Tuesday 23 February 2010
Saturday 13 February 2010
Battambang to Siem Reap
Just a short set for you, when you see the pictures of the kids, just imagine them saying... 'Good Bye', for some reason they never said hello. Odd but nice.
Wednesday 10 February 2010
Battambang
Hopefully this will be a slightly more cheery posting. Kate and I did something naughty, something which we probably weren't insured to do, something very, very dirty...we did a motorbike tour of the countryside!
To most hardened travelers this is a minor crime, if a crime at all, to us it was a risk as we've tried to do everything covered within our insurance policy, but we thought bollocks to that and hired 2 nice guys to take us out of town to see the sights.
Our trip took us to Phnom Sampeau the a Buddhist temple on the top of a large hill. Our guides took us very carefully on their bikes to a small village at the bottom of the hill where our young guide of 10 years old escorted us to the top of the hill. It was hot work but not too much of a challenge. At the top was a large golden Buddha, and a temple with more Buddha merchandise (is that the right word for objects of worship?). She lit us some incense and we under took a moment of prayer. Not something which I would do normally but this was a special place, unfortunately it was another site of Cambodia's dark and recent past.
She then lead us down to the base of a cave system with another Buddha statue and some human remains. The poor victims had their throats cut and were then thrown off the edge of the cave to their deaths. At the bottom sat a nun who gave us incense and tied a piece of string around our wrists. We thanked her, said a prayer and then moved on. It was quite moving.
Next stop was an 11th century temple Wat Ek Phnom on yet another hill. The steps for this went straight up from the carpark so there was no need for a guide. The temple was an interesting site, reminded me of an Inca ruin 9and Kate of King Louie's palace in The Jungle Book). At the bottom waited the highlight of the day, lunch. This wasn't any old lunch, it was a hammock lunch. For a couple of hours we sat in hammocks by a lake in a little shaded hut grazing on cold drinks and freshly cooked local food. Both Kate and I think this was one of the best parts of the trip, the view was amazing and it was just so relaxing. We may have to invest in a hammock when we get home.
Our drivers then took us around a few more sights before returning us to our hotel. We were very dusty, but very happy, it had been a lovely day out and loads of fun. Strongly recommend it to anyone staying in Battambang.
Today we took the boat from Battambang to Siem Reap, an amazing journey taking 8 hours past floating villages full of cute kids saying hello, waving and smiling... Cambodia is the best place on the planet! Tune in soon to find out more...
To most hardened travelers this is a minor crime, if a crime at all, to us it was a risk as we've tried to do everything covered within our insurance policy, but we thought bollocks to that and hired 2 nice guys to take us out of town to see the sights.
Our trip took us to Phnom Sampeau the a Buddhist temple on the top of a large hill. Our guides took us very carefully on their bikes to a small village at the bottom of the hill where our young guide of 10 years old escorted us to the top of the hill. It was hot work but not too much of a challenge. At the top was a large golden Buddha, and a temple with more Buddha merchandise (is that the right word for objects of worship?). She lit us some incense and we under took a moment of prayer. Not something which I would do normally but this was a special place, unfortunately it was another site of Cambodia's dark and recent past.
She then lead us down to the base of a cave system with another Buddha statue and some human remains. The poor victims had their throats cut and were then thrown off the edge of the cave to their deaths. At the bottom sat a nun who gave us incense and tied a piece of string around our wrists. We thanked her, said a prayer and then moved on. It was quite moving.
Next stop was an 11th century temple Wat Ek Phnom on yet another hill. The steps for this went straight up from the carpark so there was no need for a guide. The temple was an interesting site, reminded me of an Inca ruin 9and Kate of King Louie's palace in The Jungle Book). At the bottom waited the highlight of the day, lunch. This wasn't any old lunch, it was a hammock lunch. For a couple of hours we sat in hammocks by a lake in a little shaded hut grazing on cold drinks and freshly cooked local food. Both Kate and I think this was one of the best parts of the trip, the view was amazing and it was just so relaxing. We may have to invest in a hammock when we get home.
Our drivers then took us around a few more sights before returning us to our hotel. We were very dusty, but very happy, it had been a lovely day out and loads of fun. Strongly recommend it to anyone staying in Battambang.
Today we took the boat from Battambang to Siem Reap, an amazing journey taking 8 hours past floating villages full of cute kids saying hello, waving and smiling... Cambodia is the best place on the planet! Tune in soon to find out more...
