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Round half the world!
a travel blog by
Tim and Em
We are packing up our things, moving out and going to find ourselves.. not really - just in search of sunshine and of course some cultural experiences!
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Batu Karas
Cijulang
,
Indonesia
We booked transport from Yogya to a tiny village on the coast called Batu Karas – this was billed as one of the best places to learn to surf in Java. Rather luxuriously, we had a minivan to ourselves for the 6 hour journey. Although the physical distances in Indonesia are relatively small, the roads are so awful that at times it would be quicker to walk. It is for this reason it takes so long to get to places particularly the smaller, road less travelled places.
Batu Karas - Surfs up
The accommodation choices were somewhat limited but we did our usual and booked one night and found a better place the following morning. The beach was pretty nice and the surf did not disappoint! Despite all the time spent in Cornwall, I had never properly surfed, only bodyboarded, so was determined that this was the time and place we were going to master it! Tim was not quite so enthusiastic, but agreed to give it a shot. The surf lessons were run by local Indonesians, who looked as if they spent more time in the water than on land.
We had some practices on the sand, at which I failed dismally - balance not being great, I wondered how I would get up on the board in the sea, when I could not manage it on dry land! However once in the sea, something strange and unusual happened and I stood up!! Not just once either, and managed to ride waves the whole way in. Tim was not faring quite so well (a first for me to be better at something than him) and was nearly there but not quite. After having a rest day to let the bruises and aches subside a bit, we hit the waves again, and Tim was soon vertical on the board as well. At times there was a shoal of flying fish jumping all around us – very strange. The surf guys were absolutely brilliant and we loved it!
Batu Karas - Em surfing
Batu Karas - Tim surfing
Batu Karas was pretty magical, due to its size, everyone knew everyone, and we soon knew people by name and to chat to. The only negative was the lack of food choices. There were a few rustic cafes on the beach, all of which had identical menus, rice, noodles, omelettes and pancakes – breakfast, lunch and dinner. This was ok for the first day or two, but after that, I began dreaming of roast potatoes and even toast! The enjoyment of pancakes for breakfast was somewhat diminished after the discovery of shallow fried ants as a topping!
Batu Karas - Fishing boat at sunset
We had arranged to get the train to Jakarta, and had splashed out on a business ticket , which included air con. When we got on the train after a 3 hour car journey, our hopes were dashed, the aircon was a fan, and dreams of a buffet car were out the window!! After 7 hours on the train, we arrived in Jakarta, where our taxi driver could not find our hotel. After driving past it 3 times, we finally arrived at 2 am in the morning, and were so hungry we were eating dinner at 3 am! It felt pretty good – and to have a hot water shower again was heaven. Next stop Malaysia!
written by
Tim and Em
on May 3, 2010
from
Cijulang
,
Indonesia
from the travel blog:
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Malaysian Borneo
Kota Kinabalu
,
Malaysia
We flew to Kota Kinabalu (KK) from Jakarta and spent a couple of days exploring the city and just chilling out. On the second night we found a nice hotel with all mod cons which, to be honest, encouraged us to stay longer than we probably should – we even managed to watch some TV! This is the first hotel we have ever stayed in where you get a choice of having a window or not, we opted for the windowless room as it was cheaper – the window/windowless room thing is quite common in Malaysia.
Kota Kinabalu - Fish market
Kota Kinabalu - Night food stalls
The main highlight of KK was the markets. During the day, there is a large wet market selling mainly fish with some meat. Come 4pm, an empty parking lot is transformed into a bustling maze of food stalls with smoking barbeques. To give an idea of size, the food stalls are probably as big as 2 football pitches, you then have 10 metre long trestle tables lined up with chairs. At the end of each length of table there is a barbeque, effectively each barbeque is a separate eatery.
Kota Kinabalu - Night food stalls
You can choose the fish you want them to cook for you – Tuna, Lobster, Snapper etc. At each table there is a mixture of condiments, fresh chillies, limes and soy sauce for you to make your own dipping sauce. The fish was fantastic, we feasted on Tuna and rice most nights for less than £4. One night the place where we went didn’t have any Tuna so we simply went to the wet market, bought two large raw Tuna steaks and took it back to the barbeque for them to cook for us!
From KK we took a bus to Sandakan, the buses in Malaysia are much more civilised and we got to watch Avatar on the journey. What was not so great was the lady sitting opposite us with 3 kids all of who were travel sick in a big way. We had a lunch stop (we were not feeling hungry) and watched in horror as the lady bought each of her kids an ice cream – we don’t need to tell you anymore.
