Chiang Mai- Elephants and hiking

After our luxurious 14 hour train trip we made it to the Northern city of Chiang Mai. Coming into the city the scenery was beautiful, with lush green mountains and hills surrounding us. Getting off the train, the air instantly felt clearer and fresher than Bangkok, and it was a little cooler, at 29 degrees.

We made our way to the hostel, and began making a plan of action.  Like the rest of Thailand, Chiang Mai is well accostumed to tourist, and its an industry which knows its strengths.  It's the base for outdoor activities, mountain climbing, mountain biking, rafting, hiking, elephant training, zip lining, Tiger Kingdom, you name it, you can probably do it from Chiang Mai. So, the problem was trying to figure out what was worth spending my every decreasing budget on. I decided to do a two day hike, and to also visit the Elephant Nature Reserve.

In the two days leading up to the hike, sickness crept in again, nothing serious, but enough to take your enthusiasm for discovering a city in the heat. A trip to the pharmacist, and I was sure I would be able for hiking the following day.

I was up bright and early for the pick up at my hostel, which of course was an hour late. I had braced myself for this hike. My main hiking experience stems back to my trip in South America, hiking in Bolivia and Peru. Hands down, the most grueling, and difficult physical experience of my life. Hiking is not easy. I'm sure if you regularly participate it gets easier, but as a casual hiker, any decent hike will be tough.

So I was expecting the worst. I knew it would be worth it, and I knew I would be glad I did it, but I fully expected to hate it. But this was not South America, it was Thailand. This 'Non-Touristic Hike' was totally the opposite. It was highly touristic.

We didn't start hiking until about 2pm. We drove around picking people up from the hostels, before starting the hour drive to the mountains. We had a good mixed group. I was the only native english speaker, with Austrians, Germans, French, Saudi, Iran and Polish. There was about 14 of us all together. After our drive, we stopped at a market, then onto a village where we had lunch. We hadn't even walked 100 metres and we were already having lunch we joked. It seemed like it was going to be a ridiculously easy day.

Finally we got to the base of the mountain, and we ventured off the road, up a trail that lead very steeply up the mountain. VERY steeply. So after about 30 minutes, I thought I was going to die. I felt dizzy and nauseous, and suddenly thought that maybe I wasn't over my sickness, or ready to go on a uphill hike in the vicious sunshine. Myself and another solo traveling french girl began to take a firm place in the back. One of our hiking guides could see I wasn't feeling the best, so came to me with Tiger Balm, which he put on my temples and under my nose. Tiger Balm is an invention of the Gods. I instantly started to feel better, and stayed better, even though the climb became more difficult. The same could not be said for my French companion, who upon reaching our next rest stop, burst into tears. She sat on the floor and cried, we were all a bit surprised, but I was most surprised to find that I was the only one that went to comfort her. And I don't even speak French.

The first days hiking only lasted about 5 hours, and after the initial sickness, I didn't find it too hard. And it really was beautiful. The only other creatures we saw however were other tourists, and a giant spider.

Our camp for the night was in a very small village where we would stay in a giant bamboo hut, sleeping on the floor. It might not have been much, but we were happy to see it all the same. We had a 'shower' which was really just a tap, and watched the sunset while our guides prepared our dinner of vegetarian sweet and sour with rice and soup.

Over dinner we talked to our main guide about life as a guide. He said he didn't take days off, the day he'd get back from a hike, he'd leave the next day for a hike. He explained how he'd been in the Thai army which is why he found it so easy. They would have to walk every day for 13- 16 hours with one army flask of water to last for three days, and this was for drinking, cooking with and washing, all in the 30+ heat. It seems impossible. He also told us the only time he'd taken off was recently when he contracted malaria. It took him 6 months to recover and lost half his body weight.

After dinner they entertained us in old fashioned riddles which they made with match sticks on a piece of cardboard, the kind of riddles that your dad would have tormented you with as a child. It certainly worked, we sat up for hours trying to figure them out.

That night the temperatures plummeted, as you would expect in the mountains. Unfortunately I didn't have sufficient warm clothing for it, and ended up with a cold the next day. A cold in the sunshine! I didn't think it was a big deal, but it would haunt me later into my trip.

The next day we began by a short walk to what we were told was a 'Bat Cave', not the Batman kind. We only saw one bat... and three monks.

Then,  another downhill walk to a waterfall. Downhill by the way, although less exhausting than uphill, is tougher on leg muscles, and balance. We got to swim in the waterfall for an hour before another walk to lunch and then a drive to an elephant ride. I'd heard mixed things about the elephant 'hiking' and I have to say, I didn't really enjoy the experience. Not the riding the elephant part, but seeing the elephants chained when they weren't being ridden, with chains that were only about three meters long. I could only speculate how long the elephant was chained there each day, but they were rocking back and forth on the spot which was uncomfortable to watch.

We then went rafting down the river before heading back to Chiang Mai, all exhausted and smelly. It was a good experience, but not the best hike I've ever been on. I was still glad I did it.

The following day I went to the Elephant Nature Reserve, which is a rescue center for elephants that have been abused. Before the logging ban in Thailand Elephants were used to move the heavy logs from forest to road. After the logging ban it left a lot of tamed elephants 'unemployed', not only that, but much of there natural habit had been destroyed, ironically, by the work they helped participate in. This lead to elephants for tourism, i.e. the type of elephant hiking camps that I'd been to the previous day. While some camps treat the elephants well, tragically it is not always the case. A problem is also elephants being used for begging in streets in the cities of Thailand. There is also still logging going on in neighboring Miramar. Many of the elephants in the ENR had come from these backgrounds, but not just that, had been horribly abused by there mahoot. Each elephant will have one person that they are trained to obey, this is the elephants mahoot. Unfortunately, the traditional method of training an elephant, and ordering an elephant, is through excessive physical abuse. Some elephants were blind, one had one broken hip and one broken leg, others had infections were there tusks had been cut off. There are 35 elephants in total, and they each had there own story. And its true what they say, elephants never forget, which meant that some of them have psychological damage thanks to the abuse they have suffered.

