See trip index here, Laos index here, and more photos from Laos here

Luang Prabang has a reputation of being a chilled and special place in Laos – but with this reputation comes the growing menace of touts.  Even the bus tuk-tuk driver tried to get away lightly by not going where we wanted – so good old GPS sorted him out.  And pretty much from every corner you get “tuk tuk?” “boat?” – and even restaurant owners are a bit more pushy.  The town doesn’t have a free map, only one for £1 or more which in Asia is hideously expensive.  Instantly you get the feel that a lot of the locals just want to milk you for money – an experience not really felt elsewhere in Laos.

Our hotel was good though and we explored pretty much the entire old town on the first day, climbing the Phou Si hill to watch the sun set over the Mekong.  The price was steeper than the hill and though the view was good, the sunset wasn’t as special as it could’ve been – and the top was full of tourists.  The night market though is nice, lots of arts and crafts that seem worth buying, and no pushiness from the vendors.  Not quite sure on the authenticity of some of it mind!

The next day we rented another motorbike (twice the price as everywhere else) and went to Kuang Si Waterfalls.  The road was fairly good, hilly and windy, with not much civilisation not the sort of place you want to have a problem.  Which of course we did – the back tyre went flat after only 5km. But fortunately I noticed fairly early so we didn’t have an incident, and also it happened only about 1km from a tiny village where I saw someone with a big compressor.  I was only going to ask for some air, but the guy took the wheel off and fitted a new inner tube (the old ones valve was split) – and only charged just over £3 for his efforts.  He did point out the front tyre was also split waiting to go bang.  I did check the tyres for tread, but missed the split in the sidewall.  Got the feeling the renter wasn’t completely unaware, and they lied about how much fuel I needed which they drained for themselves.

The Kuang Si Waterfalls though were impressive and worth seeing.  Spectacular, though not quite as good as the Erawan falls in Thailand, but probably worth a visit if you aren’t too waterfalled out.  Next to the falls is the Free The Bear Fund Laos setup where an NGO charity rescues sun and moon bears from captivity and bile milking – a place Mel has been eyeing up since before we left.

In town we both had a long overdue hair cut, but think some details got lost in translation.  Mels hair was shorter than normal and the fringe was snipped off, and I pretty much got a Monks cut.  Now I know past 40 I’m due to lose my hair – but not like this!

Our next stop after Luang Prabang is heading towards northern Thailand.  The only real way of doing this are by plane (£160), 15+ hour bus on very windy roads, 7+ hours on a speedboat (complete with crash helmets and life jackets) which Mel ruled out, or a 2-day (8+8hrs) slow boat trip.  Typically these slow boats are over full, uncomfortable and you can’t move around, and very basic.  None of which appealed so fortunately we noticed another option…

A VIP slow boat (for about 3x price of slow boat) takes the same time, but limited to 40 people, has comfy chairs, tables, TV, DVD, toilet (!), 220v power, games, lounge, bar, and even includes a decent restaurant and free lunch.  Well – thats what the brochure says and we know how honest they are…  But we thought we deserved some luxury so booked this, with the only downside the boats don’t go daily so we’re having to stay in Luang Prabang for a couple of extra days.  A tough call especially as our hotel room was upgraded for free so now overlooks the Mekong… !

To be fair, Luang Prabang is a nice place to be stuck in – some very good places to eat and chill, and we even enjoyed spending  a day on our balcony watching the world go by.  The Luang Prabang old town is a UNESCO site with a French feel and has its fair share of Wats and Monks.  There is a famous Alms ceremony daily where traditionally locals would give the Monks food and items to sustain them, but at the moment it is more of a tourist show with no locals (bar the ones selling you stuff to give to the monks) and very inappropriate tourist behaviour.  Bit of a shame so we opted to skip it – not least because it also starts at 6am!

We did however visit the Royal Residence and temple which were worth a look around, but the royal residence isn’t as opulent and some – probably highlighting the previous Kings didn’t overspend too much.  The temple though was impressive with some detailed gold carvings inside.

Laos, like Thailand, also has its fair share of elephant camps.  Some of these have good reputations, some not so good with the internet citing abuse and overworked elephants, but we took our chance and booked a day-ish with some Elephants near Pak Ou caves.

We were pleasantly pleased to find there were only 4 people and 3 elephants, and about 4 or 5 Mahouts (elephant handlers) and guides, so our camp was hardly over busy.  We started on a jungle walk with a bench on the elephants back, and whilst not that exciting, it was a good introduction and showed how the young mahouts looked after their animal.  For us, the elephants were not regimented in a route, and if they wanted to stop and jump into a bush to eat something they were allowed with rather funny consequences.  Ours was a little nervous of vehicles so when we saw a moped on the way back she ran back!

