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Nic writes…
After leaving a very chaotic Ho Chi Minh City, we took a guided cycling trip into the Mekong. Over three days, we cycled (apparently) c.100kms along narrow pathways past rice fields, through palms groves and fruit plantations and, predominantly, alongside various canals and waterways. We also cycled over the highest bridge in Vietnam which, in the heat and humidity, was pretty tough going. Along the way we visited a floating market and a place where they make yummy coconut candy. The Mekong was my favourite destination in Vietnam as it was so peaceful relative to everywhere else we went.
Before we left the UK, I was really looking forward to visiting Vietnam, having studied the war at AS level. I thought that by going, I would get a better understanding of what happened and how it impacted the country. Unfortunately, there was too much propaganda and it was difficult for me to believe anything we were told whilst there (although this can be interesting in its own right). I'm still glad we visited Vietnam as it is an amazing country with some incredible unique scenery - it's just my initial expectations weren't quite met.
After we left the tour, we made our way to the border with Cambodia where we took a boat to Phnom Penh. Before we arrived Rich told me that the city (based on his visit 7 years ago) was much less developed than the cities in Vietnam and to be prepared for rats and cockroaches! However, to his surprise, the city has significantly changed and was easily comparable to Ho Chi Minh City. There is even a huge mall and numerous branches of Costa (where we enjoyed a double chocolate frappe)!
The relatively recent history of Cambodia is very sad and it is difficult to comprehend that these atrocities took place in living memory. Experts estimate that, as a result of the Khmer Rouge, c.20% of Cambodians lost their lives. Many of these victims were educated people such as teachers, lawyers and doctors. Even those who wore glasses were targeted because glasses meant you read too many books! Whilst this all happened in the 1970's, justice is slow coming. Only last year, two of the leaders were sentenced to life in jail, and there are more people still on trial. We visited the killing fields just outside of Phnom Penh where thousands of people were executed. Whilst there we took an audio guide which was very well put together with survivors' stories, but it was incredibly difficult to listen to.
We also spent an afternoon in Phnom Penh fishing with a local family. We were able to do this through same organisation that had linked us up with the cooking courses in Nepal, Backstreet Academy. It was a fun afternoon and we discovered that we are very good at catching small fish (not big enough to eat individually but apparently great for soup) if we are directly pointed to where they are in the water! Apparently Rich caught the most fish any foreigner has ever caught with that particular family….this immediately inflated his ego and he hasn't yet let it go (he was also told he looked like a movie star by a Cambodian girl, but she wasn't sure which one….any suggestions are welcome, I maintain that he doesn't).
After leaving Phnom Penh we took a night bus to Siem Reap to see the temples of Ankor. The temples are incredible and it is hard to believe that the civilisation contained c.1 million people when London was still a small town of c.50 thousand. The biggest annoyance we faced in Siem Reap was a general refusal to accept any US dollar note that doesn't look brand new (nearly everything is priced in dollars and the local currency is only used to provide change for any amount less than $1). We had so many notes refused due to their quality (some of these notes we have had with us since we left the UK, some we picked up in Zimbabwe and some were even given to us in Siem Reap - all were more than acceptable in our view). We even caused a bit of a scene at the entrance to Ankor where they wouldn't accept a note as it had some faint shadowy black marks on it (as a result of it being in a wallet for a while). When it costs 3% or more to take cash out each time, it became incredibly frustrating. At least we are going to the US later on in the trip - we are quite confident that they will accept our notes!
From Siem Reap we took a short flight to Bangkok. Unfortunately this was not a great journey as initially we were delayed for an hour so landed at midnight. We then had to queue for 45min to get a taxi into the city. Finally, once we arrived at our hotel, we were informed by the very unhelpful receptionist that they had no record of our booking (which we did via Expedia). After 45min which included a couple of calls with Expedia, who in turn called up the hotel, the hotel decided that another booking must in fact be ours, they just had the wrong name on it! We finally entered our room at 2.30am. Hmph! Having said all of that, we then decided to go out and visit Khao San Road (a 3min walk), the notorious backpacker ghetto, where we saw many people stumbling around/crying/shouting/[insert stereotypical drunk person behaviour]. This lightened our mood :-).
Bangkok is [in]famous for many reasons and therefore very interesting to people watch. In particular, we spent a lot of time watching other backpackers and commenting on the ridiculous clothes they wear. As many of these clothes are sold on the streets, we decided to set ourselves a challenge. We split up for 90mins and with the equivalent of £10 we had to find the most ridiculous outfit. We have posted the results in the photos and would appreciate your votes for 'who looks the most ridiculous'. I shall be leaving these clothes in the hotel room….(Rich says he is keeping his).
Tomorrow we catch a flight to the Philippines where we will spend the next few weeks. Luckily we'll be leaving Manila just as the Pope arrives...that would be chaos!
- comments
Karen I vote Nic as most ridiculous. The tooth necklace swings it for me! Loving the blog, keep it coming please. X