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Well, here we are, over 3 weeks into our S.E.Asia leg and absolutely loving this part of the world. So rich in culture and such worthwhile travel, rewarding us with amazing food, cheap accomodation and powerful experiences. I hope this journal entry conveys something of this....
Richard finished the last journal entry in Krabi, Thailand, where we had the most lovely hotel. A mahoooosive room, with a bigger than queen sized bed, plus all hotel mod-cons..including, bed side lights, built in wardobe, TV and super en-suite clean bathroom all for 3500 bhat or five quid each-BARGAIN!! A real treat especially after our last accomodation, which had less facilities than a shed-tho' it was charming all the same! So, to be honest for our first day in Krabi we spent rather too long watching TV....tho we did manage to book some activites for the forthcoming days.... Firstly a kayaking trip around Hong and other islands close to Krabi which are famous for their dramatic limestone cliffs. They are largely uninhabitable because, apart from tiny gorgeous white sand beaches, they are made up of such steep cliffs that even the trees have trouble clinging on. We got a real sense for their sheering cliff faces as we paddled around them, the water keeping us cool in the intense heat. After exploring a little interior lagoon we parked up at one of the beaches, a real piece of paradise, well, it would have been had we had it to ourselves!! The cliffs almost completely enclosed the bay and through the small opening you could see the cliffs of many other limestone islands in the distance....perfect....plus it had amazing snorkeling...and.... wait for it....a superior rope swing, so, Richard was happy! After a Thai lunch on this beach we moved on to another beach and another.... so not a bad day!!
The next day, after the hardships of Kayaking, we decided that a massage was in order to nurse our tired muscles....any excuse! We treat ourselves to a rather swish place....gorgeous wooden traditional thai house and pretty gardens...and an incredible/incredibly painful Thai massage! We were rather pampered/ beaten up as the Thai style massage is rather aggressive. They used all their body, (CALM down boys) like their elbows, feet, and legs, to push you and pull you in every direction -it may not sound it but it was amazingly relaxing!
In the afternoon we moved to Phi Phi Ley, an island off the coast of Krabi, catching the 2 hour ferry to get there. Tho infact we almost missed the ferry when our taxi did not arrive... When it was 15min late we rang the ferry company, who had arranged our pick up, to see what was going on, they apologised, a confusion they said, promising that if we got to the port asap by getting a motorbike that they would hold the ferry!! Can you believe it? They held the ferry full of passangers for 20 min to wait for us...hahaha we were not popular! So, the saga continues, 2 motorbikes turned up for us, i was expecting something with a side-car since we had all our luggage with us, but oh no, they put our big rucksacks in between their legs, we sat on the back, carrying our small rucksacks and off we went, clinging on for dear life in flip flops,a highly appropriate choice of footwear, and no helmet!! Anyway, we made it, running onto the ferry into a bit of a windswept mess with my hands a ghostly shade of white due to my intense holding on technique!
The main aim for our stay in Phi Phi, as well as a bit more chilling on the beach,(including 'The Beach' aka Maya Bay) was to do our PADI Open Water Scuba Diving course, which had been our aim since diving in the Great Barrier Reef for the first time. So, we started the very next day with Mosquito Dive Centre on a very intense 3 days. I think it took us both a bit by suprise as to how tough it actually was and i, especially, struggled with some of the practical exercises we had to do. It really is a mental battle to persuade yourself to take your air regulator away and to take your mask off when you were 10 meters under water. Anyway, after some gentle persuasion from our slightly manic looking Japanese instructor, (who was very good and trustworthy despite his looks) i managed to do all the exercises numerous times. Richard, of course, cool as a sea cucumber, took it all in his stride! We had theory to do too and despite being a bit scared when the guy said,'"its just simple physics", (i was always pretty rubbish at physics at school) i managed, and we passed our final exam with flying colours. So, now we are propper divers, qualified to dive on our own or with a 'Buddy'at least!
After staying in very 'basic'accomodation above the dive school for the past few days we moved to a new hotel after finishing the course. The hotel was very nice, tho they were still building parts of it, for the second time, we later realised, since at least half of the original hotel got destroyed in the Tsunami. Until arriving we hadn't realised how bady affected Phi Phi was in 2004 and it was quite incredible to see how the island was rebuilding as well as fascinating to hear some of the local stories. In fact, our dive instructor had been out diving when the Tsunami struck and said he was thrown about for about 10 min underwater, using his oxygen tank as a buffer against his hits on the coral, before he was able to resurface and see what on earth had happened!! The island, in general, seems very much back on its feet and tourism, THE only real source of income for this island is clawing its way back to pre Tsunami figures, in fact,thats my only complaint about the place....there are too many flippin tourists!
