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Published: December 4th 2007
It’s been a few weeks since last updated the blog and we have done so much that we are going to have a novel if we don't update it now so here goes!! (this is take 2,we actually wrote this whole blog once and then Rich hit a button and wiped the whole thing!! Men and computers, I don't know!!!)
After leaving Borneo our first stop was Thailand, we had only planned to stay in Bangkok for a couple of days but an unexpected wait for our visas meant we had to stay for 4 days. We passed the time by discovering the many markets and temples of Bangkok, we spent far to much money on the Kho San road, this included a large wooden Buddha and a wooden frog that makes noises?? In fact we ended up having to send a lot of stuff home as there is no way we could carry it all! The next day we visited the Grand Palace and Wat Po. The palace was impressive and Rich and I invented a game that involved getting as many monks in our photos as possible, I don't know why but it was fun!! The temple in
Always on the lookout for a bargain !!
Karen in the many markets on the Kho San Roadthe palace housed the emerald Buddha which is the holiest statue in Thailand but this was nothing compared to the Buddha we saw at Wat Po, here they have the largest reclining Buddha in the world, hopefully the pictures will give you an idea of how big it is!!
Another must see is Wat Arun, we decided to visit one afternoon and we were assured that we could just cross the river to get to it, HOWEVER.. After walking for a good hour there was no bridge in sight so we decided to turn around, it was only when we got back to the start that we noticed a big sign saying ferry to Wat Arun here, only 2 steps from where we started.. we did feel a bit silly but think of the exercise!! It was all worth it as Wat Arun gave us some spectacular views of the city, even though we had to climb the world’s steepest steps to get there! After we were having a drink when we met the cutest little girl who thought Rich was hilarious and I spent ages pulling faces with her so of course we had to get some photos!!
Kho San Road by night
The las Vegas of Thailand !!! When we had our Visas we booked ourselves on the bus to Siam Reap in Cambodia, we had heard lots of stories but nothing could quite prepare us for the experience!! The trip to the border was really easy and we thought it was all going to be great however we then spent 4 hours hanging around at the border trying to avoid pickpockets and con men! Once in Cambodia it was like stepping into a third world country, there was dust everywhere and the amount of poverty we saw was so sad! It was really evident that this is a country still trying to get back on its feet after years of genocide and war!! The bus journey was the worst we have been on by far, it seems the government have not got round to tamacing any kind of road from the border to Siam Reap, it was like driving down stairs for 7 hours and every bone in our bodies was well and truly shaken!!!!
Once in Siam Reap we had some time to kill so our Tuk Tuk driver suggested a visit to the war museum, we both thought we knew about the atrocities
Tuk Tuk
The only way to travel !! that had happened in this country but we quickly realized we didn’t have a clue! Our guide in the museum had been fighting since he was 13 although he didn't tell us for which side! He had been shot 6 times, lost his leg to a landmine, had no gall bladder, he had no vision in one eye and only 40% in the other and as he showed us his whole body was riddled with shrapnel!!! As if this wasn't bad enough his wife was also killed by a landmine 4 years ago so it is really amazing that he is still alive. During the tour he showed us all the kinds of land mines that had been used in Cambodia, this was a real eye opener, at one point during the troubles there were 7 million people living in Cambodia but 13 million landmines, so just under 2 for every person. Even today there are 4 million land mines still live and they kill 4 people every day! All this opened our eyes to what had happened and made us appreciate the country so much more!
One of the main reasons for us visiting Cambodia was that Rich
had always wanted to go to Angkor Wat so we found ourselves getting up at 4am to go and see the sunrise there. The early start really was worth it as the view was stunning however the spell was broken slightly by the hundreds pf other people who were there to see it as well, we have never seen so many Japanese tourists in our lives!!!! Although Angkor Wat is the main temple people visit there are so many to see it is unbelievable. During the day we visited the temples at Angkor Thom (which was very good for playing hide and seek!) and Ta Prohm where they filmed Tomb raider, they were all beautiful but it was an exhausting day so we decided to forgo our plans to see the sunset at Angkor Wat and head home, we just don't have the stamina in our old age!!!!
