Kampot

Try and find THAT on a map! (hint, it's in Cambodia). So on Rach's whim, we set off to Kampot, a provincial capital in Cambodia. I was expecting a reasonably sized town, but when we got there we discovered that it's got 9,000 people and westerners are still a novelty! It was certainly an eye-opener, but a really charming place with incredibly friendly people. We took a trip out to some local cave formations on the back of a moto. The trip was stunning, out into the villages and rice paddy fields, scattering every type of livestock known as we bounced over the 'road' (I use the word in the loosest sense). There's one cave, guarded by monks that has a 7th century temple in it, which is amazing as it's so well preserved.

The next day we went into Bokor national park, the reason for travelling to Kampot. It's a huge park, but the main draw is an abandoned hill station 1,079 metres up the top of a jungle mountain. The road was build in the early 1900's and most of it has washed away, so the only way up is in a 4x4 pickup - or more correctly on the back of a 4x4 pickup. It takes 3 hours to do the 39 km - that's how bad the roads are, but it's completely worth it. The town is spooky, particularly the main hotel, where we had our lunch. The walls are intact, but it's ruined. It's hard to describe. As it's the top of a mountain, it's also got a micro climate which means it's basically cloudly up there all the time - a truly eerie place.

I did take loads of photos but, on our return bus journey we had both our cameras nicked from a rucksack under our seats. And to make matters worse, we had to bribe the police to give us a statement, otherwise they wouldn't investigate it. And that's after going to the police station after we found we'd been robbed and being told that they couldn't be bothered as it's a Sunday, come back tomorrow! I've got such conflicting feelings about Cambodia at the minute. It's an amazing place with stunning scenery and truly friendly people (well 99.9% of them anyway) - but if you need help, there's nothing, which leaves you feeling pretty unsafe at times.

Anyways, we're now in Siem Reap to visit the Angkor temples for the next three days, before heading off to Bangkok.

No stats - not in the mood to figure any out. They will return though!



The view from the ruined hotel towards the water tower - 1,079 metres up (3,000+ feet) - 'Borrowed' from Flickr, although I had a shot almost the same.

Phnom Penh

Well, if you've been reading Rach's blog (see the link on the right-hand side) you'll see we had an interesting day yesterday. If you've not been reading it, shame on you. Finish reading this and then go and read it... (but in a nutshell, we went to S21 and the Killing Fields - nasty nasty and then went and helped out at an orphanage which was eye opening to say the least)

Phnom Penh is a really different city. It feels right out on the edge of civilisation. This is probably helped by lots of 4x4's with aid agency stickers on the sides, the decrepit nature of alot of the buildings and the fact that there are entire families living out in the parks surrounding the Cambodian Royal Palace, National Museum and National Assembly building. But despite that, the people are amongst the friendiest I've met and there's a really relaxed atmosphere to the city. We've spent today wandering around some of the sights (after getting over a hangover. We met up with Andrea and Tom whomn we first met on Phu Quoc. I always seem to have a hangover after going out with them!) and some of the markets. They're very interesting. The food areas are... well I'm surprised I'm still a carnivore after seeing and more importantly smelling them! But the other areas are wierd. In one market there's an entire quarter devoted to Moto parts. You could easily build a moto-scooter if you knew what parts you needed. And the clothing's quite interesting. There are alot of garment factories surrounding Phnom Penh for Gap, Columbia, American Eagle and the like. It's amazing how much stuff 'ends up' in the markets...

But after having a few days here, we're moving once more tomorrow. We're off to a remote part of the country in the South called Kampot to go up into some mountains for a few days. Hopefully it'll be a bit cooler up there!

Some Stats.

