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Southeast Asia sensation

February - July 2017
A 156-day adventure by Wandering WordSmith Read more
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  • Wandering WordSmithSoutheast Asia sensation
    Day 1

    Hello Bangkok

    February 24, 2017 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C

    So after some last minute packing and trying to decide what shirt out of the 30+ I own to pack (should a guy own so many? Probably not!) I arrived yesterday in crazy Bangkok and it appears as mad as everyone says. I'm staying near the mecca that is Khaosan Road and it certainly lives up to its backpacker friendly rep. In five minutes of walking down it, I've been offered deep fried scorpion on a stick, Thai massages, five suits, a ping pong show and a wooden musical frog; and in another five I'll be offered them all again! Seems a cool place though and there are some quieter streets just off it to explore too.

    I went with my roommate for a wander and to a couple of temples. A tuk tuk driver amusingly tried to tell us the first temple was closed, this was despite being about ten feet from the entrance with loads of tourists walking in - we opted to decline his kind offer to "go somewhere better" and went in.

    First problem, I couldn't get in because men aren't allowed with shorts in respect for Buddha. I'd considered this in advance and thought I was well prepared - having bought a towel to wrap around me. No such luck, men also can't wear a sarong or a makeshift sarong (note to David Beckham if he fancies a visit) so I along with a load of other guys had to buy a pair of fetching temple pants which to be fair should come in handy as you can't go two minutes without seeing one in Asia! the Grand Palace and Wat Po temples are beautiful and really interesting though and the massive reclining Buddha is very impressive too.

    After this, we got a tuk tuk back towards Khaosan for a bite. The tuk tuk is a mad little motor-cart three-wheeled thing which is an experience to ride itself. The driver weaved in and of traffic for what seemed like a laugh! Health and safety would have a field day if it existed here! 🙄

    That evening I wandered around the area and had an amazing yellow curry for about a pound! Could get used to this! Had a couple of beers and chatted to a guy in the bar for a bit. We listend to a Thai singer murder some Oasis tracks but everyone was still loving it! I reckon a few of the famous whisky buckets they do here probably helped.

    I'm meeting my friend from school this weekend who lives here and we're going to go out of the city a bit - looking forward to what's in store.    Read more

  • Wandering WordSmithSoutheast Asia sensation
    Day 3

    Off the beaten Bangkok track

    February 26, 2017 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    I met up with my old school friend Vicky a couple of days ago who lives here in Bangkok, she took me to an island nearby popular with Thai tourists. They call it Bangkok's 'Green Lung' because of it's open spaces and relatively fresh air compared to the city.

    After messing around with a taxi driver who definitely didn't know where he was going and getting increasingly angry because of this fact, we eventually arrived at the little port that takes you to the island. We hopped on a tiny boat for five minutes and arrived ashore where we hired a bike for the day and went to explore. The island was really nice with friendly locals and pretty scenery. It was good to be able to go somewhere a little off the tourist track too. There was a great little market selling all sorts of odds and ends and a lot of weird looking food. We bought a tasty little savoury snack which was hotter than the sun, and appropriately named them 'mouthburners'.

    I also had some traditional Thai boat noodles (named because a lady cooks them in a boat) which were delicious followed by a massage, which to be honest wasn't the most relaxing thing as they seemed to want to put me in all sorts of odd positions - less massage more workout!

    We cycled a bit further around and came to a tree-house bar and chilled out for a while there. I had some Mango sticky rice which was absolutely amazing, before meandering our way to the exit and jumped on the little boat again to head back to the hustle and bustle of Bangkok.

    We had a swim in Vicky's apartment swimming pool which overlooked the city before going for some dinner - according to the restaurant I had the fifth best Pad Thai dish in the world, slightly odd stat, but it was very tasty - I couldn't tell you where the number one best Pad Thai in the world is though, and neither could they).

