The One with the Tunnels

After a whistle stop 6 days in Cambodia it's time for a new country. After being held up the Vietnam Embassy we nearly miss the bus, but make it with minutes to go.

Its another bumpy ride to the border. On the way we stop to catch a ferry across the river. The bus is surrounded by people trying to sell us everything from sunglasses to bread and even snakes!!

Again, once over the border, we notice a marked difference... aerials stretched up from every house.

After another 7 hours or so we reached Ho Chi Minh City. It was my turn to hunt through the guest houses for somewhere to stay... a hot, sticky and frustrating business, but eventually we found somewhere to stay. The Internet here is ridiculously cheap... which is a definate bonus!

The next day we check out the city. The thing that first strikes me about Ho Chi Minh City (or Saigon as it is also known) is the amount of Communist Propoganda that is everywhere. There is no mistaking it's political leanings, or it's total love of Uncle Ho.

We head to the Botanical Gardens which houses a very sorry looking zoo, and then go to the Independence Palace. Time for another history lesson, and getting my head around the Vietnam War - or The American War as it's known here.

The Independence Palace was built in the 60's and the architecture and furniture confirm this! We finish our history lesson at the excellent War Remnants Museum. It's recently been redone and was fascinating, although totally sobering.

The first room was photos from foreign journalists who had died in the course of their jobs. A second larger room, had details of the American attack - the effects of Agent Orange and the Massacre of Son My. There were reconstructions of the "Tiger Cage" cells that communist Prisoners of War were kept in. It certainly put the whole war into perspective, and has set us up for our visit to the Cu Chi Tunnels tomorrow.

We set off the following morning to the Cu Chi Tunnels. This is where the Vietcong Guerrillas hid, coming out to fight against the Americans. At some times people may had had to stay in the tunnel for up to a week.

We get the chance to go in one of the original openings. As you can see it's tiny - my hips get stuck on the way out. We also get the chance to go through a 100m stretch of tunnel.

The original tunnel would have been 0.6m wide by 0.8 m tall, but they've been widened for tourists to 0.8m wide and 1.2m tall. This is still tiny. Of this 100m stretch there are 3 possible exits; the first is after 40m and most people exited here. It's hot, very dark and even those of us who don't usually suffer from clostrophopibia are finding it a bit tough. Sam and I press on, and Sam leaves at teh second exit, but only as the tunnel gets even smaller then, I head on alone, on hands and knees and frighten off a few bats ahead of me in the process. I emerge gratefully from teh 100m stretch, dripping in sweat. How people could stay in here for any length of time is beyond me.


Back in the city, we check yet another museum, and then indulge ourselves in what has become somewhat of an obsession in SE Asia - watching the traffic. I know it's sad, but I am a self confessed Scooter Spotter and I'm not in any hurry to get cured.

We've seen pretty much everything you can imagine on the back of a scooter - who needs to hire a van to move house - bung it on the back of my moped! The top spots so far were tons of boxes, and the most people was a five. Today we spot our first 6!!! 2 Adults adn 4 children, but unfortunately don't get a photo of it.

That settles it and we spend the next 2 hours on various street corners taking photos of motorbikes. One guy has a ladder, another a widescreen TV, and another favourite has a washing machine - complete with a box of powder balancing precariously on top.

As we're about to give up we spot a second 6 but don't get a good photo, but are spurred on for some time. The bikes here are crazy. They even ride on the pavement as you can see below!
Getting a little giddy on exhaust fumes we call it a day, but after taking a photo of a "solid five", we spot a baby on the bike that we hadn't seen before. Finally, photographic eveidence of a 6!

As we sit and eat our dinner, we keep gettign bombarded by women selling books (photocopied books at really cheap prices). I got one from this lady as the stack she was carrying on her hip was almost as tall as her!!

So far my first impressions of Vietnam are excellent. A totally crazy place!

The One about the Khmer Rouge

We left Siem Reap gnashing our teeth at the perfect weather which would have been amazing the previous two days, and head on to Pnomh Penh the country's capital.

