthy, intelligent or talented members in Phnom Penh to the countryside, but as his power increased it progressed to persecution, torture and genocide. In 1975, Cambodia's population was estimated to be 3 million, by 1979, Pol Pot was said to have executed 2 million Cambodians and plunged Cambodia into a period of prolonged famine, disease and poverty. End of history lesson.
In Phnom Penh, there are two main areas of preservation attesting to the atrocities committed by Khmer Rouge. The first is an old high school which Pol Pot captured and turned into a prison called S-21. The prison is said to have housed up to 17,000 people accused of intellectualism, laziness, treason or political betrayal. The prison consists of many small cells, spread across three stories. There are various torture rooms, a gallows and barbed wire surrounding each of the balconies above the first floor. This was not a defensive tactic, instead it was a precaution to prevent prisoners from attempting suicide to avoid torture. The prison now has changed very little to it's use in the 70s. The original beds, torture implements and gallows all still remain. It is so unaltered, that blood stains and graffiti scratched into the walls by the prisoners are still visible, which all adds to an incredibly chilling experience.
From S-21, the prisoners would be taken to our next destination, the Killing Fields. These fields are the end point where the Khmer Rouge would take all "guilty parties" to be executed and buried in mass open graves. Analysis on this field is on-going, but preliminary analysis on the mass graves have estimated 1.5 million people were executed at this field, but it should be noted that it is not anywhere near the only field used as a mass graveyard and that the analysis appreciates that, in the Killing Fields, only 60% of the graves have been discovered. To this day during heavy raining or flooding, pieces of bone, teeth or clothing will rise above the ground and make for a rather disturbing discovery, even as me and Ben walked around, we could see many rags of cloth, teeth and bone matter littered across the floor. Just as a reminded, this is 35 years after the Khmer Rouge occupation. Today, the Killing Fields have been preserved as closely as possible except for a 19 story shrine containing all of the unearthed skulls, bones and clothes of the victims which was built in the 1990's. There are an almost unlimited number of other horrid details I can share about the Khmer Rouge occupation, but I think that's enough disturbing content for one day. A bit of reading is recommended, although only for those with unwavering morale backbone and a strong sense of humanitarianism...
So, other than such heartwrenching activities, we have visited the Cambodian national museum, and learnt quite a lot about the basis of Buddhism and Hinduism within Cambodia, visited a firing range and had a bit of fun with some M4s, M18s, shotguns and handguns and had a brief city tour taking a look at the last remaining relics of Phnom Penh's rather destructive history. In other news, me and Ben have added Borneo to our itinerary for early May. This is one revelation I'm ecstatic about, as I had written it off as a possibility outside of our price range. However, with £50 flights, the attainment of a cheap PADI license in Koh Tau and a week to spare after our trip to Langkawi with my Dad, it seemed an easy choice! Tonight, we go in search of some live music and, perhaps, some karaoke opportunities and then tomorrow we explore the Royal Palace before a quick flight off to Bangkok to resume our Thailand adventure and bid a very fond farewell to Cambodia. Another country off the list... Quite amazing how quickly time is going over here! Hope it's going quite as well for all of you back home in England and you're having a few less run ins with natural disasters than us lot over in the Far East! It'll take more than a few 2012 conspiracy theories to slow us down....
R
Sunday, 27 March 2011
Tuesday, 22 March 2011
Tomb Raiding
Hey readers,
Decided to give you a short one today to compensate for those that had to take a week off work to tackle the last one. Today.... I have seen Angkor. For those that do not know, Angkor was a Kymer city in the early 9th century, but for all intents and purposes, is now a collection of 12th Century Hindu/Bhuddist hybrid temple ruins, best known (upsettingly) for it's most preserved temple, Angkor Wat's, cameo in the first Tomb Raider film (just before she has a gun fight with a giant sentient walking 4-headed Buddha statue). Angkor itself is equal parts surreal and incredible. The complex is vast, records state that there are over 1000 temples within the region, with Angkor Wat being the single largest religious building in the world. We hired ourselves a private limousine/Tuk Tuk for the day with our own private Chaffeur, Thierry (or for our private conversation, Henry) and had an entire day driving around looking at the most remarkable temples they had to offer... They did not disappoint. When I have a suitably fast internet connection, I promise to unload all the pictures taken today, with an attached disclaimer against complaints as I did go a bit snap-happy. The album itself is a must-see, let alone the place itself. It is now, for the record, my greatest recommendation I could give to any traveller hoping to come to Asia, even topping Pai, which takes some doing. Tomorrow, we wake obscenely early to go and watch sunrise ontop of Angkor Wat and go and tackle a few more temples, but we're at the mercy of nature because at the moment we've been playing host to some rather dramatic and aggressive lightning storms. In fact, as far as drama goes, on our 14 hour bus drive over (yea, 14 hours...) we had the view of a wide-ranging forest fire being sporadically lit by fork lightning, at least the drive had some partial entertainment I suppose.... Anyway, that concludes my accurately advertised short post for today, keep your eyes open for those photos now ;-).