    I headed back to my hostel in Bangkok's Uber equivalent taxi, although I wasn't sure if the driver's very loud singing was an included part of the Thai service!    Read more

  • Wandering WordSmithSoutheast Asia sensation
    Day 5

    Bangkok and onwards

    February 28, 2017 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    I visited another temple in Bangkok just across the river; Wat Arun, which was pretty impressive but unfortunately the main pillar had scaffolding on so couldn't get the best pictures. I took a little boat taxi for 15 Baht (about 40p) and weirdly for this price you can either go one stop for five minutes or ten+ stops for over an hour, which didn't seem to make sense economically but hey ho! 

    I stopped off at Chinatown where I had a tasty dish of I don't know what. It was quite crazy with loads of people and no real end of it in sight, there were a few tourists bustling around clearly not knowing where they were going. I hopped back on the boat to the flower market, as expected there were flowers and that was about it, it was pleasant enough but after seeing the first 20 stalls I felt I'd probably seen most of it. It would however be a horticulturists dream and it was interesting to see all the arrangements being hand made. 

    In the evening me and a guy from the hostel attempted to visit Bangkok's ghost tower, it's a massive building that isn't finished and you could supposedly climb up it to experience an eerie atmosphere and see an amazing sunset. No chance! The whole place was bordered up and the security guard waved us off. To be honest the climb looked ridiculously high and it was getting dark anyway so we opted to go for a meal and grab a tuk tuk back to the hostel.

    The next day I milled around the area and did some onward planning, I dodged the usual Khaosan Road vendors trying to sell me the world and found a little park by the river. I'm heading to Phuket to do some Thai boxing for a week, so looking forward to that although quite apprehensive as definitely not as fit as I used to be and not sure what I've let myself in for, plus it appears to be raining on the island. 

    In the evening I met up with a mate from my previous job. He'd been around SE Asia too and was heading home the next day from his travels, so we went for a few beers and some food. A random guy on the table nearby strangely wanted to take a photo of us, so I guess we're now up on a Thai guys Facebook page or something. 🤔    Read more

  • Wandering WordSmithSoutheast Asia sensation
    Day 8

    Battered, bruised and broken!

    March 3, 2017 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Trainer: "Kick, hit harder, power!"
    Dan: "It hurts a bit"
    Trainer : (laughing) "no hurt, kick harder!"
    Dan: "Err, ok"
    Trainer: "Kick higher, punch harder, knee, knee and elbow, yes, yes, jab, hook and uppercut, elbow, faster, faster, faster! 20 push ups, down, and go again"
    Dan: ... 😧
    Trainer: "Jab, jab, hook, yes, elbow, power, knee, elbow knee and elbow, elbow, left kick, higher, right kick, yes, spinning elbow, 3 kicks, harder, 10 punches, and go again ... and stop"
    Dan (...falls over exhausted)
    Trainer (laughing) "And go again"
    Dan ...😩

    It's 30 degree heat, I'm drenched in sweat, my arms and legs feel like they have been hit with a baseball bat, I've done 50+ push ups already and its not even 9.00 AM - and I've willingly paid for a week of this 'experience'.

    I have found myself at 'Sumalee Muay Thai' boxing gym on the island of Phuket, and to say training is hard work is a massive understatement.

    I've never done anything with such prolonged intensity, the above is just a small sample of a three minute round with a trainer. We do two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon of relentless action, whether that's pad work, sparing, clinching, hitting the bag or general fitness. It's great though and I'm really enjoying it, although my body probably less so - I'm completely spent after every session. I thought having done some martial arts before might have helped - not really, techniques are kind of the opposite here and I'm so out of practice anyway, it doesn't really matter.

    The punch bags are ridiculously hard! It's literally like hitting a brick! I'm not even joking, I and most other Westerners can only hit them fairly softly. Watching the Thai's smack them so hard just highlights how tough these guys are. They're slim and lean but their bodies are like steel and they could break even the biggest guys in half. The trainers, although limited with English are really nice guys who have fun whilst pushing you to your limits, and they do really seem to relish testing everyone's limits to the max!

