Southeast Asia

September - November 2017
A 35-day adventure by Kerry and David
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  • Day 9

    The Darker Side of Cambodia

    October 7, 2017 in Cambodia ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    Today we learnt more about Cambodia's recent history and the Khmer Rouge. After a quick bakery stop for breakfast we walked to the Tuol Sleng museum. This was a former high school which was turned into the infamous S-21 prison during Pol Pot's regime to hold, interrogate and force false confessions from its detainees. It was one of over 150 detention centres set up between 1975-79. We had an audio guide which explained how the old classrooms had been changed; buildings were enclosed in electrified barbed wire, the classrooms converted into tiny prison cells and torture chambers, and all windows were covered with iron bars and barbed wire to prevent escapees. A suspected 20,000 people had been held here, the majority of whom were taken by the truckload to the nearby killing site of Choeung Ek, aka "The Killing Fields".
    We continued our education of the awful atrocities by getting a tuk tuk to Choeung Ek where there is a memorial centre dedicated to those that were killed and evidence of the multiple mass graves that thousands of bodies had been dumped into after brutal executions (they found other ways to kill to save on bullets). There are still more clothing rags and bones surfacing after each rainy season which are kept as a testament to the victims. We took some time to process what we had learnt and seen at both sites before heading back into the city, and had a quiet afternoon/evening.

    We did not want to head back over to the tourist area of Phnom Penh for dinner so walked around the area outside our hotel. We weren't too sure of some of the very street food places so stopped at a proper restaurant that looked busy. We were shown upstairs and to a menu with no English and no pictures in it. We tried to order some chicken with rice and beef noodles to stay safe, with the help of the manager (the only one who could speak any English). We ended up with chicken "bits" with a lot of bone and very little meat surrounded what we concluded with shredded lemongrass in the shape of a bird's nest, and some beef noodles. As David was still hungry after the scraps of chicken we went on a food hunt and ended up avoiding a Chinese place which had eel, frog and pig intestines on the menu and settling at the first street restaurant we had walked past earlier. Here we ordered fried rice, which actually turned out to be a nice beef rice with a side of weak tea and soup. We were unsure if the water they were collecting from the nearby hose was used in the meal. I guess we will find out...
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  • Day 10

    Quick Stop in Kratie

    October 8, 2017 in Cambodia

    We were up at just gone 5am this morning to finish packing up in time for a tuk tuk ride to our "VIP" bus. We waited 45 minutes for an array of packages and people to board and re-board the minibus. This included the attempted tetris game with a full sized cooked pig which they luckily gave up on as the bus was already full. Just after 7am we left for Kratie (Krong Kracheh).
    The bus driver seemed to be paid by the maximum speed he could reach on each road which led to some near misses with oncoming scooters and trucks. Our first stop was to allow the older men of the bus to relieve themselves on the roadside, the second was to drop off some seafood to a shop-owner and then the third was at a "service station"; a busy restaurant with drop toilets and home-cooked food of some sort. We somehow ordered some rice and chicken "bits" and some vegetable crisps for the journey. Soon we were back on the bus, picking and dropping off locals until we finally got to Kratie about 12:30. We refused the moto (motorbike taxi) offers and stretched our legs by walking to our next guesthouse.
    We are staying at Le Tonlé, a NGO tourism training centre, as well as guesthouse and restaurant, which provides vocational training to disadvantaged young people in the north-east of Cambodia. Our room is a cute wooden-cladded sauna, with a mosquito net and fan. There are two shared bathrooms just opposite, which are surprisingly clean (minus the mosquitos).
    We had a wander around this small, riverfront town and through the local market where we came across some of the local delicacies such as Balut (a fertilised duck egg with a partially grown fetus). We decided against trying these and instead we had lunch at a corner-side restaurant finally trying the Cambodian 'Amok' (curry) which was delicious. We met a man who was originally from England but now lives here, working with local NGOs (and we think also with the place we are staying) for the past 30 years.
    This evening we are sat during happy hour tasting what the students can make with alcohol... and about to order dinner before an another early night as we move again tomorrow.
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  • Day 11