R
Decided to give you a short one today to compensate for those that had to take a week off work to tackle the last one. Today.... I have seen Angkor. For those that do not know, Angkor was a Kymer city in the early 9th century, but for all intents and purposes, is now a collection of 12th Century Hindu/Bhuddist hybrid temple ruins, best known (upsettingly) for it's most preserved temple, Angkor Wat's, cameo in the first Tomb Raider film (just before she has a gun fight with a giant sentient walking 4-headed Buddha statue). Angkor itself is equal parts surreal and incredible. The complex is vast, records state that there are over 1000 temples within the region, with Angkor Wat being the single largest religious building in the world. We hired ourselves a private limousine/Tuk Tuk for the day with our own private Chaffeur, Thierry (or for our private conversation, Henry) and had an entire day driving around looking at the most remarkable temples they had to offer... They did not disappoint. When I have a suitably fast internet connection, I promise to unload all the pictures taken today, with an attached disclaimer against complaints as I did go a bit snap-happy. The album itself is a must-see, let alone the place itself. It is now, for the record, my greatest recommendation I could give to any traveller hoping to come to Asia, even topping Pai, which takes some doing. Tomorrow, we wake obscenely early to go and watch sunrise ontop of Angkor Wat and go and tackle a few more temples, but we're at the mercy of nature because at the moment we've been playing host to some rather dramatic and aggressive lightning storms. In fact, as far as drama goes, on our 14 hour bus drive over (yea, 14 hours...) we had the view of a wide-ranging forest fire being sporadically lit by fork lightning, at least the drive had some partial entertainment I suppose.... Anyway, that concludes my accurately advertised short post for today, keep your eyes open for those photos now ;-).
R
Sunday, 20 March 2011
What doesn't kill you...
So, lets evaluate. What doesn't kill you, has a tendency to make you stronger... hmm?
Physically: Weak as a kitten, deafened by constant silence
Emotionally: Betrayed by Asia, newly phobic of prawns
Mentally: Delirious from cabin fever, owner of some new found pessimism
Aesthetically: Aware I'd probably be quoted a "higher band price" from the local streetwalkers than last week
Spiritually: Rather accepting of death at points, but rather pissed at the "Big Man/Woman/Thor"
Economically: Ah.... there it is!
So, as a correction to a rather misunderstood saying "What doesn't kill you, usually slows down your day-to-day spending marginally".... Although I can understand why that offering would have been rejected at the inspirational-quote brainstorming session. Anyway, now that the philosophy behind my condition has been decided, let's go back in time to a point before all of this. Let's go back to 'Nam, although I warn you.... This is going to be a long one, best get the kettle on....
A long time ago, in a country far far away, we found ourselves in the city of Saigon (or Ho Chi Minh City to those keeping up with current/post 60's affairs). It's a rather huge city with an official population of 7 million and an unofficial population of around 9 million. It is also one of the most congested city centres in the world, along with it's official 7 million population, it is said to be home to 6 million scooters... I think you get the idea, pictures shall follow on Facebook if I haven't already put them up (I've lost track of time these days!). However, despite my little known agoraphobic issues and preference for sparseness over congestion, I actually really liked Saigon! As is the way with most of Vietnam, the Americans did a bang up job of flattening alot of it in the 60s, however, with a combination of economic boom and foreign investment, Saigon has been rebuilt with a modern, cosmopolitan, yet, traditional feel to it. The new 70 story Bitexco building (Wiki it or check for photos on FB) was one of the more spectacular buildings I've ever laid eyes on. But contrastingly, the miniature Notre Dam built by the French in the 1800s, and the Opera House and Post Office built in the same era, are a few of the remaining relics from before the war that give you a slight insight into the city before America happened.
Obviously, you yourselves can note the number of times the words "America" and "War" will come up when talking about Saigon. The city itself has many memorials, museums and tributes to the Vietnamese soldiers and civilians that died in the war and marks itself as a city that shall never forget. In Saigon we visited a War Remnant museum that was quite easily the most sobering day I've had since my travels began. The museum itself consisted of three stories with two separate enclosures outside. Each floor was dedicated to varying topics within the war. The first floor, counterintuitively, was dedicated to the end of the war and the aftermath that followed. It also had a room dedicated to photographs and articles from protests all around the world (along the lines of 400 separate countries protesting the Vietnamese war). The third floor highlighted the before and after effects of the war on the Vietnamese cities and countryside. However, it was the second floor which was the toughest as it was dedicated to the bombing, chemical warfare and, in particular, Agent Orange. For those that don't know, Agent Orange is what's called a "defoliant", a chemical designed to kill and destroy all plant-life in a region, with the aim of making jungle warfare more America-friendly. However, it was later found to contain a toxin called "dioxin" (give or take, it's full name is one of those ones that even Stephen Fry may have to Google). Dioxin is a chemical that mutates DNA, leads to birth defects, causes cancer and is passed down from generation to generation, as this room showed. Unless you search them out (which I would not recommend), you won't see or hear any descriptions from me, but the pictures will stick with me for a while. It's a problem that Vietnam will be dealing with for the next 300 years and even without the hate-fuelled bias from the Vietnamese museum, it was hard not to hate the Americans a little bit more for their Vietnamese escapades, some pictures truly can't lie! The second floor, coupled with the outside section showcasing numerous American mechanisms and tools for interrogating Vietcong suspects, left a rather permanent print in the brain, it's one of those places you can't possibly enjoy going to and seeing, but one of the ones you have to see once. Even if you can't understand, I think it's at least something to try!