Number of Gekkos that have decided to jump off the walls onto me - 2
Most Monks seen in a van at one time - 10

The Mekong Delta

After returning from Phu Quoc, we stayed one night in HCM City before setting off into the Delta. It's certainly 'classic' Vietnam, with rice paddies and small jungle outcroppings everywhere. We went through a floating market and then set out up river to a small village for lunch. As we set off, we were warned 'keep hands and arms inside at all times, and if rain, do not lower blinds as wind will catch boat and you swim across instead'. And as the guide finished saying this, it started to rain. To quote Forrest Gump (who seems to have a good handle on this)


"We been through every kind of rain there is. Little bitty stingin' rain... and big ol' fat rain. Rain that flew in sideways. And sometimes rain even seemed to come straight up from underneath"

All in the space of an hour boat trip... It got so bad that our Captain told us to lower the blinds, she obviously hadn't listened to the guide. I'm glad she did though, I don't think I've been that wet for a while. Swimming is a drier pastime than that boat ride.

After lunch we were transferred to a coach to get us up near the border to overnight before another boat trip up the Mekong to Cambodia. Before that, we were taken by rowing boat through some floating villages. It's incredible, entire families live in tiny boats, complete with government issued TV's (they discovered it lowers the average number of people in a family if there's a TV around!) We were then transferred to a converted houseboat to travel up to Cambodia. As it was a converted houseboat it didn't have proper seats, so we ended up floating up the Mekong River on garden chairs in a converted houseboat. I think Michel Palin would be very proud...

Crossing the border, we transfered to a 'speed boat' which, well I'm sure I saw water buffalo overtaking us on the banks. But it was an incredible day and we sat on top of the boat whilst soaking up the vast scenery before us. A further transfer to a coach for our first taste of Cambodian roads (imagine being in a tumble dryer for and hour and a half and you've just about got it) and we're now safely in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Some Stats.

Number of forms of transport yesterday - 4.
Time taken to travel about 200 km - 12 hours.
Number of children waving along the river banks - in excess of 200.

Phu Quoc Island

Taking a tip from an American we met up the coast in Nha Trang, we booked some cheap flights with Vietnam Airlines to Phu Quoc Island, which is in the Gulf of Thailand, off the west coast of the Mekong Delta.

It's a stunning place, and we managed to get a hut with the view below...



Not bad for $15 a night eh? And the building you can see just on the left is the bar!

It's a stunning island and even I enjoyed spending time on the beach. There were some other Brits, Tom, Andrea and Choung staying in the huts either side of us, who we spent a lot of time hanging out with, sitting in the bar and playing pool. They even convinced us into hiring a 100 cc Honda scooter, which after 5 minutes instruction by the guy hiring it (throttle, gears, brakes, ok off you go!) we got to the other side of the island and an even more secluded beach. I actually enjoyed running around on the scooter, although at times the 'roads' were in such a state I can sympathise with what Ewan McGregor had to deal with in 'Long Way Round'. We did get a sickly scooter though, that left us stranded on the top of a hill, whilst the other three zoomed off into the distance! Luckily Vietnamese people are really friendly and a passing scooter came to our rescue.

I'm really sad that we had to leave. We tried to extend our stay, but we'd already booked a tour into the Mekong Delta and then a speedboat into Cambodia and the booking office wouldn't let us change it over the phone... So it's hello HCMC again for one night and then we're off deep into the Delta and 75 clicks above the Du Lung Bridge*

*Quote from Apocalypse Now - it's Cambodia...

Some Stats

Number of Km's on the Scooter - 60 (approx)
Number of times broke down - 4

Cu Chi Viet Cong Tunnel Complex

Where I got to fire this...



No animals were hurt during the making of this photograph (as we were shooting at target boards down the range. My right arm did ache for a few days afterwards though from the recoil. And it's a Kalashnikov AK47 if anyone was wondering) There were other things to try out, including a M60 machine gun. Some Americans bought some ammo for that - the noise that made was incredible.

Cu Chi is another tunnel complex dating from the Vietnam war. It actually dates from just after the second world war, but it was mainly constructed in the 1960's. It's a 250Km network of very, very small tunnels which the Viet Cong used. They're mainly for military purposes, so there are sniper holes and bunkers throughout the complex, unlike the Vinh Moc complex both Rach and I went down in the DMZ. Rach didn't come to Cu Chi, as the tunnels are much, much smaller than Vinh Moc and she didn't fancy the idea of it.