    Markets in Krong Stung Treng

    October 9, 2017 in Cambodia

    After a restless night due to a very firm mattress and David waking every 10 minutes to check there were no cockroaches crawling over us, we were then woken by the local cockerel at 5am which we tried to snooze through until 5:45. Then up and a quick breakfast before our next bus ride. We were picked up by the minibus from our hotel and after detouring around to fill the bus we headed north to Stung Treng. It took about 3.5 hours and a lot of bumpy road to arrive at this market town. Again, we decided to walk to our next guesthouse but after realising we weren't quite sure where it was we popped into the "Four Rivers Hotel" for directions. Here we were directed back to Kratie as the Le Tonlé had moved (as we had stayed there last night). We therefore took the opportunity to stay in an actual hotel for the next two nights. This hotel looks over the Mekong and Sekong rivers (not sure about the other 2) and even has a sky bar.
    We dropped our bags and headed into town in the rain (with an umbrella, thanks to our hotel!) to find lunch. There were not many restaurants around so we choose a busy local place which only gave us the English options of fried noodles or rice; we ordered one of each. The food was okay, but it just seemed a shame that the locals had a wider choice, that we were only able to peek at as it went past. We finished up lunch and had a walk through the large market before heading back for a rest at the hotel. On our way we realised we left our water bottle in the restaurant so had to make a detour to go and get it, which led us through the back street of town (past a whole load of rubbish) and through another market. We were very warm by the time we got back, but luckily the rain had stopped.
    In the evening, after David had a quick nap, we went up to the sky bar. We were the only ones to there and after they told us they didn't have mint for a mojito nor ice for any other cocktail we walked back into town for dinner. We had been recommended a place called Ponika's palace by the guy in Kratie. They do a mix of local, Indian and western food. Kerry went for the Indian set meal while David went for sweet and sour. The food was great, the service lacking and the power almost non-existent - the constant power-cuts left us feeling like we were eating in one of the 'dinner in the dark' restaurants.
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  • Day 12

    Last day in Cambodia

    October 10, 2017 in Cambodia

    We spent today trying to figure out the best way to get across the border and into Laos tomorrow. We first tried our hotel - but there was no one around who spoke English, just a mother with a young child sat on a rug on the floor. The girl had a drip up, as though it was a makeshift hospital in the lobby. We then tried the street vendors who offered either a bus leaving at 13:30 the next day or a taxi for $40. We continued back to Ponika's for breakfast and to ask here, again a bus leaving at maybe 12 or 1pm tomorrow or a taxi for $35. We ate our omelette with cheese (a cheese square on top) and poached eggs with a baguette, while we decided to think about our options. We then hired some bicycles from Ponika's to enjoy our last day in Cambodia.
    The bikes were just about road worthy, except David's puncture which we got refilled before riding on. We cycled parallel to the Sekong River out of town and to a women's development centre which was unfortunately closed until 13:30. We took the opportunity to cycle further and see some of the rural area around the town. We found a tourism sign which we followed but only found some abandoned huts and lots of army ants. At this point we turned around and cycled through some small village areas where the local people, especially the children, were very friendly and waving hello at us.
    We stopped for lunch at a cute restaurant with huts looking over the river. We were shown the first hut which Kerry quickly exited as she was faced with a green snake (no screaming involved!). The second was occupied by ants, but luckily the third we deemed safe and sat down in. Again the staff spoke very little English so we ordered chicken rice and some drinks. We were surprised to actually get a large plate of fried rice and chicken (no bones) with a side of chilli sauce. After a relaxing lunch and chill out in the hammocks we set back on our bikes.
    We cycled back to the women's development centre which was now open. One of the ladies showed us around and explained the main industry was silk but they also had programmes for cleaning, cooking, English and computer science. We were able to walk around the centre, seeing the workers spin, dye and weave the silk into beautiful fabrics and scarves. At the end of the tour we were shown the gift shop but the silk was very expensive so we opted for a donation in the box and a drink instead.
    We cycled back into town and dropped the bikes back (having to remind them we needed to pay and how much) before heading back to the hotel to organise the taxi for tomorrow. We decided a taxi would be the safest option given we had to catch transport the other side of the border.
    We had dinner in the hotel restaurant which we thought would be a good option, opting for fried chicken and chips and lok lak with chips. (We were really craving chips). But with the small portions and dubious pieces of beef, we ordered round two consisting of a noodle dish and some more french fries. Feeling utterly full after this we decided to call it a night.
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  • Day 13