Monday 8 February 2010
Cambodia, Phnom Penh to Battambang
The journey over from Saigon was fine, the border crossing interesting, lots of money changing hands and going in back pockets. Thankfully we managed to avoid being scammed, $3 for a 'health check' was one of the scams on offer, but we were wise to the problem thanks to a warning from Sham.
How the Cambodian's can smile so much given their recent history is amazing. They are such a lovely people, very friendly and helpful. We stayed 3 nights in Phnom Penh and although we didn't do all the typical sights due to the heat and odd opening times, we did see a lot of the city. The buildings and roads are in a poor condition, you can see a lack of investment, all being well though they are moving forward. We had some really nice local food down by the water front, I had a chicken curry and Kate had a dish with Pork and coconut served with crispy rice.
It's a bit more expensive than Vietnam, but we are still able to save money to bring us back on budget. Days at the moment seem to be spent wandering round in the morning and then finding a cafe or bar to relax in the afternoon with a beer and a book. We then have an all important cold shower before heading out for the evening.
Mosquitos are a pest here, the hostel in Phnom Penh didn't have air con so the window had to be left open to keep the air coming in. I thought it would be wise to use my mozzie net for the first time since I carried it around the world. The first night was fine, we had those Raid burning coils in the room and no one seemed to get bitten, I had a dry cough which I just put down to the start of a cold. I thought it would be wise to use my net again the next night, but I found that I was having trouble breathing. After being awake for several hours with no sleep and a constant cough we came to the sleepy conclusion that something was amiss. I'd said to Kate that I found the chemical taste in the room some what annoying, but Kate said she couldn't taste anything. At about 3 o'clock in the morning we decided that the net, or the treatment of the net, was causing me breathing problems. Sure enough, as soon as I removed it I began to recover almost straight away. It was a Sea to Summit treated net which wasn't cheap and I'd be interested if anyone else had similar problems. Anyway, all better now.
We took a Tuk Tuk ride to the killing fields on the Saturday. The site served as the disposal point for many of the 'inmates' from the Phnom Penh prison S21. The are over 8000 people buried there in a number of mass graves. If you are of a weak constitution then I would suggest you sit down to continue reading...
People were brought to the site in trucks and for the most part 'disposed of' during the course of the day, or the next if it was a busy period. They were killed by a number of different means, some had their heads smashed in, some had their heads hacked with a garden hoe, some had their throats cut, some were shot, some poisoned. There was a tree which was used for the killing of young children, they would be held by the arms or legs and swung at the tree until their tiny bodies were lifeless. All manner of horror took place at this and 100's of other sites around the country. It is estimated that over 2 million people were killed from 1975 to 1979 by the Khmer Rouge. Some people starved to death whilst the then government sold rice to China in exchange for weapons. As the 'official' government of Cambodia (or Kampuchea as it was renamed) The UN allowed the Khmer Rouge to have a seat in the UN whilst all this was going on, nothing was done at the time by our glorious leaders to stop this, and almost no one has been prosecuted for this crime. Its quite unbelievable. I sure that many people have said this before, but crimes like this should never be allowed to happen again.
The Cambodians seem keen for people to see the evidence and have built a tower which contains the visible remains of over 8000 people, skulls, clothes and bones. As you walk around the site, you can see clothing and bones sticking out the ground. There's a school next door and it was play time, at first it was odd to hear the sounds of children running and having fun at break, but then it became more of a comfort, a sign that life was moving on.
The next stop was the prison, S21, where a lot of the intended victims for the killing fields were tortured before dispatch. It was a former school and consisted of 3 blocks, each with 3 floors. The classrooms had been converted into either cells or torture rooms. It was a sobering sight. There were pictures on display of hundreds of the victims, all ages, all backgrounds. Many of the victims were educated and therefore at odds with the proletarian aims of the new order, although a lot the leaders of the regime were all educated to a high level, universities in France for the most part. Some of the victims were even former members of the regime, caught out in the struggles for power or just victims of paranoia.
I'll leave my interpretation of this unpleasant period in history, I'm sure there are many more who understand these events better. I don't think I could ever fully understand why a human could treat another human so cruelly, but I know no one could ever justify it to me.