    Muay Thai is a brutal sport with very few rules, the aim is to knock out (or score higher than) the opponent, but it's also very respectful and steeped in history. We were fortunate to also learn the 'Wai Kru' an engaging pattern-like flowing movement fighters do to prepare themselves before combat and to mark respect to their opponent and team.

    Apart from training there is a great group here and I've met some cool people. The food is amazing and there is a pool and yoga studio too. Randomly there is also a massive pig that sort of just roams around the place - apparently one of staff bought him as a piglet and thought he was one of those micro pigs and wouldn't grow, NOPE, it's huge! I can't bring myself to have the bacon on the menu while he's here.

    The camp is set away from the tourist area of Phuket so that people can concentrate on training (it's produced world class fighters - I'm definitely not one of them!) There's a few people here who are staying for months on end to train intensely and fight or get sponsored by the camp. I would perhaps one day like to do similar, although would need a few months before I was ready.

    Trainer: "Kick and jab, jab, knee, elbow, yes, elbow, knee, kick, power, hook and punch, uppercut, 20 push ups"
    (laughing)
    "and go again"
    Dan: ... 😣    Read more

  • Wandering WordSmithSoutheast Asia sensation
    1
    1
    Day 12

    So long Sumalee

    March 7, 2017 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    My week of Muay Thai has come to an end, it's gone quickly, but I feel like I have actually learnt quite a bit in such a short space of time. I'm in pain, but a good pain. The pain you get from not having done any exercise for ages. It was tough but I really enjoyed it.

    My bruises will start to heal and I'm looking forward to not having to get up so early in the morning for a while, but hopefully I can keep some semblance of fitness for my remaining travels. I will miss the training I'm sure.

    On Sunday the camp mercifully takes a break, so a few of us decided to take a day trip to Koh Phi Phi and see the location where they filmed The Beach and the surrounding island.

    The day could have started better, we were left standing on the side of the road like lemons as the driver was 40 minutes late. We got to the ship port and attempted to get some food before setting off. It didn't arrive quickly enough though and the boat was waiting, so we had to pack it all in sterifoam boxes at the speed of light and sheepishly eat it on the speedboat (not the easiest task; especially when they neglected to give us cutlery!)

    After I'd finished my eggs with a makeshift spoon I'd fashioned out of a tomato, things improved - the boat pulled up alongside Phi Phi Don and the waters changed from a deep blue to a stunning turquoise. Massive rocks tower over the ocean and look amazing against the blue sky. We jumped in for a bit of snorkeling before heading back on the boat to a small beach island for lunch.

    We headed for Phi Phi Ley and Maya Bay, the films location, and it was very beautiful, (Leonardo Dicaprio was nowhere to be seen). These days there are loads of tourists here, all flocking for the same selfie (me included) so any tranquility is long gone, but the place is still stunning. I decided to swim out to the middle of the bay where it was quieter and admired the surroundings. After exploring the bay a little more and posing for the obligatory shots and selfies, we headed back to the boat.

    We stopped on another island with a nice beach and clear waters for a swim before heading back to the camp. The driver this time decided to drop us on the wrong side of the main road so we played chicken with the traffic to get across.

    We eventually made it back to the camp alive, chilled out for a while and mentally prepared ourselves for the intense training day to come ahead.

    One day break and back on it at 7.00 AM, exhausted! We did some clinching work in the afternoon which is basically stand up grappling - two sweaty people trying to throw each other on the ground. It was so slippery I may as well have been covered in oil 😝. I was however pleased I managed to get my opponent down a few times whilst I stayed standing. I rushed to the shower as soon as we'd finished and passed the resident pig on the way - I thought 'right now, he's probably cleaner than me!'