While the price of visiting the Reserve was high, it felt worth while cause you could see how well the elephants were treated. We fed the elephants their breakfast, visited baby elephants and other elephants in the park, and bathed the elephants. We also watched a video about the Reserve and the treatment of elephants in Thailand. It was hard to watch, it really does seem hopeless when the government are doing so little to help the problem with 'unemployed' domestic elephants. And while there are many domestic elephants, the number of elephants in the wild has plummeted, thanks to the decreased forestlands.

It was a fantastic day, you really got to understand the elephants and see their personalities. My favourite was a tantrum throwing blind elephant, who had only been in the park three weeks. She stomped impatiently waiting for her breakfast, and then when her food was all gone, began trying to steal others. Like all of the elephants, she wasn't violent, but very amusing when she grew impatient. They really are giant creatures, and unbelievably silent when they move, so you really have to keep an eye on them at all times, you do not want to get in there direct path, they cannot see in front, as their eyes are on the sides of there head.

Next stop in Northern Thailand was Pai, a mere three hour drive away from Chiang Mai.

One night in Bangkok

Finally I was on a mini bus making my way to the border between Cambodia and Thailand. It took about 4 hours to get the border and then we all piled out to get in a 'queue' at a departure desk. This border crossing is known for being confusing and chaotic, but going in the opposite direction more so. People often get stuck at the border for several hours.
I made friends with three Dutch guys on my bus, who had done the border crossing previously. If I hadn't I'm not sure I'd have had a clue where to go and I what order.
After a long queue at departures, we had to walk through the town to get stamped into Thailand and fill our arrival forms. Then onto another queue to get our Thai Visa. Luckily the whole process only took an hour and a half.
We had been given white stickers in return for our bus tickets and were told that another bus would be waiting for us on the other side to take us to Bangkok. I'd heard stories about people going through and then finding out there was no bus. We found the rest of our buses passengers waiting in a sheltered marque area. They'd asked some semi official looking thai man who had said we were to wait here. After an hour of waiting I was beginning to feel skeptical but then a guy showed up looking for us, the people with white stickers. I thought we might finally be leaving, but he said we were waiting for more people. We waited another hour and a half and then he got a phone call and told us to follow him. We walked to a travel agent where we found the people we'd been waiting for.
We got on another minibus, this one was rammed to capacity. Our backpacks were piled into a dangerous tower on one of the seats beside two terrified looking Chinese girls. I somehow ended up having to sit in the front, between the driver and a Cambodian man, who refused to give up his soft window seat, I had to sit on a hard plastic storage compartment, between the two men, for the 5 hour trip. I tried to force myself to sleep because being in the front seat, I could see every terrifying, erratic overtaking manoeuvre and zig zagging between lanes. And had no seatbelt. We finally made it to Bangkok at 5.30pm. I was going to meet a girl I'd first met in Nang Thrang, in Vietnam. Steffi, had made a reservation in her hostel, on the famous backpacking district of Khoa San road. The driver had pointed me in the direction when I got off the bus, but when I couldn't find the street sign I took out my lonely planet for a map. A tuk tuk driver approached me. 'tuk tuk? Where you going?'
'No, I'm just looking for Khoa San Road, can you tell me which direction?'
He started leading me in the direction I had suspected it was. He began making conversation, where was I from etc.
'where you go after Bangkok?'
'I'm going to Chiang Mai tomorrow'
'ohh, how you getting there?'
'I'm going to get the train'
'have you got you're ticket?'
'Not yet'
The tuk tuk driver suddenly changed direction, back the way we came.
'Actually, Khoa San Road is this way!' he said.
I was completely skeptical.
'I'm pretty sure it's not, my driver said it was this way.' I said and started to consult with my map.
'No, no, is this way. You're map is wrong, you're map is not to scale!'
I laughed out loud at how stupid this man must think I am and then decided to ignore his attempts to help me.
'Is this way, we go to travel agent on the way, you get your train ticket!'
I threw him a dirty look and told him if he wasn't going to help me to leave me alone.
This is one example of many of my experience with tuk-tuk drivers, street sellers and anyone in general on the streets around the Khoa San Road area of Bangkok. Unlike the friendly Khmers, it seemed that anyone in Bangkok that started a conversation with me would ultimately try and sell me something, take me somewhere I didn't want to go, scam me, or try and rip me off.
Khoa San Road has been the main backpacking area in Bangkok for years. Maybe too many years. It is completely devoid of any thai culture. I found it tacky and unappealing, it's full of loud, glaring neon bars and nightclubs, as well as overpriced street food stalls, and sleazy men trying to sell you 'ping pong' shows, or drugs. In case you haven't guessed, I didn't much like it there. Our hostel was amazingly shit as well. Its expensive (for Thailand) to stay on Khoa San Road. And even though I was paying more than usual, the place was grim, tiled walls in the bedrooms, rude staff and cockroaches.
All the same I was determined for a night out to make up for the previous days mess. Me and Steff got ready, all the while I was gradually feeling more ill. I was trying to ignore it. And then, as we walked down the steps of the hostel, I stopped 'Im going to be sick' and I ran up to the bathroom to puke.
Until this point it had occurred to me that I had been remarkably lucky when it came to being ill on this trip. With any trip to far far away lands, with a completely different diet, climate, germs and diseases, you're bound to pick up something, despite all the vaccinations and medications. I had thought I was relatively home free, I had not expected Thailand to be the place where I got sick, it was the most touristic after all. I had no idea what was in store for me.
This time, I was convinced it was probably some mild food poisoning from a street food stall at the border. I returned sheepishly to Steff, still feeling dizzy and light headed. We made our way to a travel agents nearby with the intention of booking our night train to Chiang Mai for the following night. But it was no good. We were in there about five minutes before a cold sweat covered my body. I couldn't concentrate on anything the man was saying.
'Do you have a bathroom?'
'No, there's a hotel down that alley, you can go there.'
I ran out, but didn't make it to the hotel and settled for a puke in the alley. Classy. I gave up on the night. There would be no dinner, no drinking. I went back to our dingy hostel, the only saving grace being that it had air con. The blaring music of one of the many night clubs on Khoa San Road filled our bedroom until 5am. You could hear ever lyric and every note perfectly clearly. I did however manage to sleep through most of it.