Sepilok - Orang-Utan hanging around
The main reason for going to Sandakan was its proximity to Sepilok where the Orang-utan Rehabilitation Centre is based. When we visited, we were worried that we wouldn’t see any but fortunately one little cute guy (or girl) came out to play. A couple of Orang-utan facts which we didn’t know – they share 96.4% of human DNA and Orang-utan translates as man of the forest. We learnt quite a lot while we were there such as the loss of habitat to Palm Oil plantations - all quite sad. At the current rate, these lovely creatures could be extinct in 10 years.
Kinabatangan River - Proboscis monkey
We also booked ourselves on a river boat journey on the Kinabatangan river in the hope of seeing some more Orang-utans. We chugged up the river and on the way saw copious monkeys – long tailed Macaques and Proboscis, the Proboscis monkey is not the prettiest of beasts, it has a really large dangly red nose!! We continued on some more and were told that there was an elephant ahead. There in the middle of the river was a Pigmy Elephant swimming across, at times just the end of his trunk was visible – a bit like a snorkel!
Kinabatangan River - Cute Baby Pigmy Elephant!
On the bank of the river were about 30 elephants, including babies, some wallowing in the water and some on the bank – we were able to get quite close to them – truly magical, Em took a great video which includes an elephant trumpeting!!
Kinabatangan River - Pigmy Elephants
On the way back we stopped to observe a crocodile, this was a bit unnerving given the size of the boat and how low it sat in the water. By this time, it was getting dark, we have a very eerie picture where you can only see the eyes of the croc reflecting, nothing else. As a final bonus, when we got back to the lodge, we saw a snake, not sure what sort but it was about 1.5 metres long with black and yellow stripes, we were advised not to worry as it was only mildly venomous!!
Kinabatangan River - Mr Snake
Due to the current issues in Thailand, we have changed our route, so we are skipping mainland Malaysia for now. This will mean that should Thailand still be a no-go, we can travel through Malaysia with Polly when she joins us in July. Next stop Cambodia...
written by
Tim and Em
on May 11, 2010
from
Kota Kinabalu
,
Malaysia
from the travel blog:
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Cambodia - Siem Reap
Siem Reap
,
Cambodia
After a quick stop overnight in Kuala Lumpur, we flew to Siem Reap. It felt really good to be back again, the town had grown substantially since we were there two years ago. We had booked a hotel which had a pool, so spent two nights there. However, on a foray into town, one of the bars was advertising room for 15 dollars a night, nice room with all mod cons including free wifi – so we moved! It didn’t have a pool, but when the pool temperature is mid 30’s, its not that much of an attraction to be honest!
We had pretty much done the whole Siem Reap Temple trail when we were last there but we couldn’t resist going back to Angkor Wat to see the sunset. It turned out that there wasn’t much of a sunset that night but Angkor Wat was just as impressive second time round.
Siem Reap is a great place to just chill out and thats pretty much what we did. We revisited Dr Feet, our favourite foot massage parlour – of all the places our feet have been massaged, this is definitely the best!
Bang Melea
We wanted to go and see a temple called Bang Melea which was a bit further afield, 70 Kms from Siem Reap to be precise! We had read about it and although it was pretty much in ruins, it was worth going to see. We had found a really reliable tuk tuk driver (Mean, pronounced Mee-Ann) who had been ferrying us around and he agreed to take us there. It took two hours in his tuk tuk which was fairly interesting in itself, he stopped on the way so to show us the sticky rice sellers – basically its rice, coconut and black beans stuffed into a piece of bamboo, its then cooked on an open fire. We bought some and Tim thought it was pretty good, I wasn’t so keen, it tasted a little bit like rice pudding, but not enough if that makes sense – cue longing for a tin of ambrosia!
What we had read about the temple was very accurate, ie it was a ruin. In places, you had to clamber and climb to enable to see it properly. Although it was falling down, some sections were still intact, the sheer scale of it amazed us. As its off the tourist trail, we pretty much had the place to ourselves.