    Finding Laos and Pomelo

    October 11, 2017 in Laos

    We started our day off by crossing over the Cambodia/Laos border through immigration and handing over multiple ‘service fees’ in addition to our visa charges as we walked across the border lines. Then we were pleasantly surprised to be met at the border before realising we had to get on a moto each with all of our bags! Luckily, it was only a 15 minute ride to an unknown ‘port’ (back garden of a local’s house) to get in our next transport which was a small wooden boat. This took us across the Mekong between Cambodia and Laos to the very southern tip of one of the Four Thousand islands, ‘Don Khon’ (sometimes with an e).
    We got off to be greeted by Oliva, our host at Pomelo Guesthouse. It was a small place consisting of two bungalows on stilts and a restaurant area. The room is very spacious with a separate living area overlooking the Mekong.
    We did notice however, a lack of glass in the windows and unfortunately we are back to a fan only room. The only way to hide from the bugs is under the mosquito net around the bed. We got ourselves some lunch and tried the local dish ‘Laab’ which is Thai/Lao dish made with many herbs and spices. Then we thought it was the right time for a nap during the hottest part of the day. Once refreshed and it had cooled down a bit we headed out to explore the area around where we were staying. It’s a very rural area where most houses are fairly basic on stilts with nearly every family having a few dogs, chickens and satellite dishes. We found a small school which had been funded by World Challenge and also a French port which they had built during French occupation in the 1800’s and then marched our way up a stairway to a viewpoint which was mostly overgrown by trees (and ants) but still gave us a good view.
    After some games of UNO and Rummy we had dinner in a restaurant next door. We were the only people there apart from their family who congregated on the floor in front of a small TV. Regardless, they made us feel welcome and cooked us a cracking local dinner.
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  • Day 14

    We started our day with the intention of a bike ride around our little connecting islands, but by the time we had breakfast and headed over to the small restaurant where we could rent bikes from a local family it had gone 10am. After asking for two bikes alongside a German couple also staying in our guesthouse, we waiting for about an hour for them to turn around and tell us they only had two. So as we were late to the party, we let the other couple use the two bikes and we decided to stretch our legs and go for a hike up to Don Det village. Setting off we started to enjoy the sights and sounds of the rainforest hoping for a peak of one of the sets of waterfalls or rapids nearby. As the road went through the middle of the island we ended up seeing a few local families in their houses and a few herds of cattle. Before crossing over to Don Det, we got to the 'Historic Bridge' which is a stone bridge built by the French in the 1800's to connect both the islands. As it was the hottest part of the day, the time seemed right to try a papaya shake and passion fruit juice, these were both delicious and we thought we would further experiment with some garlic bread. Now the drinks were brilliant, and we had high hopes for the garlic bread, unfortunately whatcame out was a baguette with a lot of raw garlic and butter in the centre (which we ate anyway).
    Crossing the bridge we got some beautiful views of the Mekong and continued to find rice paddy's and other farmland before reaching the main village of the Islands. Here there were many more restaurants, guesthouses and rental shops and we wandered through until we got to the other end at which point we turned back to get some lunch at the 'Smiling Laos'. We soon realised we had reached the weed-centre of the island and what all the 'happy' items on the menu meant. We declined the extras and went for a simple pumpkin burger and red curry which were delicious. We wondered if the local cats were lazying around because of the heat or if they had consumed some extra special treats.
    Afterwards, we set to our next task - the return journey. We retraced our steps all 7km back to our guesthouse, totally 16.2km so far today, which we were quite impressed with given the 35 degree heat and near 100% humidity. We rewarded ourselves with a shower and some cold drinks as the sun set. We are about to now head over to the other side of the old port to find some dinner.
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  • Day 15

    Onwards to Pakse

    October 13, 2017 in Laos ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    We left our home at Pomelo to begin our long journey to Vietnam. We were picked up by an unusual tuk tuk (like a motorbike and sidecar) and taken to the top of Don Khon then a boat took us across to Nakasang on the mainland. From here (with no directions) we had to walk to the other side of the town to find the backpacker central of a bus station! We had our tickets checked and waited to be herded like cows onto multiple minibuses heading across Laos. We got packed onto an already almost full minibus where Kerry got into the front middle seat with lack of head and leg room and David near the back. 3 hours later we arrived in Pakse, a tourist stopover town. Here we were able to book our next leg of the journey, another early morning bus, and find a cheap hotel room (but with air con!). We had a relaxed evening with a wander through the market, sunset cocktails on a rooftop terrace and a pizza at a little Italian.Read more

  • Day 16

    To Vietnam we go!

