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Published: February 27th 2013
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After Thakek with the bikes we headed to Savannakhet but moved on quickly as it was a bit dull, next stop was Pakse to visit the Bolaven Plateau which was waterfalls and villages galore. Then onto the Four Thousand Islands in the south of Laos; we stayed on Don Det in a little bungalow by the Mekong River, it had a hammock outside and thats where I spent most of my days. We ran into a group of Spanish people we had met on the slow boat so spent our evening drinking with them and one night watched Django Unchained with a BBQ. We were there about 4 days, I went to the beach once but was so hot I retreated back to the shady hammock and spent the rest of my time in that and running to the cold shower fully clothed to cool down. We rented bicycles one day to go to Don Khon, the next island over, we saw a big waterfall and were back in 3 hours; it was far too hot for any sort of movement let alone bike riding! So after 4 days of chilling out we decided it was time to move on and
change countries.
Cambodia We left Don Det and crossed the border into Cambodia - country number 3! That day was hell; boiling hot and hours of waiting around for buses then passports then more buses and finally getting on one only to be squished down the aisle on tiny plastic seats with knees in my back and elbows in my head - not the best.
We spent one night in Stung Treng just over the border; bit of a nothing town then on to Ban Lung where we hired bikes and went to a big lake, it was once a volcanic crater and is now protected as Cambodians think its all spiritual and that. We went to yet another waterfall after that but I wasn't impressed so we went back to our guesthouse for the afternoon, the guesthouse was really nice it had a big tv and all the dvds you could want, a big ass pool table and wifi - perfect place to hang out.
Next stop was Kratie; hired a bike again only 1 for both us this time though and I hated it! First being in charge of someones life on
Day 2 of Temples
Had been up templing since 5am! Oh and I dribbled on that map I'm holding :) a motorbike then on the way back having her in charge of my life, 2 bikes each forever 😊 We went to the rapids which was basically a really strong bit of river with wooden piers all along and you go rent a spot with hammocks and hang out, all the women there were covered up so it took me awhile to work up the nerve to get undressed and get in - I wish I'd kept my t-shirt on because the current was so strong my bikini top almost did a runner many times - I doubt the respectful Cambodians would appreciate a nip slip.
After Kratie we went to the capital Phnom Penh, ran into one of the Spanish lot at our hotel and did sightseeing with her and her friend, went to the Killing Fields, I don't want to say it was good as its obvs not but I found it very interesting and also depressing. We also did the S-21 prison where Pol Pot sent all the traitors to be tortured for information then sent to the killing fields - gruesome stuff. Next was the Russian Market; tiny lanes and stalls piled with stuff, I'm
not much of a shopper so not that fun for me but whatevs. Also saw the Royal Palace - not a patch on Queeny's pad. Having done all the sightseeing we went off to Siem Reap to go temple crazy.
We bought a 3 day ticket for Angkor Wat, the first day we hired bicycles and did the grand tour which is really far! We saw a load of temples, cleverly started with the smaller ones then got to the whoppers in the afternoon which were cool; after the last temple I got a flat tire so had to find a tuktuk to take me home - bummer -NOT!! $5 to not ride another 12km yes please! Day 2 was leaving our hotel at 5.30am in a tuktuk to see sunrise at Angkor Wat then more temples but I was too knackered to be that bothered. The last day we got bicyles yet again - I really dont know why I keep agreeing to it! Surprisingly saw more temples, we had a nice picnic by a lake and I ate proper cheese; I've missed it so much! Then we were done with Angkor Wat, I liked it but I
dont want to see any temples for quite a while thankyou.
From Siem Reap we headed to Battambang, we went and did the Bamboo train which is basically 2 sets of wheels with a crate on top and a motor chugging along an old French railway thats all bumpy and bent; good fun as its one track so if one is coming the other way we have to get off, dissasemble and let them pass then put it back together and carry on. Slight issue with the bamboo train was the vibrating, it caused some movement of the bowels and I basically spent the whole ride there and back worrying about shitting myself 😊 We also saw the Killing Cave where the Khmer Rouge killed about 10,000 people; our tuktuk driver dropped us at the bottom and we trekked up what felt like a million stairs, there was a temple at the top and a big gun but our guide was rubbish so I have no idea what it was about, we made our way to the cave and everyone especially Ana were getting more annoyed with our guide who was in a strop and not saying a word - I found the whole thing pretty funny. The Killing Cave was so spooky; you walk down a set of steps through a cloud of smoke into the mouth of it where theres a tribute to the people that were killled, a Buddha statue and a glass case of skulls. We went back down to meet our driver and went to the other end of the cave and watched the bats come out to hunt; it was pretty cool there were literally milllions of them in a never-ending stream. Our tuktuk driver, Han, drove us to another place to see them fly off and we chatted to him about the Khmer Rouge; he had lived through it and was 17 when they took over, his parents had been killed in the cave and he was seperated from all his family - really interesting man and definately makes it all more real for me.
And on that depressing note - I'm out!
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