Pnohm Penh to Laos Border

A quick visit to Pnohm Penh

We arrived in Saigon (Ho Chi Ming City) in the evening and the place was clearly buzzing, very vibrant, loads of shops, bars and I have never seen so many scooters (Apparently there are 6 million of them in Saigon).

There is a bicycle under this lot

Sarah getting friendly with the locals in Saigon

Notrs Dame a la Saigon

How do you cross the road in Saigon? You just close your eyes and walk slowly across and the scooters will miss you.

Scooter heaven

1^st day here we dragged the kids around the war museum and the Reunification Palace. The war museum was very interesting, thought provoking and mad me very sad and angry. Some bad shit happened in that war and mostly by the USA. The Reunification Palace is a step back in time to 1975 when South Vietnam finally surrendered to the Peoples Republic of Vietnam, the Palace has been left exactly as it was. We had an interesting tour around that.

Ho Chi Minh (+ Bob)

Reunification Palace in Saigon

A Chinese Tank used by the North Vietnamese

Kids enjoyed the old war relics but they endured the photographic exhibitions, it was a long day!

Some US military hardware at the War Museum

US 'Huey' at the War Museum

The following day we were on an organised tour to the Mekong Delta which included a boat trip to a few islands, seeing local village life and sampling some of the products they make – like snake wine and coconut candy, and seeing how they are made. Even the bus journey was entertaining, our Vietnamese guide sang songs and told corny jokes during the trip.

Steve with Python

Amber with Python

Nice hats

Bob gets a backy

Snake wine with real snake inside

Its called a Jack fruit

Our plan from here was to head north to some of the Central Vietnamese beaches but as we headed up the coast and arrived in Nah Trang the weather had turned to rain, wind and cold. We managed a bit of beach here but the sea was too rough to swim and felt a bit like Walberswick on an August bank holiday!

Kids at Nah Trang Beach

Kids brave the rough sea at Nah Trang

A bit chilly

Clearly we had not checked the weather and it was going to be like this for the next three months here, it wasn’t just freak weather, it’s the norm for this time of year. Continuing our journey north to Hoi An,  the weather got colder still, on the first day we strolled around the old town which was very picturesque although a little damp! The second , the weather brightened up a bit and we hired some bikes and headed for the beach, the sun even came out for a while.

Bob finds his favorite food just lying on the beach

Sand boots at Hoi An beach

Old french buildings getting a bit mouldy in Hoi An

The river just about to flood the banks at high tide



Some unusual sea going craft at Hoi An beach



Hoi An was nice

....but wet

Another bus journey took us to Hue, further up on the Eastern coast, where we were to catch our bus into Laos. We attempted a bit of sightseeing but after walking in the rain for an hour, we gave up and decided to hole up in a bar with beer, pool table and hot dogs. It’s all part of the kid’s education, learning to play pool and they enjoyed it much more than seeing some old buildings in the rain.

Just starting to rain in Hue

The locals are prepared

A Cyclo back to our hotel

The price is too much for Sarah

Another early morning bus ride across the border into Laos and to Savannahket took all day. This journey included a lunch stop at a the drivers choice of restaurant, where we were served a standard lunch comprising rice and some kind of intestines and some soup which tasted of dishwater with fish tasting potatoes.  A particular nice touch to see that the stray dogs were licking the dirty bowls and plates in the dishwashing area. 

We arrived at the bus station around 6pm and decided we would head straight off on a night bus to Vientiene as Savannahket looked a bit of a one horse town. The bus was due to arrive at 5am the following day.  We incurred about a 3 hour delay as the bus broke down a couple of times on the way, amazingly the bus driver and his mate just got out a few tools and did the repairs.  We arrived at 8.30am so we had been travelling for over 24 hours which seems crazy but was actually quite ok.  The journey was so bizarre, we were full as it was then about an hour into the journey the driver stopped to collect about 20 passengers from the roadside, we looked around, where were they going to sit?? Oh no problem, the driver pulled out a stack of plastic stools, lined them up along the central gang way of the coach and they all sat down – bearing in mind they would be sitting on those stools throughout the evening into the next morning, I was amazed they had no problem with that.  All completely the norm here.

