Cambodia

Hello from Ko Samui, one of the Thai islands but for now we will update you on our week's trip to Cambodia.
We forgot to mention in our last entry that we actually went through part of the Cu Chi tunnels. I did 60 metres and got sick of it but Bourkie battled on and did the 90m. Im actually glad I got out after 60 cause it got much narrower after that. It was fairly well lit up but at times people moving forward blocked the light and you just had to go with it. I actually didn't have to get down on my hands and knees, I kind of shuffled along on my haunches but Bourkie got down and dirty!
Even though they had it ventilated but we were still hot coming out. They told us that they moved only so far(I cant remember) before having a look out boy to ensure everything was safe before moving on. What I couldn't understand was how they knew where they were going as there are turn offs in the tunnel but they aren't exactly signposted!
Anyway, getting back to Cambodia. We arrived in Phnom Penh in the early afternoon. It actually didnt take that long to get from Saigon.

We met a tuktuk driver with good English who drove us past the Independence Monument and the Royal Palace before taking us to some fine establishment along side the river.

After that we needed to get money out and we usually have the policy of getting money out of a bank's ATM rather than one on the street and aren't we glad we stuck by it.

Bourkie's card got swallowed. Gladly we didn't panic cause we knew we had to get it back. There was a number on the machine but all they could say was wait until the bank opens on Monday and you will get it back. My fear was that there were security men outside who said that they didn't have keys to the machine but I thought they would wait til we were gone and get it out, yes, this is a typical Clare thought.

We still had to get money out so I chanced it and it worked, thank god. Surprisingly all we could get out was US dollars and they were all 50's!Since we were a little traumatised after that we had a beer and several games of Connect 4.

Bourkie got to watch Arsenal V Aston Villa that night so that took his mind off the card. We were overjoyed that we had both Star Movies and True Sports- a tv addicts dream!

The following day was definitely the most sombre of the trip and we warn you that the photos could be a little upsetting.

We got a tuk tuk driver to take us to the Killing Fields(Choeung Ek) and to the Genocide Museum(known as S21). The killing fields are where the Khmer Rouge under the rule of Pol Pot killed over 20,000 people. At the beginning they were bringing 300 people here a day but couldn't keep up with that pace and started to kill people on the way and dump their bodies on the side of the road instead.

When we reached the Killing Fields it didn't look like there was much there except for a large monument built for the victims. As we walked closer we realised that this 4 storey building was filled with some of the victims skulls. We took off our sandals and walked inside. There were 15 or more levels of skulls, divided by the victims ages and some of their clothes on the bottom level.

After this distressing sight we made our way outside again where there were wooden information signs stuck in certain positions. Each one told of the areas where parts of the atrocities took place. As we walked further in we could see a series of mass graves.Its really hard to think that there are over 400 people in such a small area-see picture below.

As we walked between the mass graves we noticed that there were bones sticking up out of the ground. We realised then that only a small portion of the area had been dug up and the bones buried properly. The rest were still sitting where they had been for over 30 years. We heard later that in the Buddhist religion they believe that bones should not be moved from where originally buried. There is also victims' clothing coming out of the ground in alot of places which can also be seen in the photo here.

There was a tree there where the children were killed against and a pit next to it. Here is a photo of another such tree which used to have a loudspeaker attached with music playing to hide the noise being made. There was also clothes coming out of the ground by the tree here.

After this, we really couldn't take anymore and headed back to the tuktuk. But there was worse to come at the Genocide Museum in the form of pictures. The Genocide Museum(Tuol Sleng) was a school situated in the city which became a prison run by the Khmer Rouge between 1975-1979. The name given to the school was Tuol Sleng- a very apt name since in Cambodian this means "Hill of the Poisonous Trees" or "Strychnine Hill".

From 1975 to 1979, an estimated 17,000 people were imprisoned at Tuol Sleng (some estimates suggest a number as high as 20,000, though the real number is unknown). The prisoners were selected from all around the country, and usually were former Khmer Rouge members and soldiers, accused of betraying the party or revolution.Pol Pot became so paranoid that he just started to kill anyone that was seen as rising within the army's ranks.