Bang Melea
We also had a good wander round the markets in Siem Reap and had some great dinners – Cambodia was once under French rule, so the bread is wonderful, it felt a real treat after some of the places we have been.
written by
Tim and Em
on May 17, 2010
from
Siem Reap
,
Cambodia
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Battambang
Sisophon
,
Cambodia
We wanted to see as much of the country as possible so after a few days headed to Battambang – Cambodia’s second largest city. Although developing fast, Battambang was quite rustic, we checked out the centre and booked ourselves onto a cookery course for the next day. Unfortunately, what we ate for lunch that day didn’t agree with us so we had a day knocked out of our plans – we postponed the cookery course!
We had recovered sufficiently the following day, so had a bit of tour with our tuk tuk driver (this time called David!) First stop was the peace monument, a giant sculpture made entirely out of old weapons found and handed in after the war.
Battambang - Bamboo Train
Then it was to the bamboo train – this was something I had been really looking forward to. There are no passenger train services in Cambodia and although there is railway track, it is in really poor shape. In places the locals have devised an ingenious way to move people and goods around, very aptly named the bamboo train. It consists of two axles with wheels, these are the first to be lifted onto the rails, you then have kind of platform or chassis made of bamboo on which sits a small engine. The chassis is then put onto the wheels – no bolts or fastenings, it just sits there. A fan belt is then stretched from the axle onto the fly wheel of the engine and there you have it the bamboo train! We took a ride on this thing, hurtling down the track it was great fun although the odd stray cow on the line slowed down the ride. If there are any other bamboo trains either in the way or coming in the opposite direction, you simple stop, dismantle and reassemble – it takes about 3 minutes!!
We then went to an old (disused) Pepsi factory. During Khmer Rouge times, pretty much all factories were shut down, accordingly the last bottle to roll off the production line at this Pepsi factory was in the 70’s. Although we couldn’t physically get inside, we had a look around. It was quite eerie, through the windows you could see crates and crates of old bottles, even the Pepsi logo was still attached to the building outside, if slightly rusty. There are several other factories that were abandoned during that period around the same time, sadly they have not been used for anything since.
Battambang - Rice Paper Pancakes Drying
We toured a couple of other places – a village that is famous for making rice paper, another village that makes fish paste (very smelly!) It seems as though almost each village has its own speciality. It was a massive plus having a knowledgeable tuk tuk driver with us who spoke good English as he was able to explain things and where necessary translate for us.
The next day we had our cooking course at a place called Smoking Pot (of the cooking pot variety!) We met the owner, Vannack, who was our instructor for the day. First stop was the market, where we bought all the ingredients we needed. The butchers section kinda puts you off in a way, no fridges here to keep the meat chilled, its all out in the 40 degree heat! Vannack talked us through some of the more weird and wonderful vegetables and herbs. For example, there are 3 different and distinct types of basil in Cambodia. In addition to the normal purple aubergine’s we are used to seeing, there is also a much smaller green sweet version.
Battambang - Smoking Pot Cooking Course
The course was well set up and Em and I each had our own gas wok burner, outside naturally!! It would be an understatement to say that it was hot cooking even though Vannack had set up a fan to cool us down while we cooked. The end results were quite pleasing, a traditional Khmer Amok curry, fresh spring rolls and a beef stir fry with spicy basil. Em likes spicy whilst I don’t but her stir fry was inedible due to the fact that she had put 5 chillies in it. I only put 3 in my version but it still blew your head off.
After our cooking course, we chatted with Vannack who had also just opened a new bar in town. He asked for our help to write a flyer for it. He then took us to the bar and wanted our opinion on some of the music he had – we spent two hours writing and rewriting drafts for his flyer whilst categorising his music collection!
Battambang - Phnom Sampeau
Battambang - Phnom Banan
The following day we went to another temple which involved a strenuous climb of 358 steps, still guess we needed some exercise after the cooking course the previous day. We also visited a local vineyard, I think the only one in Cambodia, and did a little bit of wine tasting. The vineyard produces 10,000 bottles each year and is distributed all over the country. That night we ate at Smoking Pot and couldn’t believe that the flyer for Vannak’s new bar had been printed and our suggestions for it had been used, word for word! There were even guys on the street handing these flyers out.
Its been quite tricky writing this entry for Battambang because we did so much there. Despite being ill, we managed to cram a lot into our stay, the above, is the condensed version!