    I head to Krabi now for a couple of days, I'm about to take my first public bus, wish me luck!    Read more

  • Wandering WordSmithSoutheast Asia sensation
    1
    Day 16

    Krabi and surroundings

    March 11, 2017 in Thailand ⋅ 🌫 26 °C

    I'm sitting on a public bus surrounded by Thai people bound for Krabi. Annoyingly my chair doesn't seem to want to recline back, whilst everyone else's are practically parallel to the floor. I wrestle with this very first world problem for a few moments before accepting the defeat of the situation.

    We trundle along from Phuket to Krabi town. I get off the bus and a lady immediately takes my bag and puts it in a cab jabbering in Thai. I was going to try and check alternative modes of transport but I decide I can't be bothered to remove my bag from the taxi, explain and find another way, so I pay the inflated price which doesn't amount to too much and head the ten minutes or so to the hostel. The place gives free BBQ chicken kebabs so I make use of the saving on that and sample a first beer in ten days.

    Krabi town is pleasant enough, but there isn't much to do in the place itself, it is however a good jumping off point to see some of the surrounding areas.

    The next day I headed to Railay beach with a friend I'd met in the hostel. It was absolutely stunning with two beautiful beaches and some of the best rock surroundings I've seen. The water was like a bath, it was so warm. There are also loads of wild monkeys just roaming about there too. We have lunch of chicken and beef in a pineapple with rice which looks and is delicious, and I have a swim and relax on the beach. There is a very fat old Russian man padding about in the water doing provocative poses for his ridiculously young and attractive girlfriend - it sort of takes the magic of the place away! 🙄

    The following day I check what else there is to do and am recommended a visit to a temple about 20 mins away. I head to the bus stop but what was described as a 'bus' to me turns out to be a weird converted van with netting on the side and a completely open back. I clamber in, much to the amusement of some local school girls who ask for a selfie and enjoy giggling a lot. A women with a massive bag of rice almost as big as her also gets on and decides I need to share my tiny seat with said bag.

    At the temple I wondered about the area a bit before embarking on the 1200+ steps to the top. It's a LONG way up and takes about 40 mins (at least I was doing some exercise!) I passed a few people on the way who had given up half way. The last bit of the climb is so steep it's like climbing a ladder. Heavily breathing, I made it to the top and the view is pretty awesome, you could see all of Krabi and the surroundings and I was lucky to get a clear day. I hung around up there for 20 mins before making the descent. On the way down I passed the four giggling school girls from earlier who were about 3/4 of the way up, I gave them each a high five for encouragement which they seemed to like.

    There were no buses or anything resembling a bus or taxi when I got to the bottom. I waited for a few minutes but the only option was a motorbike taxi with a toothless driver who was beckoning. Slightly apprehensively I jumped on the back and we headed off - it turned out to be fine and I made it back unscathed, even if the driver was trying to use his phone half the time.

    I head to backpacker paradise Koh Phangan next to experience the famous full moon party. I'm not sure if it's my thing but I want to see what all the hype is about anyway. 'When in Rome...'    Read more

  • Wandering WordSmithSoutheast Asia sensation
    Day 17

    The light of the full moon - P.A.R.T.Y

    March 12, 2017 in Thailand ⋅ 🌙 27 °C

    Welcome to Koh Phangan, welcome to party central.

    The first night:

    In the jungle, the mighty jungle... the lion is definitely not sleeping tonight!

    Fancy a pre-party before the main one? Well you have come to the right place. In Koh Phangan there seems to be a pre-party almost every night!

    Waterfall party? ...check...
    Blue moon party? ...you bet...
    Half moon party? ...yup...
    Some other party? ... absolutely!

    My visit happens to coincide with the Jungle party, which as it sounds is a party under the canopy of trees - pretty cool, but how many times can I say 'party' in this post!? Probably a few more times.

    After spending some time at the hostel meeting and greeting the various reprobates (people) who have descended on the island for the carnage, we bundle into a taxi on our way to the jungle. As we near the entrance to the forest, the bass reverberates under our feet. The music is heavy; trance and drum & bass, there are psychedelic colours everywhere, the trees are decorated with illuminated paraphernalia and the DJ booth is made to look like a massive golden lion - it all looks pretty awesome. People are in the distance dancing the night away - a few already look worse for wear. One guy is attempting to climb a tree, amusingly to little success.