So here we are in Vientiene, it is the 23^rd December and tonight we are taking another sleeper bus to Luang Prabang where we will spend  Christmas and the new year. 

Merry Christmas

A very Merry Christmas to all our blog readers

Singapore to Cambodia

So it’s the beginning of December and Sout East Asia, here we come!

We arrived in Singapore and oh what a change, everything here is shiny new and CLEAN (but of course way more expensive) and is looking very much like Canary Wharf but 10 times the size. On arrival a lovely old bloke was so helpful – practically taking us right to our hotel door – sadly he explained that he likes to help tourists to his country as when he visited the UK with friends, they were robbed at knifepoint whilst picnicking in Hyde Park! Poor guy. 

Our helpful stranger at Singapore airport

Us and The Marine Bay Sands Hotel

Singapore skyline

 It’s a big rich city where every other building appears to be a shopping centre or an office with a shopping centre or a Hotel with a shopping centre. It is spotlessly clean and a shoppers paradise so we did the shop, did the zoo and more shopping and a bit of sightseeing.

There were real giant tortoises at Singapore zoo

We managed to catch up with Arpita and David, friends who moved to Singapore about 3 years ago, who took us to a fantastic bar where the waitresses, dressed as angels, flew up to the ceiling to collect the bottles of wine.   From there, to Kuala Lumpur.

Friends in Singapore

Taking the train to Kuala Lumpur, we thought we would see more of the country but it was a bit of a tortuous journey and not much to see, so wish we had flown.  KL felt a bit like a Singapore from 20 years ago except for the Petronas Twin Towers, which Sarah really wanted to go up and Steve (scared of heights) didn’t. It is a truly spectacular building and of course we did go up, unfortunately the kids did not want to get up early enough for the queue so just the two of us braved the 86 floors.

Us on the sky bridge of the Petronas Twin Towers

Unusual earings

Christmas is coming in KL

Kids enjoy the KL paddling pool

The kids enjoyed paddling around the wading pool in the park below and we all enjoyed seeing a film in another huge shopping complex.  From here we took flight to Siem Reap in Cambodia. This city would appear to be the life support for all the tourists who come to visit the Temples of Angkor and is totally geared up for this task. We spent a great 4 days here visiting the temples, kids did one full day and Sarah and Steve did two more early mornings by bike. The temples are amazing and you could spend a week and not visit all of them, I think we saw enough without losing the plot.


The Bayon at Angkor Thom



Kids after three temples

Entrance to Angkor Thom

 

Trees in the ruins at Ta Prohm

More Ta Prohm

We also celebrated Sarah’s birthday here with a lovely Cambodian Barbeque just off Pub Street in the main town. Bobby and Amber loved cooking their own meat and wanted to eat there every night. Bobby was particularly pleased as they had Spiderman and a Batman- themed Tuk Tuks – along with the regular ones of course.

Bob rides the Batman Tuk Tuk

The kids enjoyed the hotel pool and we also did a tour to a floating village on the lake, Tonle Sap. Yes,  the whole  village was pretty much all afloat on the lake and there were some amazing sights – including a crocodile farm and pig pens and chicken runs all bobbing up and down.

Spot the crocodile

Floating village

Kids find some shade for game play

Sarah's birthday meal

After leaving Siem Reap we headed to the capital, Phnom Penh but we seem to running out of time in Cambodia. We decide to head straight to Ho Chi Minh (Saigon), Vietnam and leave the rest of Cambodia for another holiday.

Cochin to Mumbai

So with Fort Cochin in Kerala as our base for a few days we set out to explore the area. One day we took a trip to an elephant training camp to bath a baby elephant and to see the adult elephants being washed then onto some spectacular waterfalls. Bathing in the cold river before the falls was a welcome relief from the heat and humidity.