Battambang - Phnom Banan, cooling off
written by
Tim and Em
on May 20, 2010
from
Sisophon
,
Cambodia
from the travel blog:
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Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh
,
Cambodia
Although every place we had visited, has monuments relating to the war, all collectively known as the Killing Fields. Phnom Penh has perhaps the most moving memorials and museums relating to the the war in Cambodia. We visited the Killing Fields of Choeung EK, effectively it was an extermination camp during the war. Here they have exhumed some of the mass graves and a memorial has been built with the human remains clearly on display, it was an incredibly moving place and a graphic reminder of the barbaric regime of Pol Pot.
Phnom Penh - Choeung Ek
What amazed us, learning about some of the history, is how recent it is and what little, it appears, the West did at the time to help the Cambodians. Its something that we will probably read further on when we return home. With such a sad recent history, the Cambodians appear to be very optimistic people.
From there we went to the Tual Sleng museum or S21, it was a former secondary school that was turned into a prison during the war.
Phnom Penh - S21
The building has been left pretty much untouched since then with the razor wire still up places and the cells remain intact. The most harrowing thing were the rows of black and white photo’s of prisoners, taken like mugshots. Virtually all the people in these photos were later killed.
In all it was an extremely sombre day but I am glad we went, we learnt a great deal about the history of Cambodia of which we were previously unaware.
The following day we checked out the vast two main markets in Phnom Penh, we bought a couple of Christmas presents, not the first of this trip either. Although tempted to buy a couple of other things, we resisted because of our budget and the logistics of getting it home! Had a little adventure around the supermarkets as well as our Marmite stock were running low – I know its sad but I cannot tell you how good it tastes each morning, like a little slice of home!
In several places in Cambodia you can have a massage from a blind person, several different charities run these places. We went to a place called seeing hands and had a really good massage, its great because just by having a massage you are supporting charity and helping the people that work there – I think this is called a win-win situation!
written by
Tim and Em
on May 22, 2010
from
Phnom Penh
,
Cambodia
from the travel blog:
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Kratie & Kompong Cham
Sambor
,
Cambodia
Kratie - Sunset over the Mekong
From Phnom Penh, we headed North East to a place called Kratie which is on the banks of the Mekong river. Our accommodation had an incredible outlook over the river and you could have dinner watching the sunset which was pretty cool – all this and it was the cheapest place we had stayed so far on the trip.
Kratie - Pavement hazards
We checked out the town which like most places we visited was centred round a market. Had an interesting stand-off with a herd of water buffalo that were roaming the street-this caused much hilarity among the locals who were watching. They seemed to be digging up most of Kratie to put drainage in, the central square with the market was a crazy place, pedestrians were not safe anywhere as moped riders did anything, including riding on the pavement, to avoid the trenches.
The main reason we came to Kratie was to go on a dolphin spotting trip. The rare Irrawaddy Dolphin inhabits the river – allegedly there are less than 100 left in the Mekong. Fortunately, they weren’t elusive as we spotted about 5 or 6 on our trip. Virtually impossible to get any photo’s though as you were never quite sure where they would pop up, in the end we gave up with the camera and just sat and watched them.
Next stop was Kampong Cham, we waited for the bus at the allotted time in Katie but it didn’t arrive. Instead two moped riders turned up and asked if we were waiting for the bus. It transpired that the bus had forgotten to pick us up and the moped riders would take as to the bus. Riding as a pillion passenger on the back of a moped is pretty interesting with a 20Kg rucksack on your back! Fortunately, we only had to ride about 2kms before we caught up with the bus.
Kampong Cham is one of the few places where there is a bridge that spans the width of the Mekong. Just down river from the very modern, western style concrete bridge is a bamboo bridge which links Kampong Cham to an island. The bamboo version is built every year at the start of the dry season and then washes away in the wet season. We hired a moped and went to check it out, Em was sceptical whether we should ride across it but we did (very slowly). Its about 300M in length and, in places the bamboo is very worn or non existent.
Kompong Cham - Immense Bamboo Bridge
The region is a major rubber producer and we had passed the plantations on the bus. I was keen to go and check it out so we went to the biggest, called Chup rubber. When we got there, it all looked pretty official, we had to sign in and we were given visitor passes. Thereafter, we were left entirely to our own devices and wandered around the processing plant unaccompanied which seemed odd. Workers just nodded to us as we went past. We saw the raw liquid rubber sap coming in by tanker at one end to large blocks of rubber being packed into crates the other end. It was fairly interesting although would have been even more so if there had been a guide to talk us through the various processes. One thing I will say is that rubber processing is an extremely smelly business! – never smelt anything like it and hopefully never again!