    We stay for a few hours and I lose my fellow roomies amongst the crowds and darkness. I chat to various others and by about 4.00 AM feel I have had a good primer before tomorrow. I jump on a moped taxi to get back and the guy takes me to the wrong accommodation as it has a similar name. Before he can disappear and leave me stranded at admittedly a very fancy hotel, I hop back on and eventually arrive at the right place. The driver says "Mai Pen Rai" (no worries) and heads off to pick up more stragglers from the jungle.

    The second night:

    The the full moon cometh. The reason we're all packed on this part of the island and why prices have been hiked up for a couple of days.

    History lesson - in about the late 80s it's said that a small group of travellers head to a picturesque, but fairly nondescript beach in Haad Rin, Koh Phangan. They play music, drink, smoke questionable substances and dance the night away under the light of the full moon until the sun rises. The following month they return with more and word spreads of a monthly gathering that all are welcome at. And so began the origin of the now legendary Koh Phangan full moon party, the backpackers rite of passage in Thailand and often attracting over 20,000 party seekers every month.

    Fast forward nearly 30 years and I'm sitting in my hostel having my face and arms painted in various neon colours, tunes are blasting, people are merry from booze and the night is getting started. One guy has covered himself in so much orange paint, he will probably be mistaken for a radioactive version of the actual fruit. We head to another hostel for various boozy games and a chance to meet other revelers before the taxi driver squashes us in to make our way to the beach.

    We arrive and you can hear it a mile away, loads of stalls are set up on the walk down selling the ludicrously strong sprit buckets, we share a first bucket and it may as well all be alcohol with a couple of shots of mixer thrown in for a laugh! As we grimace, the Thai servers chuckle. We finish one on the way down and buy another which seems ever so slightly more tasty to take to the beach.

    There are tons of bars, each with their own music blaring out, and you're free to move between them on the sands as you see fit, picking up drinks on the way through. Some are more mello, others are like a rave, and a few cater to commercial genres - it's a great mix. There's a bar at the bottom of the beach where you can look out over and see all the shenanigans below and there's also a place called the reggae bar which ironically didn't play a single (or even close to) reggae tune! Instead choosing to blast out trance music - call me petty, but the name seemed a little off here.

    I wisely skipped the fire rope, opting to view from a safe distance. It's a ridiculously stupid (albeit intriguing to watch) idea, where you attempt to jump a massive rope that is on FIRE! It's doused in petrol and set alight - and you try not to get hit in the process while it's swung around - madness! Once again, health and safety is well and truly out the window here and a number of people are always burnt attempting this. The combination of drunkenness and fire is probably not the best! 'Stay in school kids' 🤓

    The night continues and you dance on the sands and you dance some more. The crowds are lit up in luminous colours. Regardless of age, class or race everyone dances together and problems are momentarily paused. It's pretty epic, the buckets continue to flow and the music continues to blare.

    As the night draws to a close and the cracks of sunlight begin to appear, the massive crowds slowly start to disperse. The music is still blaring and the hardcore are still out in force dancing like loons on the beach or messing around in the sea, and now in the light of the sun looking a little bit ridiculous.

    Thai volunteers are busy cleaning around the ravers - some who are chatting, sleeping or passed out, some licking their fire wounds and others contemplating their very existence, having probably sampled the more nefarious goods on offer. In a few hours the beach will be like new again, friends and families will come to enjoy, and remarkably they'll be little to no evidence of the craziness that went on just hours before.

    It's around 8.00 AM, I have made it the night, I've lost a couple of people but managed to stick with a few others. As we make our way to the taxi's vying for business, the moon is still visible and full. The sun starts to shine brighter and hotter and the journey back to bed is welcome.