The next day I felt much better and we got the hell out of hot, polluted Bangkok and got our 14hour sleeper train to Northern Thailand to the beautiful Chiang Mai. I wish all transport was like sleeper trains. We were only in 2nd class but it felt like luxury. The beds start out as seats, until around 8 or 9pm when our camp little host came around and quickly transformed the seats, into two full sized,bunk bed style beds. They were amazing and comfortable. They each had Clinical blue curtains to block out the outside light and aisle.
The train also had a bar which was the funniest train experience I've ever had. You wander through the trains carriages until eventually you open the door to one and are greeted with blaring thai dance music, a dimly lit carriage, decorated with fairy lights. Your options are beer or beer. It's full of tables and chairs and friendly dancing staff. It was also full of drunk middle aged French who hung dangerously between carriages every now and then, opening the outside door to have cigarettes. It was all a far way from Iranrod Eireann.

Siem Reap- Part 2, Orphanages and absent buses

While in Siem Reap I did a lot of drinking coffee and doing yoga. It was all very chilled and laid back. I had heard of an Orphanage in the city that concentrates on looking after children and providing them with a good education. I decided to email them and see if there was anything I could do to help out. They invited me to spend a day in the orphanage to play with the children.
Anyone that knows me will know that I don't consider myself to be particularly maternal, or good with children in general. I have little to no experience with them. Why was I doing this, I kept asking myself. I couldn't really come up with an answer other than someone had told me what a great experience they had doing it. So I was a bit anxious arriving. The head of the orphanage, Sok, a lovely guy, picked me up from my hotel and we got chatting about Cambodia and the political situation there, as well as the poverty. Like all of the countries I was visiting, corruption was a big problem. There is a massive gap between rich and poor, the poor as a general rule being the country people. The rich living in towns. He told me that the government did nothing to deal with this problem. He said that while some of the children were orphans alot still had parents in the countryside who had to give up there kids as they couldn't afford to look after them. What a terrible situation to have to be in. Others have disabilities and again, need extra care which their parents can't provide.
When we arrived to orphanage in the afternoon the younger children had finished school for the day, and the older ones would be back in an hour of so. As soon as I got out of the car, children began appearing to steal curious looks at me. Then two little girls of about 5 approached me and told me we were going to play. From that moment on I didn't sit still in my whole time there. Theres 35 children in the orphanage ranging in age between 1 and 19. They can all speak English, some better than others. The girls in particular wanted to play, while the bous played soccer amongst themselves. I joined in on skipping, jigsaws, and strange card games I didn't understand. They were all far more adorable and loveable than I could ever have imagined. The two youngest girls, one was 1 and a half, the other two, latched onto me and didn't leave my side the whole time. They wanted to be picked up and carried and kept giving me hugs and kisses. It was clear that all any of the kids wanted was some individual attention. They were all fascinated with my lip ring and kept staring and asking questions about it. I don't think they'd ever seen one before. I had brought some sweets for them, and when I opened them to give them out they all lined up and said thank you after getting them. They were all so polite and clearly well cared for. I gave them my camera to take photos with and the youngest kids wanted to look and the photos and videos on my phone. The favourites were, a video of Denis singing George Michaels 'Faith', which they played on repeat about six times. The other was a video of me and a Halloween skeleton that moves and howls when you touch it. I lost count of how many times that one was played.
They asked me did I want to stay for dinner, which was a meat and veg watery stew and rice. I chatted to Sok about volunteers. They get several at a time who come from all over who stay to teach English and help out. They also have 9 permeant Khmer staff.
After the girls wanted to bring me to see their bedroom. Girls sleep upstairs and boys downstairs. It was a large enough room with four large double beds. 'oh your beds are big!' I exclaimed.
'yes, five are in this one, six in this one...' They suddenly didn't seem like so big. They each have a small shelf with their personal belongings. They decided they wanted to do my hair. They liked playing with my 'yellow' hair. One girl plaited a very impressive French plait. They kept asking would I come back tomorrow, which broke my heart.

After, it was tv time. 35 kids all crowded around one tv with a Cambodian ghost film. To me, it was hilarious. The 'effects' were so crude and unbelievable that if I hadn't known better I would think it a spoof. But the kids were clued to it, the younger ones a little scared. The eldest orphan, a 19 year old disabled boy explained that ghost films are very popular in Cambodia. The people are very superstitious.

After, it was time for me to go. I was sad to leave and to say goodbye to the kids, they were all so amazing. The experience stuck with me for a long time after. It's possibly the most rewarding thing I've done since I got here.

The next morning I was up bright and early at 4.30 am to wait for a bus to The capital of Thailand, Bangkok, that was to pick me up between 5.30 and 5.50. At 5.50 there was still no sign of the bus. I've been in Asia long enough to know that buses are never on time here. However I decided to ring the travel agent where I had booked the bus just incase. He said he would ring the bus driver to check where he was. Five minutes later he hadn't rang me back so I ring him again. He says the driver is on his way. Ten minutes later, still no bus. I ring the travel agent again. He says he'll ring the driver again. Driver says he's on his way. This process continues for another half an hour. It gets to 6.40 and I'm getting increasingly frustrated. I know something's not right. Eventually I ring and he says I need to get a tuk tuk to his office. I ask why, he tells me the driver came and picked up the wrong people, I'd been waiting in the reception since 5.15 and no one had come, so I'm pretty sure that they just forgot me. Not that it makes a difference. This is the point where, for the first time in Asia, I completely lose my patience and temper. I went on a rant about what a bad service it is and what am I supposed to do now. He says he'll put me on a later bus, but I know this means having to wait even longer at the border crossing into Thailand, plus, after the previous drama, I know longer have any faith in the company. I tell him no, I want my money back and I'll get a different company.