We are met off the bus by hordes of people pushing their hotels and head towards the lake (which had recently been the scene of riots and protests due to the governments announcement that they will be evicting all the people in order to do building development).

With this in mind we drink in the view of the lake side hostel. Its so peaceful here, and the area is a real backpacker haven. Little bars and Internet Cafes line the small windy streets, while above a nest of electrical wires are precariously positioned on poles and walls! It seems such a shame that this may soon all be gone.

We head straight out on our site seeing tour and go to the the Royal Palace. We only have an hour until it closes, and it seems that the whole of Cambodia has had the same idea as us. The Palace is packed with people but hardly any foreigners like us!

Sam's flip flop decides that this would be a good time to break so he walks around the palace looking like something out of the ministry of silly walks, and the tarmac is too hot for him to walk barefoot. The other visitors don't hide their mirth behind their hands, and soon Sam is followed by groups pointing staring and laughing at his misfortune!!

The Palace is beautiful, and we head with some anticipation to the Silver Pagoda, which is listed in my Rough Guide as the number one thing to see in SE Asia.

We both find it rather disappointing however. It is called the Silver Pagoda after its Silver Tiled floor - most of which is covered, and the bits which aren't are patched with sellotape, and have tarnished, - so not the gleaming silver floor I had envisaged.

The following morning, with a bright blue sky, it seemed odd that we were heading to the scenes of one of the most horrific scenes in recent history - the Killing Fields of the Khmer Rouge.

Before I came to Cambodia I only knew a little of what had gone on. Through reading the history in the front of my guide book, and then through visiting these places I have become aware of the grim reality of life in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge.

Having visited Auschwitz, one can't help but make comparisons, and to be honest I found what I saw today even more chilling in some respects, not least because this only ended a few years before I was born, and because Pol Pot died under house arrest during my life time.

The Killing Fields were where thousands of people met their end. A pagoda here contains nearly 8000 skulls which have been disinterred at the site, and there are still 42 mass graves which have been left untouched.

Most disturbing for me was a tree which was called the beating tree. The sign said that children were beaten against the tree. I thought that this meant that the children were tied against the tree and beaten, which is bad enough, but later saw a photo that the children were held by their legs and beaten AGAINST the tree.

From here we headed to S21 - Tuol Sleng - the former torture chamber and Prison of the Khmer Rouge, which previously had been a secondary school.

Some classrooms had been transformed into prisons with tiny cells made of wood or brick, whilst some larger classrooms were torture chambers, containing a bed frame and instruments of torture.

When the Prison was liberated 14 bodies were found in the classrooms - and pictures of these corpses adorn the relevant walls. One image will stay for me forever. The women is barely recognisable as female, and her legs are facing the wrong way. Horrific... and unbelievable that not only can people do this to each other, or that no one stepped in to help, but that Pol Pot ended his days without making it to trial.

The One at Angkor Wat

The journey to Bangkok ran smoothly enough, and we found ourselves on a bus out to Siem Reap, Cambodia.

It's strange, but literally crossing over the border made a whole world of difference to the surroundings. Behind us were smooth tarmaced roads, and ahead was the bumpiest road I have ever seen in my life. The whole place seemed dusty, cows walked down the street... everything was different, in a way that I haven't experienced on the other land border crossings (to this extent) - with maybe the exception of Peru-Bolivia.

After an hours wait at immigration, we dodge the potholes, traffic and offers of taxis, and board a bus for the bumpiest 8 hour ride of my life. At one point they stopped by the side of the road for a behind a bush loo break, but the door of the bus wouldn't open so the little Cambodian men had to climb out of the window to then try and open it from the outside!

Eventually, late at night we arrive, and despite the "scam" warnings in the guide book, we're all dropped at a hotel. But to be honest it's a lush room and only $6 so we gladly accept!

The next day we are good for nothing, but do make it up to Angkor for "sunset" - the weather has been very cloudy so technically it's a "darkness falling". This also gives us the chance to sit next to a monkey who has decided to join us for dusk!

As the tuk tuk (yet another variety here!) comes close to the moat, I can't describe the feeling of anticipation that I got and I wasn't disappointed.

