'Angkor waaaaaat?'

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Hello hello all; its my turn to tell the story of our trip so fresh from conquering the Thai Islands and Bangkok (again) Charlie and I, now left all alone thanks to the departure of our Denny daughter (miss you fran ) headed to Northern Thailand…

After an overnight coach journey to Chiang Mai, Charlie and I were, as normal, dumped in the middle of nowhere at 5.30am and had to attempt to find our way to our hostel. Walking through Chiang Mai in the early morning light should have been an enlightening magical experience but with a heavy bag on my back and no sleep I was in no mood to appreciate the beauty. After an argument with a small Japanese man (I could have taken him) and four Germans (maybe not so much, they were a lot bigger than us) we managed to check into the last remaining room at the Hostel. The day passed in a blur of walking round the city, visiting temples, talking to Buddhist monks and a night safari. The next day we embarked (really really early in the morning… gah) on a two day trek to a hill tribe on the thai/burma border. I am sure you all know how I feel about physical exercise so this little excursion proved to be quite a challenge for me! After a tuktuk ride and riding an elephant round for a bit (our elephant driver was smoking a joint and talking on his mobile the entire time… typical) we embarked on the mountain. After straggling at the end of the group, then stopping to tie my shoelace and then having a break to ‘appreciate the beauty of the place I was in’ (I actually had such a stitch in my side and couldn’t move for a bit) I managed to take a wrong turn and walk for fifteen minutes in the wrong direction. Cue hysterical shouting ‘ÇHARLIEEEEEEEEEEE’ “WOOODDYYYY’ (he was our guide…ledge). A small Chinese man informed me that my group had headed in completely the opposite direction and I was a good half an hour behind them now. Bugger. I stumbled on the now correct direction, bumped into a Thai herbal man who gave me a head massage and ended up joining a group of Aussies who ensured I found the correct hut in the end. After spending a night in a hut with the locals, we trekked down the mountain the next day, washed in a waterfall and white-water rafted back to base camp.

That night we left Chiang Mai and headed to Laos. We had booked a two day long boat which both The Lonely Planet and Rough Guides claim is an unforgettable experience. They are right. Upon getting on the minibus that night (we were spending the first night at the border before attempting the crossing early the next morning) we bumped into four lads from Biiiiirmingham, Hannah from Winchester and Jade from Australian. We were officially a group of eight and after negotiating visas from corrupt Laos Officials we finally made it on the long boat clutching a few bottles. The boat was ridiculous, not enough seats for everyone and one disgusting toilet for about fifty people to share. We were told we would be on the boat for about 7 hours before reaching a small town where we would stay the night before making it to Luang Prabang after another seven hours on the boat the next day. So about 12 o’clock off we set. After journeying on the boat, about sevenish we suddenly pulled over to the side of the Mekong River and everyone was told to get their bags and off the boat. Apparently the water was too shallow to continue to drive the boat with all of us and the bags so we had to walk for a bit. ‘For a bit’ meant an hour and half trek across the rocks and sand of the bank with our backpacks and as the sun set, we ended up doing it all in the dark. The boys were brilliant though, Lawrence ended carrying my backpack and my day sack with all his stuff while I scrabbled round on the rocks in my flip-flops. Charlie carried her own stuff… she appears to be less of a child then I am. Anyway, upon finally reaching the boat again we were told that it was now too dark to sail and we had to spend the night on a riverside complete with supernoodles being sold for two pounds, people offering us opium and a pig running around. The boys all found there inner Rambo and lit a massive bonfire and we ended up having a bit of a party. The next morning, we woke up with the sun stiff, very cold and covered in sand and then stumbled back on the sodding boat to complete the last leg of our journey. The eight of us decided it was a good idea to go straight to the back as we could stretch out… it turned out to be the engine room. Gav and I climbed up above the engine and stretched out under my sleeping bag… my lovely lovely sleeping bag which was a gift from my work colleagues who I miss very much. After a couple hours sleep I decided to go to the loo. Upon returning, I found my sleeping bag wrapped round the engine, Gav’s version of events was ‘I like just got up to have a look around and suddenly the sleeping bag was in the engine… mental.’ The whole boat had to be pulled over while engineers tore apart the bag trying to get it out the engine and shooting me filthy looks. Jo, Marcella, Sian; I am so so so very sorry but I am still blaming Gav for the whole thing… I will happily give you his address if you wish to send him a strongly worded letter!

About 5ish we finally reached Luang Prabang after another ten hours on the boat. We found a guesthouse, had a well needed wash and ate some dinner. That night, as opposed to sleeping, we decided to go for a few quiet drinks… all bars and clubs shut about 1ish and then the place to be is the bowling alley!