So after an amazing few days in Siam Reap we decided to move on to the capital Phnom Penh. After doing some research with our trusty rough guide book it seemed that a visit to the capital would be quite an emotional one. On arriving in Phonm Penh we were
greeted by the usual hoard of moto and tuk tuk drivers so we jumped in the 1st one we saw and headed to our guest house. You could definitely tell we were in the capital it was massively different from Siam Reap with modern cafes on every corner and neon lights everywhere. After a relaxing 1st evening in we decided that we would go and see the main points of interest which were the infamous Killing fields, S21 prison museum and the grand palace and the silver Pagoda.
We started off by visiting the killing fields. On arriving the 1st thing we saw was a huge monument to remember the people that had been found that had there it was only when we got inside that we realized it was filled from top to bottom with the human skulls that were found in the graves. It was a sobering sight and made you realize the scale of the genocide that took place, in total 3 million people were killed in 4 years, 20,000 of whom including westerners were executed at the killing fields. The site is a series of craters that were the mass graves; some have signs telling
you how many people were found in that grave, one had been full of bodies with no heads. It is up to imagination to fill in the gaps which was very unsettling. I spent the whole visit trying not to cry, there is a tree that was used to beat children and there are still lots of clothes sticking out of the ground which you just step over, its all extremely sad!!!
Out of the frying pan and into the fire, our next stop was Tuol Sleng genocide museum (also known as S21) this is an old school that was used by the Khmer Rouge as a prison. Of the 10,500 adults and 2000 children that were detained there over 4 years only 7 made it out alive! The school rooms were all split into cells and have been left almost as they were found without the dead bodies and blood. There is a single bed with no mattress and some of the torture implements that were used however the worst bit was the picture on the wall of the body that had been found in each cell, it was horrific to see and at times made us feel
ill. The rest of the museum is made up of rows and rows of mug shots of the people that were killed there; one board was full of children that would have been the same age as Ryan, as you can imagine this was extremely upsetting to see. The whole visit was draining but we came away very thankful for everything we have and amazed that all this happened in the last 30 years but we knew nothing about it!!
To finish off the afternoon we paid a visit to the Grand Palace and the Silver Pagoda. The palace was very grand but for some reason we couldn't find the Silver Pagoda!!! The King was in but for some reason he wasn't accepting visitors!!! This showed us quite a lot about the history of Cambodia before the genocide and it was difficult to see how the palace was not devastated like a lot of the rest of Phnom Phen.
We had been on the go constantly for the last 3 weeks so we thought that a bit of serious R n R was in need so we decided to jump on the bus to Shianoukville. Shianoukville is
Cambodia's main beach resort and we did nothing for 4 days but sunbathe, drink beer and cocktails, watch sunsets and generally just chill out!!! Another thing that would definitely attract you to Shianoukville is the food. I had lobster on the beach every day and fresh barbequed fish every night and not one case of delli belly in sight!!!! You do have to be careful though when ordering in some shacks as "happy" is the order of the day!!! You can order happy milkshakes, happy pizza's even a happy curry or just a "happy" on it's own and from the look of the barman he had had quite a lot of happy if you know what I mean. He could barely open his eyes!!!!
So after a 15 hour journey and 9 different modes of transport we find ourselves back in Bangkok and are at the moment waiting for the night bus to go to Chaing Mai. We'll try and update this after then.
If you have managed to make it to the end of this blog thank you to all the people that put comments on and sent us messages on our last blog. Chaing Mai here
we come!!!
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fran
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travels
Hi both. It's richards mom and dad. The blog was very interesting and pleased to see the photos.You seem to be settling in well with the locals.A great experience. Look forward to the next one Luv Mom and Dadxx