After this, we were given basic training on how to talk to the elephants and get them to go where we wanted, and then took it in turns to climb on and just sit on the elephants neck and guide it around.  Clearly we weren’t very good at this but again the mahouts kept control whilst allowing the elephants to have a lot of scope to play.

Finally we doubled up and took them down to the river to give them a bathe – though clearly the consequences were obvious when asked if we could swim….  So with us both sitting bareback on the elephants neck we took them into the river where clearly the mahouts have a command to “shake them off” – which the elephant did!  What we can say though is the elephants really seemed to enjoy the bathe and playing with us and their keeper.  The keepers were chilled and laughing, and honestly, so was the elephant!  Happy for us to climb on and then try and dunk us off rodeo style!  The only concern was if we got squashed – but we didn’t.

We then climbed on and went back to camp.

We think we were lucky, the camp really did seem to keep the elephants well. They were always eating and are obviously eating enough judging by what came out of the other end too.  They were not over worked, and they looked in good health.  And their mahouts were giving them as much freedom as possible whilst ensuring there is income from the likes of us to keep them fed.  Far better than a zoo, and probably the best option available as letting them go into the wild here isn’t viable.

After the camp we stopped at a local Whiskey producers where they make rice whisky and wine, but in the whisky bottles they have snakes and scorpions…  Hmmm – probably not our taste!

Having done everything we wanted in Luang Prabang, we relaxed Laos style and got ready for our interesting journey to Thailand.  Annoyingly, only 3 weeks left now and even more annoyingly we are starting to think about things we need to do when we get back.  Argh!!!

For the next “slow boat” installment, click here

See trip index here, Laos index here, and more photos from Laos here

Vang Vieng is pretty much a nowhere place – its entire existence seems to be a travellers way point and has little Laos character, but the scenery and activities more than make up for it.  To be fair, its clean, easy to get around, and you are spoilt with many food choices and styles, and bars more like lounges where you can chill with a beer and watching funny TV.  The nightlife is very much how you’d expect a backpacker town to be, with lots of young people behaving like its their first time away from home.  Riding on roofs of tuktuks, being very drunk by 6pm, and wearing pretty much nothing.  Its not all bad!

The main attraction is the warm river and scenery with one of the main activities being tubing.  Here, you get taken in a tuk tuk 5km or so up the river and you go down it floating on an inner tube. Nothing special, but along the way there are many cool music bars to grab a drink and chill and pretty much its a party from the start.  Some bars have swings, zip-lines and some even death slides.  I use that term literally as two people a month dies whilst tubing, though mostly its due to too much drink or drugs.  It really has to be experienced, but it really is a good laugh from the start.  Sadly Mels shoulder still isn’t healed so she got out of the swings.

Our second day was spent playing on the river a bit more, a bit of tubing inside a cave (fun, but not as spectacular as Thailand), and then a long kayak trip down the river taking in some of the stunning scenery and, of course, popping into a tubing bar on the way down.  Some lovely natural views of people working the river, and even water buffalo bathing!  Our kayak had a hole in and thus almost sank a few times…

Kayaking probably wasn’t a great idea as the following day I did a day rock climbing, and with an aching upper body (and of course no natural ability) it was tough going.  Managed to do about half of the climbs attempted, mainly 5b/5c but failed on the 6’s.  Not enough stamina to make some of the moves   The limestone rocks were also pretty rough on the body so left there with a few more scratches than when I started.  Excellent fun, and again the scenery is superb.

We could easily spend more time in Vang Vieng playing and having fun but decided to move on as we have many more places to see before we get back – and with under 4 weeks left the end is getting closer.  So we say goodbye to the adult-less party town and head on an 8 hour bus ride north to Luang Prabang…. 

The journey is renowned to be awful – of the 8 hours about 6 are on very windy mountain passes with no crash barriers, and just about wide enough for 2 vehicles.  We opted for the bigger coach rather than the mini bus, but even so we both felt a little rough towards the end.  Not helped by seeing a baby bear in a jar at one of the stops…  The road was not the sort of place you want to have a tyre blow out lest you end up like the bus at the end of the Italian Job!

But yes, we got a tyre blow out! 