There are times when traveling alone is amazing, and times when it's pretty shit. This was one of those times when it was shit. I went to the reception of the hotel and desperately asked did they know of any bus companies leaving for Bangkok later that day. They told me they all leave at 7. That wasn't enough time for me to get my money back from the other company and catch a bus that day. I asked could I stay another night and leave the next morning. The guy, with broken English, looked frustrated, sighed and told me he would have to check. Only he wasn't checking, he started to ignore me and serve other guests. It was Chinese New Year, so high high season and I knew that almost everywhere in the city was full up. In the mean time, a tuk tuk driver with no English had arrived. Another member of the hotel staff told me he was from the travel agents and I had to go with him to get this later slow bus. 'no, I don't want to go with him, I want to know if I can stay another night!'.
'you must go, everything's alright, no worry!'
'no, I don't want to go, I need to know if I can stay!'
'no worry, you go, no worry!'

Imagine being at your most frustrated and upset in a foreign country, alone, and three men are telling you not to worry. I was worried. I was angry and getting increasingly upset. This charade went on for 20 mins, eventually the tuk tuk driver left. Still the receptionist was refusing to tell me if I had a room. Finally another staff member showed up and I practically begged him for a room. 'yes, no problem! No worry!' he said, without checking. Relieved. I had to wait a half an hour while a room was cleaned, but I finally got to my room and slept. Later that day I successfully got a refund for the failed bus, and booked a bus for 7am the next morning. I ate icecream and watched 'Ghost' in my hotel. It was Valentines Day after all!

Siem Reap Part 1- Discovering Angkor Wat

The north western city of Siem Reap has had its fair share of battles throughout the years.
Now it is a popular tourist spot, as it is home to the famous Angkor Wat, a city in itself of impressive and well preserved magnificent Temples.
After a day of wandering around the the cities 'Old Market' Center, which largely caters for tourists, I decided I was going to do a one day cycling tour of the temples. Many tourists like to hire a tuk tuk for the day. It's not possible to walk the site, it's simply too big. The temples can be quite far apart. It was not the idea of cycling over 35km in the 33 degree heat that made me decide to do the cycling option. I had met an elderly couple ( over 60 at least) who had spent three days cycling to all the temples. It was the stubborn voice in my head that said if they can do it, then so can I. That plus I figured I might need it after lazing on beaches and in Hammocks for the last week.
I decided to book with a tour group rather than doing it solo, mainly because I liked the idea of having a guide who would explain the history of the temples. I went with Grasshopper Tours, who I really can't recommend enough. There was about 19 of us in the group, it was a good combination of families and younger people. Nearly all American and expats living in Vietnam. It was Tet (New Year) in Vietnam, and so a public holiday. Although not as heavily celebrated as Tet, it was still Chinese New Year in Cambodia, and of course China, meaning floods of Chinese tourists in Angkor Wat.
To visit the temples, you can buy a day, 3 day, week or month pass. Two days would be perfect I think, but they are clever enough not to sell this. Khmers get free entry all year around. A one day ticket costs 20 dollars, a three day 40. They get milllions of visitors a year, but shockingly the money does not go to the Cambodian government. They sold the site to a private company, and I can only imagine the profit this company is making.
We visited Angkor Wat first, which is the main attraction. I've seen a couple of temples since arriving to Asia, but I can't imagine ever seeing anything that will compare to Angkor War. It's enormous, and nothing short of splendid. The structure still stands as it was when it was first built in 1113-52. Made entirely of stone, it's many walls are decorated with engravings. It was built by Suryavaram who built the temple in devotion to the Hindu deity Vishnu. Subsequent Buddhist kings removed the Vishnu statues to replace them with the Buddist statues which remain today.


Next we cycled off road along the massive surrounding wall of Angkor Thom, to the temple itself. Along the way we stopped at one of the four small corner temples, built to guard the larger temples inside the walls. Angkor Thom's is a fortress inside of which are many beautiful temples, the main one being Bayon.
In some ways I preferred Bayon to Angkor Wat. Inside this temple and large rocks carved with the face of Avalokiteshvara on each of the rocks four sides. It's got many hidden rooms and compartments to nose around.

After we went for a well earned lunch at one of the many outdoor restaurants which can be found a couple of meters from any temple. The food was amazing, and I had what was probably the best Amok I had in Cambodia. Amok is the Cambodia's most famous local dish. It is a type of coconut curry, and was definitely my favourite of the Khmer foods. Mostly food in Cambodia lacks any real spiciness, which I've decided is what makes Asian food so good.

After lunch we went to our final temple of the day, Ta Prohm. This is also now known as 'the Tomb Raider Temple' as it was one of the locations used during filming of Tomb Raider. Our tour guide told us a story of how he once met Angelina Jolie while filming was going on. She came into the souvenir shop he was working in. He asked was it her and she said yes. He said she bought lots of things and with admiration told us didn't haggle for anything. He said people don't believe him because he didn't get a photo with her. I decided to believe him!
This temple has large and beautiful trees growing right through it, the stones mixed with the tree roots. Sometimes then trees strength wins over the temple and you can see where walls have crumbled to give way to the tree. The entanglement of the two are what make this temple special, and beautiful.

After we began our hour long cycle back to the office, during which we did our fair share of off road mountain biking. There were many more temples at the site that I hadn't, and would love to have seen. I debated returning during my stay and spending another day cycling the temples but somehow it just didn't happen.
That night I met the Americans for some well earned cocktails.