For our last 2 days on Phi Phi we spent one of them on the beach and the other in the Kitchen....doing a thai cookery school! We will have to treat you all when we get back with our new skills....so far my favourite Thai dishes include....well, basically, anything with coconut milk in - im addicted! An incredible pudding is banana in coconut milk-scrumdiddlyumptious :-)
Tuesday 6th March was a long day and night travelling.... setting off from Phi Phi in the early afternoon and arriving in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Wednesday 7th March, after 1 boat ride, 2 taxi's, 2 planes,1 tuktuk and no sleep! So, we spent the rest of wednesday recovering and had a wander around Cambodia's capital city.
Such a stark contrast with what we had seen in Thailand... so dirty and so much poverty; every way you turned there were people falling over themselves to take you in their tuk-tuk for what to us seems like pennies, and these are the lucky ones, many in more desperate situations try to sell you books or bits of tat, whilst others, often women with children, just hold out their hand or put their hands to their mouths asking for food. Its so hard to know what to do to help these people, the guide books recommend giving responsibly and i know that is best but its just so so hard to say 'no sorry' all the time. Though i felt good today as i bought a book from a land mine victim from the civil war, he said $5 and i gave him $5, i just couldnt barter with him, and he smiled so much when i handed my money over it broke my heart. Guess ill be coming home laidened with books....i better check our flight weight limit before i get carried away.....Tho on a brighter note, Wednesday evening, we had a lovely Khmer (Cambodian) curry meal in a beautiful little restaurant just showing that some Cambodians are doing very well!
On Thursday we went to the Tuol Sleng Museum for an insight into Cambodia's recent history. The museum tells of the 1970's Khmer Rouge regime and of the atrocities and mass genocide which occured during this period. Pol Pot, Cambodia's leader of the time, aimed for complete totalitarian control of the country, abolishing all freedom, splitting up families, forcing people to move to the countryside and stopping any form of religion, apart from worship of the party. Anyone who dared cross the party was punished by torture and then killed. Crossing the party meant doing ANYTHING the Khmer soldiers felt unfit to the regime's aims, whether that be an overheard negative comment, or simply wearing spectacles. Indeed, by the end of their regime, as they were losing control of the country, they simply tortured anyone, for no reason at all. (it is very appropriate that i had just finished reading Goerge Orwell's 1984 i thought)
The museum is set in an old school building which later became S-21, a security prison/torture camp during the regime, which makes the whole experience incredibly powerful. The building has been left in this raw state with little museum-ification, no prettying, no dumbing down, you literally walk through the corridors of tiny cells and see the rooms with iron beds and leg shackles, a blackboard with the rules of the camp, including how many lashes someone would get for speaking out of turn. Both Richard and i were shocked at the effect this place had upon us. We have never experienced anything like it, and I honestly now know what it feels like to feel sick to the bottom of your stomach. Indeed, we could hardly look at one another let alone speak for fear it would break us and we would just cry at what we were seeing. So, after that ordeal we went and sat for a while, just thinking about what we had seen as well as trying to understand the history and why, why, this had been allowed to happen, literally within our lifetime. But, as Richard so rightly pointed out, similar attrocities are going on today....Tuol Sleng - Guantanamo? Genocide - Sudan? Why? ... How?
Next day we continued with our Khmer Rouge experience by going to The Killing fields, the mass burial grounds just outside of the city where prisoners were taken after Tuol Sleng to be killed. Once again the effect was intense, in a stupa at the entrance lay over 8000 skulls from the 'éxcavated' burial sites but, as you walk around and contemplate the meaning and reason behind the many shallow pitts, you realise that 'excavated' can only be loosely used as a term since bones are sticking up through the earth even on the designated paths, furthermore, scraps of clothing litter the site, its all incredibly real, there is no hiding from it. I'm speachless.
For the rest of the day we took things a little more lighthearted and had a poke around one of the cities markets and visted the National Musem before an early night as this morning we were up at 5.40am to get our bus to Siam Reap.
Tomorrow, another history lesson, tho this time we are visting the 12th century Temples of Angkor from Cambodia's golden age, they are supposed to be magnificent and i cant wait.
See you all very soon, lots of love Sarah xx
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