Kompong Cham - Chup Rubber factory
The following day we went to an old French lighthouse on the banks of the Mekong. Only the outer shell of the building remains but large steep steel steps have been erected inside so that you can get to the top.
Kompong Cham - French lighthouse (outside!)
What made this slightly more interesting than it sounds, is the resident mad guy who appears to live at the bottom. After a bit of gesticulating and the flash of some money, I left our crash helmets with him whilst we scaled the steps. I say we as by the first flight Em threw the towel in. I continued the climb on my own although I got concerned when I got to a wobbly section of steps. I realised that the steps were not bolted to the building at all, they merely rested against steel pins in the wall. I think this is when I had a slight dose of vertigo.
By now, the mad guy was far below me but I didn’t recognise him for a second because he had put one of our crash helmets on and appeared to be doing some kind of dance! I climbed to the top where you could get to onto a balcony outside. I took a few pictures and then could hear Em shouting at me so went back inside. She had started to shout because mad guy had a foot on the first step as though to head in Em’s direction. I started to climb down and fortunately mad guy didn’t go any further than the first step.
Kompong Cham - French lighthouse (inside!)
written by
Tim and Em
on June 1, 2010
from
Sambor
,
Cambodia
from the travel blog:
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Sihanoukville, Kampot & Kep
Kampot
,
Cambodia
From Kompong Cham, we had a few nights back in Phnom Penh before travelling to Sihanoukville on the coast. It felt good to be back by the sea and be able to dip our toes in the water. We had heard varying reports of the place so we were a little intrigued to see what it was like for ourselves. It was probably the most Westernised place we had been to in Cambodia and it almost felt a bit Ibiza-ish with the number of beachside bars.
We stayed for a couple of days and did the usual exploring around the coast. Once you get away from the main touristy area, it is easy to find a deserted stretch of beach that you can have all to yourself. Most of the land along the quieter parts of beach have been divided up into lots, I doubt it will be very long before it is developed.
Despite being usually very trigger happy with the camera, we didn’t take any pictures of Sihanoukville, sorry about that!
The minibus that picked us up from Sihanoukville was overcrowded which lead to a passenger revolt!! In the end the bus company agreed to pay for a taxi for 3 lads, it later transpired that there were 7 people in their taxi!! Despite offloading some passengers, the driver and co-pilot still ended up sharing the drivers seat for the 1 and a half hour journey to Kampot – a little disconcerting!!
Sihanoukville - which one is driving?
Kampot - river view
Kampot is famous for its pepper and, apparently, at one stage, no self respecting Parisian restaurant would be without it. We hired a moped (have now progressed to semi automatics!) and set off in search of pepper plantations. Although you could have guided tours for most things, in the main we have done things under our own steam, this way we go at our own pace and, more importantly don’t spend as much money.
Kep - Kampot pepper
The plantations were off the main road and a couple of Km’s down a dusty track. Both the plantations were small scale affairs with very little to them. We toured the plants where you could see the pepper physically growing and bought some pepper to take back home with us.
Kampot - Temple in cave
From there, we rode round for quite a while trying to find a temple that is in a cave. We would never of found it if it hadn’t been for a little boy who run out of one the houses and offered to be our guide (for a fee of course). He hopped onto the moped with us – 3 people on a moped is nothing, the most we have seen is 6!
Kampot - Temple in cave guide!
He directed us to where we could park the moped where there was another lad who would look after the moped (for a fee). The temple visit ended up costing quite a bit of money as some other kids latched on as well. By the time we paid everyone off, it turned out to be an expensive day. The temple itself had literally been built inside the cave, from memory it was something like 7th century.
The following day, we booked ourselves on a tour to Bokor Hill Station, you could only go there as part of an organised tour. Bokor was built during French rule and used as a holiday retreat, due to the elevation, it was much cooler and gave a respite from the humidity and heat of the cities. After French colonial rule ended and the the war, it was abandoned – it was the scene of a stand off between Khmer Rouge and the Vietnamese army and in many places pock marks and bullet holes can be seen. However, most of the buildings remain in varying states of disrepair.
Kampot - Bokor church
Despite it being a National Park, a large hotel group has bought a swathe of land by the Hill Station and has started to build what will become a huge hotel & casino complex – get there while you can before it is totally spoilt. There is a long access road in varying states of construction from Kampot to the hill station. For some unknown reason, the tour group could not drive all the way up.