Kep and Kampot, Cambodia

I'd heard many a horror story about the buses in Cambodia, overbookings, drivers falling asleep, break downs etc, so I did expect the worst. There are two or three excellent companies (Mekong Express, VIP bus), but after that the quality varies widely, although the price remains as high. On my first bus trip I had the misfortune of having to take one of the lesser quality buses.
After much thought on which part of Cambodia's coast I would visit. A popular spot among backpackers is Sihanoukville, from which you can get to several islands. I however had my heart set on Rabbit Island, which can be reached from the heavily french influenced village of Kep.
The bus trip from Phnom Penh was four hours. The bus was old and dirty but manageable. Then disaster struck, as the bus began to shake and creek until it came to a halt. The driver and his companion got out, and eventually all the passengers followed, to watch the driver and his friend look into the engine at the back of the bus, as they scratched their heads and laughed for about a half an hour, in the 30 plus midday heat. Eventually one of them took out a knife, cut something that resembled a bike tire tube and pulled it out of the engine. He then told us all to get back on the bus. It started, and drove... but there was no air conditioning. Now, I don't want to sound like a whining first world country westerner, but my god, it was hell. The windows didn't open, which meant the only slight form of fresh air, in a bus crammed full of people, in the searing heat, was from the door, which the driver had decided to leave open as some sort of compensation. It did very little, and after 5 minutes, every inch of me was soaked in sweat, and no amount of fanning could stop it. It was actually cooler outside in the sun that in the bus. Then, to add insult to injury, to drown out the sound of people complaining, and babies crying, the driver then decided to blare Cambodian pop music as loud as possible. I don't know if you know any Cambodian pop music, but it resembles a karaoke style backing track with a screeching srill cat like singer wailing over it. It was a long two hours.

Kep does not see many backpackers, caters mainly to french tourists, couples, and young families. So, I was a little out of place, but I had booked myself one night in a luxurious bungalow resort in the hills, complete with pool, and beautiful sea view. I was even more delighted to hear that they had overbooked and were putting me in a deluxe bungalow. It was my first private room since getting to Asia, having slept only in dorms up to this point. Personal space is a precious luxury to a backpacker, and so is a swimming pool. I spent the afternoon beside the pool, swimming, reading and sunbathing. In the evening I wandered into the village to have a crab dinner, which Kep is renowned for.
The next morning I got the boat to Rabbit Island. Rabbit Island is a tiny island, no roads, no cars, no bikes even. It is so called because apparently it is shaped, like a rabbit. The morning boats take tourists to stay either a day, or as long as they like. Several of the islander families have set up bamboo huts on the beach which they rent out at 5 to 10 dollars. You can't prebook these, and just have to show up and hope a good bungalow is available when you arrive. I got a nice one for 5 dollars. They're all on stilts, have little porches with a hammock. Inside is just a double bed, mosquito net, one plug socket and one light. No fans or Air Con here. Also, the bath room was an outhouse, which was a little scary (mostly because of the biting ants) as it was a bit of a walk from the hut in the night. The island only has power for four hours a day, between 6pm and 10pm, which is supplied by generator. The families also have open restaurants on the beach, where you can get basic, but delicious sea food for between 1-6 dollars. Paradise.
I stayed on the island for two nights, and could easily have stayed longer. No Internet, no TV, no news, nothing. Just reading, eating, sunbathing, writing, and swimming. Also, the most beautiful sunsets I think I have ever seen. On the last night, I woke up to a storm, despite the glorious weather since my arrival. Thunder, lightning pouring rain and high winds, I was convinced the thatched roof was going to be ripped off. I got up to check for leaks in the dark,expected to find my backpack in a puddle, but the little house held up perfectly, and not an inch of my cabin was wet. The next morning remainance of the storm could be seen on the beach, and the locals were out with there brushes sweeping it away.

After a boat back to shore, I hoped on a bus to Kampot, a town just 45 mins from Kep. It was a small town, with little to do, but I had booked an amazing 'hostel' called Ganesha, a couple of miles from town in the countryside. The surroundings were beautiful, with a little pond, palm trees, and it was beside the river. I had another bamboo hut, much bigger, and on much higher stilts, it towered above the trees. It had a front and back door, with two porches, one facing east and one west, so you could watch the sun rise and sunset. The place was run by two Swedish ladies, who were so friendly and helpful. They offered a boat cruise along the river to see the sunset which I did on my first night, and it really was beautiful. It was also a great way to meet others in the hostel.
They offered free bicycles to the people staying, and on my second day I cycled into town. The bike friendly route was a red dirt road which intersected many little villages along the way. Every five minutes, you would get a kid waving and shouting hello at you from the side of the road. Cambodians are by far, the friendliest people I've met anywhere.
There was very little to see or do in Kampot, just walk around the village, shops and chill out in cafes. Mostly because of my amazing accommodation though I really enjoyed my time in Kampot. Next stop would be Siem Reap, home to the amazing Angkor Temples!

Phnom Penh- Part Two. Learning about the Khmer Rouge

Some of the main tourist attractions in Phnom Penh are centered around the tragically recent history of the Khmer Rouge and their horrific genocide. I didn't know a great deal about it before coming to Cambodia, so here's a quick history lesson.
 The Khmer Rouge came into power in Cambodia in 1975 after years of Civil War. They were a Communist party, leaning on the side of Maoism. Their leader was the infamous Pol Pot. Within days of coming into power, they evacuated all of the cities, and marched the people to 'base' camps throughout rural Cambodia. Many of the Khmer Rouge and their soldiers came from impoverished rural backgrounds. They were attracted to the promise of equality for all, and that they would be brought out of there poverty. The city people or 'new people' as they would become known were forced to work in these rural camps, as were the native rural people or 'base people' although they were treated more fairly, as a reward for having been loyal to the traditional ways of life of the Khmer. The Khmer Rouge, under Pol Pot and his governments orders, began mass killings of anyone who was considered a threat to the Khmer Rouges rule or that was not 100% native Khmer. These killings were often carried out in secret, with the targets being told they were moving camp, when in fact, they were being taken to one of the many notorious Killing Fields. Anyone with a heritage outside of Khmer was killed, tourists were killed, anyone who worked for the previous government, anyone that was suspected to be a spy (often these suspicions were completely unfounded), anyone that was seen as too educated, all teachers, professors, doctors, nurses, even anyone that wore glasses.
The conditions in the work camps were horrific, with people being forced to work 12 plus hours a day and only given a bowl of water based rice soup to live on. Starvation killed many, particularly the young, but disease also spread rapidly, and with no real doctors or nurses or medication there was little chance of survival.