Fueled with more anticipation we were up at 5am to go to see the sunrise. Another cloudy day sadly. We had breakfast overlooking the temple and then met our guide who took us on a tour of Angkor Thom, Bayon (with its 216 buddha faces), Ta Phrom (the Tomb Raider temple) and of course a guided tour of Angkor Wat itself. Our guide is very good, but we are reaching saturation point by early afternoon. Also despite hundreds of photos, nothing seems to do it justice. it's so huge and all very grey, adn in this light its splendour doesn't really come out in the pictures.

That night we go to the Dead Fish Towers - a restaurant built over several levels( another health and safety nightmare), and which has a crocodile pit in the corner! I guess it ensures good tips!

Another 5am start, and an equally bad sunrise, but the milo and condensed milk sets us up for the day.

Today we are sans guide and avec book, and head up to Banteay Srei, an old sandstone Hindu temple with intricate carvings, then we do the grand tour of the other temples around Angkor Thom, before heading to three temples quite a bit further out.

These two long journeys (Banteay Srei and Roulous Group) allowed us to soak up the Cambodian way of life. Paddy fields, and the ability to fit an amazing amount of things on the back of a motorbike. Sam and I are now official traffic spotters. Today's top find was a monk on the back of a bike, and a guy with a wooden sideboard!

Lo Lei at the Roulous Group was disappointing as far as temples go, but contained one of my most memorable views of Asia. On a small pond were two monks clearing the lotus flowers. They were on a small raft and (as they were no more than novices) were intent on soaking each other. They were joined by two other boy who floated on the water in metal bowls - and one has headwear which makes him look like he grew out of the garden. Not sure why but this image really tickled me.

Angkor was everything I could have expected and more... but I may steer clear of Wats for a while now.

The One with the Arc de Triumphe

So we find ourselves in the Laos Capital Vientiane, and due to a lack of time decide not to follow our original route down to the South of Laos and into Cambodia, but rather to go back to Bangkok and enter Cambodia from the West... a disappointing and yet necessary decision if we want to see anything of Vietnam.

Vientiane is much smaller than I expected, but we did do a bit of sight seeing here visiting the gold Chedi of That Luang - where a monk asked me to take a photo of him and his monk friend!

We also visited the National History Museum of Laos which was all very biased against the "American Imperialists and their puppets" but when you consider that Laos is the most bombed country in history per capita... you can kind of understand the tone.

There is also a funky arch - the Vientiane Arc de Triumphe, but called the Victory Arch. We climbed it for a very non impressive view of the city.

Sadly we did not leave ourselves time for the Buddha Park which looked COOL on the postcards or to visit the famous Wat Sisaket... but we had a journey to make which would see us take in 3 countries and a journey of 30 hours to get us to Siem Reap, Cambodia.

The One Floating Down the River

We followed the tourist trail down to Vang Vieng (Sour Puss and Co in hot pursuit, although thankfully NOT in the same cramped minibus!)

Feeling a little jaded, I had a very uncomfortable encounter with a group of small children at a drinks stop on the way. Armed with my refreshing can of Coca Cola (I can not praise Coke enough these days), I look up to find myself surrounded by small children, who make it clear in a manner of grunts and points that they want my can when I'm finished for recycling.

I agree, but then feel under pressure to finish said can when all I want to do is savour every blessed mouthful, which brings me sip by sip, back to a human form. It does not help that one of the girls has a really angry face... she will have a wrinkly forehead by the time she's ten, mark my words. The picture does look like I'm giving evils back, but to be honest the group were getting closer and closer to me, and I was beginning to feel under pressure!

With said can finished, I hold it out to have it snatched by one girl, and the others all gave me a look of "You cow!... I can't believe you gave it to her and not me" and then they all ran off. Charming!

Vang Vieng is a small but incredibly touristy town. Every restaurant shows Friends or Family Guy, and to be honest nearing the end of my trip, this actually feels like a little taste of heaven. Don't get me wrong... I still love the Asian culture. I think Watford will be very dull without passing monks every five minutes, or without 10 people on a moped, or a car made out of a tractor front and a wooden frame - for these reasons I adore Asia... but a little taste of home can go a long way when you're shattered! I'm not sure I'd have liked Vang Vieng so much if this was one of my first stops from home instead of one of my last!