    October 14, 2017 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Up just after 4am for our next bus, but having to wait for an hour for our pickup to arrive (with a phone call to ensure we hadn't been forgotten) we finally clambered into the back of a Songthaew (a minivan made into a pick up truck) with a rice covered floor. We were taken to the northern bus station to get on our sleeper bus (see picture). At this point we were quite concerned about which route the bus would take - we had visas that meant we could only cross the Vietnamese border at 'Lao Bao' and had not been reassured by the staff that this would be the case.
    Over 6 hours later we arrived at the Lao Bao border (luckily!) and without having to pay any "service charges" got through immigration. We had a chance to grab some food and have a quick wee stop before boarding back onto the bus. The restaurant we were pointed to gave us the option of one or two plates of mixed food - we decided to go for one. It consisted of rice, some sort of fish, maybe some goat, a square of omelette, tofu and some spicy greens, maybe seaweed.
    We got dropped off 15km outside of Hué on the side of the road with a 'helpful' point in the direction of the town. From here we had to get a taxi to our hotel, the Jade hotel. It is a cheap hotel but they took our bags up to the 5th floor, gave us a free room upgrade, greeted uo with cold towels, lemonade and fruit before giving us a local map with welcomed recommendations for our evening. We were pretty hungry by now and so soon headed out to explore what Hué had to offer. Nearby was a tourist street full of restaurants and entertainment where we had a delicious meal with great service. We then wandered over to the night market, around and back to the hotel for dessert - a pancake with bananas and chocolate sauce.
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  • Day 17

    Finding Family

    October 15, 2017 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    With 'drowned' (poached) eggs in our bellies we waited for the transfer to our next bus. A minibus took us and some other tourists to the bus station where we waited and changed to another type of sleeper bus. This one was a bit posher; it had padded recliner seat/beds and we got a space each on the front top bunks. There was a little confusion about where we were being dropped off (as the next hotel was not quite en route) so we had to shown them where our big bags were, ready for a quick drop off. Two hours and two very full bladders later we were dropped off on the side of the main road with little civilisation in view.
    We grabbed our bags, and crossed the road in search of a taxi (and a toilet). We thought we were in luck as we found what looked like a café, but unfortunately it closed, maybe even abandoned. David took the opportunity to relieve himself in the outside "toilet". We then came across a car garage and someone there kindly called a taxi for us. We were soon arrived at the Banyan Hotel and were greeted by David's parents (and a lot of staff). After some hellos to all, tea and cold towels we were shown to our room
    The resort is beautiful, we have our own villa room with private pool looking over the lagoon. The villa host showed us around our room in great detail before allowing us to settle in. We showered and changed before catching back up with Leila and Daniel for lunch. We had a very local-inspired meal of pizza on the beach.
    In the afternoon, we hid from the rain and clouds in the villas and even had some complementary afternoon tea (local style) with Vietnamese tea, fish dumplings and fried bananas. We met again in the evening for cocktails and wine during happy hour in the bar before dinner in the "Waterfront" restaurant.
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  • Day 18

    Relaxing at the Banyan

    October 16, 2017 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    We, and Daniel, started the day with yoga looking over the lagoon. After a good stretch we met back up with Leila and headed for breakfast. Again, in great detail, we were introduced to each station at the buffet - breads, fresh eggs to order, Vietnamese food, fruits and yoghurts, pancakes, cheeses and much much more. We overfilled our tummies with the wide selection, whereas Daniel and Leila seemed to somehow have more self control.
    At midday they went off for a massage each and we went for a wander round the resort in search of the best place for dinner, we then went to a Vietnamese cooking class, booked kindly as a birthday treat for Kerry. Here, we learnt to make fresh spring rolls with chilli sauce and traditional beef noodle Pho (soup). Just as we were finishing up the parents popped in and saw our final creations. We then had the chance to taste them for our lunch, yum!
    Later, in a break between the rain showers, David and Daniel headed to the golf course for a quick 9 holes while Kerry and Leila relaxed at the villa. We met up again at the happy hour before getting a buggy over to the sister resort next door to 'The Rice Bowl' where we had a delicious dinner sitting in a private 'pod'.
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