How the Cambodian's can smile so much given their recent history is amazing. They are such a lovely people, very friendly and helpful. We stayed 3 nights in Phnom Penh and although we didn't do all the typical sights due to the heat and odd opening times, we did see a lot of the city. The buildings and roads are in a poor condition, you can see a lack of investment, all being well though they are moving forward. We had some really nice local food down by the water front, I had a chicken curry and Kate had a dish with Pork and coconut served with crispy rice.
It's a bit more expensive than Vietnam, but we are still able to save money to bring us back on budget. Days at the moment seem to be spent wandering round in the morning and then finding a cafe or bar to relax in the afternoon with a beer and a book. We then have an all important cold shower before heading out for the evening.
Mosquitos are a pest here, the hostel in Phnom Penh didn't have air con so the window had to be left open to keep the air coming in. I thought it would be wise to use my mozzie net for the first time since I carried it around the world. The first night was fine, we had those Raid burning coils in the room and no one seemed to get bitten, I had a dry cough which I just put down to the start of a cold. I thought it would be wise to use my net again the next night, but I found that I was having trouble breathing. After being awake for several hours with no sleep and a constant cough we came to the sleepy conclusion that something was amiss. I'd said to Kate that I found the chemical taste in the room some what annoying, but Kate said she couldn't taste anything. At about 3 o'clock in the morning we decided that the net, or the treatment of the net, was causing me breathing problems. Sure enough, as soon as I removed it I began to recover almost straight away. It was a Sea to Summit treated net which wasn't cheap and I'd be interested if anyone else had similar problems. Anyway, all better now.
We took a Tuk Tuk ride to the killing fields on the Saturday. The site served as the disposal point for many of the 'inmates' from the Phnom Penh prison S21. The are over 8000 people buried there in a number of mass graves. If you are of a weak constitution then I would suggest you sit down to continue reading...
People were brought to the site in trucks and for the most part 'disposed of' during the course of the day, or the next if it was a busy period. They were killed by a number of different means, some had their heads smashed in, some had their heads hacked with a garden hoe, some had their throats cut, some were shot, some poisoned. There was a tree which was used for the killing of young children, they would be held by the arms or legs and swung at the tree until their tiny bodies were lifeless. All manner of horror took place at this and 100's of other sites around the country. It is estimated that over 2 million people were killed from 1975 to 1979 by the Khmer Rouge. Some people starved to death whilst the then government sold rice to China in exchange for weapons. As the 'official' government of Cambodia (or Kampuchea as it was renamed) The UN allowed the Khmer Rouge to have a seat in the UN whilst all this was going on, nothing was done at the time by our glorious leaders to stop this, and almost no one has been prosecuted for this crime. Its quite unbelievable. I sure that many people have said this before, but crimes like this should never be allowed to happen again.
The Cambodians seem keen for people to see the evidence and have built a tower which contains the visible remains of over 8000 people, skulls, clothes and bones. As you walk around the site, you can see clothing and bones sticking out the ground. There's a school next door and it was play time, at first it was odd to hear the sounds of children running and having fun at break, but then it became more of a comfort, a sign that life was moving on.
The next stop was the prison, S21, where a lot of the intended victims for the killing fields were tortured before dispatch. It was a former school and consisted of 3 blocks, each with 3 floors. The classrooms had been converted into either cells or torture rooms. It was a sobering sight. There were pictures on display of hundreds of the victims, all ages, all backgrounds. Many of the victims were educated and therefore at odds with the proletarian aims of the new order, although a lot the leaders of the regime were all educated to a high level, universities in France for the most part. Some of the victims were even former members of the regime, caught out in the struggles for power or just victims of paranoia.
I'll leave my interpretation of this unpleasant period in history, I'm sure there are many more who understand these events better. I don't think I could ever fully understand why a human could treat another human so cruelly, but I know no one could ever justify it to me.
Wednesday 3 February 2010
Taking up arms in Saigon
Our last city in Vietnam has been fun, we took a ride out to Cu Chi tunnels for an 'independent' take on the war in Vietnam. It was interesting as it was the site of years of resistance by pro Communist fighters who took to living under ground for more than 10 years. We got to have a crawl through the tunnels and I got to fire an M16 rifle, as used by the American forces.
Kate went down a fox hole created for individual safety, later she made tea in one of the bunkers.
It was very interesting and quite scary how much people suffered on both sides.
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