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South East Asia and India

A 147-day adventure by Resfeber Read more
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    One night in Bangers

    December 13, 2016 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    After a seven night stay on Langkawi, we decided to leave our jungle beach haven and headed to Thailand. We took a boat to Satun and entered Thailand. We made our way to Bangkok and arrived at Cacha Hotel, an industrial, contemporary hotel. We loved it!

    For our day of fun in Bangkok we had the best street food, took part in an art exhibition and mooched around the famous MBK centre.

    Oh and I also cut Tams hair.

    The black and white picture is of the King of Thailand, who recently passed away. Thailand is now in a year of mourning. And everywhere you turn are beautiful tributes to what I can only observe was a great King.    Read more

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    Siem Reap, Cambodia

    December 16, 2016 in Cambodia ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    We made it to Cambodia yesterday!!!

    Today was a good day, one of the best.

    Tam treated me to an early Xmas present; wood carving at the Angkor Handicraft Association. She found the course on a dealt cool website www.backstreetacadamy.com

    We were taught by An, who has been wood carving for 16 years. It took us three hours, with a lot of help to produce what we did. I did love the carving, but what I really enjoyed was chatting with An and his translator Malish. We discussed Khmer culture, food, politics, Buddism and most humbling the Cambodian genocide. I will never forget our morning together, they were beautiful people.

    After we had finished our masterpieces and said good bye to our new friends, we headed to pub street for 50cent draft beer as Khmer food. Yum. We met as American chap who was travelling solo, he was super friendly and we swapped travel highlights and tips and even touched upon the Trump issue . (sssshhh)    Read more

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    The Temples of Angkor

    December 19, 2016 in Cambodia ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    Siem Reap is the town and gateway to the historic temples of the Khmer empire. We used two of our days here, to explore as many of the incredible buildings as we could.

    Day one was an a hot and overwhelming experience. Two reasons ; the vastness of the workmanship of a time before and the sheet influx of over eager people desperate to get their perfect shot. There is no denying Angkor Wat is stunning and a place to be behold. However, the magic is diminished by the lack of respect and sheer opportunism of the human race.

    We moved on to Angkor Thom, my favourite. The calming but authoritative faces looking down on me, made me feel safe yet humbled. Humbled by the fact that nearly a thousand years ago, the people who constructed this temple, took time and effort to fit each jigsaw stone in place to create the face of Jayavarman VII. Incredible.

    We finished our day at the temple of Ta Prohm, where the "Spung" trees have claimed the temples of centuries before. Mother nature again triumphing over man.

    Day two was an EARLY start. 4am to be precise!! We were picked up by our Tuk Tuk driver Seymour, who I call "see more Temples".
    He ran out out of petrol on the way to Angkor- he had one job! Ha! But we couldn't be miffed, he was just so sweet and smiley.
    Eventually after two break downs and a couple of spits in the petrol tank, we reached Angkor Wat. Cloaked in darkness we made our approach, finding a spot to sit and take in the show that was about to begin. As the sun rose, the silhouette of the temple grew in hight, reflecting in the pools that lay the feet of Apsaras.

    The day finished with a dip in our hotel pool. £6 a night for a luxury experience.
    http://sambath-residence.com/    Read more

  • ResfeberSouth East Asia and IndiaResfeber

    Phnom Penh

    December 30, 2016 in Cambodia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Before visiting PP, i had a lot of misconceptions and i wasn't particularly looking forward to embarking on the hassle and seedy undeground.

    YES .... there are middle aged white western men hanging around the red light district!

    YES... poverty is everywhere you look

    and YES the roads are insane! (Asia have no concept of a give way at a roundabout!! )

    But once you look past this, you find sweet caring gentle people with a horrific past, that was not so long ago.

    On April the 17th 1975, the Khmer rouge stormed PP and began its extermination of the "new people" (people who were modern thinking, educated, had soft hands and wore glasses). The leader of the regime was Pol Pot (brother number 1), he had a deluded Maoism communistic idea of returning the land to the "base people". This day was called year zero.

    The new people were arrested, with there families and tortured until they confessed/lied that they were involved in crimes against the state, as soon as the confession was signed, they were taken to the killing fields and murdered.

    3million of the 8 million population of cambodia were killed and the rest were worked like slaves in the country side.