I'm crouching here, and this is one of the larger segments of the tunnels. It's only 100 metres long, but some of it is so small, you have to crawl through on your hands and knees. The rest of it you're bent over, shuffling along. Most people didn't make it, they bailed out at the 30/70 metre escape points. But I managed all the way through (cue smug smile)

It's an amazing place, and certainly gives you new respect for the Viet Cong and the US Military 'Tunnel Rats' - the troops trained to go after them (think Forrest Gump) - how they lived and fought down there is mindblowing. I was sweating like I had never sweated before and I was only down there for 5 minutes max.

Some stats.

Number of shots with the AK 47 - 10
Number of shots with the AK 47 that hit the target - 9 ( I think - the 10th hit the dirt just below)
Number of days that my arm hurt afterwards - 2

Ho Chi Minh City Eye Hospital

To start with - I'm fine, parents don't worry.

But I do have conjunctivitis in my right eye. I had a bit of trouble getting my right contact lens out last week and thought that I may have left a bit in my eye as it's been irritating me. We tried to get some opticians to look in my eye to check but funnily enough the phrase book wasn't of much help....

So we wandered up to the HCMC eye hospital yesterday. Total organised chaos is the only way of describing it. People were milling around, shouting, shoving, pushing everywhere. But I was seen and discharged with 2 prescription eye drops in about 10 minutes. Absolutely amazing and all for about 8 pounds! (and no - there was no bit of contact lens in my eye)

HCMC is a hectic place in general. It doesn't have as much charm as Hanoi. HCMC is much more commericalised and feels more like Bangkok - there are billboards, hawkers, traffic and noise everywhere and there's alot of suburban sprawl on the outskirts. Saying that it's got some lovely old buildings and some interesting museums, but I still prefer Hanoi. We're staying in the backpacker district - which means we're probably hassled more than elsewhere in the city, but it's much cheaper and the hotel we're staying in is great - although it is the second hotel we've been in since we've arrived. The first was really awful, but since it was the only thing open when we fell out of the sleeper train at 5.30 in the morning, we had no choice! Still, we moved on once the other hotels had opened and we could find something else.

Some Stats.

Population of HCMC - 7 million.
Number of scooters - 5 million.
Number of scooters who have asked if we want a lift - 4.5 million (approx)

Somewhere that will let me post photos

So here we go - 3 photos from various places in Vietnam brought to you by the letter H (we've only stayed in places beginning with H...)



Cue fade in of title reading 'Raiders Of The Lost Ark'...



Part of the My Son temple ruins - Group B



Hoi An - if you look closely you can see a tailor hard at work on my coat...

I was going to do another separate post - but it's taken me 20 minutes to get the photos onto this one, so I'll just carry on. After the night bus - an 'experience' shall we say - we arrived in Nha Trang, the first place in Vietnam that we've stayed that hasn't begun with the letter H. It's the dive/beach capital of Vietnam and we've had a nice few days relaxing on the beach, (getting burnt in Rach's case) and going to a hot thermal mud bath place. We're now moving on again, but we've learnt our lesson and we're going on the night train again to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

Some Stats.

Total distance travelled down Vietnam - 1,300 Km/800 miles (approx)
Total distance travelled since leaving London - 7,100 miles (approx)
Percentage of Rach's body with sunburn - 30% (Rach says)

A Lost Temple Complex - Somewhere in the Jungle

Alright before I get lots of e-mails, the temple complex isn't currently lost as I was there on a tour - but it was lost for about 600 years and it makes for a good title.

We're still in Hoi An, currently waiting for a night coach to Nha Trang, about 12 hours away. Yesterday we went to the temple complex at My Son deep in the Jungle (not to be confused with Son My, scene of some atrocities during the American War, but we'll skip over that point as it's not very nice) I can now see why jungles are sometimes referred to as 'steaming jungles' as I've never experienced humidity like it before.

My Son was the holiest location for the Champa people who ruled central Vietnam between 0 and 1400 AD, and the complex was only found again by some French bloke in the early 1900's. To get up to the site you have to get a 1960's US Marine Corps Jeep up a winding mountain road. (I'm sure they gave the Jeep to the Vietnamese and it wasn't conviently 'borrowed' or anything like that whatsoever...)