The Khmer Rouge preached about equality but little of it existed during their rule. If you refused to join the Khmer Rouge army, you were branded a traitor and were killed. If you were in this army, and refused to carry out an order, such as executing 'traitors' at the Killing Fields, you too would be killed.
The rice that the people slaved to farm was mostly exported to China for money for weapons. Pol Pot was paranoid of being attacked and had a deep hatred for the neighbouring Vietnamese, so his army began random assaults along the border of Vietnam. Children were taken as teens into training camps to learn how to use weapons. They were brainwashed into hating the Vietnamese and were told that the Vietnamese were invading to take them as slaves and take the Cambodian land. Vietnam did attack in 1979 but it was to liberate the people of Cambodia from the cruel Khmer Rouge regime. It is estimated that a quarter of the population were killed, three million people. But whats even harder to believe is that the world didn't truly understand what was going on in Cambodia, they had closed there boarders to all foreigners. After 1979 it did soon become apparent that something terrible had gone on, but the Khmer Rouge still held their seat in the UN. Because an alternative government had not been set up, they were still recognised by the outside world as the Cambodias leader, and were even given money by the UN and held a seat in the new Cambodian Government. Years of civil war and political strife continued well into the 90's when finally completely free of the Khmer Rouge. Whats worse is that only one Khmer Rouge official has been prosecuted, and that only happened last year. Pol Pot, lived a long and happy life, dying of natural causes, and never had to face up or pay for the absolute terror he inflicted on his own people.

So, one day in Phnom Penh we decided to visit the S21 prison and 'The Killing Fields' in one day. The prison was once a primary school but the Khmer Rouge turned it into a place of terror. It became a prison, first just for political prisoners and then for anyone accused of betraying the Khmer Rouge. Very often people were accused for no reason, even women and children. They were brought to the prison and tortured until they confessed. They were then either killed on site, but more often put in a van and brought to one of the killing fields. Every prisoner was photographed and documented. In the prison now, rooms are left as they were, some big with a single metal bed. Some are tiny, maybe 7 by 5 feet, with no light. When the prison was discovered by the Vietnamese soldiers in 1979, only 7 survivors were found. Freshly killed prisoners were found in many of the rooms and today in each of these rooms, there is a photograph of how they were found. Other rooms are filled with thousands of photographs taken by the Khmer Rouge of the prisoners. It was a very somber place, and little reminders of its school origin made it all the more eerie. It was done tastefully and the museums approach was one that it serves as a reminder to future generations that we should never let this happen again.

I'm glad to say the same approach was taken with the Killing Fields. It always feels a bit strange visiting such places as a tourist. I can say I have no regrets about going, and it was done very well and respectfully. You are given an audio tour which brings you around the field, which was unnervingly beautiful and serene. There is a lake at its center, with trees and flowers surrounding it. Surrounding this though were huge craters with cracking earth. In these huge pits mass graves were found. The gases from these corpses forced the earth open revealing them underneath, and this was how the killing fields were discovered, after the Khmer Rouge had fled. During the tour you're given heart breaking accounts of what went on at the site. Thousands and thousands of bodies and bones were found here. So many that although they tried to excavate as many as they could, there are still many more underfoot as you walk around. Every now and again you will see a bit of old cloth under the surface, from the clothes of those killed. Even worse, you might come across a bone. There are even more under the lake, where an excavation couldn't take place. While we were there, villagers were bathing in this lake.
Probably the hardest part of the tour was the 'Killing Tree'. Bits of skull, brain and blood were found on the tree when the site was first discovered.They didn't know why until a mass grave was discovered beside the tree, in which were thousands of naked woman (most raped before being killed) and their children and babies. The tree was used to smash the babies and young children off, and then they were thrown into the pit. Many of the victims at this site were killed in prolonged, agonizing ways, because bullets were too expensive to waste on them. This method however, seems particularly brutal. These children were killed because one or both of it's parents was accused of being a traitor. Pol Pot believed it better to exterminate a whole family so there was no one left to seek revenge.

It was an interested, but heartbreaking day. It was difficult to see and hear of all the recent atrocities that went on so recently, but I'm glad I did it. To ignore it, would gain nothing, and I'm sure Cambodia have had enough of the world ignoring its problems.

Phnom Penh Part one- The Kings death in The Kingdom of Cambodia

Because I spent longer in Vietnam than anticipated I decided to skip Laos and head straight for Cambodia. I'd been told by several people that flights in Asia were pretty cheap so thought it would be fairly easy to fly from Hanoi into Cambodia. Turned out Cambodia seems to be exception when it comes to cheap flights, and at €180 one way it was just too much for me to part with. It was however just €30 to fly back to where I started in HCMC where I could get a nice bus across the border for $12.It was an incredibly easy and painless crossing, we got water and cake, and the bus lady took our passports and forms, got our visas at the border all we had to do was walk up to the official and get our stamps. It was all very official and high tec, we even got our finger prints and photos taking. No messing or corruption.

