Blogs from Cambodia, Asia

Helloooo readers, how are y'all doin' today? Vanuit Siem Reap wilden we met de boot op de rivier verder reizen naar Battambang, maar door het droogseizoen staat de rivier leeg. Zon boottocht zou toch een stuk minder praktisch zijn, dus hebben we de bus maar genomen. Maar aan water geen gebrek, want het begint stevig te drashen onderweg! De gevolgen hiervan zijn toch iets anders dan in Belgie; het water sijpelt naar binnen langs het raam aan Anouk hare kant en vertragen doen we ook niet; de manouvres die al riskant waren in droog weer (camions, fietsers, brommers door elkaar op een enkele baan, voorbij steken aan 100 per uur ;) ) gaan vrolijk door! Als we toekomen worden wij en 2 andere Hollandse vrouwen belaagd door tuk tuks en hotel verkopers! Hardnekkig en vrolijk tegelijk ... read more

** This Blog has no photos but I'll get them up as soon as I'm able to ** Onwards from the pure madness of Hanoi we visited a few towns in central Vietnam before arriving at Saigon. We spent a few days in Hue and then Hoi An both of which had wonderful sandy beaches - some of the first we'd encountered in Asia! - and all of the cultural intensities I've come to associate with Vietnam. From there we travelled to a town called Nha Trang, a very touristy place, filled, somewhat bizarrely with Russians. Which I don't particularly have a problem with but it was a little strange to not encounter a single Russian in months and then wham! they're everywhere, menus and everything in Russian too. Very strange. The beach here was wonderfully ... read more

Hello folks, thanks again for the comments he! hopelijk zijn de replies van Anouk goe doorgekomen ;) Na Hue zijn we met de bus doorgereden naar Hoi An. Dat stadje ligt zon 200km zuidelijker en dat was 4u rijden ;) ofwel kon de bus niet harder, of er was iets anders, maar hij tufte rustig verder, door de bergen, langs de zee, en zo zijn we er toch geraakt. Hoi An is eigenlijk een hotspot voor toeristen, een aaneenschakeling van winkeltjes en restaurants. Overdag zegt het niet veel en het is eigenlijk te warm om in de zon te lopen (je loopt bijna even hard van schaduw tot schaduw als dat je van dak tot dak loopt bij een stortbui, it burns!). Het nadeel van ter plekke te zien naar waar je gaat reizen de volgende ... read more

Catching up on two days now, I'm terrible! I have gone into vacation mode and don't really want to do anything but recuperate from the extreme heat and humidity. We've been getting in some good pool time because it's the only time you can be outside and not nearly die from heat exhaustion. Sweat literally pours off of me in a constant stream, I have never experienced anything like it! Yesterday we left Vietnam and were pretty psyched for Cambodia. We flew Cambodia Air and arrived in 45mins or so. My luggage is getting heavier and heavier from all of the souvenirs I've been picking up, but I got some really sweet stuff. Spoons, of course, are the number one priority. Yes, I am one of THOSE people-- a souvenir spoon collector. My grandma collected them ... read more

We soon got used to being on our own again, spending another couple of days at the City River Hotel before moving on to Navutu Dreams, a small hotel out in the countryside. There is not a lot to do in Siem Reap itself but we did have a brilliant visit to the Angkor National Museum where they had an amazing array of artifacts, all well set out in adjoining rooms that seemed to flow perfectly into the next. One room had thousands of Buddha statues and it was a good opportunity to learn more about the history and mythological stories behind some of the Buddhist and Hindu carvings that we had seen. We hired an audio guide which was really useful but there were also plenty of reading and video presentations throughout the museum. There ... read more