Fortunately our driver was very smooth and slow, not a madman.  Also the bus had twin rear wheels and we were going round a left hand bend when the left tyre went bang in style.  Could’ve been a lot worse as really it was without drama and only cost us some time as the drivers changed the wheel.  The spare tyre though looked in a really bad treadles way, but it is fortunately dry and it held out.

On arrival at Luang Prabang we got the usual necessary tuk-tuk vulture cartel and had to pay to get transferred into town to our pre booked hotel which is rather smart, and we look forward to exploring what is described as “The most charming city in SE Asia” in the morning…

See next installment here

See trip index here, Laos index here, and more photos from Laos here

Savannakhet is one of the first places we’ve been pleased to get away from.  Unless you are into Eco Treks and homestays then its rather dull, apart from trying to escape from the most aggressive dogs we’ve seen in Asia.  Lins cafe saved us with somewhere decent to drink, and she even let us spend time upstairs whilst waiting for our bus!  Not to mention some biscuits for the journey.  The bus was an overnight bus, and it is weird as it has fully flat double beds in it.  It’d have been a perfect nights sleep had the roads been smooth, but this is Laos, so we only got a bit of sleep before arriving in Vientiane – the Laos capital.

As typically happens, the bus terminates at 5am about 8km outside of town meaning you have to venture into the vulture pack of tuktuks to get into town.  Our hotel though was a good choice so we dumped our bags and explored the quiet, bright but small city.

The Victory Gate (Patuxai) is an Arc-de-Triumph type structure, but built “slightly” higher than the original just to annoy the French, and made with concrete given by the USA to make a new runway!  Hence they honestly call it a hideous concrete monstrosity.  The gardens are pretty and the road goes to the Pha That Luang religious stupa monument glistening in gold  Some guys were trying to sell birds in boxes that you let free and get “good luck” – but I bet they are all homers and the guy resells them tomorrow!

There are a large array of eateries near our hotel, some western and some Laos but full of westerners, but for tea we settled on a very nice street cafe with some impressive food. 

The following day we headed to the morning market where Mel fancied some new underwear and agreed a fair (but probably still tourist) price with the seller, only to then get confused and try and pay 40p for her purchase!  The seller obviously wouldn’t sell and Mel thought she was being ripped off.  Oops.  After counting the number of “zeros” on the notes she went back in and rebought with all of the staff having a good laugh.

We then headed to “Cope” – the rehabilitation centre for people with limbs missing, normally from bombs from the Vietnam war (in which incidentally the US majorly bombed Laos with cluster bombs which still kill 100’s a year.  Nice one USA – another “what were they thinking…”).  We were in 2 minds about visiting as clearly it shouldn’t be (and isn’t) a tourist attraction, but it was informative and shows off their amazing work.

There are millions of UXOs still in Laos which are either found accidentally or hunted for scrap metal, but many (especially kids) are injured and loose limbs.  Fortunately there is now a treaty against cluster bombs signed by most countries, but yep, not the good old US of A.   

We also visited the Laos national museum which has a few objects and photos, but sadly misses an overview of what has happened in Laos and why – so we left none the wiser and a little more confused and will need to add to our Wikipedia to do list.

Vientiane is a nice capital, but not in any wow category, but nice enough to be worth a visit.  Leaving Vientiane we took a 4hr bus to Vang Vieng.  The bus was fine with a good driver, but the roads were the worst we’ve seen.  Tarmac in places, and then just rough rock in others – and bizarrely no reason as to why, but there would be 10m of smooth, then 100m of rough…  No wonder the busses are knackered.

Vang Vieng isn’t anything special – just a tourist/backpacker town, but the scenery is superb and there are loads of activities to do here – such as tubing, kayaking, and climbing – should be a fun few days!

For next installment click here

See trip index here, Laos index here, and more photos from Laos here

We only stopped at Pakse as it was a convenient destination when crossing into Laos, and to be fair it doesn’t have any must see sights.  However, as an intro to Lao Peoples Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) it is a good start.  It does show why Lao PDR is called Lao Please Don’t Rush as it is incredibly laid back.

Wandering round, even in the markets, you don’t get hassled by anyone unlike most of SE Asia.  Driving is chilled (but still mental by Euro standards), and the pace is very gentle.  Even for our evening meal at a local restaurant on the Mekong we didn’t get any menu-hawkers, and even had to ask for a menu and make the effort to order!  The staff wouldn’t have got up otherwise.  That said, the meal was very nice and different from what we’ve had before, and we were also treated to some live music in a very local atmosphere.  Really a rather chilling place to be.

