kiwisailor

The great thing about travelling by bus is the way in which you get to see movies that you wouldn't normally bother watching. So far we have enjoyed (or more correctly endured) Little Red Riding Hood, a particularly gory Kung Fu movie with body parts severed every minute or so (the kids on the bus really enjoyed this one!), a comedy Kung Fu movie, Meatballs, Transformers and G.I. Joe. The saving grace was that almost all were in Thai. After all the fuss of getting back, its nice to be settled in Bangkok again. Amazing the feeling of peacefulness that settles in once you are back in a familiar environment. To sit down to perfect soft boiled eggs and good coffee in a large cup really gets the day off to a good start. Unfortunately we ... read more

Sihanoukville is little changed from our last visit, although this time we are up at the more expensive end of town. The town still doesn´t seem to be very busy and the majority of people that we´ve met are either Irish or Canadian. Really haven´t done anything but swim at the beach or pool. We wait each afternoon for the massage lady to arrive (1hr = 6USD) and then dinner each night is barbequed king prawns, salad and chips (3USD), its a hard life! Random conversation in cafe ¨Where you come from?¨ ¨New Zealand¨ Looooong pause ¨That near Switzerland?¨ ¨No, it is near Australia¨ Another pause ¨I know other old people from Switzerland, so think you must belong there too¨ Not too many answers for that. The Beach Road Hotel is owned (managed?) by Estonians and ... read more

Confusion Yes, I´m afraid that its true. The old story of checking and double checking again every fact in Asia caught us at last. In the last Blog I mentioned that minibuses to the Cambodia border left 3 times a day from just up the road from the Guesthouse we were in. We went up and checked again there and also with other members of the guesthouse staff and the consensus was that there was indeed one at 0830 or 0900, the other 2 times were perhaps unreliable. We arrived at 0815 to be sure of getting a seat, but this was not necessary as nobody else arrived until nearer 0900 and then just to get us into Cambodia mode the driver of the first van to arrive opened all his doors and cranked up the ... read more

We normally travel up here during the wet season so the higher temps have come as a bit of a shock. Still, after two days we seem to be acclimatising well. The flight up was fairly uneventful although the beginning was interesting as a guy, roughly our age but carrying a lot more weight than us, started performing in the departure lounge and carried on in the aircraft about how his health(!) would be affected if he had to spend 11 hours in an economy seat. Eventually the staff gave him the upgrade he wanted and peace was restored. You really have to ask yourself that if your health is that bad then perhaps you shouldn´t be flying and also if the conditions in economy are not to your liking then purchase a premium economy/business class ... read more

Day two -Volcanic landscapes Up at 6am and away before 7, heading out into even more spectacular volcanic scenery. Coming from a temperate, fluvial climate we are used to seeing the well etched and eroded remnants of volcanic cones but here all erosion is by gravity and wind giving the cones a softer form. The valleys become flat plains filled with volcanic debris and snow is a rare sight even though you are at 4-5,000m. The lakes that have formed are mainly thermal in origin with several levels of sinter flats exposed, some of them metres thick. Spicular sinter and silicified reeds and grasses can be found underfoot on the flats. The lakes are now fed by cold water (soda?) springs and borax is being deposited at the margins. Sheets of thick ice cover many ... read more