http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Crookshanks/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Crookshanks en-us Tue, 08 Dec 2009 21:00:09 +0000 Tue, 08 Dec 2009 21:00:09 +0000 At 9am I walked out of the air conditioned hotel into the heat of the Cambodian morning temps already edging to the 30s and climbing as I walked to the car where my guide and driver were waiting. First stop Angkor Thom.We drove right past Angkor Wat on the way just seeing the wide wide moat for the first time was spine tingling then the famous skyline of Angkor Wat came into view briefly bef http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Angkor/blog-356088.html The aircraft swooped low over Siem Reap twinkling lights visible in the darkness of night car lights moving along various roads and tracks garish lights flickering from various motels lining Airport Road even party lights shone up from some sort of pool party being held below. We had had a surprisingly short journey lifting off the runway at Hanoi bang on time oh the joys of an efficient air http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Siem-Reap/blog-356083.html In Hanoi the Sofitel Hotel lays claim to having the best view of town from their Summit Lounge right up on the 20th floor. I had to go and investigate. Naturally my investiagtion meant sampling some of the excellent drinks on offerThe views are surperb. Floor to ceiling clear spotless glass offer unimpeded views over Hanoi from the Red River on one side to Tay Ho on another Truc Bach Lake wh http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Hanoi/blog-352149.html Today I thought I'd follow the Arizona Senator John McCain's footsteps from when he was a POW in Hanoi during the VietnamAmerican War here. He was shot down above Truc Bach Lake conveniently close to Tay Ho where I live. During the War Truc Bach Lake and Tay Ho were surrounded by antiaircraft weaponry and many American airmen were shot down over those lakes.John McCain survived the somewhat http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Hanoi/blog-352144.html 70 kilometres outside Hanoi in Ha Tay Province is a complex of Temples and Pagodas collectively called the Perfume Pagoda. I booked a trip to explore the Pagodas. At the appointed time a luxury car pulled up and I climbed inside for the twohour journey. Very comfortable The scenery as you leave Hanoi is lovely with rice fields galore small villages and various Pagodas Temples and other shrin http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Hanoi/blog-350298.html Ho Chi Minh is revered here. So much so that when he died his wishes of cremation and ashes to be placed inside 3 urns at specific points within Vietnam were firmly ignored in favour of preservation placing inside a Mausoleum so all could pay their respects to Ba Ho Uncle Ho. Visiting him is something of a surreal experience.Firstly opening hours at the Mausoleum are strictly limited to 0800 http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Hanoi/blog-350204.html One evening after work I went for a walk round Hoan Kiem Lake which roughly translates as Lake of the Returned or Restored Sword. There seems to be a few versions of the story but the basic premise is that a King Le Loi who ruled Vietnam some 600 years ago obtained a magic sword from either the Lady of the Lake or The Golden Turtle of the Lake depending on which version you hear which u http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Hanoi/blog-350200.html Well the bags are packed my passport has a brand new visa for Vietnam in it and my PSP is being charged up in preparation for the long haul flight tomorrow. Guess this really is it. A manic few weeks' preparations has finished now. All I want now is a hot soaky bath some good old English Beer I have a nice Speckled Hen in the fridge and a last visit to an excellent English pub Tonight that http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Hanoi/blog-339986.html After a night agonising over the time Chile move to Daylight Saving Time on 13 October at midnight. My traveladdled brain had worried over whether it was safe to add an hour to the alarm clock before midnight so I didnt really sleep very well with images of clocks running through my brainThe flight was uneventful if uncomfortable for my ears. I have no idea why or if the cabin pressure was d http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Argentina/Buenos-Aires/Buenos-Aires/blog-211344.html Sob My last day on Easter Island and the plane was due to depart at 1310. I jumped out of bed for possibly the first time since I was a child and raced about packing up. Packed up I took the jeep for a last drive round Hanga Roa just taking photos. I had time to visit the Museum for some more culture and background on the sites I had visited over the past few days. Went back to