When the Vietnamese invaded the country in 1979 they only found 12 survivors in the prison. The first rooms were taken up with photographs of the victims. The Khmer Rouge were meticulous in keeping records on each prisoner which meant a photo when they arrived and taking a biography of their lives until that point. There were people from every age group and some of the younger children smiled, oblivious to their fate. There were no photos however of the foreigners that were brought here. These were usually reporters who were trying to report on the war in Vietnam that had spilled into Cambodia.

Next there were three floors of larger torture rooms with the beds still remaining where you could see the blood that spilled from the victims still on the floor. On the wall hung a photograph depicting the victim as they were found shackled to the bed dead. We could only take two floors of this and thought this was the end of the tour. We made our way across the courtyard to other rooms with more photographs except these showed the people in death. Bourkie warned me not to look at some of these as they showed people after being shot dead, tortured with chemicals and other impliments. In the next building were rooms divided into cells. There were very rough walls built into sections in the room, none of these reaching the ceiling and only took one person each. They were about 2 feet wide by 4 feet long and were intended to stop any communication between people and keep them ignorant as to what was happening. This was a hard 2 hours spent and we needed a change of subject matter so we made our way to the National Museum.

Anyway the Palace was closed at 11 and we reached there about 10:45 and we had to catch a bus before it opened again so we missed it. So instead we took a photo from outside!

After this we made our way to the bus to Siem Reap which took 5 hours. The bus dropped us off about 5 km away from the town and we got a tuk tuk in with another girl called Sally. After we got accommodation we explored the town with Sally and had a couple of beers. We were commenting on how we thought that Australia would be very boring after S.E. Asia when an Australian asked to join us and was interested in where we would be going in Oz. Had he not heard us talking previously, obviously not cause he harped on about how great Australia was going to be. All I could ask was is there any mosies there? He replied no but I remain to be convinced!

We spent most of the night trying to decide how much of Angkor Wat and the other Wats we would see. A one day pass was $20 and a three day was $40 which is really expensive since our room was only $7. We ideally wanted to do 2 days but the tuk tuks were about $15 a day. We made the hard decision of cycling for 2 days. The next morning we got up a little too late to do the bigger circuit of temples suggested so we ventured to do just Angkor Wat , Angkor Thom with some other small ones.

The cycle was pleasant as it wasn't too hot but we still kept a steady pace.

There is a moat which is about a kilometre long around the Angkor Wat.

We then reached a ruined library just inside the main gates.

To give you an idea here are some photos of Angkor Wat as its difficult to describe its full glory.

After Angkor Wat we headed to Angkor Thom which is older than Angkor Wat and therefore more in ruins.

Again, I think the photos describe it best. Im sure if you are really interested in the history you will wiki it!

The picture we are showing is of the gate into Angkor Thom.

This picture is the main entrance of Angkor Thom- the temple is called Bayon.Angkor Thom is a collection of ancient temples.

and the next is a close up of the god(Lokesvara) that is depicted all over the temple.

The next temple in the series of Angkor Thom temples is Phimeanakas- thought this photo was cool with the monks! There was a really steep climb up to this by steps about 50 metres. Bourkie ventured up the steps that have been there for centuries and falling away, I however, found the ones made about 5 years ago!

The next temple we visited was Ta Keo.

Our last temple of that day was Ta Phrom which was our favourite despite the crowds of Japanese and French tourists there making it almost impossible to take photos!

By this stage it was getting dark so we set out on the road back to Siem Reap. It was about a 12km cycle, but unfortunately we asked a young local for directions and he sent us the most round about way which doubled our journey. And to top it off he tried to race us back even though his bike was falling apart. I started to get angry with him cause he was going right up on my back wheel. He made the mistake of trying to do the same with Bourkie but Bourkie gave him an almighty fright by veering into him, that he quickly dropped back and didn't race us anymore! At the end of day 1 in Siem Reap we had cycled over 40 km and just went to meet Sally for dinner before collapsing into bed to prepare ourselves for the following day.

The following day wasn't as hot, thank god. We did the large circuit of temples. By this stage our camera was full and we didn't get a chance to burn our photos onto a CD so we dont have any photos. Though at this stage Im sure you have gotten a good idea of what the temples looked like!