The next day we rented a motorbike to head to Pak Song and explore some waterfalls along the route, but we found out to our costs what the real road rules are.  Despite the locals having overloaded bikes; no lights; driving on wrong side of road etc, they don’t seem to have problems.  At the first set of traffic lights we got to I was in the wrong lane and to let a 4×4 turn right I moved out of the way crossing the stop line (but not entering junction) which of course was wrong, but as locals barely stop for red lights I didn’t think it was an issue.

But Mr Plod (and his mates in a road side hut) decided to pull us over and give us a telling off but then asked for payment of a fine.  Oops.  After pretending not to understand he demanded 50,000 kip  (about £4).  No way to get out of it despite me saying “is it okay to go”, and after more of my attempts to go I just asked for a receipt which he said no to.   So I said “no receipt, 20,000kip then” which he went for.  Clearly just beer money for them but a £1.60 fine is probably fair game – just be aware the Police favour stopping westerners.

The road was okay for the most part, but in some places was a mud/sand bath – perfect for mopeds on slicks.  Going all the way to Pak Song isn’t worth it, though there is a hotel at the far side with a clean western loo if you need it!

We stopped at two waterfalls, both of which were a legitimate 13,000 kip for 2 people + bike, and both were spectacular and well worth a visit.   Thamchampy Waterfall had a lovely swimmable pool, and Tad Yueang Waterfall was even more impressive.  The only downer, and typical for when we rent a bike, the heavens opened into a tropical downpour so we had to hide in a cafe waiting for the rain to abate.  Got a bit chilly so we decided to miss a few others and head back for a hot shower. 

Without much else to see we took a 4-5hr local bus to Savannakhet which was so full people had plastic chairs in the aisle, and the bus also had stuff strapped to the roof – including motorbikes.  One bus we saw had 10+ brand new bikes strapped to the roof!  The driver was a nutter, 65+ on narrow roads with ox and goats in the road, but at least we made it.

Savannakhet is just a stopover to break the journey up and wasn’t really a great stop though.  The town has a major French influence with many similar buildings and layout to a small French town, but it is a little dull non-happening place brightened only by a few temples.  As it was my birthday we tried to find somewhere special for dinner, but found nowhere worth going.  We found and almost lived in Lins Cafe – a lovely helpful place with good food, free wifi, and we saw the same westerners in there numerous times as they also struggled to find anywhere better! 

Outside of town there are a few Eco treks you can do, and homestays, but these don’t really appeal to us so we decided to take the night bus to the Laos capital Vientiane instead.

See next installment here

See trip index here, Laos index here, and more photos from Laos here

As mentioned previously, there is very little information on the Internet about getting from Cambodia to Laos via the route we are going.  What information exists is conflicting and though we hope all the good things we read are true, we really hope all the bad things we read are false.

In Kratie, we hoped we’d find more information on getting to Laos, but really not much exists!  There are no tourist offices with set trips to choose from (yet) and there is vague mention of “VIP” minibuses that are best avoided.  Phnom Penh PP Sorya 168 has an office in Kratie, and even they don’t mention anything about Pakse on any adverts or posters they have.  The guy there will sell you tickets to either 4000 islands in Laos or Pakse in Laos, but beyond that he (appears) to know nothing else.

We bought a ticket from Kratie to Pakse for $17 each.  It is scheduled at 13:30 but told to arrive at 12:00, and it should arrive at the border at 16:00.  Worryingly the guy didn’t know any information about the border crossing, visas or bus changes or anything else!  To the border, the bus is the same if you are going to 4000 islands.  The bus is due to arrive in Pakse at 20:00.

However…

In the morning I had another Asia instant-weight-loss bug which isn’t ideal on for a good 8 hour journey.  Fortunately we were able to change the tickets to the following day and found a slightly better hotel for another night just to stay in bed.  My body did a good job of ridding itself of nasties quite rapidly from both ends.  Valentines day in bed sounds like fun, but not like this.

So the following day we arrived at the office at 12:00 for the 13:30 bus, which arrived and left about 13:15.  Surprisingly the bus was a large and comfortable with a toilet (unchecked!) – and after a 20 minute lunch stop it arrived at the border about 17:15.  The guy on the bus gives all the necessary visa and immigration forms, and for a small fee will deal with it all for you – including filling in and signing the forms…!  UK visa on arrival = $35; Cambodian exit bribe $2, Laos immigration bribe $2 and guy on bus fee $1 or $2.  The guy on the bus does not force his service and some did it themselves, but we couldn’t be bothered and let him deal with it.  So don’t forget your USD in cash and a passport photo.