Tahai for a las http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Easter-Island/blog-211342.html Today is my last full day on the Island so I elected to srive back to some of the sites I visited during the full day tour in the hope of having those sites to myself or at least without a horde of tourists like myself taking dozens and dozens of photos.My first stop was back at Rano Raraku the Moai nursery. This time I just enjoyed walking alone amongst the Moai and taking a closer look j http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Easter-Island/blog-211339.html Today I became a proud hiree of a Suzuki Vitara 4wheel drive car. Never mind that I had no idea how to engage the 4wheel drive bit I was determined to explore the Island After a tentaive test drive to the local supermarket to stock up for a picnic lunch bread cooked meat cheese soft drinks and chocolate I headed out of town.It didnt take long.Before I knew it I had run out of paved roa http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Easter-Island/blog-211336.html Today I elected to take an orientation tour around Easter Island which was fabulous. It was great to have a guide explaining the sights and she was excellent in making sure I understood what was being said. The group was pretty small at 10 tourists and two guides. We split into two smaller groups of 5 at each site.The tour kicked off at Vinapu very close to the airport for a single Moai then w http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Easter-Island/blog-210410.html It is strange feeling after travelling 2500 miles over nothing but the sea. Absolutely nothing below the plane except blue both ground and air. 5 and a half hours later of nothingness a tiny speck of volcanic rock appears. The Boeing descends so low over the sea I was warming up my arms for swimming. Luckily the pilot was a more confident person than I and we landed on solid surface a bare 5 http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Easter-Island/blog-209895.html Tomorrow I leave for Easter Island but thought you might like a quick overview of Santiago before hearing all about the mysteries of Rapa Nui.Santiago is a great city completely surrounded by mountains many of them snowcapped. The city centre is very easy for even a mapilliterate like me to find my way round. Have not got lost once and am secretly rather proud of thatPlaza DArmas is the no http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Santiago-Region/Santiago/blog-209542.html After a great soak in sulphuricscented hot baths at the top end of Aguas Calientes I slept extremely well. Perhaps the nice strong GT I knocked back whilst soaking in hot water at the baths helped... The only problem with the baths was the colour of the water a particularly unattractive shade of vomitgreen with a nice scent of eau d sulphur thrown in it was hard to feel clean afterwards http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Machu-Picchu/blog-209538.html Today we moved from Cusco to Aguas Calientes a fourhour train journey through a canyon with the Urubamba river flowing. This time we went backpacker class although the train went past the Hiram Bingham a sort of Peruvian vresion of the Orient Express. Costs a cool 500 US Dollars to ride on that train.Upon arrival at Aguas Calientes we dashed to our hotel dumped everything and reported prompt http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Aguas-Calientes/blog-209286.html Naturally we had to have a good base in Cusco and we found one in the Cross Keys Pub owned by a certain Mr Barry Walker MBE.Now this place is very special for no reason other than it served some lovely home brews such as Abbot Ale Greene Kings IPA and Old Speckled Hen.The place was only marginally more classy than a certain other Cross Keys Pub near Hull in the UK but nonetheless an excell http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Cusco/blog-209282.html We spent the next two days exploring Cusco a fascinating city at 3400 metres a whole 200metres lower than La Paz. First day we visited Saqsaywaman a fascinating fort above the city with the usual accroutments of local beliefs in the Sun Moon an astronomy tower. It would have been a large complex housing several thousands of people. On the same hill was a Statute of Christ the Redeemer over http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Cusco/blog-209280.html Just thought I would do a quick entry on the foods and drinks of Bolivia and Peru Not for the squeamish....The beer here is rather good very typical European lagertype beer thats very drinkable In La Paz brewing beer is rather hit and miss because of the altitude water boils at a mere 83 degrees rather than 100 elsewhere.Another alcoholic drink is Pisco Sour. Every time I drank it I co http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/blog-209278.html