The following morning we jumped on a bus to go over the border to Thailand. We knew that we would have to change buses at the border but that was the least of our problems. We were picked up in a vintage mid-sized bus- well not much bigger than a minibus. We started to get surprised when the bus stopped several times to pick up more and more people. We were used to getting picked up, then dropped off to get a larger bus to make our journey. About 40 minutes into our trek and 20 people squeezed into the bus we realised that his boneshaker was taking us to the border. I was in agony cause my knees were completely squashed and got really bad cramps. Fortunately Bourkie's knee was okay.The worst part was that there wasn't actually a road to the border just a potholed dirt track. We literally bounced our way to the border. I actually managed to get some sleep, dont ask me how!

We got to the border around midday, just as the sun was at its hottest and had to stand with our bags on our backs for 20 minutes. After 5 I give up and put it on the ground.

When we got through the exit part of Cambodia and the entry part of Thailand we sat and waited for the next bus. This bus was fortunately alot nicer and suddenly there is a three lane highway on the Thai side. It was great to be back!

We were dropped at the Khao San Road, the backpacker district. It was really weird to be on a street with so many flashing lights, people trying to sell you trinkets and loud music. It's so Westernised compared to Cambodia.

We'll leave you here at Bangkok and pick up on our travels to the South of Bangkok and the islands.

Until then enjoy your last hours at work before the Christmas holidays!

South 'Nam

We last left you arriving in Hoi An which was quite flooded. Its a really nice town, kind of like Louang Prabang with French colonial style buildings but with more to do, well more shopping to do.

The town is filled with tailors that can produce any item of clothing you want. They all have catalogues of shops like Next and magazines where you can pick what you want or they will design something for you as well. With some of the clothes modelled outside, I couldn't resist. I got a winter jacket and pants and Bourkie got 3 shirts which were cheaper and better than those in Bangkok.

Hoi An is more of a sleepy town but close by is an ancient site which is called My Son.

The day we were there it was lashing rain and there wasn't much left after American bombings so we didnt stay too long. Bourkie did manage to get some amusement out of the day......

There is however this ancient Japanese bridge in Hoi An, and yes Bourkie is the model in all of the photos to show you the size in reality......his head for some reason looks superimposed in this photo!!! Notice the haircut- that of a 12 year old boy.....thats what humidity does....

We met Sile and Ailish from the slow boat and hung out with them for the rest of the evening and debated what to do next over pool and beer. There were rumours of the typhoon hitting the South of Vietnam and most people were staying North. As our visas were running out on the 1st of December we only had 2 weeks in Vietnam and had to move on from Hoi An.

The following day we headed to Nha Trang which is supposed to be a sea side resort for Vietnamese couples. Though it had gotten dryer at this stage it was still too cold to go swimming.

The only crazy thing we did in Nha Trang was buy two photocopied books, White Teeth by Zadie Smith for me and American Pyscho by Bret Ellis Easton for Bourkie.

Since there was little or nothing to do there we moved on after a night to Dalat.

Dalat is described in the guide book as a scenic mountain side honeymooners paradise where the French came to relax during their colonisation.

We were full of hope to see the real beauty of Vietnam but it was not to be had in Dalat. Especially since the drive up and down the mountain to get there was the best bit according to Bourkie, I was obviously asleep as I am for all of our journeys.

After being disappointed by so many places in Vietnam that were supposed to be scenic, we really wondered what Mui Ne would bring us. It was absolutely beautiful. The sun came out as we reached this 7 mile beach resort. There was one long street that ran parallel to the beach but all the bars and restaurants were on the beach side. There was loads of wind surfing and kite surfing there.

After a relaxing 2 1/2 days we forced ourselves to move on, sorry to leave.

Next onto Saigon(Ho Chi Minh) city. We hadn't heard great things before we got there, we heard it was really congested compared to Hanoi (which we found really bad) and kind of dangerous. But we were pleasantly surprised. Thankfully we were dropped into the bagpackers district and found a really nice room with satellite TV, our new addiction, especially True Sports and Star Movies!