    Next month the moon will once again complete the cycle to reach it's full state and the revelries will begin again... I survived one and I think one is enough! 🌘🌗🌖🌕    Read more

  • Wandering WordSmithSoutheast Asia sensation
    Day 21

    Koh Phangan to Koh Samui

    March 16, 2017 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    You would be forgiven for thinking from the last post that Koh Phangan is all party party party and whilst that is true in the concentrated south of the island - it does have some other calmer options.

    When I finally stirred from my slumber after the full moon degeneracy, I thought I'd spend the last day having a look around the island. Before any of that, it was required that I feed myself in order to stay alive, after which I felt much better.

    A few of my fellow party goers also decided to venture out to explore a bit, so we arranged moped rentals from the hostel and headed up to a waterfall. They dont seem to care if you can ride or not or if you even have a license! But they drive on the left in Thailand which was good for me and the moped was pretty easy to get used to.

    Climbing the falls was a bit of a mission though and I felt slightly older as my younger companions breezed up the hill as if on speed! Knackered, we had a dip in some of the waterfall pools and took in the breathtaking scenery - there's something I love about water, it's calming, life-giving yet unstoppable and flows anywhere. Definitely my favourite natural element. As Bruce Lee said "be like water my friend" I concur. 🤓

    After this, we jumped back on the bikes and headed off to see the sunset before going to a place called Amsterdam Bar on a remote hill. It was billed as a 'chill out bar' overlooking the sea (hmmm, based on the relaxed atmosphere and obvious waft in the air, I wonder what they sell here?! ... 🤔) It was good though and the views were amazing.

    In the evening me and another guy went to watch a Muay Thai event that was being hosted on the island at a training camp - it was brilliant. There were two knockouts and a few westerners were fighting Thai guys (in the ring I might add) not just having a brawl! A Dutch guy and Candian won their matches so it was a good atmosphere all round.

    After the madness of Koh Phangan I headed for Koh Samui, the largest of the three Gulf Islands known for its more relaxed vibe.

    Here I rented another moped and cruised around the island. I went with a couple of guys I met in the hostel to another waterfall (more climbing!) The climb was supposed to only take about 1/2 hr or so, but we took considerably longer because we idiotically climbed directly up the waterfall rocks having missed the clear path! Duh. Still it was a good climb and I got a sense of achievement (even if it was avoidable). We wisely took the path on the way back down.

    The following day I went to Anthong national park on a boat trip. It's a beautiful set of largely uninhabited islands with amazing views across Thailand's Gulf. We did some snorkelling and kayaking, at one stage we went under a cliff and you literally had to limbo in the kayak to get through. This was in pitch black too - I heard several people bump their heads ahead of me so at least I was forewarned.

    The last day in Koh Samui I had the entire day to myself - a bit of rarity so far, no-one was in the hostel so I decided to rent a moped and drive around the island to see the sights. First I went over the top of a massive hill and through the jungle on to a place called Fisherman's Village for lunch (I didn't see any fisherman, mainly shops/restaurants, but still nice). Then I headed for Big Buddha, which as you can imagine is a large Buddha! Not much more to say... it was cool, but after 15 mins I'd exhausted all the angles you can look at it from so hopped back on my bike.

    I stopped off at a place called Chewang which felt a bit tacky and had a bloke driving around announcing club nights and promoting events in the town. The van drove past at least eight times in just the hour or so I was there, blaring the speaker and stating the exact same garbled phrases over and over - I would have gone insane if I'd stayed here! The poor guy driving must hear it in his dreams! 😲

    For the evening I headed to a hotel called The Jungle Cafe with an incredible view of the Koh Samui, before going to look at Hinyai and Hinta rocks - they look a bit like the nether regions of a man and a woman, and have been providing a source of mirth to tourists for ages - I didn't think they were all that to be honest, but a group of Chinese tourists were loving it. After that I popped into a bar and chatted to a fellow building a silly sounding website for a while before heading for dinner.