From the top of the road you walk a further 300-400 metres into the jungle to get to the complex. There are 14 different sections, only 3 of which are standing more or less complete. Apparently there was an incredible tower but the Viet Cong were using the temples as a base and it was hit badly by B52 raids in 1969. You can still plainly see the impact craters and there's a few bombs scattered around. You're also warned not to go off the paths in case of any unexploded bombs/mines.

There were a few tourists wandering around but at some points Rach and I were on our own, all you could hear were the constant crickets and birds in and around the jungle.

The mountains around were pretty spectacular and there is one which looks very much like the one in the opening scene to Raiders of the Lost Ark, which lent a whole Indiana Jones vibe to the place. I would post some pictures, but we're in the town with the worst internet connection in Vietnam (even the guide books warn about it) so I'll leave you with some stats.

Number of rides in a jeep - 2
Number of different forms of transportation in a day - 3 (coach/jeep/boat)
Number of beer logo tee-shirts purchased (apparently backpacker uniform) - 2

Hoi An

We've moved on again - this time further south to Hoi An. We took a open tour bus, which was very nice actually and passed through Da Nang. The Typhoon passed through here a week ago and the devastation is jaw dropping. Some buildings have become nothing more than a pile of bricks and everywhere had blown out windows and various sections of roof missing. Hoi An is only 30 km south of Da Nang, but seems to have been spared alot of damage. There is alot of debris around and a few broken trees, but nothing too bad. Hoi An's a very pretty place, it's a UNESCO protected town due to some very old buildings and so there's not been any high-rise development. It's very sleepy though - everything happens at a very slow pace, which is very relaxing. Well almost everything. It's seemingly one of the main tailoring locations in Vietnam and you can get anything you want made up within 24 hours. I'm probably going to go and get something I've seen - a bespoke winter coat for $35, can't really say no at that price!

We've just got back from the beach - which was very nice. We cycled about 4km each way, which was an experience, with moto's and other traffic overtaking/undertaking (Rach is a slow cyclist) and coming straight at you.

I'll leave you with some stats.

Number of beach sellers telling us not to use anyone else 'I (insert name here) am Number 1, you ask for me!) - 2
Number of powerlines being restored destroyed by our coach as we accidently drove through them - 1

(Hopefully I'll have some photos in the next post)

DMZ (De-militarized Zone)

Well technically I guess I should say 'Our Man In Hue' - as that's where we're sat right now, but that's not as good a title. I was also considering 'Our Main In A Tunnel' but that's for later I think.

Anyway, the sleeper train. I actually slept. The journey was 12 hours, setting off from Hanoi train station at 11 pm. After wandering around Hanoi for the day, relaxing and taking in the sights that we hadn't previously seen ('Hanoi Hilton' Prison being the main one), we went back to the hotel as they said they'd arrange a taxi. However at 10.20 pm, they said the taxi was stuck in traffic as there was a Children's festival taking place. This blocked off lots of streets in the narrow Old Quarter and the traffic was chaos. However - we could get a pair of Moto's if we wanted (Parents - stop reading here until the next set of brackets) We were pushed for time, but had to strap our packs on and sit of the back of a pair of mopeds - the speedo on mine didn't work and the lights on Rach's didn't work and weaved in and out of traffic to the station. It was actually fun - well the parts went I wasn't closing my eyes waiting for the crunch of a collision. (Parents can read again now)

The train was ok, not overly quiet or smooth, but I got about 5/6 hours sleep I guess. I would have had more but they seemed intent on playing Vietnamese folk music on the speakers throughout the train. Very strange.

So we're now in Hue. It's a very sleepy place compared to Hanoi. You can actually cross the road in under 2 minutes, which is nice. The main sight is the Citadel, a huge fortified old city with a 7 metre high wall surrounding it. There's also the Imperial City (Darth Vader/Imperial Stormtroopers not spotted) which is where the Emperors of Vietnam moved the capital to in the 1800's and is based on the Forbidden City in Beijing.