Anyway... the main reason for coming here is the river. You float down the river in tractor inner tubes, and get hauled in by aid of a bamboo pole at many makeshift bars en route to drink buckets of whiskey redbull and to swing into the river.

This would never happen in europe. It broke so many health and safety rules it was unbelievable - but I guess that is partly why it was so much fun.

Being the big fat scaredy cat I am, I only went on one "swing"and that was really a zip line that flung you off the end so you landed gracefully head first legs akimboo in the water. I climbed up the ricketty bamboo scaffold... changed my mind and climbed down, and eventually made it up again and off the edge - and yes it was fun.

At subsequent bars there were trapeze style swings and Sam and Carrie swang back and forth - Sam hanging upside down by his legs the big showoff!... I was chief photographer.

All in all a fantastic day... if a little on the crazy side!

The One with the Alms Giving

Luang Prabang is a pretty little town with a french colonial feel, set on the banks of the Chocolate Mekong. We spent a couple of days here with Carrie and Vicky.

On the first day, Sam and I ventured out to Kuang Si falls, - some very cool waterfalls - which also had a sanctuary for orphaned Asiatic Bears at it's base. One very paddington esque bear, got stuck in the tyre swing, and spent a while trying to figure out how to pull himself out... you have to love animals!

The next day we were up early to go to the alms giving which takes place every morning at 6am. As we left the guest house we were ushered and hurried onto the curb where we were given sticky rice and biscuits to make as an offering.. and then charged exorbutant amounts for. We got 2 trays between the 4 of us, and sat back to give a ball of rice to each passing monk.

When our trays were empty, we headed round the corner to another spot to watch line after line of saffron robed monkes walk past local people to collect more sticky rice. Quite a sight.

After breakfast (it now felt like we'd been up for days!) we got a tuk tuk to take us to the Pak Ou caves. We'd been told that this was where all unwanted Buddhas are left (you're not allowed to destroy an image of buddha0 so we were expecting a cave packed full of dusty happy buddhas... but whilst there were lots of buddhas... to be honest it was a bit of a let down (but did allow for some funky shots of shadows of buddha in torchlight)

That afternoon Sam and I checked out the Wat-age of Luang Prabang - Wat May with it's gilded gold doors. The Royal Palace with its Prabang Buddha - the most sacred in Laos and which gave Luang Prabang it's name, but which was rather small, and Wat Xieng Thong, which has visions of hell stencilled on it's walls - murderers boiling in cauldrons and adulterers escaping rabid dogs on spiny trees and being pecked by giant birds... so much for peaceful Buddhism!

It's a little known fact but Laos has a midnight curfew. At this time everyone should be tucked up in bed in their registered abode (or else risk turning into a pumpkin?!) But there is one tiny loophole in the law. You must be in bed... unless you go ten pin bowling! Weird but true, and so for a very surreal evening we partied until 3am at the bowling alley with our new Laotian friends Mr Peter and Mr Lee!

A crazy place!

The One on the Chocolate River

No rest for the wicked. We now face a two day trip down the Mekong to Luang Prabang.

We arrive well over an hour before the boat leaves to get what turns out to be the last comfortable seats on the boat. We're lucky. The rest of the travellers are on a mixture of wooden benches or if they're particularly unlucky (as unfortunately Sour puss and Chums are) they sit on the floor in the engine room, deafened by the noise - the engine open to the whole room.

Blissfully unaware of Sour Puss's plight, I admire the view of the newly dubbed "chocolate" river, and soak up the views of other boats, little villages, and the lush green landscape.

We spend the night in a little village called Pakbeng, eating in a restaurant where the guy boasts that his "wife is very good cook" - which turns out to be true, and then, just as the electricity shuts off for the night (11pm) head to bed.

Another early start to get the last good seats again, and more of the same all the way down to Luang Prabang. I can certainly think of worse ways to travel.