    This went on for 4 years with no intervention until 1979, when the Vietnamese army liberated PP and the Khmer rouge fled to jungle on the Thai border.

    i don't really want to use my blog to preach and to go into to much detail, but what me and tam found so shocking was that the UN still gave these murderer's, the Khmer rouge a seat in the UN until 1991!!!!

    I did feel quite uncomfortable visiting the places of torture and death, but how i made it seem okay was that it educated me and now others, so their deaths were not in vain, to prevent this from happening ever again.

    I haven't included any pictures out of respect, as i didn't take any.

    We lay a flower at the memorial garden.    Read more

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    We gave blood

    December 30, 2016 in Cambodia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Last year , it was recorded that Cambodia's blood banks were empty. People died as a result of this. So it is advised to visitors to give when you visit, so we did.

    The whole experience was amazing, there were so kind and grateful and not to mention bloody painful ha! (pardon the pun)Read more

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    Koh Ta Kiev..... Paradise Christmas

    January 2, 2017, Gulf of Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    We headed to Crusoe Island resort for 4 nights over Christmas. Basically it's like glamping on the beach/jungle.

    We opted for the Explorer bungalow.
    I use the word bungalow loosely, for where walls should be, were bright flowing orange curtains, so not much privacy or protection from the jungle beasts but a cracking view every morning and evening.

    Christmas was idyllic, pure bliss. Happy, chilled, tipsy floating in the gulf of Thailand.
    The freshly cooked island food was exquisite and we only had pangs for Xmas turkey once or twice.

    Evening were spent chatting around the shipwrecked style bar, talking to new friends, playing cards and swapping travel tales.

    Talking of new friends, we had a few run ins with huntsman spiders! Tarantulas! (While washing with our bucket shower, I washed a tarantula onto me.... !!!) And a nightly visit from mr rat, who had a taken quite a liking to our dove soap bar!!!!!

    We loved our loved up paradise Christmas. Definitely one we will never forget.    Read more

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    More pics of paradise

    January 2, 2017, Gulf of Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C
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    A Kampot New Year

    January 6, 2017 in Cambodia ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    Kampot was calling, as we left the jungle surroundings of our Christmas hideaway.

    We managed to get a local shared taxi, FULL to capacity. (two people per seat) for 7 dollars for the two hour journey. Kampot is a sleepy town with tasty cuisine, a chilled backpacker vibe, dusted with old french colonial architecture.

    We opted to stay out of town on the river front in neat, sweet bungalow and made it our base for 5 nights. The river view bar was super super chilled with amazing food, tasty shakes and ice cold draught beer. Bliss!

    Whilst bicycle exploring by day, we met a few ex pats taht had decided to make Kampot their home, and you can see why. Probably one of the places we have visited so far that we could see us staying longer and maybe setting up a life there. We we given some tips on where to eat and where to get the best sunsets and cocktails, their recommendations didn't disappoint,

    NYE was a brilliant day of bar hopping on the bikes and sampling some tasty local treats. The Kampot Cider was my choice of drink for the day... brewed locally and perfect for the humid days. We eventually found ourselves on the roof top bar of the Mad Monkey hostel, where champagne was 2$ and we saw 2017 with some new friends we met that night. So much fun but a lot of sore heads the next day.    Read more

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    Khmer Roots Cafe

    January 8, 2017 in Cambodia ⋅ 🌙 28 °C

    We got to the beautiful family run cafe at 11am. I was really keen to do a cookery course whilst we were away and I am so glad we waited until Cambodia.

    The setting made it extra special, right on the shore of the emerald Secret Lake,
    The husband and wife duo (sorry can't remember their names) greeted us with beaming smiles and a refreshing ginger ale with lime.

    Then we set to work of how to create four delicious dishes:

    Massaman Curry
    Chicken Kampot Pepper
    Beef Lok Lak
    Amok Chicken.

    It was so lovely getting an hands on approach, especially as i have missed my kitchen the most whilst being away. The amount of preparation and ingredients that goes into each dish is incredible and i feel so greateful that i can now take these skills home and share with friends and family.

    My favorite dish was the Masssaman curry and the beef lok lak... so yummy and even more tasty because I had cooked it, well with a little help.

    A really fun day!!

    https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g…    Read more

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    Mondolkuri

    January 12, 2017 in Cambodia ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    "Like Scotland in the summer" was the the words uttered by Tam, as we arrived to the Nature Lodge in Sen Monorom .

    Horses and cattle walking free amongst us, as we ate wholesome food and cooled down from the humid few months. A beautiful retreat to unwind, read and cozy up in the cold nights.