    Next stop Cambodia...    Read more

  • Wandering WordSmithSoutheast Asia sensation
    1
    Day 26

    Siem Reap, Angkor Wat and Battembang

    March 21, 2017 in Cambodia ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C

    Dan: "But does this bus go to the airport?"
    Thai man: "200 Baht"
    Dan: "Yes, but where is the bus going?"
    Thai man: "200, 200, train station"
    Dan: "So I'm on the wrong bus? I need a bus to the airport"
    Thai man: "Yes, train station, bus station, airport"
    Dan: "Ok thanks" (gets on bus)
    (3 mins later)
    Thai man: "This bus no go to airport"
    Dan: ... 😒 "Ok"
    Thai man: "This bus go train station, for airport, wait there"
    Dan: "Right"
    2nd Thai man: (pulls in new bus) "Airport"
    Dan... (rushes of current bus, just makes it)

    This was the farce that greeted me to get from Koh Samui to Surat Thani airport so I could make my connection to go to Siem Reap, Cambodia. On arrival to Siem Reap there was another delay as we went through immigration, it took ages. They couldn't have gone much slower if they'd tried - chatting between each other while the passengers quietly seethed.

    Anyway Siem Reap, the gateway to Angkor Wat. The world's largest temple. I got up in the morning at 4.00 AM to catch the sunrise over it and persuaded my roomie to join me. There was some slight cloud cover, but it gave it an eery atmosphere, it was very beautiful and the temple coming into view in the morning light is amazing. We then walked around the grounds while a guide explained all about the history and relevance.

    Angkor is a massive old city full of temples with Angkor Wat being the biggest and most significant. We also visited Bayan, a temple that's covered in lots of carved stone faces which was great except the hoards of Chinese tourists making the same pose next to almost all the faces.

    We went to more temples in the city until we were a bit 'templed out', before heading to the last well known one - Ta Pho (also known as the Tomb Raider temple) as it's in the film with Angelina Jolie running through it. It's got a gigantic tree growing out of it for no apparent reason but it looks really cool. Unfortunately it's destroying the temple slowly so the locals keep having to restore it to ensure it doesn't completely collapse.

    Back at the hostel me and a couple of guys went to Pub Street, a slightly tamer version of Khaosan Road where I had a fish foot massage - weird sensation; you put your feet in the water and the fish nibble at them and remove any dead skin - nice image! The small ones were fine and just ticklish but the larger ones nip quite a bit. We then had a few beers and a couple of the notorious bucket beverages. Dancing in the street with locals and tourists alike ensued until the early hours.

    Went to Battembang the following day, it's Cambodia's second largest city but you wouldn't think it. It's a pretty small and relaxed place, not too many tourists. The hostel ran a day trip of the main sights so I opted for that. There was the bamboo train, which may as well been called the sales train! You sit on bamboo cane along a rickety track to a village where they attempt to sell you stuff and annoyingly the train doesn't come back for 20 mins so you're stuck there in a kind of pester purgatory - I bought a cheap bracelet to please one of the kids.

    The tour also stopped at a place where they sold organic rat which they catch in the fields - apparently popular in this part of the country - yummy! They looked revolting but I tried a tiny bit and to be honest it tasted of nothing special, bit like chicken but dry - not a delicacy I'll seek out at home.

    The best thing about Battembang was definitely the bat cave - every evening about six million bats swarm out of this cave to go hunting and feeding. It was quite a sight to see them all fly out at once and snake off into the distance. It was still going after 15 mins with no sign of slowing down.

    In the evening I went to see the Cambodian kids circus, a charitable organisation that helps children gain an education through performance - it was like a mini cirque du soleil - really impressive. There were acrobats, dance, fire, juggling etc, they were very talented.

    I now have a 12 hour night bus down to Sinoukville, so let's see how that goes! 😴    Read more

  • Wandering WordSmithSoutheast Asia sensation
    Day 31

    Sunny Isles & somber days in Phnom Penh

    March 26, 2017 in Cambodia ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    My first experience of a sleeper bus wasn't actually too bad - not something I'd choose as a regular mode of transport mind, but not awful. The only very weird thing is that on this particular bus you had to share the rather small bed space with someone else - if you're alone that means a stranger. If you're lucky, a clean and/or attractive one, if you're unlucky, a smelly one. Fortunately I was with a couple of people from the hostel so just relative strangers, but still odd.