We treated ourselves to an expensive coffee and muffin place across the way which had a small cinema upstairs. We got to see 'Balls of Fury' which was unexpectedly good with Christopher Walken. That night we booked to go see the Cu Chi tunnels outside Saigon.

The Cu Chi tunnels are named after the village Cu Chi where the Viet Cong built over 200 km of tunnels between the French and American wars. They brought us into a room showing a promotional movie for the Vietnamese war. They focused in on the story of a 16 year old girl who fought in the war and received medals for killing 10 Americans. As you can imagine the American tourists were disgusted at this. Next they brought us to some of the tunnels built during the French wars. They are tiny. Only people with a waist smaller than 34 inches can fit in.You can see how small they are, here is Bourkie's foot over it. I didn't even risk getting into them!

There was an American war vet there with his wife who took off his hat and just sat down when the guide showed us a blown up tank in which 4 American troops were killed.To be honest the guide wasn't too subtle in describing the incident where a landmine blew up the tank. It looked as if the tank was in the middle of a forest but the whole area had been cleared by 'Agent Orange'- basically a chemical that kills all vegetation.

But more about that later.

Next we moved onto the traps that the Vietnamese made for the Americans- they were some resourceful people in war. They sharpened bamboos and placed them in different ways in the ground. I think the photo describe it best.

Some of these had really nasty names such as the See-Saw trap, the chair trap, the leg trap, the fish trap and the folding chair trap. We will let you find out which one is which!

Along with these traps, they used to wear their sandels back to front so that the Americans thought they were moving in another direction. They also built kitchens underground with the smoke coming out of a vent 100 metres away. They created air holes for the tunnels that looked like ant hills. With the dirt that was dug out from the tunnels they built these ant hills and filled in bomb craters so the Americans weren't suspicious of tunnels in the area.

Outside the Cu Chi tunnels they were selling Vietnamese snake whiskey. We had seen it in other places but I had to take photos of these ones which were very clear. Do people actually drink from this?

As a follow on from this we went to the War Remnants Museum.

The first room was divided into several areas showing photos from the war, mostly from Time Magazine photographers who did not survive the war. Alot of those who went to Cambodia in search of the war there, which was not reported on, went missing.This museum had alot more photos of the American side of the war than Hanoi but most did not show the Americans in a positive light. To be honest, I got a really bad impression of the Americans after seeing this museum.

Outside they showed the machinery used in the war - I will just show one photo but it is of a gun mounted on a tank which can shoot bombs 30 kms away.

Inside the main part of the museum was devoted to the affects of Agent Orange and Napalm which was spread all across Vietnam and parts of Cambodia during the American war in Vietnam.

They had photographs of people whose skin was burnt off by Napalm(a liquid fire dropped from American planes) and photographs of children affected by Agent Orange(a chemical defoliant used to clear forests).They had deformed hands, arms and legs. The worst part was of the museum was two jars of preserved foetuses which were conjoined by the head and deformed twins and another deformed baby. American soldiers who came into contact with Agent Orange also had deformed babies years later after returning home or their wives suffered several miscarriages before having deformed babies.

They also had an area devoted to a village wiped out by a US soldier and his platoon who went on to become a US senator. It was only through sheer public force that he admitted what he had done. Only one person survived from the village by pretending to be dead.

There were some sick pictures showing how crazy some American soldiers became during the war. They dragged half dead bodies at the back of a tank and took pictures of themselves holding up half blown apart torsoes and standing over dead bodies.(Kind of like Abu Gharib prison in Iraq two years ago)!!.

After that traumatic day we went to the Notre Dame cathedral and had a relaxing dinner while watching American Gangster with Denzel Washington and Russel Crowe in our coffee house cinema. Its a really good film and helped lift our spirits if thats possible.

So that was our second week in Vietnam and it was time to move on.

On Saturday, 1st December we made our way over the border to Cambodia. We were sent inside to get our passports stamped and then had to convince a guy that we had proof of having gotten vaccinations which was funny since we had vaccinated ourselves against them!! When we got outside we realised that the bus left without us and had gone 2-3 kms down the road. The guy from the bus came out laughing at us thinking it was hilarious telling us to get a motorbike taxi to where the bus had stopped. This is where Bourkie got mad. He said 'you dont expect us to pay for that, do you?'. The guy started to look afraid and said no. Of course when we got there the guy on the motorbike started asking for money and I insisted that we got off and walked away. Well we ran into the bus and hid for a couple of minutes until we saw him drive away! But enough about that.