    From here we explored the jungle and the wildlife.    Read more

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    The Elephant Valley Project

    January 12, 2017 in Cambodia ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Before we got to the forests of Mondikulri, Tammy had been doing some research into how to see elephants in their natural habitat. We were insistent on not going along the tourist route and end up riding them or swimming with them... Far as I can remember. Elephants are just meant to be Elephants, so that's exactly what we wanted to see.

    The Elephant valley project is NGO that has 300000 hectares, for elephants that they have rescued. Most of the elephants that we met had been treated badly, and over their time at EVP had learn to become elephants. Ruby, Pearl and her friends were all born in captivity.

    Ruby, a female who was born into logging with male elephants. Only knew how to behave like a teenage boy when she arrived, and they nick named her "the bodyguard", as she keeps an eye on her new family.

    You are not allowed to touch or approach them, unless they approach you. Ruby seemed quite curious of me, and she allowed me to stroke her side. A moment I shall never forget.... Quite like an elephant eh?!

    After a morning trekking through the forest, eating brown ants and meeting our new friends we arrived at base camp .A lunch of fresh fish, rice and fruit was served cooked by the local Bunong people. Delicious.

    For the afternoon trek, we found the terrible two. Easy rider and Gayling, they were munching their way through bamboo . We followed them down to the river pools, and sat on the rocks.... It was bath time.

    A day I'll never forget. ❤️    Read more

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    Kratie

    January 12, 2017 in Cambodia ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Krattie pronounced Kra-cheh or as like to call it La Shithole.

    The hostel we were staying in was AWFUL, but cheap and we made some new friends... Cockroaches. I woke up with one on my arm, grab it and through it against the wall and want back to sleep. That's what you get for £2 a night. Ha!

    The town itself is a mish mash of smells (good and bad), people and Lorries passing through to Laos. The island opposite on the other hand was absolutely stunning. Sitting in the middle of the Mekong like a emerald dam was Koh trong. We took the boat across, hired us some bikes and explored the island.

    So much lush vegetation, birds and local people, just getting on with their daily life.    Read more

  • ResfeberSouth East Asia and IndiaResfeber

    Sabai di Laos !!!

    January 21, 2017 in Laos ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    We left Kratie by local minibus and headed north to the Cambodian - Laos border. It was quite an adventure..... We bought a ticket all the way our destination, Si Phan Dom (4000 islands), and hoped for the best. What transpired was one of our best days so far, if a little stressful!

    So we first cram ourselves into a minibus with the locals, all smiles and demon of a driver. There is a standard motorbike roped to the open boot, keeping all our luggage in - PRECARIOUSLY! This part of of the journey was delightful, the people were so friendly and we were helping them all in and out.

    The kids were particularly cute, smiling and giggling as we played games with them. But the fun experience was cut short and we dropped off at a random gas station just south of the border and told to wait. So we did ... For two hours. Then another mini bus turned up... Brand new with air con and plenty of room. We jumped in and headed to the border.

    The border was hilarious. First the Cambodian guard was asleep, in the shiny new immigration centre. The only person in there. He stamped us out of Cambodia, obviously charging us for the pleasure.

    The driver then pointed to Laos and said walk. ( I assume people can't be transported ) so we walked to Laos. Tam and I were giggling all the way with nerves and excitement.

    We eventually got the imposing temple like border and approached the visa-on-arrival window with open smiles and politeness. We had read and heard some horror stories about this border crossing; that it can be a little tricky, with guards charging way over the set amount or being aggressive and bribing you to gain entry, ripping passports up if you refused. Not fun.

    The smiles must of worked, we breezed into Laos without paying over the odds AND I got two marriage proposals. Hahaha! Apparently in Laos I'm a stunner. Who knew!? Ahhh, I've found my people!

    With a giddiness in our step at getting through what we thought was the worst of it, we jumped back in our minivan and headed to Ban Nakasang, the port where you get a boat to Don Det the island we planning on staying.

    Our smug faces didn't last that long, as we were unceremoniously chucked off our minibus at the turning for the port. Which was 4km from there. We were hollered at by a few Lao men and they put us in their pig cart/Nike thing and took us to the port.

    Si Phan Don, the 4000 islands was waiting.    Read more

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    Been there Don Det

    January 24, 2017 in Laos ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Probably the most amazing and peaceful week of our lives.
    Don Det and Don Khon stole our hearts, with its food, natural beauty and the people.