From there we gave ourselves a a day to recuperate, and headed to the Cu Chi tunnels, which are one of the main Vietnamese tunnel hubs used in the war. The tunnel network itself is said to span over 200km, although conservative estimates say closer to 150km (either way, I consider it to be quite impressive!). We got shown around one of the sites that was preserved for tourists and it was a rather good tour! The pictures that I've put up are rather self-explanatory, but I'll give a couple of interesting facts. One of the most dangerous activities for the Vietnamese underground was cooking. Due to the steam and smoke that would arise from cooking enough food for the entire army, normal chimney systems would give away the exact position of the tunnel. So, the Vietnamese designed a complex funnelling system that would cause the smoke to arise sporadically in older bomb craters giving the impression of smouldering craters to all the spy-planes overhead. That explanation, I suspect, may make, at least, one rather ambiguous photo in my album a little bit more understandable now at least! The last interesting fact is quite short, simple and to the point... I have never seen an army so creative and enthusiastic in the art of impaling it's enemies. We were shown a "handful" of 9 or 10 different methods of impalement via bamboo, and apparently there's plenty more out there. Once you've seen the photos, seriously, any other ideas would be well received because I honestly can't conceive any more potential!
These were the two main highlights of our trip to Saigon, however another notable highlight was our travelling companions. We've now gone our separate ways, but Eddy and Kerry made Saigon all the more memorable for their presence. Me and Ben have had a vote and Kerry hands down wins the heralded "Most enthusiastic person ever" award and on more than a few occasions I found myself getting caught up in it! It's a shame we had to split, but when we get back, it's only a few miles to Manchester, so I presume it's more Au Revoir than Goodbye! Aside from numerous details, such as our cockroachy hotel with yellow bath water and plug-in-able toilet, I think it's time to close the blog on Vietnam and attempt a flawless segue into Cambodian territory!
Firstly, may I take a moment to compliment the Cambodians on having the finest border-crossing in the known world? Of course I can; it's my blog. We breezed along the Mae Kong, out of Vietnam, across the border and settled for the night in our (for a change) ant-infested room. As we were only there for half a day, I don't have many observations, except for one awesome market with some of the best street food we've had in Asia and the first ever "arm-sized" bottle of Jim Bean I've ever seen in my life, for the low low price of £50, I deserve some form of notification for resisting such a purchase! The next day, we headed to Sihanoukville, a small beach town, for Bens birthday. It was a relatively easy bus journey with only one stop for some food (.....*sigh*.....). We had one nice evening on the beach before Ben's birthday, and then on the very day of such joyfullness, the plague hit in and, more or less, here I am today! We had one rise in fortitude on St. Paddy's so went out for his birthday on a cruise and had a great time! Saw/Stung by lots of mini-jellyfish, went to a very hot swampy lake and all in all, had a rather great day! The day after, well, you know the story, again here I am today. I am not going to go into details of my illness because I imagine some of you prepared some Rich Teas or Hobnobs with your cups of tea I instructed you to make, and it would be rather poor form to put a person of their biscuit don't you agree? Either way, here I am, here is my story and here is the end!
Well done for making so far to those that did, sorry it's been a bit delayed, but at least for those reading at work (Sophie?), that killed at least 15 minutes? Only other updates, tomorrow we go to Siem Reap to visit the Ankur Watt temples, or the film set of the first Tomb Raider film for those that are interested in Tomb Raider (because I can assure you, I am!). Also, Ben and I have booked some time to visit my Dad on the island of Langkawi in April (again, I advise a Google, it is sheer paradise!) and also, the plans have been finalised for the reunification of myself with Bob and Keegan in Sydney in May. I am not articulate or talented enough to put into words how excited I am, and also how grateful I am to both parties for the effort. And will once again spell out a invitation to all listening parties that I am interested, nay, passionate about any additional reunifications!.... You know how to find me.....
R
Physically: Weak as a kitten, deafened by constant silence
Emotionally: Betrayed by Asia, newly phobic of prawns
Mentally: Delirious from cabin fever, owner of some new found pessimism
Aesthetically: Aware I'd probably be quoted a "higher band price" from the local streetwalkers than last week
Spiritually: Rather accepting of death at points, but rather pissed at the "Big Man/Woman/Thor"
Economically: Ah.... there it is!
So, as a correction to a rather misunderstood saying "What doesn't kill you, usually slows down your day-to-day spending marginally".... Although I can understand why that offering would have been rejected at the inspirational-quote brainstorming session. Anyway, now that the philosophy behind my condition has been decided, let's go back in time to a point before all of this. Let's go back to 'Nam, although I warn you.... This is going to be a long one, best get the kettle on....