    I arrived in Sinoukville, a beach town in the south of Cambodia and proceeded to get a ferry to Koh Rong Samloem - a small island, for a couple of days. It's beautiful there, similar to the smaller Thai islands but less developed. There are little villages with locals living amongst the tourist accommodation - it's a nice feel, although it's developing fast - I can imagine in a few years it will be unrecognisable. I went snorkelling again and saw many colourful fish and some corals which were thankfully not dead (lots these days are dead unfortunately, and lack the colour they once had) but the tropical fish were great. The skipper caught a massive barracuda too, it was about a meter long, he paraded it around the boat like a trophy.

    It was a quick whistle stop tour of the island before heading back to the capital city of Cambodia; Phnom Penh for a rather depressing account of recent Cambodian history.

    Phnom Penh, incorrectly pronounced by numerous people including probably me, is a busy city, bustling with mopeds, tuk tuks and people - there are no traffic rules here and it's crazy, hundreds of vehicles all weaving in and out of lanes that don't exist - but there's also a strange order in the chaos. Amongst the tooting of horns, constant traffic and mopeds balancing whole families, it just seems to work. No-one gets angry or frustrated and I've yet to see any incidents - if it was the UK or similar, accidents and road rage would sky rocket! Maybe we have too many rules... 🤔

    It's not the prettiest of cities but has a disinct charm and retains a friendly vibe, made more poingant with a visit to 'The Killing Fields' and the 'S21 Prison' museum which are Phnom Penh's main 'tourist attractions'. I say attractions, but there's nothing attractive about what happened here or throughout Cambodia in the late 1970s. Both locations make for a very sobering, but really interesting and totally necessary experience if you visit this country.

    So here's where it gets a bit bleak; in a nutshell, in 1975 just after the Vietnam war, which severely weakened Cambodia, Pol Pot and his ultra communist political party, the Kymer Rouge took over the country and established an atrocious totalitarian regime akin to Nazi Germany. They proceeded to inflict mass genocide on the people for almost four years killing over three million in the most horrific ways including families, children and babies. It's hard to believe that this was going on just 40 years ago. The vast majority of people in Cambodia are quite young as most perished or fled during this time - anybody older than about 40 who is here lived through the era. The Khmer Rouge deemed anyone who was or looked remotely educated a threat and they were subsequently tortured, made to write false confessions against the state and eventually killed. Others were driven out of the cities and forced to work on rice farms in extreme conditions for impossible targets with little to no food and routinely abused, often to death.

    'S21' is one of about 200 prisons where people were held and subjected to all sorts of horrific atrocities. A former school, once filled with laughter and learning, it became an unimaginable place filled with screams, massacre and bloodshed. Out of the estimated 20,000 prisoners (innocent people) held there, just 12 are known to have survived.

    'The Killing Fields' is a key example of many similar sites in Cambodia where prisoners were taken from places like 'S21' to be executed and dumped into mass graves because there was no room left in the prisons. Thousands of people are buried at these sites - human remains, clothes and bones are still being found today as they float to the surface of the graves when it rains.

    The regime was finally toppled in late 1979 and Cambodia could begin to start to rebuild. There's lots more to say and it's a fascinating and deeply moving story, but that's the end of today's history lesson.

    After seeing these places and hearing about the terrible things that went on here, it's amazing to see Cambodia today - sure it's not the most developed country but it's growing fast. The people are friendly yet have seen or can relate to such recent horrors through their families. It's a remarkable testament to how the country has picked itself up from the regime it suffered under. When you witness the history, you see them in a different light - even if they do constantly ask if you want a tuk tuk.

    On a lighter note, I visited the market too!    Read more

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