    We stayed at a homestay guesthouse with a wonderful family. We would definitely recommend Mekong Dream Guesthouse.Read more

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    Tat Lo

    January 24, 2017 in Laos ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Sleepy waterfall town, which really was beautiful. Although our trekking guides, weren't really guides so to speak, rather teenage boys on school holidays trying to learn English. Ha!

    We stayed and ate with a Laos family for the four nights we were there. They were so warm and kind. And the food was incredible. The dad even dropped us off at our next destination, in his pick up truck. Nice one Mr PhoRead more

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    Chasing waterfalls

    January 28, 2017 in Laos ⋅ ⛅ -13 °C

    We were staying in the middle of nowhere, so had arranged for a man with motorbike to show us the sights. Unfortunately he let us down last minute, stranded.

    We managed to flag down a local bus and get dropped off nearish to a waterfall called Tat Fane. Tat Fane is stunning, but because it's so deep in jungle you can only view it from a remote viewing platform, not really the experience we were yearning for. So, after a bite to eat in the average resort restaurant, we walked to the next falls on our itinerary. Tad Genung.

    There are really no words to describe to magnificent beauty of this waterfall. I'll let the photos do the talking. But with tears of happiness on finding paradise, we spontaneously stripped, wrapped ourselves in our sarongs (bikinis are culturally insensitive, underwear even more so!) and plunged ourselves into the freezing falls. The clouds moved, the sun shon through the twin plumes, a RAINBOW appeared. Heaven.

    After our reviving dip, we dried off in the sunshine and made our way back to main road . With a spring in our step, it gave us a boost to give hitchhiking a go! A beautiful Laos family in their truck pulled over, and they help us up into the back, in amongst the fruit, vegetables, and live fish!! We attempted to pay them but they refused and we said good bye with the only language we had in common .... Smiles!

    Easily one of the most moving and liberating days of my life.    Read more

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    Vientiane

    February 1, 2017 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Food. Food and more food.

    It felt really good to be back in a city.

    We stayed a pretty poor hostel but we had air con, so it was okay as it was bloody boiling outside.

    We strolled around the calm city streets, ate french, Lebanese and Vietnamese cuisine and did an amazing course in the countryside.

    The course was a women's NGO, that wanted to invest in keeping the Laotian art of silk weaving and natural tie dying.

    A really lovely city break before heading to Thailand and then India.    Read more

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    Kerala backwaters

    February 10, 2017 in India ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    We set aboard a house boat that was probably going no faster than 1 mile an hour. I have never experienced motion sickness before, until today. I was green ha! But the view was lush and the tour explained how the backwaters exist due to sea water levels and ground levels.
    The day was broken up with a veg tali lunch and then we got into canoes. My stomach much preferred the canoe.

    A beautiful day, marred only slightly by nausea .    Read more

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    Guilty (not) pleasure week

    February 15, 2017 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    Before on embarking on our Indian adventure, We booked 6 nights at a hotel with a pool.

    Pattaya is AWFUL ha! Loads of awful people getting wasted. We did have a night out... Enough said on that.

    India was waiting and we were soooo ready for her. Eeeeek!    Read more

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    Hello India. Hello Flick

    February 15, 2017 in India ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    We flew just 4 hours to Kochi from Bangkok. We landed at silly o'clock in the middle of the night, so we headed to a hotel for some kip before travelling onto Fort Kochi to meet Flick.

    So lovely to see a familiar face and we seem to fit straight into being a team, which is lovely.

    Fort Cochin is a bustling port with seafood a plenty with scent and spice shops everywhere.

    We spent two days exploring the international art festival and the evenings were spent eating scrummy vegetarian curry and paratha breads, washed down with my new favourite lime soda with syrup.

    During our exploring, we met a British couple who were in India for a year. Collette has been doing Anusara yoga for years and invited us to one of her classes at a arty cafe the next morning. It was amazing. I have done yoga before, but this was different. I felt revitalised afterwards and emotional. Like something good, positive had happened. She recommended a course for me to do when we return to London. I am absolutely chomping at the bit to make this yoga practice part of my life. It made me feel so good.

    Another person we met was Aaru. A rickshaw/tuk tuk driver who helped us find our basic digs for £2 a night. He also organised a backwater trip for us and helped us on our way to Varkala.