We've just got back from a tour around the DMZ. We were taken over the Ben Hui river, the border between North and South Vietnam during the French/American wars. We also went down the Vinh Moc tunnels. These were built by villagers just north of the DMZ to hide in when during air raids etc. They were really impressive, carved from clay and went down 25 metres. Finally we were taken to a bit of the Ho Chi Min Trail and also to the Khe Sanh Green Beret base up in the mountains. We passed through some minority tribe villages which were amazing. We hadn't considered the mountains previously, but might change our route slightly in Vietnam to go into the mountains north of Ho Chi Min City.

I'll leave you with some stats (photos are refusing to upload again. Gah)

Number of times closed eyes on Moto Ride to Station - 5
Number of times lost Rach on Moto Ride - 3
Number of abandoned American military vehicles seen by the side of roads - 6
Number of metres of Vinh Moc tunnel walked through - 500
Number of times bumped head in Vinh Moc tunnels - 3

Hanoi Part 2 - This time with pictures!

After Ha Long Bay - it was back to Hanoi for a night before getting the Night Sleeper to Hue. The computers in the hotel we were staying in wouldn't allow me to upload photos - so here's some now.

(No stats in this post - sorry)



Typhoon Xangsane - as seen from 35,000 feet



Count the Moto's - apparently there are 2,000,000 of the noisy things in Hanoi, with only 4,000,000 people...



Typical Hanoi Old Quarter street scene



Another typical Hanoi street scene. Slightly blurred as it was taken from a cyclo

Ha Long Bay

After much, much searching t'internet for non-shonky Ha Long Bay tour operators (didn't fancy Cockroaches and Rats as fellow shipmates) we picked a company to go on a Junk, have a tour round the bay, go swimming and kayaking and sleep over on the boat before more swimming and touring back to the mainland.

Ha Long Bay (which means Descending Dragon apparently) has nearly 2000 limestone islands. It's an incredible area (if you remember 'The Man With The Golden Gun' , a Moore Bond, then Scaramanga's lair is in Ha Long Bay). There were 11 people on the tour in total, who were all a great laugh (which is good as people seem a bit wary in Hanoi in general) - plus the four crew, our guide and the ships cat. Well I say Cat, she's a 2 month old Kitten and very cute, if very loud and annoying at times.

We were taken to 'Surprising Cave' which, although not very surprising as it's a cave - is very impressive. It must go back about 400/500 metres. We then sailed to a secluded bit of the bay to do some Kayaking - and no we didn't capsize. We did manage to fit through a small cave in one of the rock walls which led through to a lagoon. It's completely cut off from any other form of access and was absolutely astounding. We heard monkeys in the jungle above us but didn't actually see any.

Some Stats

Junk kittens befriended - 1
Number of swims in the Bay of Tonkin, South China Sea - 2
Number of capsized kayakers rescued - 0 (would like to say 2 but someone else got there first)



Towards the not very surprising cave



On one of the islands



Oooo arty! - And yes, I did take that

Hanoi

Before getting to Hanoi, a little about getting here.

So we turn up to the new Survanbumi (spelling?) airport at Bangkok nice and early as the taxi driver took the toll-way (damned driver from the airport didn't. Grrrrrrrr) Anyway, we check in and wander through the duty-free shops when the gate number changes on the board - to the other side of the terminal, about 1.2 kms away. We wander over to the new gate to find a Thai 777 to Tokyo occupying the gate. But we're told to wait and there are other people from the check-in queue around. So we wait, and wait and no aircraft arrives - or any Vietnamese passengers. It's just the Western passengers. Meanwhile we can see a Thai Air Asia (our cheapo airline) 'plane pulls up to the other gate...

The gate staff are all Thai air and initially refused to talk to anyone when I asked them to "Radio only Thai Air - no phones at gate, but trust signs - signs are right" After more asking, they finally pick up the phone and call someone - but we get nothing out of them. So I decided to start a revolution/rebellion and started the long long walk to the other gate. Everyone else followed and luckily I was right. No apologies from any staff though. And then the transfer to the hotel never arrived at Hanoi airport...

