Trip to South East Asia

The losers with their REAL matching Rolex watches which they bought for around $10-15, see you in 3 weeks when they're still working!

Call me Dr.Doolittle... feeding the pet monkey at Don Det Island, Laos. (pre psyche out)

One of the temples at Angkor Wat, Cambodia. Seen one temple, seen them all!!

Ok where did I leave off last time...

1. After leeches day we organised another tour (well what we thought was another tour!) with the same guy Mr.Som Chit. He stayed true to his name and stooged us big time, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

After breakfast we met up and he explained that he would take us to Don Det one of the 4 thousand islands down south of Laos, where we would trek around, see some more waterfalls and maybe see the rare dolphins that live in the Mekong River down there. This was all for the somewhat reasonable price (we thought) of $50US, which was split three-ways.

We went to another travel agent too and organised our bus/ferry into Cambodia. This was probably our big mistake, cos this tour guide then talked to Mr.Som Chit.

So it was off to the island with Mr.Som Chit and his wife in their air conditioned mini-bus. After about 2 hrs we got to Don Det island and he said "ok get on that boat and you can go touring around the island, that'll be $50 thanks". We all just looked at him dumbfounded. There was some kind of mis-communication or the fact he talked to the other guy, but we just got stooged about $44!! It only costs $6US to get to the island!! Not to mention we are all absolute push overs and handed over the money only after a small discussion in our defense.

2. So we hopped on the little ferry boat absolutely gutted and headed for the closest pub we could find to drown our sorrows! Two english backpacking girls took us to some cute bungalow homestay that they were at, and it was a very peaceful place to chill for the next 2 days. The people that owned it actually had a pet monkey chained to the tree, and i LURVE monkeys, so I fed it pineapple and other things I could find. We kind of bonded, or so i thought, then these little kids came up to the monkey with kites made out of plastic bags and it actually spooked this monkey out. He flipped out and fell from his branch almost on me and again I found myself screaming like a sissy girl. Will post a picture when I get my hands on Emma's USB stick.

3. It was another adventurous bus ride through the LAOS/CAMBODIA border. When they say mini bus and a time you will arrive, you simply have to double the time, realise you will have to change about 4-5 mini buses on your journey each one getting more cramped, and understand that Asian tour companies have no concept of basic childhood maths. There were 15 tourists for a 12 seater mini bus, which somehow they managed to fit all of us in, and then they stopped off to pick up locals to get more cash. In the end we had an old lady of 60 and two other men up on the roof, yes just sitting up there with our luggage (tied on with some garden rope) and a tarp to protect them from the rain, absolute madness!!

4. So the time we were supposed to arrive was 6pm, and we got to Phnom Penh, Cambodia around 12.30pm where we were dropped off at the guest house (the tour company are obviously teamed up with) so we just got a room for $4/night and just had to laugh at how bloody bad traveling by bus is over here!

5. Cambodia is amazing! I'm not sure if its the friendly people, the laid back nature of their world or the amazing struggle the people have gone through since the Khmer Rouge dictatorship, but I could see myself coming back here and spending a lot more time.

We decided to rent a tuk tuk and driver for the day so we could see all the main tourist sights before heading up north to Siem Reap. This was a fantastic idea and I recommend it to anyone traveling here, as the driver simply waits for you at each stop (usually find him laid out sleeping in his tuk or gossiping with the other drivers!) and takes you to each place, then home at the end of the day!

6. We started off at the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek, which is the extermination camp where the Khmer Rouge killed over 9,000 people in the mass graves from 1975-1978. It was here they led educated people, women and children, anyone who was a threat to their regime. You could still see bones and clothing in the ground that had just come up from the recent rains. More than 8,000 skulls have been preserved in a glass case which was horrible to see.

Then it was off to the Tuol Sleng Museum, this is actually an old high school which was taken over by Pol Pot (the dictator of the Khmer Rouge) and turned into a prison known as S-21. This was the largest detention and torture centre in the country. It was really eerie being in there, seeing the single bed in the rooms and the tiny 2m wide bricked in prison cells that they kept them in. There were thousands of photos of the victims kept here, and some of the torture equipment they used, including drowning devices and tools to pull your fingers off, horrible.

Then it was off to the russian market where we bought some clothes, mainly lame tourist t-shirts, I found a quiksilver one for $2! After this we pushed on to the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda. This place was huuuggeee and consisted of several shrines, pagodas, halls and a plethora of buddhas. Will hopefully post photos soon.

7. After doing all things tourist we hit the pub for Emma's birthday celebrations! The best one we found was The Spongy Bar on the lakeside of Phnom Penh. This bar was very Brunswick st. and had boardgames coming out the Whazoo. Jenga was a favourite. The music here was tops too, with the Meat Puppets, Vertiver, Spoon and Radiohead to name a few.

8. The next day we took another bus up north to Siem Reap, home of the Angkor Wat (listed on the world heritage list and was filmed in Tomb Raider).

Getting off the 6 hour bus was an absolute nightmare! As we stopped about 50 (and I'm not exaggerating here) tuk tuk drivers come up to the windows of the bus and block the door all pushing and shoving trying to get your business. They each have a little sign with the hotel/guest house they are from and give you the spiel its a free ride to the hotel and you don't even have to stay there. It was impossible to get off the bus, it was insanely claustrophobic, just to get our bags from the bottom of the bus took 10 minutes, with arms and legs everywhere and people shouting at you from all directions. We tried to run away and into a small restaurant, but they followed us in like a swarm of bees and in the end you just have to pick one and go with it. Absolute madness!!

When we got to the hotel what do you know it was full, so the tuk tuk driver explained that he brings you here for free and then hopes that you will book with him the next day to see the temples of Angkor Wat and give him business, shifty!

So that night we just chilled, went out for dinner to The Temple Restaurant which was tops, and I organised a birthday cake for Emma with the staff. They were amazing, turning all the lights off and all 10 of the staff singing for her! Next day we chilled out, walked around the town and visited the markets. I bought some more things, naughty, and we organised our flights (thanks mum!) for Bangkok.

9. Now I am up to TODAY!!! We got up v.early (around 4am) for the sunrise at Angkor Wat which we heard was spectacular, but due to the cloud cover today we were a bit let down
Not to worry though, the Angkor Wat temples are amazing, and each one had its own unique story and different structure to explore. The famous Ta Prohm from Tomb Raider with the old growth trees holding the temple together was picture perfect and well worth the visit.

10. From here there is some sad and happy news as Emma will be leaving us once we arrive in Bangkok. All along she has been pumped for the beach action in our final 10 day leg of the trip, but her boyfriend is back home for a week before he goes away for 6 months and she's taken up the opportunity to be with him. So it's Michael and I exploring the monkey temple and the beautiful beaches of Phuket in a few days in Thailand!!

Love to you all, will post photos soon XO