    First impressions of India so far is INCREDIBLE . Anything is possible and the people are so friendly and inviting.    Read more

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    Beach hopping up the west coast

    March 5, 2017, Laccadive Sea ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C

    After our two became a three, we decided to take in the beach life and make our way up the west coast of India. Tammy and I hadn't been on a beach since Cambodia at Christmas and it was time. With the intense heat of India constantly on my skin, I yearned for air to lift away the pollution, grime and sweat of the days before.

    Varkala cliffs was our first stop on the beach mission, a cluster of eateries, shops and yoga retreats perched above the blustery Arabian sea crashing into the rocks below.

    We celebrated young Flick's birthday here and endured the hangover. Me and Tam thought we would try out a traditional Indian massage... One word. PAINFUL. But hilarious looking over at Tam, with her polite impassive smile as the masseuse dragged her hands through her 'fro.

    We left Varkala after five days, and embarked on a 28 hour journey to Gorkana, a temple town surrounded by hidden coves. We had a slight hiccup when my elbow was sliced open at the beginning of our epic journey. Looking back now... It was hilarious. You would never had known we were three health care professionals!!! I was screaming, claret everywhere, skin flapping and the other two handed me paper stitches and a antiseptic wipe. Hahaha! And old t shirt came in handy to stop the bleeding. The mortified rickshaw (more like RIPshaw!) driver took me to the nearest hospital, and I was stitched up within the hour. It was painful and a little scary but overall the service was amazing.

    With my three stitches in place we headed for our afternoon/night bus that would take us to a train that connected us Gorkana. It is true that travelling is a mixture of ups and downs, this night bus was definitely a down! The driving was SO atrocious that Tam evacuated from both ends and I re-opened my freshly stitched wound. Not fun. However, the next leg of journey completely made for it when we met a wonderful Indian family. We chatted about the U.K., the daughter's job prospects, Indian weddings, and all the things we could fit in, over steaming chai and spicy samosas. It was a highlight of our week. Tam gave the daughter a shiny one pound coin, and Flick magically made a necklace out of it using her macramé kit. A small crowd gathered around to watch as she plaited and knotted away, clapping and cheering as the finished item was produced. We hugged and kissed all the family before waving farewell and embarking on the final leg.

    Om beach greeted us with a sweltering heat but beautiful sunset. We found a lovely cottage for three just off the beach in a tropical garden. We spent our days hiking over cliffs to the neighbouring Kudle and Half Moon beaches, exploring coves, and breaking bread with some newly found friends.

    For the second birthday of the month, we headed to Palolem to celebrate Tam's 35th. A beautifully expansive beach with refreshing waves and a hint of luxury. The birthday morning was lovely; we took a boat out at sunrise hoping to spot dolphins. We were not disappointed! There were so many, gracefully breaking through the waves and frolicking in the morning light. Truly magical.    Read more

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    Arambol

    March 14, 2017 in India ⋅ 🌙 28 °C

    Here is where we let our hair down. It was lovely to revel in the travelling community, all night beach parties and the German bakery! An amazing 10 days.

  • ResfeberSouth East Asia and IndiaResfeber

    Calling planet earth !!!

    March 24, 2017 in India ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    We awoke from our night bus with young men jumping threw our windows and pushing leaflets o our faces and shouting TUK TUK. I responded in the only way I could, "don't mess with me face" and we defiantly walked off in the hot humid morning to find our guest-house . With all the hullabaloo you would forgive me for not noticing that Tammy and I had been transported to another planet. For every way I looked I could see boulders on another scale peppered with Temples. We had arrived in Hampi.

    We found our guesthouse which was situated in the bazar, a rabbit warren of home stays, antique shops and sit on the floor restaurants. We relaxed and washed off the night bus scum and set off for our first explore of this unknown land. Now it was HOT like bloody HOT like the HOTTEST I've ever been HOT so we didn't get far in the middle of the day. But we managed to see Virupaksha temple that was basically in our back garden. The overwhelming heat and smell of sewage did not dampen my enthusiasm at awe inspiring structure that was built in the 11th century in homage to the gods.

    As the heat was intense and we realised were not made for 39degrees. We decided to split our days in two. Morning and evening, with a well earned siesta from 1 until 5. We explored the landscape and visited the ancient Hindu empire ruins. You could definitely see why they decided to build an empire there, as the boulders that had been there for billions of years acted as a natural fortress.

    One of my favourite moments in Hampi, was watching the poker red sun, setting over the Mars like land, whilst me and tam lay on one of the impressive boulders.
    An incredible place.    Read more

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