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Lauren Whitehouse Joined: July 20th 2009
Logged in: June 15th 2011
Logged in: June 15th 2011
Travel Blog Posts
Grand Palace
WARNING: if you are squeamish, there are photographs of the Killing Fields at the end of the entry. Have you ever been looked forward to reaching a place and yet dreading it at the same time? Penomh Penh was that for me. I was keen to see the capital and saddened that this would be my final stop in Cambodia. There was so much to see in the city which was much busier than the rest of Cambodia, there was traffic! And shops! I saw actual shopping centres, this was a real shock after so much countryside where shops had still had the exterior of shacks. The signs contrast between the rich and the poor was much clearer here.. In the smaller villages and towns most of the houses were of the same style and shape ... read more
Homestay
I had been looking for to the homestay ever since I first spotted the trip way back in July. It was everything that could have wished for. The homestay took place in a quiet rural village. The house was a typical Cambodian house - a hut with a tin roof. It consisted of one room, in outer area and an outside toilet complete with a hose for flushing purposes. We were staying in a family's home . The beds we slept on where thin mattresses on slats with mosquito nets covering us. We had to sleep two to a bed which caused some giggles. As the electricity was run on a car battery we all had an early night and we all definitely had a good night sleep. In the morning the whole village came out ... read more
Beach Night Out
This post isn't that educational and doesn't deal with any site seeing. It is all about kicking back and having a little fun. Ever since I had stepped off the plane from a dreary British summer to the humid heat of China, I had been looking forward to a swim in the sea. I didn’t spend more than five minutes in the hotel when we arrived. All I did was drop my bag and change into my swimming costume. The beach had a large impact on my life or should I say the women and girls who worked on the beach did. On the beach you could have massages, threading, nail painting and buy fruit and bracelets every minute of the day. The kids are the unfortunate side effect of tourism, they spend time they should ... read more
Monkey
And thus begun our experience of local buses. We took a six hour bus from Siem Reap to Kampong Cham. All the seats on the bus are assigned by number. Luckily we were placed near the front of the bus where the air conditioning was working really well. About one hour into the journey however, I was willing to be hotter higher up the bus to get away from the bus horn. The driver blasted the horn for 30 seconds any time a bike came into sight ahead of this and on the main roads this happened every few minutes. There were a couple of stops along the way for toilets but there was no where really to stretch our legs until I got off the bus. I was ready for some exercise. We were given ... read more
I want a costume
(I remain in remarkable health. Still no sign of Swine Flu despite checks at all the boarders) I didn’t think it was possible to fall so completely in love with a country. From the moment I crossed over the boarder, Cambodia worked its magic on me. I was fascinated by the greeness of the fields and the little wooden shacks that formed the houses on the way to Siem Reap. My first impression, based soley on the reaction of seeing the shacks was that it was not only a poor country but a sad one. With very few cars on the road, and people on foot or on motorbike, nothing dispelled it for me until I got to talk to the Cambodian people. Cambodian People On our first night we joined in the local night life. ... read more
Welcome to a new country
After the reputation of the Bangkok airport, I've never been so impatient to get out of an airport. My bag seemed to take forever and customs officials extra suspicious. However since I am not begging for bail money, you can tell I got safely out of the airport. There were taxis waiting outside the airport, and I approached them clutching hold of the customer complaints slip I was given just in case the taxi driver was out to rob me. Need not have worried, he had no English and laughed at me the whole way to my backpacker hangout. The New Road Guest House was awesome, the first thing I saw in my room was a huge double bed and the first comfy mattress since I'd left home. I practically hugged the bed when I fell ... read more
The kids
Hello everyone, I'm minus pictures at the minute. I am in Cambodia where the internet can be described as slower than a snail. Picture uploading attempts have failed at most every turn. However I shall share with you the story of some of the begging kids I've met: Meet the current bane of my life for various reasons including pity. As soon as I set foot on the beach at Shiounkville, they swarmed around me, trying to get you to buy bracelets and fruit. Now ignoring them doesn't get them to go away they keep pawing at you, saying how much they need the money. The worst bit is you can't really buy from them, if you buy one thing from one, then all the others demand that you buy something from them. And while one ... read more
Here we are!
I will maintain I am in a new country though I really don't know what Hong Kong is classified as anymore. I think I am in a new country because I went through arrival forms and swine flu test centre again. China I am pretty sure is claiming it as China but the residents still seem to see themselves as set apart. My first day and night in Hong Kong were also the last ones of the tour. I was kinda of sad to think we were all going off our different ways but I don't think any of us dwelt on that too long, not when there was still a lot of sight seeing to do. At the night time we went out to see the Symphony of Lights down by the harbour. This is ... read more
At first Glance
The Longji Terraces I've probably little to say about this place. There was nothing there but walking and lots of rice. We got off our transport around 2 in the afternooning to be confronted with a lot of baskets being waved in our faces before we even got off the bus. The local people were determined to make a bob or two by caryying our bags up to the guest house no matter how many times we said no. One man must have asked each of us ten times to take our bags! I was left with a deep urge to really elbow them when they kept crashing into my shoulder. I settled for lightly elbowing the bag out of the way. Once we started walking we quickly left the basket people behind but it wasn't ... read more
I try to write my name
I've whined about the length of our trains on this trip but the one between Shanghai and Yangshou really takes the biscuit. It lasted 25 hours 30 mins . I have never been so glad to get off a train. Lucky us still had an hour and a half bus journey before we reached Yangshou. I haven't taken many photographs of the town itself though I have plenty of the surrounding areas. From the minute I arrived there I was disappointed with the town itself. It is very western. Bars and clubs line the streets with tourists shops crammed in between. To get anything local you really had to wander the backstreets. I'm not saying I didn't have a good time there because I certainly did! It was an action packed three days where I learned ... read more