Okay we will leave it there and start from Phnom Penh hopefully tomorrow if we can drag ourselves away from the beach here on Ko Lanta island. By the way, how's the weather at home!!!!!!

Nam

Dear All,

It seems that every blog entry recently starts with an apology. This one will be no different. And we will give the same excuse, internet connections in Vietnam and Cambodia are really slow and with the number of complaints about the lack of photos, I really didnt want to do another entry without them.

We last left you in Hanoi which was over 2 weeks ago.

The day after we arrived we took in the sights of Hanoi-the Hoan Kiem Lake which is in the centre of the old city and has a temple in it. We asked someone to take this photo of us, YES it actually worked this time and then this Japanese woman grabs a hold of my arm and doesn't say anything except to pose for a photo that somebody else is taking for her. So I just grinned and ran off as soon as the photo was taken. So somewhere in Japan there is a woman showing her holiday photos with me in it!!

We also took in the Vietnamese Revolutionary Museum which went through all the struggles that the Vietnamese went through with the Chinese,French,Japanese and then the Americans. Of course the Museum was very anti-American since it was based in the Communist heartland in North Vietnam.

On the 18th we went to Halong Bay- UNESCO world Heritage site around 60km from Hanoi filled with large rocks jutting out from the bay.

There is a whole community of fishing villages on floating houses and there is even a school there.

Unfortunately it was overcast the day we were there so visibility was poor and it was difficult to get an idea of how far the scenery extended.

We also visited the Dau Go Caves which a fisherman discovered during a storm and has become part of the tourist attractions of Halong Bay. Though myself and Bourkie found it difficult to keep a straight face when the guide would point out dragons, lions and body parts in the stalagmites, they really had good imaginations.

The following day we headed to the Perfume Pagoda so called because the area is supposedly covered in the scent of a local flower. As part of the tour we were rowed upstream and then had to climb up a mountain to where the pagoda was in a cave. Since it was Saturday we treated ourselves to a night out in the Irish bar, Finnegans, with Irish girls we met on the 24 hour bus to Hanoi.

Tuesday, the 20th November we went to Ho Chi Minh's house which was very basic but had lovely grounds. Unfortunately we couldn't see Ho's body in the Mausoleum as Sept-Nov every year he heads to Russia for a holiday with Lenin for some R&R.

We then went to the Hanoi Hilton(Hoa Lo prison) which at first was difficult to see as most of the area is now taken up with the Hanoi Towers hotel and office block. This was a pretty grim museum going through the torture implements that the French used on the Vietnamese before 1954. There were only two small rooms dedicated to the Americans who were held here durnig the 60s and 70s.American tourists laughed at the photos depicting inmates 'singing songs of home','receiving best medical treatment' and'receiving gifts from home'. It was a prime example of communist propaganda in Vietnam.

That evening we took a sleeper bus to Hue which was a really nice treat as we usually just take a local bus and then end up getting no sleep. But this one was fancy.

We arrived into Hue early on the morning of the 21st. We were really motivated and just took a short rest and shower(cause Bourkie was really smelly) before renting bikes to cycle out to ancient temples and tombs outside the city.

The first pagoda(temple) we headed to was the LinhMu pagoda which was a 7 storey tower. It was a monk from here who set himself on fire in Saigon to protest against the American war in Vietnam.

We went to see some other tombs of previous kings but the most impressive was the tomb of TuDuc. This was about 4 acres big with temples and tombs for his wife and stepson.

The following day we walked around the imperial city in Hue which was bombed extensively by the Americans in 1967 during the Tet offensive.So there were just ruined walls to be seen.

That afternoon we took a bus to Hoi An even though we were warned about the possibility of the typhoon hitting the coast in the next couple of days.

Today we will leave you with the flooded Hoi An and hopefully we will be able to pick up tomorrow with more photos!!!