A long time ago, in a country far far away, we found ourselves in the city of Saigon (or Ho Chi Minh City to those keeping up with current/post 60's affairs). It's a rather huge city with an official population of 7 million and an unofficial population of around 9 million. It is also one of the most congested city centres in the world, along with it's official 7 million population, it is said to be home to 6 million scooters... I think you get the idea, pictures shall follow on Facebook if I haven't already put them up (I've lost track of time these days!). However, despite my little known agoraphobic issues and preference for sparseness over congestion, I actually really liked Saigon! As is the way with most of Vietnam, the Americans did a bang up job of flattening alot of it in the 60s, however, with a combination of economic boom and foreign investment, Saigon has been rebuilt with a modern, cosmopolitan, yet, traditional feel to it. The new 70 story Bitexco building (Wiki it or check for photos on FB) was one of the more spectacular buildings I've ever laid eyes on. But contrastingly, the miniature Notre Dam built by the French in the 1800s, and the Opera House and Post Office built in the same era, are a few of the remaining relics from before the war that give you a slight insight into the city before America happened.
Obviously, you yourselves can note the number of times the words "America" and "War" will come up when talking about Saigon. The city itself has many memorials, museums and tributes to the Vietnamese soldiers and civilians that died in the war and marks itself as a city that shall never forget. In Saigon we visited a War Remnant museum that was quite easily the most sobering day I've had since my travels began. The museum itself consisted of three stories with two separate enclosures outside. Each floor was dedicated to varying topics within the war. The first floor, counterintuitively, was dedicated to the end of the war and the aftermath that followed. It also had a room dedicated to photographs and articles from protests all around the world (along the lines of 400 separate countries protesting the Vietnamese war). The third floor highlighted the before and after effects of the war on the Vietnamese cities and countryside. However, it was the second floor which was the toughest as it was dedicated to the bombing, chemical warfare and, in particular, Agent Orange. For those that don't know, Agent Orange is what's called a "defoliant", a chemical designed to kill and destroy all plant-life in a region, with the aim of making jungle warfare more America-friendly. However, it was later found to contain a toxin called "dioxin" (give or take, it's full name is one of those ones that even Stephen Fry may have to Google). Dioxin is a chemical that mutates DNA, leads to birth defects, causes cancer and is passed down from generation to generation, as this room showed. Unless you search them out (which I would not recommend), you won't see or hear any descriptions from me, but the pictures will stick with me for a while. It's a problem that Vietnam will be dealing with for the next 300 years and even without the hate-fuelled bias from the Vietnamese museum, it was hard not to hate the Americans a little bit more for their Vietnamese escapades, some pictures truly can't lie! The second floor, coupled with the outside section showcasing numerous American mechanisms and tools for interrogating Vietcong suspects, left a rather permanent print in the brain, it's one of those places you can't possibly enjoy going to and seeing, but one of the ones you have to see once. Even if you can't understand, I think it's at least something to try!
From there we gave ourselves a a day to recuperate, and headed to the Cu Chi tunnels, which are one of the main Vietnamese tunnel hubs used in the war. The tunnel network itself is said to span over 200km, although conservative estimates say closer to 150km (either way, I consider it to be quite impressive!). We got shown around one of the sites that was preserved for tourists and it was a rather good tour! The pictures that I've put up are rather self-explanatory, but I'll give a couple of interesting facts. One of the most dangerous activities for the Vietnamese underground was cooking. Due to the steam and smoke that would arise from cooking enough food for the entire army, normal chimney systems would give away the exact position of the tunnel. So, the Vietnamese designed a complex funnelling system that would cause the smoke to arise sporadically in older bomb craters giving the impression of smouldering craters to all the spy-planes overhead. That explanation, I suspect, may make, at least, one rather ambiguous photo in my album a little bit more understandable now at least! The last interesting fact is quite short, simple and to the point... I have never seen an army so creative and enthusiastic in the art of impaling it's enemies. We were shown a "handful" of 9 or 10 different methods of impalement via bamboo, and apparently there's plenty more out there. Once you've seen the photos, seriously, any other ideas would be well received because I honestly can't conceive any more potential!
These were the two main highlights of our trip to Saigon, however another notable highlight was our travelling companions. We've now gone our separate ways, but Eddy and Kerry made Saigon all the more memorable for their presence. Me and Ben have had a vote and Kerry hands down wins the heralded "Most enthusiastic person ever" award and on more than a few occasions I found myself getting caught up in it! It's a shame we had to split, but when we get back, it's only a few miles to Manchester, so I presume it's more Au Revoir than Goodbye! Aside from numerous details, such as our cockroachy hotel with yellow bath water and plug-in-able toilet, I think it's time to close the blog on Vietnam and attempt a flawless segue into Cambodian territory!
