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Blogs from Central, Cambodia, Asia
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May 3rd 2013
Husband to be No. 1 found An early start (7am) to Kbal Spean as its about a 40 minute car journey - known for its lingas carved into the rocky river bed (lingas are fertility carvings) and waterfall. A lovely 30 minute walk through lush tropical forest with some great vistas and it was at the top that I met Kort - my Cambodian husband to be. He might be 71 years young but theres plenty of life in him yet! Must be the daily assent as he seems to be the resident guide. Lovely guy - his English was very good and I thoroughly enjoyed the English lesson he requested from me. The new word 'poo' seemed to make his day! A very refreshing shower under the waterfall was one of the highlights. From Kbal ... read more
May 2nd 2013
Arrived in Cambodia! Ok, I admit it ... almost ended up in the wrong country! Forgot that there was touchdown in Da Nang, Vietnam - on looking out of the window I thought that the landscape was looking a lot less green than I was expecting (in fact it was decidedly brown ... and raining!) and having woken from my slumber and being a little more than dazed and not remembering that Da Nang was not the name of the airport in Siem Reap I got off the plane with a bunch of others! It wasn't until I'd completed the visa paperwork that I noticed that the silly officials had given me one entitled Vietnam instead of Cambodia .... then of course it slowly dawned on me. Hey, if I didn't have a blonde moment from ... read more
May 1st 2013
The evening before ... Had a very pleasant evening last night ... despite it having been a very long day I did get a 2nd wind and after enjoying my first ever Khmer meal (Amok - fish curry in coconut, peanut and cashew sauce) which was delicious I ventured out to get some navigational bearings of the town. Found the night market which was as I expected - lots of clothing. Also found a very friendly bar - beer (in fact most drinks) are really cheap, if you pay more than $1.50 for draught beer you're paying too much. Most are 75 cents ... happy days! Made a few new friends - Kiwis and Australians. Day 1 - The Temples ... well, some of them Got up bright eyed and bushy tailed at 7.30am as I'd ... read more
February 25th 2013
Kampong Thom to Seam Reap Sunday morning and we can have a lie in? No the funeral started again this morning at 5.30 and we can hear the lamenting voice of a woman singing out loud and clear, it makes you realise you are in a foreign country. After this came the gutterall tones of a man, it seemed like we were in Morocco and were being called to prayer. The religion here however is Buddhism and the funeral continues. Next we hear the cockerels and then the ducks and birds and figure we might as well join in. Quite surreal, singing on a Sunday morning with the light shining through pinpoint holes in the roof so that it looks like stars however we soon gave up as we didn't know the words.Breakfast overlooking the pool ... read more
February 23rd 2013
Woke up to a cloudy day in Kep but we could see the sea from our room and our breakfast was just what we wanted, muesli , fresh OJ fruit and pancakes. The hotel is owned by Australians and managed by young Khmer staff who are delightful . Sitting outside by the pool overlooking the ocean it didn't seem like we were in Cambodia, not sure where it felt like. We were picked up and driven by a huge crab which what Kep is all about to the pepper farm, not the hottest experience we have had. After learning about the 3 different types and buying some expensive peppercorns we hot footed it out of there to Takeo where we thought we were going on a leisurely cruise up the canal through the rice fields but ... read more
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January 27th 2013
I dag var dagen kommet for cruise på Mekong River. Vi startet dagen med avreise fra hotellet kl. 11:30, for å komme til båten måtte vi først lide oss gjennom en busstur på 4,5 timer.. Kjedelig! Det var et par stopper underveis, først en kjøpe drikke/tissepause og deretter en liten stopp på en gummiplantasje. På bussen snakket guiden om at det gjester fra Australia, England, Norge og Sverige. Jøss er det svensker her også sa Michael… Da måtte jeg svare som sant var at det nok mest sannsynlig var han det var snakk om..Michael er Svensk og innehar et Svensk pass… Og det stemte Svensken er Michael!! Vi kom oss endelig frem til vårt nye ”hjem”. Kom om bord og hadde fått oppgradert rom til øverste dekk . Til vår store forundring var vår bagasje allerede ... read more
January 27th 2013
Vi har i dag vært på guidet tur til et tempel som lå på en fjelltopp..dvs. en høyde på sånn ca. 300 meter. På denne "fjelltoppen" var det flere templer av diverse størelser. Vår guide som lyder navnet Som holdte et lengre foredrag om Buddismen. Men da hans engelsk kunnskaper ikke er blant de beste er det ikke riktig alt man får med seg. Selv passasjer som kommer fra engelskspråklige land har store problemer med å skjønne hva han snakker/babler om. Senere på dagen var vi klare for nok en utflukt, denne gangen skulle vi på en annen høyde og se på... Ja akkurat nok et tempel! Men i dette tempel område var det i tillegg masse frekke apekatter som vi matet med bananer. Etter dette tempel besøket fortsatte ferden videre til en økolandsby. Denne byen ... read more
Heart of happiness at a homestay (near Sambor Prei Kuk in Kampong Thom)
Published: February 10th 2013Asia » Cambodia » Central » Kampong Thom
January 27th 2013
HE SAID... We woke at 6.30am and headed down to breakfast at 7am. I had no appetite, but I managed a small bowl of muesli and a glass of (very) sweet fruit juice. After a final check of our packs, we jumped into our minibus at 9.30am and left Siem Reap for Sambor Prei Kuk, where we were to be accommodated with a nearby local family. We arrived in Kompong Thom (which sits approximately halfway between Siem Reap and Phnom Penh) at 12.30pm. We stopped at a great roadside restaurant for lunch which had five small wooden platforms (each with two hammocks, a table and a straw roof) jutting into the Stung Sen River. It was an ideal place to relax and unwind with a quick meal. I wasn’t hungry, so Ren opted for ginger and ... read more
Cambodia - Paradise beaches, landmines and temples
Published: December 21st 2012Asia » Cambodia » Central
December 21st 2012
Our chapter in Cambodia is now finished. In our first Cambodia blog we wrote about the dark chapter in the history of the country, so here we will focus on our experiences of the present. Our first impression of the country was that the population is somewhat poorer in comparison to Vietnam. In Phnom Penh we met quite a few beggars and the sad sight of people without arms and legs. Even today there are still many landmines in the country, so not the best place for a lonesome trek in the wild. In general the people seem to be very friendly. We can give a few examples. The Cambodians really care about us. We certainly shouldn’t feel tired, so all the time a (new) tuk tuk driver offered his services. Also we shouldn’t have any ... read more
December 8th 2012
We had a bit of a flying visit to Cambodia's capital Phnom Phen but from what we saw I really liked the city, it was far more developed and less busy than I was expecting! We did a day trip starting at the killing fields where so many Cambodians were killed during Pol Pot's reign. It was devastating to see and hear about exactly what happened there but it was very interesting. After that we went to the S-21 prison where Cambodians had been held and tortured before being taken to the killing fields. It was again very depressing but worth going to see and taking in all of the information about what happened. We booked a VIP sleeper bus for that evening to head up to siem reap. It turned out to be a seating ... read more