Kampot - Bokor truck ride
At the bottom, we were herded into a pick-up truck and then about half way up we were dropped off to trek through the jungle. Although the trek was only about an hour, the heat was under the trees was stifling. At the end of the trek, we were picked up again and drove the remainder. Slightly bizarre!
Kampot - Bokor palace
As we got nearer the hill station, the temperature noticeably changed, getting a lot cooler. Then it started to drizzle with rain. By the time we got there, swirling mist had also descended. With the shells of the buildings appearing and disappearing in the mist, the whole place, although quite spread out, had a real eerie feeling to it. It reminded me a lot of Dartmoor.
Kampot - Bokor palace
We explored the whole site which included a Church & a palace. The palace was a warren of stair cases, corridors, roof terraces and rooms – it seemed almost other worldly with the mist drifting in through spaces where the windows once were. We only got to see one wing of the palace before we had to rejoin the main group to go back.
Despite our grumbles, we still had to follow the same route back down, truck, trek, truck. As we trekked back down through the jungle, you could literally feel it getting hotter and hotter the the lower we got.
Our next stop was Kep, this was a leisurely 45 minute tuk tuk ride from Kampot. We intended to stay a few nights here and it was an ideal place to cross the border into Vietnam, about an hour away. Our phones kept on bleeping as, depending on where you were in Kep, you would get a welcome to Vietnam or welcome to Cambodia text message – annoying when its several times a day.
We trawled around a couple of accommodation options in Kep before settling on a place called the Star Inn, we fondly named this place Fawlty Towers! That evening, Em went to take a shower and mid way through, the electric went. This is not unusual in Cambodia but when I looked outside, I realised that electrics in other parts of the hotel were working. I went to get one of the guys from reception and something had just tripped out. On inspection though, there were lots of dubious looking unearthed wires sticking out of the wall. When we pointed this out, we were reassured it was OK. I then went to shower and exactly the same thing happened. This benefitted us though as we were moved to another room on the second floor which should have been more expensive as it had a sea view.
Kep - Promenade
Kep is a really pretty seaside town/village with a nice beach. As it was out of season, the place was pretty much deserted which suited us. We rented a moped and had a bit of a ride around. I cannot remember the reason but there are a lot of abandoned villas, similar to Bokor in varying states of disrepair. Despite being built in the 1950’s, the architecture of these places is very modern, with really clean lines, some of them occupy fantastic positions overlooking the sea. We couldn’t quite understand why some of these sites had not been developed even though, according to Lonely Planet, they were all snapped up in the 1990’s
.
Kep - Crabs!
Crab is very big in Kep and, on recommendation, we went to a place that serves up fresh crab with Kampot pepper. The restaurant was right on the waters edge and opened up to the sea at the back. Midway through dismembering my crab, I thought a girl had spotted something in the water as she was leaning over the rail. It was only the sound effects that give it away that she was being ill, this immediately put Em off the rest of her dinner. I continued to dissect, I had got too far to give up on my crab now!!
The next day we spent a lot of time updating the blog, we seem to have fallen a little behind on updating it recently!
written by
Tim and Em
on June 12, 2010
from
Kampot
,
Cambodia
from the travel blog:
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Phu Quoc, Vietnam
Phu Quoc
,
Vietnam
Prek Chak Cambodian border
It seems a little strange to go over a land border between countries. The Cambodia side was very rustic with just a one storey office prior to going through no-mans land. The Vietnamese border was a complete contrast, with a big archway emblazoned with Ha Tien International border gate. I neglected to mention in the previous blog entry that we got our Vietnam visa in Sihanoukville. This must go down on record as the fastest visa issued – literally within five minutes we had a visa printed and stuck into our passports, we couldn’t believe it.
Ha Tien Vietnamese border
We had booked a ticket in Kep that should have taken us through the border to Ha Tien and then onto a ferry to Phu Quoc. It was at the border that the guide broke the bad news that government officials had taken over the ferry that we were meant to catch. We would be making an unscheduled overnight stop in Ha Tien.
We thought we had a result when we found a hotel in Ha Tien for 15 bucks, it seemed to tick all the right boxes and seemed fairly new. Its only downside was it was near the fish market so it was a little smelly outside but, for the price, we thought we could put up with this. We looked around the town but there was little to recommend it really.