Firstly, may I take a moment to compliment the Cambodians on having the finest border-crossing in the known world? Of course I can; it's my blog. We breezed along the Mae Kong, out of Vietnam, across the border and settled for the night in our (for a change) ant-infested room. As we were only there for half a day, I don't have many observations, except for one awesome market with some of the best street food we've had in Asia and the first ever "arm-sized" bottle of Jim Bean I've ever seen in my life, for the low low price of £50, I deserve some form of notification for resisting such a purchase! The next day, we headed to Sihanoukville, a small beach town, for Bens birthday. It was a relatively easy bus journey with only one stop for some food (.....*sigh*.....). We had one nice evening on the beach before Ben's birthday, and then on the very day of such joyfullness, the plague hit in and, more or less, here I am today! We had one rise in fortitude on St. Paddy's so went out for his birthday on a cruise and had a great time! Saw/Stung by lots of mini-jellyfish, went to a very hot swampy lake and all in all, had a rather great day! The day after, well, you know the story, again here I am today. I am not going to go into details of my illness because I imagine some of you prepared some Rich Teas or Hobnobs with your cups of tea I instructed you to make, and it would be rather poor form to put a person of their biscuit don't you agree? Either way, here I am, here is my story and here is the end!
Well done for making so far to those that did, sorry it's been a bit delayed, but at least for those reading at work (Sophie?), that killed at least 15 minutes? Only other updates, tomorrow we go to Siem Reap to visit the Ankur Watt temples, or the film set of the first Tomb Raider film for those that are interested in Tomb Raider (because I can assure you, I am!). Also, Ben and I have booked some time to visit my Dad on the island of Langkawi in April (again, I advise a Google, it is sheer paradise!) and also, the plans have been finalised for the reunification of myself with Bob and Keegan in Sydney in May. I am not articulate or talented enough to put into words how excited I am, and also how grateful I am to both parties for the effort. And will once again spell out a invitation to all listening parties that I am interested, nay, passionate about any additional reunifications!.... You know how to find me.....
R
Friday, 18 March 2011
All Quiet on the Far-Eastern Front
Hey all, pre-warning, this is going to be very brief. I'm aware I've told you nothing yet of Saigon, including the war museum and the Cu-Chi tunnels. Also told you nothing of our brief foray into Phnom Phen (the capital of Cambodia) and lastly told you nothing of our arrival in Sihanoukville. However, I'm afraid this post will also not alleviate any of those grey areas. Sadly, me and Ben have both been hit pretty badly with some God-awful food poisoning. It kicked in the day before his birthday (as it had to of course!) and has lasted to now. We had a peak in health yesterday so headed out to celebrate his birthday and link it with St Paddys. However, our optimism for the future of our young bodies has led to another tremendous dip and I'm feeling a shadow of my former self. The room we're staying in has cockroaches and thin walls, however it does not possess:
Air conditioning
Flushable toilet
Toilet Seat
Sheets or Hygiene
Internet
Considerate neighbours
Needless to say, if I pull through, you'll be getting a very long update and one of the infamous sarcastic dripping, hatred fuelled and cynically enthusiastic rants about this hell hole in which I've found myself. Also, brief bit of news associated with today and yesterday, I've decided to give up alcohol (or Devils Bile as I'm now referring to it) and I'm afraid it's not even one of those weak and feeble gestures to convince the "big-man" to stop taking your sins out on your body.... This is the real thing! So, no more alcohol and a massive downer to start Cambodia with. However, it could be worse.... But at the moment I'm headed back to my toilet-less, baking, crawling, noisy and shack-like prison cell, so you'll have to give me a couple of days to figure out how....
R
Air conditioning
Flushable toilet
Toilet Seat
Sheets or Hygiene
Internet
Considerate neighbours
Needless to say, if I pull through, you'll be getting a very long update and one of the infamous sarcastic dripping, hatred fuelled and cynically enthusiastic rants about this hell hole in which I've found myself. Also, brief bit of news associated with today and yesterday, I've decided to give up alcohol (or Devils Bile as I'm now referring to it) and I'm afraid it's not even one of those weak and feeble gestures to convince the "big-man" to stop taking your sins out on your body.... This is the real thing! So, no more alcohol and a massive downer to start Cambodia with. However, it could be worse.... But at the moment I'm headed back to my toilet-less, baking, crawling, noisy and shack-like prison cell, so you'll have to give me a couple of days to figure out how....
R
Monday, 7 March 2011
One more thing....
Also, just briefly, I'd like to thank all my readers for helping me pass the 1000 viewings landmark! I'm hoping the reading is keeping you guys entertained and that you're having even half as much fun reading these posts as I am writing them. I've struggled a bit with Asian internet, but I can promise I'll keep you abreast of all my movements and highlights, it's just a shame you lot aren't here to enjoy this all with me! Ta muchly once again!