This actually meant we stayed on the bus (bar getting supplies from the market) and didn’t need to do anything at all or show our face to any official.  The same bus continues into Laos dropping the people off for 4,000 islands, and continued through to Pakse stopping at a bus station 2km east of town about 20:15.  You need a tuk tuk to get into town ($2 probably), and we paid in USD as we didn’t have any KIP and he was happy with that.

Clearly the journey and crossing with Visa on Arrival (VOA) is now trivially easy and you can ignore any blog or forum question/answer from 6+ months ago (thanks to Lonely Planet forum for telling us this route was possible, we may not have tried it without their input.).  Probably going to get easier too as the Cambodians seem to be constructing a large immigration building to replace their current shed.

We didn’t reserve a hotel, so when we arrived at our first choice we were a bit annoyed to find all the normal rooms full, and after quickly checking the nearby hotels and rejecting them, we had to pay for a posher/pricier room – though changed to a cheaper room for the second night.  Plenty of ATMs on “13 South Road” in Pakse, so getting KIP is trivial.

Pakse itself isn’t a must-see destination, just convenient, though it is a good base to explore the nearby countryside which we intend to do.  Walking around the entire town is easy, and there are a few temples to see as well as a large new market selling everything from clothes to hardware, and even food so fresh it was still breathing.  Including frogs.

The walk along the river is nice with plentiful bars, and we found out quite quickly Lao beer is both nice, and cheap!  No doubt this has contributed to a nice initial view of Laos, as being chilled and rather pleasant, so we need to get into the Laos swing of just being chilled and watching time go by….

See next installment here

Cambodia Costs and Review

See our general tip page here.  Note the costs here do not include external flights, vaccines and insurance etc – this will be detailed at the end of the trip.

Overall

Cambodia was a massive surprise.  Before we came we only read information on how we’d be ripped off at every opportunity; and how the roads were awful and dangerous; and how bad some accommodation was.  Our real findings though were vastly different.

Not once were we ripped off (maybe short changed a few pence), and not once did we feel unsafe.  The locals were unbelievably friendly, and even the kids happy to say a quick hello and not want/expect anything in return other than a hello and wave.  Very undemanding.

Cambodia has an awful history that we need to look at in more detail, and find out why the UK still supported Pal Pot of the Khmer Rouge years after he got booted out and millions (25% of Cambodian population) were murdered.

Considering what the country has been through we think it is amazing, and with so many kids at school the future is bright.  We only hope it doesn’t get ruined by being too touristy and then treating all westerners as walking ATMs. 

Siem Reap, Battambang and Phnom Penh were great, though we disliked the beach areas – though may have just been a bad choice.  We know we missed other parts off, and we didn’t go too far off the beaten track so haven’t really gone too deep, but we think we got a good view on the country.

Recommended to visit, and of course, Angkor Wat area is just stunning…

Budget

Our daily spend of  £39 is so little, and yet we did so much.  A fairly cheap country to get around in, and you could easily reduce our hotel costs by 50% if you like it rough,  At our level it was rather pleasant!

Security

Keeping small change (notes) loose is a good idea so you don’t get you wallet out.  Be wary of having “stuff” on display, or things dangling, as there are so many mopeds snatch-crime would be easy to do and hard to catch.

For us, we’d say we had no security issues – though we stayed alert throughout.

Useful facts:-

• ATMS:  ATMs everywhere (even in Kratie) and they only give USD.  When you get money out, if you have a big note go direct into the bank and change it (free) to smaller notes.  Canadia bank didn’t charge us anything for withdrawal
• Currency:  Most big items priced in USD, whereas smaller items priced in Reil.  4000 Reil=$1 and they are interchangable everywhere.  e.g. $1.75 item, pay $2 get 1000 reil in change.  $1.25 item, pay 5000 reil, or $1 and 1000 reil.  Easy really.
• Landry:  Most places around $1 to $1.50 per kg
• 7/11:  None – local shops only, but water etc similar price everywhere.
• Transport:  TukTuks are typical – negotiate first.  Even locals use “good” bus companies – Capitol and PP Soyra 168 are both fine and you can get tickets everywhere, and they can do hotel pickup.  Avoid tourist minibusses as they put 20+ in busses meant for 16. (+luggage!)
• Chemists:  Reasonable selection – also big supermarkets (Lucky) in Siem Reap and Phnom Penh for all western toiletaries.
• Food:  Street food easy to access.
• Language:  Knowing Yes, No helps – but English ok for normal stuff. 
• Power:  mains plugs everywhere so charging stuff is trivial (socket adapter may be needed, and of course make sure charger is 110/240v!). 
• Internet:  Wifi available in every guesthouse we used and in many bars/cafes.  Internet cafes and PCs to borrow also available free/cheap.
• Toilets:  Western style in all guest houses and in most “good” public places, there may only be one in a row so look.  Worth carrying toilet paper though seldom needed.