After a couple of nights in Luang Prabang we decided to head on to Vang Vieng, tubing capital. Our group expanded further when we bumped into a couple of girls who had been at Uni with a friend of ours from home… small small world. The same night I also bumped into a couple of friends from my uni which was possibly the most the surreal experience ever. Vang Vieng is just like the islands, people sleep in till noon, go tubing all afternoon, get dinner, have a nap and then head out and get drunk again. Tubing is also the strangest activity. Its set the down the Mekong, you float down on a rubber ring and there’re bars either side that throw out ropes and drag you ashore. We jumped off cliffs, went down the slide of death (apparently a girl died on there about a month ago) and participated in mud volleyball.

After a few nights in Vang Vieng, Charlie and I were starting to get ill from the madness and decided to move on to Vientiene, the capital, and submerge ourselves in a bit of culture. It was back to being the two of us take on the world. After seeing the sights and having amazing bagels, we decided to stop off at the 4000 Islands (which I happily called the Four Thousand Acres the entire time much to Charlies annoyance!) which are only accessible in the dry season. All the coaches had been booked, so we thought, we’ve been trying to do this travel thing for a while now, lets just jump on a public bus and try to do it ourselves. We ended up spending the night in the middle of nowhere in a little village (no internet, no tv… there was barely running water) called Chanpasak before heading to Pakse and then finally making it to the Islands.

The Islands were beautiful and very untouched. It was nice to have a couple of days to relax after the madness of the last couple of weeks. Charlie was really keen on renting bicycles and cycling around (I think she wanted to think she was in The Reader) which we did one sunny morning. Off we set along the riverside with the wind in our hair and smiles on our faces. Sadly half way through the day, Charlie realised she had a flat tyre. At this point we should have turned around, gone back to the bike rental shop, explained the situation and gotten a new bike. However, a man at the side of the road said he would fix it for us. We were thrilled that we managed to fix the problem ourselves and once again set off. About thirty minutes later we discover the tyre is flat again and when we try and wheel it back the whole inner tube comes out and we cant even turn the wheel. It took us over two hours to half carry and push and shove both bikes home and we couldn’t get a truck or a van as there were no roads… and it was really really hot. That day was enough to put me off cycling for life!

After sitting in a exhausted stupor all night, we headed to Siem Reap in Cambodia the next morning, eager to experience a new country, a new culture and a new type of beer. We met a boy called Elmanda (Elmo) who claimed to be an olympic athlete from Hong Kong on the bus and adopted him as our mascot. He called Charlie Lulu and constantly told her how beautiful she was. He called me Chubber. Siem Reap is a beautiful city and I really enjoyed the few days we spent there. We went to go see traditional Khmer dancing, experienced the wonder of Angkor Wat and the surrounding temples (I wouldn’t stop talking about Lara Croft to Charlie and Elmo entertainment/annoyance) and experienced the local night life. The hostel we stayed in was really cool and we had a couple of brilliant nights out with everyone. The main bar we went to was called Angkor What? which we negotiated free t-shirts from (we wear them with pride) Saying ‘Angkor Whaaaaaaat?’in a silly American accent is something that has still not diminshed in entertainment to either of us yet and its been over a week!

We travelled on to Phnom Penh after Siem Reap which is where we are at the moment. Our hostel is disgusting (don’t panic mother mistry… its not that bad) and I cant wait to leave for Vietnam tomorrow. Phnom Penh is a weird city, Im still not sure I like it. We spent the last few days seeing the sights; visiting the Killing Fields and the Prison where the visitors were kept left a massive impression on both Charlie and I. It is bewildering and so so so very sad to know that so many people died such a short time ago. We watched a couple of episodes of Fawlty towers at our hostel earlier and suddenly realised, when that was being filmed in England, millions of people were being murdered in Cambodia. My Amnesty-esque background is definitely coming out now and I think I am definitely going to try and raise some more awareness at home- so I hope you all are looking forward to coming to my fundraisers and protests back in Woking!

We’re off to sample the local nightlife tonight (theres a club called heart of darkness apparently) before getting on a bus to take us to Vietnam at 7am tomorrow morning (gah). plan is then to spend another two weeks there before a week in Malaysia before heading on to Sydney (cant wait to see Fia!) To all concerned family members, we have both gotten over our illness and looking after each other well (well Charlie takes care of me more than I take care of her… I am such a child… mother and father mistry, I blame you for this. but Mummy Frost please don’t worry, I am trying!) We’re having the time of our lives but missing home at the same time as well… its an odd combination. it’s odd knowing that we’re not going to see friends and family for another 5 months or so. hope all is well and we love hearing whats going on so please keep emailing and skyping us!

looking forwarding to reading everyones comments on the blog

lots of love
Hiral and Charlie xxxx

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Comments

[marcella]

hello
All sounds jolly good fun. I'm very envious, and we all miss you too. Keep in touch xx