R
R
Sun, Sand and Sea
So, it appears my linguistic plea for sunshine fell upon some powerful ears! Every since my last post, we have nothing but clear sky and sun, even clouds are being restricted to the odd cameo appearance, and so finally, 47 days into our trip and we had our first sun glazed paradise beach! However, slightly concerningly, I have reaffirmed my disdain for beaches.... Allow me to qualify. Beaches are by far some of the most pristine, photogenic and naturally beautiful areas in the entire world. In terms of appearances I prefer them to dense untouched jungle, sweeping snowy mountain ranges, moonlit rivers or a thriving metropolis etc etc. However! The only two problems I have with beaches are sand and salt water.... I'll leave it to you to figure out what exactly that would leave with you with if you removed them. It may begin to look a little bit different.... We haven't been to the beach since yesterday afternoon, and since then I've showered two times and still am finding sand just about everywhere. Perhaps this is a little ungrateful to be complaining about my paradise beaches (opinions on a postcard if you please) but you chaps know me well enough to know what to expect in a blog exclusively written by me! I will say though, despite my criticisms of beach-land, we had an ace time hanging around the beach the last couple of days. The waves themselves were the highest and most powerful I've seen. The highest wave I "bumped into" was about 10 feet high, and I can say that the encounter ended disastrously for me, nothing quite like being caught underneath a crashing 10 foot wave I can assure you!
Aside from the beach the other highlights and few and far between. We've been drinking quite a bit of very cheap beer (4000 Dong = 12p) and spirits (Bucket = £1), exploring the cultural sophistication that is a Manchester United/Liverpool football game over a grape and mint shisha (pubs need to consider this!) and even throwing a little bit of karaoke in for good measure. One rather emotional moment included saying a permanent Goodbye to our rather dear Canadian friends, Cass and Paige. It's quite remarkable how attached you can grow to people within such a small time frame whilst travelling. Ultimately, we were travelling as a foursome (yes yes, i know, innuendo) for about 14 days in total, but I'm sure Ben won't mind me saying it was with a rather lumpy throat and cloudy set of eyes that we saw them off on the bus. Who knows, perhaps a trip to Canada is now in the pipeline. With Cass, Paige, Doma, Brent offering a wee bit of accommodation, it know looks like we'd be crazy not to right?
That's more or less the Nha Trang experience encapsulated in one post! The only other addition is that since touch down, I've enjoyed stir-fried frog, honey-glazed ostrich skewers, grilled chilli crocodile, jellyfish soup and am trying to summon the courage to order the speciality across the road, namely Sauteed goats penis. To be honest, there reaches a point where you can be too empathic and I think this may be the case with myself, goats penis may have to wait for another lifetime.
So, to keep you guys in the loop, tonight we head via sleeper bus to Saigon with Kez and Eddy to explore the Ho Chi Minh War Museum (apparently a rather sobering and grim experience) and the Kuchi tunnels that the Vietcong used against the Americans in the 60s. The latter is definitely not for the claustrophobic and has real examples of the rather barbaric booby traps they set up to trap the American troops. I suspect this may also be a sobering and grim experience, but it is something I have to do and has the potential to be the most interesting part of my trip. Fingers crossed it's not as difficult as saying farewell to my Canadians!
R
Aside from the beach the other highlights and few and far between. We've been drinking quite a bit of very cheap beer (4000 Dong = 12p) and spirits (Bucket = £1), exploring the cultural sophistication that is a Manchester United/Liverpool football game over a grape and mint shisha (pubs need to consider this!) and even throwing a little bit of karaoke in for good measure. One rather emotional moment included saying a permanent Goodbye to our rather dear Canadian friends, Cass and Paige. It's quite remarkable how attached you can grow to people within such a small time frame whilst travelling. Ultimately, we were travelling as a foursome (yes yes, i know, innuendo) for about 14 days in total, but I'm sure Ben won't mind me saying it was with a rather lumpy throat and cloudy set of eyes that we saw them off on the bus. Who knows, perhaps a trip to Canada is now in the pipeline. With Cass, Paige, Doma, Brent offering a wee bit of accommodation, it know looks like we'd be crazy not to right?
That's more or less the Nha Trang experience encapsulated in one post! The only other addition is that since touch down, I've enjoyed stir-fried frog, honey-glazed ostrich skewers, grilled chilli crocodile, jellyfish soup and am trying to summon the courage to order the speciality across the road, namely Sauteed goats penis. To be honest, there reaches a point where you can be too empathic and I think this may be the case with myself, goats penis may have to wait for another lifetime.
So, to keep you guys in the loop, tonight we head via sleeper bus to Saigon with Kez and Eddy to explore the Ho Chi Minh War Museum (apparently a rather sobering and grim experience) and the Kuchi tunnels that the Vietcong used against the Americans in the 60s. The latter is definitely not for the claustrophobic and has real examples of the rather barbaric booby traps they set up to trap the American troops. I suspect this may also be a sobering and grim experience, but it is something I have to do and has the potential to be the most interesting part of my trip. Fingers crossed it's not as difficult as saying farewell to my Canadians!
R
Saturday, 5 March 2011
Rain Rain Go Away
appears we've broken Vietnam... Don't tell anyone because they'll be furious, but since we've entered this country we've had one day of sunshine and countless cloudy/drizzly/rainy days. This is both disappointing and illuminating, firstly, due to the lack of sun and secondly because I wasn't aware drizzle had been invented outside of Britain! I can confirm it most certainly has and not only that, but Vietnam is very proud of their new invention and is showing it off at every given chance. We've been promised sun for the next few days, but my experience with British weather forecasts has taught me to never trust the good bits and always exaggerate the bad bits, so it may be an underwater Vietnamese experience for the next few days to come!