We had to be up early the following morning and just as I was nodding off to sleep, the corridor outside our room erupted with noise. It appeared as though it was being used as some form of communal meeting room for the people on our floor. In the end I had to go out and, using sign language, tell them to shut up. Eventually, the noise died down. However, at 440am the noise started again, I couldn’t believe it!! Can safely say, it was the worst night of the trip so far.
Caught the ferry to Phu Quoc the following morning feeling relatively grumpy. We were soon cheered up by the hotel, we had our own garden bungalow and the beach which fronted the resort was absolutely gorgeous. We immediately got into the swing of things and crashed out on the loungers on the beach. There were ladies that were offering massages on the beach so we couldn’t resist, the woes of Ha Tien were quickly soothed away.
Phu Quoc - Long Beach lounger
I had intended to propose to Em whilst we were away, I had been carrying a ring around since we left the UK. I didn’t know when and where I would do it but I felt that Phu Quoc was the ideal place. Trouble is when you are spending all day every day with someone, it is very difficult to organise a surprise. I managed to sneak off a couple of times, Em started to get suspicious and even asked me if I wanted some space!!
Phu Quoc - Lame Beach
I managed to arrange a boat trip where we got dropped on a private of beach for a few hours. I popped the question and Em accepted! Now, there is no need for you readers to get too excited, we haven’t set a date yet. Once we get back from lounging around, we will need to focus on practicalities of finding jobs, etc. Once we have gainful employment, we will set a date!
Phu Quoc - Lame Beach, newly engaged!
We originally booked to stay on the island for 3 nights but ended up staying a week. It was absolutely idyllic – it was the sort of place that you hope to find, quiet palm fringed beaches with clear blue water. It was really hard to pull ourselves away. Due to our extended stay in Phu Quoc and the fact that Vietnam is so long, we decided to extend our visa to give us more that the original 30 days.
Phu Quoc - Bai Sao Beach-stunning!
written by
Tim and Em
on June 20, 2010
from
Phu Quoc
,
Vietnam
from the travel blog:
Round half the world!
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Can Tho
Can Tho
,
Vietnam
We had quite a long journey from Phu Quoc to Can Tho which went mini bus, big bus, ferry, mini bus and then transfer onto a mini bus. The journey was made somewhat longer by the most sensible driver we have experienced in our travels to date!
Can Tho is one of the biggest towns on the Mekong Delta. It was really a whistle stop to see the floating markets, we immediately booked a boat trip for the following day – rather handy that a tour tout was loitering at reception in the hotel!
We were up at 530 as the earlier you see the market the better, it takes about an hour and a half to get there. Our captain for the day was multi talented and to while away the time, he fashioned various items from palm leaves including a mask, bracelets, rings and ear rings (I joke not). The Mekong is home to every size and shape of boat that you can think of from huge barges to small rowing boats. Some of the boats are so laden with goods, it appears as though they are half sub-merged. How they manage any forward momentum is beyond me!!
Why is this boat not sinking!
The markets were a huge jumble of boats with activity everywhere. Boats advertised what they were selling by attaching fruit or vegetables to bamboo masts. The number of boats and array of fruit and vegetables was incredible – Dragon fruit to Watermelon, Carrots to coconuts. The problem was it was tricky to take photos when our boat was always on the move! The scenes at the market were like you see in guide books, conical hats abounded!
Water melons!
Messing about in the river
We then went on a little cruise of some of the back water canals, to be honest, by this time our bums were extremely numb and all we wanted to do was get back. About 20 minutes before we got back, the heavens opened and it hammered down with rain. The small awning of the boat just collected water, the water collected would drench us every time our boat rocked in the wake of passing traffic. We got back to the jetty absolutely soaked through, we were able to wring water out of our clothes. It brought new meaning to the words rainy season.
Rain, rain, & more rain
written by
Tim and Em
on June 22, 2010
from
Can Tho
,
Vietnam
from the travel blog:
Round half the world!
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Ho Chi Minh
Ho Chi Minh City
,
Vietnam
Can Tho to Saigon - Technical hitch
Had a slight technical hitch on our journey from Can Tho to Ho Chi Minh, our bus broke down! No such thing as commercial rescue or AA or RAC so the driver got stuck into the engine compartment. Not sure what was wrong but after about half an hour he had fixed whatever it was and we were off again. We had a funny moment when we checked into our hotel and they announced we had been upgraded, don’t hear that phrase very often and it was a first on this trip – we luxuriated in a Deluxe rather than standard room!