Stuff we took and didn’t use

(see our packing list here)

• Towels – they were provided by every guesthouse, even special beach towels
• Mozzie net – only needed in one place, and it was already provided.
• Loads of clothes – you only need 4-5 sets of undies – laundry is so trivial to do you do not need to carry as much as us.
• Spare batteries for stuff – power so available we kept things charged
• Main padlock – all guest houses had normal locks

Things we’d change

Sihanoukville wasn’t worth the trip, though Kep and surrounding places may have been.  Potentially we should have done more research surrounding these places and amended our routing.  But apart from that, we’d keep all as was.

See trip index here, Cambodia index here, and more photos from Cambodia here

Our last chilled day in sunny Siem Reap we did research on how to get to our next destination – Kratie – on the way to Pakse in Laos.  Quite a journey with very limited options, and our Internet research doesn’t show any clear or simple options.  Up until now we’ve been on a well trodden backpacker path where connections and transport seems to be easy, but from here to Kratie and then from Kratie into Laos information is scarce.  What makes it more confusing is the conflicting information on who to trust, and even if a VOA (Visa on arrival) is available at the Cambodia/Laos border….  Hey ho – that adventure is to come!

For now, the only transport we can find is the Phnom Penh PP Sorya 168 bus company.  Their office in Siem Reap is on Savaha Boulevard – not the location on their website.  A bus from Siem Reap to Kratie requires a change at Kampong Cham.  Leaving SR at 7:30,due at KC at 12:00, then the bus from KC to Kratie at 12:45 arriving 16:00.  All for $10.  Apparently.

Mel decided to have a nice massage before the bus ride – premonition?

The pick up bus was due at 06:45 and arrived promptly at 07:20 taking us to our first bus, the 07:30 – which left at 8:00.  After a couple of coffee breaks (needed to get away from the flippin’ Khmer Karaoke) we arrive in Kampong Cham at 13:30 – 45 minutes after our connecting bus left.  Other people on the bus were told the connecting bus was at 13:00, 13:15 and any other time.  Regardless, we were told to wait for the 14:00 bus that arrived at 14:30 which we all bundled on.  Looks like this bus was the one we should have got and the time on the ticket was a lie.  We eventually arrived in Kratie at 18:30 – so quite a long day!

The roads were actually quite good and the drivers as quick as the busses would go, so I’d be surprised if the journey could be much quicker by bus.  The views along the way were impressive and almost like a time machine as we passed people working the land in the old method, even with ox and carts.

Kratie town itself is, well, pretty dull and a bit dirty, and probably not a destination in itself if it were not for its location.  That said, it does have a lovely local feel to it and you do get the sense you are away from the backpacker trail even if you aren’t.  The market building burned down a few months before we arrived, so work is ongoing to rebuild the centre of town which should bring it back to life a bit.  Hopefully they’ll open more eateries as the choice is limited and poor.

One of the main attractions near Kratie is the rare Irrawaddy fresh water dolphin only found here, with only around 80 left alive.  We hired a motorbike to visit the area at Kampi, and of course Cambodia drives on the European right.  Not that it actually seems to make any difference as people tend to drive on whatever side is in the shade.  Along the way stopped at the Kampi rapids – an area where the Mekong is warm and, well, has rapids.  Many locals seem to chill, swim and maybe eat there, but there was a $1 foreigner charge though not sure how legit it was.  The views of the countryside though are superb.

The Kampi dolphins are easily visible, though a charge of $7-9 is made, and this includes an hour boat tour to hunt them down.  It actually feels like a hunt but the boatsmen are very careful not to get too close.  The dolphins keep popping up but don’t jump out of the water, so are next to impossible to photograph.  Worth a trip, and hopefully the money paid goes to their conservation.

As this is our last place in Cambodia, we bought a bus ticket to Pakse in Laos.  The bus company sold the ticket but couldn’t tell us anything about it – apart from the bus is scheduled at 13:30 but get to the station at 12!  The destination of Pakse isn’t mentioned on any paperwork or adverts, or even the ticket we were given.  No Visa information was provided either so we’re still not totally sure….