However, onto drier subjects, there's a wee bit of catching up to do because the last time I spoke we were preparing for a mammoth journey to Hoi-An via sleeper bus, however now, we've finished with our Hoi-An adventure and have arrived in Nha Trang. To ensure my followers don't start to think I'm taking them for granted, replacing them or forgetting them, I can assure you, the lag was not a product of my self-induced apathy. Instead, I'm afraid to say that Vietnamese internet is still very much in the 56k era (for those old enough to recall!), not only that, but the Vietnamese government are terrified of being world leaders in the cyber-market so are limiting bandwidths, website access and number of connections per modem just to ensure they prolong the life of the typewriter for as long as possible. So now that I've gained the use of t'interweb at my new swanky hostel in Nha Trang, I've decided to take full advantage and save you all a weeks worth of catch-up reading so that you may still have time in your day to frolic, prance and sing or whatever your individual wants may happen to be!
I'll spare very few words describing the sleeper bus over to Hoi-An, most of them will be swear words and I am unsure if there will be those of easy influence reading (....Bob) so I'll go with a wee description instead
1) 2 Feet wide beds
2) TV attached to wall above my face
3) Adjacent to toilet that hasn't been cleaned since 1947
4) Screaming baby (by the way, 100% of screaming babies per sleeper bus so far!)
5) Nazi bus driver (also.... 100% record)
Either way, I was glad for the trip to eventually come to a halt and reach Hoi-An.
Hoi-An is a city built on tailoring, haberdashery, cobblery and sunshine. Seeing as we were lacking the final ingredient in the Hoi-An experience, we decided to do as Barney Stinson would do and "SUIT UP!". Ben went for the classic James Bond look, and forms a very dashing figure, whilst I have recreated a Barney Stinson suit, stitch for stitch, so that I may see if his womanising abilities are gained through the suit rather than personality. I don't hold much hope, but beggars evidently cannot be choosers. The only other personal highlight was the finest shave I have ever enjoyed in my short but colourful life. I went into a small tucked away barbers with a savage collection of facial hair and before I'd even introduced myself, a rather effeminate Vietnamese gentleman sauntered over, raised one eyebrow and said "shave?"... It seems I was in more dire need than I'd estimated. So, he settled me down, gave me a trim to the beard, cut-throat razor to the rest of the face (including a rather terrifying few moments around the Adam's apple) and then the most exotic element of the experience; an full ear clean. (To parody Marks & Spencer for a moment) This was not just any ear clean. This was a full ear clean, with tools such as the gouger, clawer, stabber, massager, cotton-wooler and hose. Add the fact that he was wearing a full, metal industrial miner's light, was smoking the entirety of the "operation" and stopped three times to recomb his hair and moustache and you understand how I shall never forget Chi and the most memorable shave in the history of time! However, first and foremost, Hoi-An is a beach town, and without sun it sadly turns into a place to kill time. So, we walked around a really lively and jaw-droppingly exotic food market, saw the old town across a 300 year old Japanese bridge/temple and watched a bit of Cartoon Network... No matter how I phrase that conclusion, it is difficult to say we did very much. One rather positive result from our adventures into Hoi-An is we have discoverede a rather spiffing couple called Kerry and Eddy (otherwise known as Duke Edward Yates Duxbury) who have been filling in the token position of keeping me sane and keeping me well within line! May we have many more days together here on in! However, to conclude, at the point of leaving Hoi-An, I had a tailor made Barney Stinson suit waiting for me back home, had a few souvineers for my dear family on their way, the cleanest ears in all the land and was very well relaxed and in need of sunshine.... So we departed for Nha Trang.
I shan't judge the place too quickly, however, I shall say if the weather remains this dreary for our entire stay, it may turn into another Hoi-An (minus the suit and ear-cleaning). But, the forecast looks bright, and we've already bumped into a few quality people, I've had a hot-stone body massage, eaten a frog and have lined up a plate of goat's penis and crocodile steak for tonight, and also with one of the most spectacular beaches in the whole of Vietnam 5 minutes away, the potential is massive for a fantastic few days! Also, to save the very very best to last, we have re-met Cass and Paige. For those who haven't dedicated them to memory (shame!) they are the finest Canadians we have met to date, the girls we met in Pai and re-met in Vang Vieng. We have already enforced our bad influence upon them and postponed their departure by one night so that we can have one last farewell before the ultimate goodbye. No matter what the weather is like tomorrow, it shall be a good day due to the excellent night we are about to enjoy! We're eyeing up a bit of sea fishing in two days, a bit of a boat ride to a few surrounding islands (including Monkey Island and Whale Island!) and am trying to figure out the logistics of a motorbike trek down to Saigon to finish off our trip. All we need is an assist from Monsieur Soleil and we've got a fantastic few days lined up. So keep your fingers crossed England, has some sympathy for the man in Vietnam suffering through mere 25 degree heat, screw Children in Need, try Richard in Need!