Old Ambassador car we took on a couple of trips

Washing a baby elelphant

Chinese fishing nets at Fort Cochin

Sarah and Amber enjoying the cold river water

Waterfall

Bobby collecting some rubber in the age old way from a tree

The following day we took a tour on a boat around the many backwaters of Kerala including an island stop for a traditional Keralan lunch (plus a welcome cold beer) and then on to a small local village where they harvest crops such as cinnamon, nutmeg, turmeric and all sorts of other common spices (I can’t remember which).

Coconuts everywhere, this one with a straw

Punting on the backwaters of Kerala

Keralan lunch with beer

Grabbed some free pinapples enroute just being harvested

From Cochin we then headed inland to the wildlife sanctuary at Periyar where we did manage to see some wild elephants but not much else. Each evening thousands of bats would fly over the town from the park to their nesting place, Bobby got pooed on which is apparently a lucky sign!

Wild elelphants at Periyar

More elelphants at Periyar

Bob gets to grips with the mosquito net

Dressing like the locals

From there we headed further south and to the coast to the cliff top location of Varkala. Our hotel beach hut was set just back from the cliff with a mile or so of golden sand below with numerous restaurants and shops strung out along the cliff top. The beach was almost perfect and the sea just about wild enough to be fun without being too dangerous. Our visit there was a little tainted in that Amber and Steve were both ill and on separate days so Steve spent most of the first day looking after Amber ( a dodgy steak)  and the last day Steve spent in bed. I think I am allergic to some types of fish rather than it being food poisoning.  Bob had fresh fish every night and was fine.

Bob loved the fresh fish

Varkala beach from the cliff

Kathakali dancer

Our hut in Varkala

From Varkala we headed back to Cochin  and then on to Goa. We travelled by overnight train to Goa and arrived at 5 am, this is nothing unusual in India, there are often dormitories on the station platforms for travellers to sleep on early arrivals or waiting for trains that leave at very unsocialable hours, we headed for one of the southern beaches called Palolem. Fortunately a 24 hour bar provided a welcome resting place and a beer (cokes for the kids)  whilst we waited for the beach to come alive and the sun to come up.  We soon found a fab room right on the beach. Sarah and I tried to get back into a bit of running and did some yoga on the beach as is customary in Goa but it was so hot, unless you were up before the sun of course.

The beach at Palolem, Goa

Early morning beach goers

Our hut is the yellow one behind Sarah

The sunset view from our veranda in Goa

Otherwise just a lazy week, a boat trip out to see some Dolphins, Kayaking, boogie boarding, swimming and sandcastles. Amber was the major instigator but we all helped in building a magnificent sandcastle one day and a monster/volcano number on another. Both met with much interest from tourists and locals alike.

Amber's sand monster

Family bike ride

A storm brewing

Steve hired an Royal Enfield Bullet for a day and took the kids (and Sarah) for rides to the nearby beaches, we all enjoyed and escaped unscathed except Bob burnt his leg on the exhaust. During the last few days of our week there was a pretty bad storm, combined with an exceptionally high tide, some of the beach restaurants were flooded and many of the boats were wrecked against each other. As our beach hut was right next to the beach we were lucky not be flooded but the sea was lapping at our veranda!

After the week in Goa we caught our final Indian train, to Mumbai.

Mumbai was a pleasant surprise, very unlike any of the other Indian cities we had visited. Yes there are the slums and the rubbish in some parts but where we stayed in South Mumbai was pretty clean, very cosmopolitan and all the old colonial buildings made it feel quite European.

This is Mumbai

Kids enjoying a Macdonalds in our room

On the boat to Elephanta Island an hour trip from Mumbai

Inside the caves on Elephanta Island

Sunset at Chowpatty in Mumbai

Trying the local sugarbeet drink in Mumbai (Amber's face says it all) but Steve liked.

Goodbye India next stop Singapore.