So our last night in Cambodia and we’ll miss it.  It is a lovely country, and apart from the odd couple of rogues the people are friendly and honest, and its a really great place to visit with some amazing sites.  Probably much more to see off the beaten track than we’ve seen, as we seem to have stuck to the tourist trail somewhat, but overall it is much better than we originally anticipated.

See Cambodia review and summary here

See next installment here

See trip index here, Cambodia index here, and more photos from Cambodia here

After another lovely street food meal, with some superb shakes we said goodbye to Battambang – a tatty place with a friendly feel.  Hopefully it will improve over the next few years.  Our bus journey from Battambang to SIem Reap on Capitol busses cost $3.75 and took about 4 incident free hours.  Our $20 guesthouse in Siem Reap feels like a good quality hotel, superb attentive staff, excellent room and outstanding service.  Quite chuffed with the find, though at #3 on Trip Advisor its hardly unknown.

Siem Reap is the main entry to Angkor Wat temple complex and so it is heaving with tourists.  Unlike Battambang which almost closes at 8pm, Siem Reap has a late night feel to the town and a bustle we’ve not seen for a while.  Very full of westerners though with the associated tuktuks and $1 massages, but it does have a nice feel to it along with a huge choice of restaurants.

Obviously, at Siem Reap the main attraction is the Angkor Archaeological Park with all its impressive temples.  Everyone says it takes at least a few days to explore, and as we’re really not hugely into temples we thought this was a bit generous.  But, we took advice and got a 3-day pass ($40) which is the same price as 2x 1 day passes, and hired a private tuktuk ($13) for the day to whisk us around.

Our expectations were not really that great, but we were soon convinced.  We did the standard “short route” tour, which started at Angkor Thom and Bayon temples which were hugely impressive and over a vast area.  The towers had faces on pointing to the 4 points, and the carvings through just were amazing.

After Baphuon and Phimeanakas which were okay we dropped down to the Terrace of the Leper King which had loads of carvings and again was absolutely amazing.  To be fair, even the less interesting temples were set in stunning landscapes which were worth a visit for themselves.

Following a few other minor temples we had a look around Ta Keo which was okay, then on to Ta Prohm which is famous from the Lara Croft movie – Tomb Raider.  The temple is a cross between being ruined and in good nick, and ancient trees are growing in/on/over the walls leaving some astounding views of trees intertwined with the walls.  Photos do not do any justice to the place but it was massively impressive, just sadly popular with tourist – ah – that’d be us then!

We decided to skip some other minor temples and head to Angkor Wat which looked huge from the outside, with a long walkway surrounded by a moat/lake thing!  After 5 minutes of walking, Angkor Wat looked even bigger and even more impressive but were yet to reach it. The scale is astounding and whilst possibly not the prettiest of temples, it really did shock due to the sheer size of it.

You can, of course, climb all over the temples, up loads of steps and explore.  We opted just to read a brief guidebook and not use a guide – a decision we were pleased with looking at how bored some people were of facts that they didn’t care about.  There were a few beggars and kids, but there were also some busking-bands (not begging) from people like land-mine victims – so they got our change.

After a long and incredibly interesting day, we haven’t touched the surface of the Angkor park  – but what we have seen is superbly impressive – far moreso than most ancient things we’ve seen in our previous travels.  Just a shame Lara Croft wasn’t at home….

On our rest day we continued exploring and wandering around Siem Reap, and amongst some nice temples we found a reasonable sized supermarket where we were able to buy some essentials – including hot-chocolate and a small jar of Marmite!  Made Mels day.  There are loads of bars and eateries in Siem Reap – choices between street food and good/cheap restaurants.  Amazing when you consider 12 years ago there was one bar! 

The following day, after marmite on toast for breakfast, we headed into Angkor Archaeological Park again for a big circuit tour including going to Banteay Srei which is about 38km away.  With a private tuktuk for the day it costs $22, but we met a couple of girls who we previously met in Mekong in Vietnam so shared the tuk tuk with them.  As if I would give up a chance of 3 girls company for the day…

Pre Rup was our first stop, which is an impressive mountain temple with lions and great views from the top, and then to Banteay Srei (citadel of the women) which is the most touristy temple we’ve seen.  Very intricate carvings and statues of Monkeys and Lions, but clearly the most renovated and organised.  Takes half the fun out of it when you can’t clamber over stuff.

Banteay Samre was surprisingly nice, an old moated temple, but overshadowed by other temples we’d seen.  East Mebon was also a little dull except for some ancient elephant carvings.