R
However, onto drier subjects, there's a wee bit of catching up to do because the last time I spoke we were preparing for a mammoth journey to Hoi-An via sleeper bus, however now, we've finished with our Hoi-An adventure and have arrived in Nha Trang. To ensure my followers don't start to think I'm taking them for granted, replacing them or forgetting them, I can assure you, the lag was not a product of my self-induced apathy. Instead, I'm afraid to say that Vietnamese internet is still very much in the 56k era (for those old enough to recall!), not only that, but the Vietnamese government are terrified of being world leaders in the cyber-market so are limiting bandwidths, website access and number of connections per modem just to ensure they prolong the life of the typewriter for as long as possible. So now that I've gained the use of t'interweb at my new swanky hostel in Nha Trang, I've decided to take full advantage and save you all a weeks worth of catch-up reading so that you may still have time in your day to frolic, prance and sing or whatever your individual wants may happen to be!
I'll spare very few words describing the sleeper bus over to Hoi-An, most of them will be swear words and I am unsure if there will be those of easy influence reading (....Bob) so I'll go with a wee description instead
1) 2 Feet wide beds
2) TV attached to wall above my face
3) Adjacent to toilet that hasn't been cleaned since 1947
4) Screaming baby (by the way, 100% of screaming babies per sleeper bus so far!)
5) Nazi bus driver (also.... 100% record)
Either way, I was glad for the trip to eventually come to a halt and reach Hoi-An.
Hoi-An is a city built on tailoring, haberdashery, cobblery and sunshine. Seeing as we were lacking the final ingredient in the Hoi-An experience, we decided to do as Barney Stinson would do and "SUIT UP!". Ben went for the classic James Bond look, and forms a very dashing figure, whilst I have recreated a Barney Stinson suit, stitch for stitch, so that I may see if his womanising abilities are gained through the suit rather than personality. I don't hold much hope, but beggars evidently cannot be choosers. The only other personal highlight was the finest shave I have ever enjoyed in my short but colourful life. I went into a small tucked away barbers with a savage collection of facial hair and before I'd even introduced myself, a rather effeminate Vietnamese gentleman sauntered over, raised one eyebrow and said "shave?"... It seems I was in more dire need than I'd estimated. So, he settled me down, gave me a trim to the beard, cut-throat razor to the rest of the face (including a rather terrifying few moments around the Adam's apple) and then the most exotic element of the experience; an full ear clean. (To parody Marks & Spencer for a moment) This was not just any ear clean. This was a full ear clean, with tools such as the gouger, clawer, stabber, massager, cotton-wooler and hose. Add the fact that he was wearing a full, metal industrial miner's light, was smoking the entirety of the "operation" and stopped three times to recomb his hair and moustache and you understand how I shall never forget Chi and the most memorable shave in the history of time! However, first and foremost, Hoi-An is a beach town, and without sun it sadly turns into a place to kill time. So, we walked around a really lively and jaw-droppingly exotic food market, saw the old town across a 300 year old Japanese bridge/temple and watched a bit of Cartoon Network... No matter how I phrase that conclusion, it is difficult to say we did very much. One rather positive result from our adventures into Hoi-An is we have discoverede a rather spiffing couple called Kerry and Eddy (otherwise known as Duke Edward Yates Duxbury) who have been filling in the token position of keeping me sane and keeping me well within line! May we have many more days together here on in! However, to conclude, at the point of leaving Hoi-An, I had a tailor made Barney Stinson suit waiting for me back home, had a few souvineers for my dear family on their way, the cleanest ears in all the land and was very well relaxed and in need of sunshine.... So we departed for Nha Trang.
I shan't judge the place too quickly, however, I shall say if the weather remains this dreary for our entire stay, it may turn into another Hoi-An (minus the suit and ear-cleaning). But, the forecast looks bright, and we've already bumped into a few quality people, I've had a hot-stone body massage, eaten a frog and have lined up a plate of goat's penis and crocodile steak for tonight, and also with one of the most spectacular beaches in the whole of Vietnam 5 minutes away, the potential is massive for a fantastic few days! Also, to save the very very best to last, we have re-met Cass and Paige. For those who haven't dedicated them to memory (shame!) they are the finest Canadians we have met to date, the girls we met in Pai and re-met in Vang Vieng. We have already enforced our bad influence upon them and postponed their departure by one night so that we can have one last farewell before the ultimate goodbye. No matter what the weather is like tomorrow, it shall be a good day due to the excellent night we are about to enjoy! We're eyeing up a bit of sea fishing in two days, a bit of a boat ride to a few surrounding islands (including Monkey Island and Whale Island!) and am trying to figure out the logistics of a motorbike trek down to Saigon to finish off our trip. All we need is an assist from Monsieur Soleil and we've got a fantastic few days lined up. So keep your fingers crossed England, has some sympathy for the man in Vietnam suffering through mere 25 degree heat, screw Children in Need, try Richard in Need!
R
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