But onto Hanoi. It's a chaotic place in some respects - it's traffic makes Bangkok look like a quiet little hamlet somewhere. The classic view of Hanoi (alright, so it's the classic view of Vietnam from 'Good Morning Vietnam' is one of everyone cycling everywhere. Well that's modernised slightly. They now all have mopeds, which are everywhere. All you can hear, 24/7 is the buzzing of a million 50cc motors and the constant beeping of tinny little horns. It's like being in a very humid bee hive.


A quiet Hanoi intersection.

The Vietnamese allegedly drive on the right-hand side of the road, but other than the road markings I've not seen any evidence for that at all. No-one signals or stops for red-lights. But I've not seen any accidents - yet. Oh, and everyone parks their scooters on the footway, forcing you to use the road to walk along...

But it's certainly an interesting place. The old quarter, where we're currently staying is an eye-opener. The shop fronts are tiny, so everyone conducts their business in the street - from Welding and bamboo ladder construction to cooking. The street kitchens are fun and the foods pretty good and very cheap. They also have beer outlets on the street fronts called Bia Hoi, which get fresh beer delivered everyday from one of three breweries. A glass (2/3 pint) costs about 30p and it's really nice.

We went to see Uncle Ho, but unfortunately he goes on holiday (A Ho Ho Holiday? - sorry, couldn't resist) to Russia every year in October/November. Not bad for a guy who's been dead since 1964. Apparently he's sent back for re-embalming every year. We've been to see the Water Puppets - it's like the Muppets but in a swimming pool (Rachel's description) It's actually very good and very traditional. It's a puppet show, but the sticks are hidden under the water and it's accompanied by a traditional band.

Tomorrow we're off to Ha-Long Bay to float around on a Junk for two days (which had better not be a Junk - again, couldn't resist) before returning to Hanoi for a night before getting the sleeper down to Hue, just north of where the Typhoon Xangsane hit, but apparently Hue escaped without too much damage at all.

I'll leave you with some more stats...

Number of Cyclo Rides - 1
Number of Cyclo Rides offered - Between 50-60 a day = 100/120
Number of tanks seen - 5 (better than Bangkok)
Number of Embalmed Communist Leaders Seen - 0 (Very disappointing - wanted to get up to 66% seen, am still stuck at 33%)
Number of times been a (Vietnamese Dong) Millionaire - 1

Bangkok

So, the first country is over and done with (although we're going back again). We're currently sat downstairs in our hotel in Hanoi, having arrived from Bangkok earlier today. (More in the next post - but I think Rach has already talked about it if you want to cheat and look ahead)

Having never been to the far-east, I wasn't sure what to expect with Bangkok. We arrived and passed through the new airport with no problems, although the taxi ride to the hotel took 1.5 hours. Good thing it was on the meter, it only cost about 4 pounds! Our hotel was not what we were expecting, as it ended up being a 4* international thing, and our room was about the size of our old flat. A nice, if pampered start to say the least.

Bangkok - how to explain. Well first of all the pervasive smell is one of Fish Sauce. Everything seems to smell of it! It's a strange and crazy city. In some ways it's the most consumer orientated place I've been, with TV screen adverts screaming at you from all angles as you wait for a metro train and shopping centres that are like nothing I've seen - The MBK shopping centre has to be seen to be believed - you can seemingly buy anything electronic - including Sony iPods (hey, I didn't say it was real!) and watch live Premiership footie whilst you're at it. (Bolton Vs Liverpool 2-0)

But then BKK is a really 'old world' place as well. The Wats (temples) are incredible (see photos below) and it's strange to see all the Monks wandering around with the trendy teenagers and business men. And they Love their King (Love with lots of hearts around it) Everywhere says so - down to the airbridges at the airport.

Anyways - I'm waffling, so I'll leave you with some stats.

Number of Tanks seen - 1 (disappointing)
Number of Tuk-Tuk rides - 2
Number of cool Thunderstorms - about 1 an hour in the evening


Wat Pho - Rach's face in agony after Thai Massage not shown


The Reclining Budda - 46 meters long. Really Dirty feet not shown



The Infamous Khao San Road - If you want a knock off - it'll be here somewhere