Ta Som though was impressive, back to huge faces on the top of towers and a huge tree growing out of the east gate.

Our final temple was Preah Kahn which was really quite impressive – a vast old monastery which used to have 1000 monks.  Superb carvings everywhere and loads of areas to explore and wander round, with lots walking and sadly lots of piles of the old temple!  More stunning trees growing out of the walls, and some double story structures sort of shows how it used to be.

Overall we’re templed out, but absolutely well worth the visit – must be one of the must-see areas on the planet, and I defy anyone to be bored for the duration.  Clearly tourism is a big thing here and it does contribute to the renovation of the temples, but it is a fine line between leaving the temples “as is” and renovating them.   Banteay Srei which has had huge amounts of renovation feels western, with lots of signs “can’t do this” and “can’t do that” – and it makes it pretty boring.  Whereas Preah Kahn where you can explore anywhere you want is a lot more interesting.

The mind boggles on how big an area the temples are spread over, and of course how on earth they were built, and how they used to look in their prime.  Some research required when we get back.

If anyone is tempted, get over to see the Angkor complexes as soon as you can.

 For next installment, click here

Below is a very very rough map of the route we’ve taken.  Doesn’t look much, but we’ve fitted in all we can!  Details of the trip index can be found here

The colours are:-

• Blue:  Overland by bus or train
• Black:  Flight
• Red: Boat
• Yellow:  Combination of bus/boat

 

View South East Asia Trip in a larger map

See trip index here, Cambodia index here, and more photos from Cambodia here

On our return to Phnom Penh, we wondered if our positive views would change after our experience in Sinanoukeville, as to be fair, there are plenty of girlie bars and “hello tuktuk!” men.  But something about PP makes it all less intrusive, even the girly bars are only identified by their names “69” “Horney Bar” etc…

So our last 2 nights in PP were still good, we had two good tasty meals out, a few good ice creams, and loads of walking around different parts of the city.  Phnom Penh is still very much recommended.

On leaving for the second time we headed to Battambang – a 6.5hr bus ride away.  To be fair even though it looks chaotic, the Cambodians have this sorted, as we got picked up to the hotel the entire bus ride was only $6.  We had good front seats for the lovely scenery en-route, and even the stop had good priced food and drink.  The only main issue was the driver made one mistake and had to emergency brake, but the brakes semi-failed and rather than go into the back of a lorry he had to veer on the wrong side of the road to a head-on with another oncoming lorry!  Most of the passengers were either screaming or making funny noises, but somehow everyone missed and we carried on.

The driver hit the dash dials as I think his air tank had gone, and when we stopped the customary running repairs took place – with a few compressed air leaks!  To be fair, the driver was very good and neither Mel or I (in the front seats) flinched…. 

For the first time we got to a hotel we had not pre reserved, and fortunately they had room. A reasonably smart hotel, and a big room and bath, all for $15 a night (£9.50).  Battambang is a funny place, Cambodias second most populated city, but more like a small UK town, and it is in need of a bit of TLC.  But it does have a nice feel to it and was hassle free bar a few people asking for money.  We ventured to a night stall area for some local food, and indeed had a very local and very tasty meal, with beer, for about £2.60 for us both.  They fortunately had an English menu!

There isn’t much really to see in Battambang unless you love Temples, so after seeing the town (1 day max) we spent time doing thing.  We had a morning class at cookery school, learning to make Kymer dishes, Fish Amok, Spring roles, and Lok Lak.  Very good value course ($10) as it included a market tour with information on what ingredient was what, and also buying everything we needed fresh.  After cooking, we did of course eat the lot – though Mels Tofu dish wasn’t great.

The small-world syndrome continued when after the course we bumped into people we met in the Mekong in Vietnam, and for the evening we went to the Phare Ponleu Selpak circus – which is a human art/acrobatic type circus with very disadvantaged children who also get a good grounded education.  The show wasn’t perfect, but even so it was impressive and entertaining and worth the money.  As we were full we grabbed a light tea – and astoundingly I had a meat baguette for 50c – 30p!

Our final day in Battambang we opted for a bike ride on the countryside which allowed use to drop into a rice paper making household (which are used for spring rolls), a craft place and to see another Killing Field memorial.   Nice again to see lots of genuine kids saying hello, and the odd blown kiss to me from the older girls, but life is pretty tough there.  The tour was worthwhile, but the guide was fairly useless – and the bikes were hideous!

Overall though, a reasonably eventful time in Battambang!

See next installment here