Cambodian roads were instantly quieter than Vietnamese ones, and the motorbike is still the favored vehicle. The people looked different, with much darker skin and wider flatter noses. Thanks to the Khemer Rouge and they're genocide (more on that later) anybody that didn't look totally Khmer was wiped out. The countywide was beautiful and green and probably because there are less people, there was less litter. There is absolutely no regard for littering in Asia from what I can see. You will often see beautiful fields and countryside and lakes strewn with rubbish. Its sad to see, but especially because the country people don't seem to understand the effects this will have on the very environment they live in.
On the drive to Phnom Penh our bus boarded a ferry to cross the massive Mekong River. The ferry is only in operation in the last two decades and must have made such a huge difference to the peole living around the river. On the way over on the ferry, I heard a tapping at my window. I looked out to see a boy of about 7 who had climbed between the side of our bus and the side of the truck right beside us in order to reach my window. He was trying to open in, was filthy, in ragged clothes, and was pointing to his mouth in a gesture of wanting food. It was pretty heartbreaking and as it was my first real encounter with child begging in Asia, pretty shocking. I didn't know what to do for a moment, and then remembered the 'free snacks'the bus company had provided for us when we boarded our bus. I found the sugary doughnut and gave it to him. He looked surprised, but otherwise his expression didn't change. He took it eagerly and made his way down, and onto another window. I then noticed there were children at other windows. A guy opposite me had drawn his curtains and was holding his window shut to a small girl of about 5. Maybe he didn't have anything to give her... right?
Child begging seems to be pretty common here, some are down right scary, others just too sad. Some are trying to sell goods, with pushy mothers watching from a distance. Some try the 'milk scam', where they ask for milk, bring you to a nearby shop where they often have an arrangement, where the milk is often overpriced (I once heard someone being quoted $25 in such a situation) and apparently after the milk has been sold, the child can return the milk and get the money, with the shop taking a commision. I've met travellers who have tried to bring such children to different shops other than the ones the child suggests, and the child usually refuses. Its hard to distinguish in such situations, so unless I have something I can give on me already, I say no, which can be pretty hard.

As we came into Phnom Penh, I got chatting to two english guys, who informed me we were arriving just in time for the Kings funeral. This would continue for a week and for the entirity of my stay. It was both interesting and inconvient in equal measures. Many roads were closed to vehicles, and sometimes to pedestrians too. The irritating thing was, there would be pedestrians on either side of such road closures, and you could always get to your desired street by taking a longer route around, thus deeming the closure irrelivant. Sometimes, they would let you through a particular road closure, and 10 minutes later, at the same road closure, they wouldn't, and you'd have to walk a block or two around to get through. I completely failed to see the logic, or understand it. This would be  a theme for a great many things in Cambodian society. It was something I would just have to come to accept. Things often didn't make sense, seemed badly organised, everything is late or not how it is promised or seemed. These are all things that I can easily forgive and get over though because every other aspect of Cambodia, and its people is fantastic. I was instantly overcome by how friendly and kind its people are. I've been to a few countries in my time, and I have to say, Khmers are one of the friendliest I've come across. Its an easy place to relax and feel at ease. Everyone seems to want to help you, or just say hello.

We got to the city late in the day, so after checking in to the most random Hostel of all time with the English guys, there wasn't much else to do. The hostel could have been amazing, with a swimming pool, and the biggest single bunk beds I've ever seen, but the staff were something else. It seems that there are often 4 or 5 people in business' in Cambodia to do the job of one person. We saw 4 people changing a bed. 1 actually changed the bed, while 3 watched. In this hostel, they also didnt seem to have a clue who was occupying any of the beds in the Dorm, and just kept bringing people in after the dorm was full. I also saw some shameless flirting between to staff members that had come in to fix a shower that wasn't working. They didn't seem to notice that there were two of us in the room (although they definitely knew we were) It was pretty awkward to say the least!
Phnom Penh, like the rest of Cambodia, is damn hot. Its "cool"dry season at the moment, but its 32 degrees, and humid. Hot dry season, is even hotter, and I can't even imagine what thats like. Despite the heat I spent alot of time walking around the city, mostly watching the goings on for the kings funeral, and getting a glimse at the wonderful buildings, such as the Palace and Temples. Because of the funeral, these sites were closed to the public, but it was still pretty interesting to see crowds of people dressed in white and black (the colours for mourning) praying in the streets, or queuing to pay their respects. The king actually died in October, but they were waiting until they had all the necessary preperations for his funeral ready before going ahead with it. A temporary monument was built beside the palace were they laid his body for the week of his funeral. There were 'parades'with eleborate golden floats to mourn his death. Flags were put up everywhere at half mast, as well as his photograph everywhere you looked. At night at 8pm there was a fantastic fire work display down by the river. Speakers were put up all over the city, and a sad, eerie chanting/praying was played over them throughout the day. Other than that, no music was allowed, or alcohol, although this rule didn't seem to apply to hostels.

I was curious about what happened to the king during the Khmer Rouge regime, and I have to say, his position on them seems a little suspect. He was both with, and against them at different times in his career/life. All the same, it seems like he was a well loved king, and it did seem kind of special to be there for part of his funeral at least.

You can read more on this curious king here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norodom_Sihanouk

Hanoi and Halong Bay

Hanoi is the capital of the north and I expected it to be much like Ho Chi Minh City. I was happy to find it much prettier and easier to navigate with narrower roads for easier crossing. Along the way people kept telling me how cold it was up there, but being Irish, I found that 16 degrees a perfectly normal temperature. At the heart of Hanoi is a large lake, adding to its beauty. Everywhere decorations were being put up for Tet, which is the Vietnamese new year, which this year was falling on the 9th of February. Although it might have been interesting to see, I planned to be well out of the city by then. I'd been told that everything shuts down for the week and it becomes hard to get around. It's there biggest celebration.

While Hanoi I visited a couple of museums, the first being the Hanoi Prison. It had been around for centuries, first used by colonist French to inhabit misbehaving Vietnamese in horrid tiny conditions. Then during the war, used to inhabit American soldiers. The museum boasts of its fair treatment of the soldiers, letting them celebrate Christmas and how the soldiers called it the 'Hanoi Hilton' cause it was almost like a hotel. We were shown videos of smiling Americans having a great time. A quick google search however would reveal a different side to the story, where inhabitance were tortured and forced to sign anti america declarations.