I think we have touched on traffic conditions in previous entries but nothing prepares you for HCM, there are mopeds and more mopeds and more mopeds. As a pedestrian it is a dangerous place and something simple like crossing the road is only for the brave, red lights cannot be trusted and neither can anyone indicating – they probably didn’t mean to. To cross the road, you initially look at whats coming and then start to cross, very slowly without looking left or right again. The mopeds then anticipate your next step and go round you, its almost biblical in the parting of the seas!
Our first full day in HCM was a complete frustration, we seem to have these sorts of days every so often and this was definitely one of them. We had decided to extend our Visa as we wanted to stay longer than 30 days. So, we go to the visa office but as Joe Public, you cannot extend your visa, it has to be done via a travel agent, cue trawling around travel agents trying to find someone to organise it for us. The prices charged ranged from $35 to over $100 and the time required to organise from 3 to 10 days. In the end, we went for the cheaper one but then we were told we needed to pay more because we needed it done so quickly. In the end, we paid $55 for something that according to the stamp in our passport cost $10. Follow travellers be warned!
We visited the War Remnants Museum which documents the war with the US. It was really interesting but equally horrific. There was an excellent exhibition of photographs by war correspondents which really did speak volumes about that time and included some world famous pictures. One of the sadder facts was the impact of Agent Orange and its impact even quite recently on particularly the Vietnamese but war veterans of other nationalities as well. Even in the past few years lawsuits and appeals have been taking place in the US – something that I was completely unaware of.
Saigon - War Remnants Museum
Somewhat strangely, the Museum closes for lunch so our visit was cut short. From there we walked to Reunification Palace. This is effectively where it all ended for the South Vietnamese government in 1975 when communist tanks entered and unfurled the VC flag. The very weird thing about this place is that almost everything has been left untouched since then and preserved as it was, its like being in a time warp! Even the basement which was used as a war is as it originally was with steel desk, Bakelite phones and all the old telecommunications equipment still in situ.
Saigon - Reunification Palace war room comms centre
Saigon - Reunification Palace
Continuing the war theme, we went to the Cu Chi tunnels which, as the name suggests, are a network of tunnels and a stronghold of the VC during the war. This was too was extremely interesting, at its height and in this particular area alone, there were over 250Km of tunnels, in places 3 storeys high.
We had a guide to take us around and before physically going into the tunnels themselves we had a rest stop by the shooting range, I obviously use the word rest slightly tongue in cheek. Here, somewhat strangely, if willing to stump up the required cash, the average tourist can shoot live ammunition. You have a menu of weapons to chose from, from AK47 to a M60, once you have decided on your weapon of choice, you pay the required amount of money dependent on how many rounds you wish to fire and are then taken down to the shooting range. Call me a killjoy but this seemed totally bizarre to me and, no, I didn’t have a go!
We then went to the tunnels themselves, there is a section of about 120 metres that you can go in. Before going in we were given a few warnings that it was not for everyone and that there was an escape route every 50M. I wondered what all the fuss was about until I physically got into the tunnel, its only about 70cm wide by 120cm high. This means that you effectively have to waddle like a duck for 120M, this is actually pretty strenuous particularly because of the heat and you have to keep stopping because of slower people ahead of you. In some sections, it narrowed even further and you had to go up and down quite a large step. I don’t shirk from many things but I have to say by the second escape route I was seriously tempted. We both made it to the end but our legs were like jelly by the end of it, I have to say I was very pleased to be out of there. How people lived and fought in those places is beyond me.
Cu Chi - Not as easy as it looks
We got dropped back to the city by bus and started to walk back to the hotel when the heavens opened big style. Within 10 minutes you could no longer see the road and within 20 minutes, it was under a foot of water. All the kids were having great fun in the water and there were some good photo opportunities. One guy came out with his soap and stood under a gutter and had an impromptu shower! The bad thing was that the drains just couldn’t cope which forced what lived down there up, like the cockroaches, not pleasant and Em freaked!
Saigon - making the most of the rain
That night England were playing Germany and I was determined to watch. We found a bar which was more like someone’s front room with chairs on the pavement but they served beer and they had a TV with the football on. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be but once again we can all say England were robbed because Lampard’s goal was over the line!
By the way, no one calls Ho Chi Minh City by its current name, all the locals still call it Saigon!
written by
Tim and Em
on June 27, 2010
from
Ho Chi Minh City
,
Vietnam
from the travel blog:
Round half the world!
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