We also visited the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, but thanks to bizarre and awkward opening hours didn't actually get to the Mausoleum part. We did however get to go to the most bizarre museum I've ever been in, which was the Ho Chi Minh museum. It was a strange conceptual place where it seemed that they were trying to bring the audience into his head, illustrating his thoughts and ideas through post modern installations. Bizarre. And to add to the bizarreness I had a couple of different groups of young adults want to get there photograph taken with me. I can only guess because of my white skin and blonde hair. I politely declined.

While at Hanoi I also did an overnight trip to Halong Bay, although it was entirely the wrong time of year for it. The morning we left it was lashing rain in Hanoi, but during the three hour bus trip to the coast it stopped, but remained misty and cloud. It's a world heritage site and in the bay are more than 2000 islands of limestone mountains. Although it was pretty cold it wasn't so misty that we couldn't see anything, it was pretty cool to see these beautiful islands appear out of the mist.

We'd booked our trip through our hostel, it was the 'Castaway Tour' trip and was more expensive than most. Had it been sunny it probably would have been worth the money, as your brought to the hostels private beach on one of the islands where we stayed the night. Because it was so cold the only thing to do was drink, which was basically what we'd been doing the whole time on the boat too! It was good fun and there was a good and very interesting mix of people. My least favourite were possibly the 14 Irish nurses who had been singing our national anthem and randomly speaking in Irish for no reason whatsoever. Being around them was worse than being in Coppers. Another interesting character was a guy with I Love Cork scribbled on his arm, but was infact English. I never saw him wearing a top, just shorts, and it was cold. He had an invisible dog who's name he'd call randomly and run after. He also liked to show you where he wet himself a bit and I heard he had lots of photo in his phone of his and friends penis' dressed up as different characters.
Mostly people were more normal and just good craic. Drinking went on long into the night,drunken deep long conversations were had on the beach.

The next morning I said a sad goodbye to Louk and Karola who were going to Capa as me the Aussies and Rob got the boat back very early to Halong and then the bus to Hanoi. Hangovers all round!

A quick stop in Hue

We happened to arrive at an Aussie run backpackers the day before Australia day, so it was madness all around. Louk, Rob and Karola had all made it on there scooters and by the sounds of things they'd had an amazing time too. We took a walk by the river that night taking in what was another impressively large and busy city. You only need a quick stop on Hue to take in the impressive Citadel at the heart of the city. Hue is a former capital of Vietnam, back in the 1800s. The walls and gates to the citadel are impressive and it is a world heritage, but once your inside the gates it was surprisingly disappointing and empty. Unfortunately during the Vietnam war the Viet Cong seized the Citadel and used it as one of its bases. This resulted in it being bombed by the Americans and only 10 of the original 160 sites inside survived. A large reconstruction project has began where they hope to recreate the buildings originally found on the site. It will be completed in 2015 and I would be curious to see the results. besides that the grounds within the walls of the city are beautiful and lovely to walk or bike around.

Next we were all on our way to the northernly city of Hanoi, and my last real stop in Vietnam!

Motorbikes and mountains- a journey to Hue

I had met several people who told me the short (5-7 hours) from Hoi An to Hue was worth doing during the day and by motorbike or scooter, as it is one of the most scenic routes in Vietnam. Thanks to relatively new tunnels through the mountains the buses could get between the cities faster, but skipped the beautiful costal and mountainous views along the way. The motorbike option has increased in popularity since in was featured on 'Top Gear'. However, I was still not feeling brave enough to motorbike in Asia, having seen too many bike injures in backpackers, and the crazy driving everywhere I went. I decided to opt for the easy option and signed up for an 'Easyrider Tour'. This is basically traveling from A to B or anywhere else you like in Vietnam on the back of a motorbike with your biker tour guide doing the driving for you. With the Dutch and Austrian biking themselves to Hue the same day I was joined with two Aussie sisters that morning. As typical Irish luck would have it, after days of glorious sunshine, that morning the heavens had opened and heavy downpours and grey clouds greeted us. Our drivers had brought us rain gear, and told us that the rain would stop in an hour. I was skeptical but it turned out to be true. Although the clouds and mist would persist at least we wouldn't be soaked.
My backpack and bag were wrapped on plastic and strapped to the back of my bike. Dressed in full rain gear and helmet off we went. We'd stop frequently along the way, our first at Marble Mountain. We had an hour to climb the rough marble stone stairs along the mountainside and explore the Pagodas, finding enormous Buddist statues hidden in caves and tunnels. A beautiful place, seemingly unaffected by the War, unlike many other temples and Pagodas in Vietnam which were sometimes bombed to complete ruin by the American soldiers. They believed Viet Cong soldiers to be hiding in them. Whether this is an adequate reason to destroys beautiful places of worship which are thousands of years old, I am unconvinced.

After marble Mountain we drove by and stopped at China beach where we met local fishers and admired the strange creatures they'd caught. Because of the overcast misty weather the visibility was a bit poor, so we continued on to visit a Giant statue of Lady Budda, built in 1997 by the Thai and Vietnamese government. She looks out over the sea as a protection and to bring luck (and hopefully no tsunamis).
We then continued up the mountains, with beautiful views the whole way. We stopped at several points to take photos, and climb rocks. However, even when your in the middle of no where, on a mountain, Vietnamese woman will appear from thin air, trying to sell you shitty bracelets. The Vietnamese approach to trying to sell to tourists is without doubt the most irritating thing about traveling in Vietnam. They are pushy and persistent and sometimes will follow you even after you've said no. That coupled with the fact they are always quoting you a higher price than what locals will pay, for everything. The result being that you find yourself being ruder and harsher to streetsellers and taxis, which is a shame because aside from this Ive found them to be a very friendly nation.

After our mountain drive we stopped for lunch in a small cafe where we were given mountains of various plates of food for a total price of €1.50. Sometimes uncertain of what the meat was, it all being delicious, I thought it best not to ask. There is no real danger of getting dog, even though it is popular in the north to eat, it is expensive and considered a delicacy. For the record, I've heard it's nice, but I couldn't try it myself!

We continued on until we got to Hue. It was an amazing experience, despite the cold weather, and would you believe, I still managed to get sunburnt!