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!

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!

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!

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!

Spending all my money in Hoi An

The bus to Hoi An was not as comfortable as the previous one, but it could have been worse. Behind me and Kate at the back of the bus were five beds/seats, right beside each other, with three backpackers on them. We got chatting to them and laughing how it was a good thing they knew each other cause it was pretty intimate. Then at the last stop the bus filled up and the two remaining seats along side them were filled by a fat, smelly, snoring German couple. Eek!

Turned out we were all staying in the same place, in the Sunflower Hotel. Even though it was only a two star hotel, it was still amazing, we had buffet breakfast and swimming pool. And it was cheap as hell.

Everyone I'd met who'd been to Hoi An had loved it and it wasn't hard to see why. Trees lined the streets, there was less traffic, which meant less beeping. It was a perfect place to rent bicycles and cycled through the town, by the river, surrounding countryside and to the beach. The weather was pleasantly warm at 27 degrees. The place is also famous for its tailors, which really were everywhere. Every second shop was a tailors, offering to make whatever you desired. Luckily I'd already been recommended a good tailor in town, thanks to the Irish couple in Nha Thrang. I had come prepared with photographs from a trip to Venice, where I was taunted with beautiful designer wear I could not afford. I got my dream winter jacket and silk dress made overnight. Amazing.

Besides shopping, the next best thing to do in Hoi An was eat. It seemed impossible to get a bad meal here. Everything was amazing, even the street food. The local specialty was Cau Lao Another delicious noodle soup rivaling Pho Bo of the south.
On our second night we found the most amazing restaurant conveniently located right beside our hotel. The food was simply amazing. Me and Karola (the Austrian from the bus) decided to do the cooking class here. Almost every restaurant in Hoi An offered them, but this place was far to perfect to resist.

The next day our class started with a trip to the local market where are lovely teacher walked us through pointing out exotic fruit and veg most of which I'd never seen before, and informing us what they were and how to go about eating them. In the markets the meat is displayed in the open air which seemed terribly unhygienic to my western eyes. Our teacher explained that to customers in Vietnam it is seen as a sign of freshness, and at the end of everyday the meat left over is thrown away. Before cooking, the meat is always soaked in salt water. I suppose this process must be efficient as I am yet to get sick from food in Vietnam.
Getting back to the restaurant, we started cooking. The four meals we made were fresh steamed pork and shrimp spring rolls, chicken lemon grass, Vietnamese beef curry and fish (shark!) hotpot. It was all delicious and pretty fast to prepare it was a morning well spent, and at the end we were given little packs with some if the ingredients we might find hard to find at home.

After three days in Hoi An, I'd done an impressive amount of shopping and eating. I thought it best to get out while I still had some sort of budget to speak of!

South East Asia begins...

It started with an Emirates flight from Dublin to Dubai. Traveling alone has its plus' but also its cons. My first travel neighbour was a intimidating looking 50+ Belfast man, covered in tattoos and reeking of booze. It would be a long 7 and a half flight I thought. Once we got chatting he was actually an alright guy, if not a little difficult to understand. He soon fell asleep though and I was free to watch movies.
 My 9 hour stop over was nothing compared to Belfast Man, who had 24 hours to wait until his flight to Sydney. We went our seperate ways to get lost in what is an impressively large airport. After walking the whole length of Duty Free, I still had 8 hours to kill. So after a well needed salad, I found a wifi signal which took up an impressive 3 hours. The rest I spent trying to sleep on a plastic chair. It was 4am there, but to my body it was only midnight. Unbelievably it was the cold, from the overly air conditioned airport, that kept me awake. Then at 5.45am the call to prayer was played over the intercom, jolting me from a sort of slumber.

Finally flight number two, Dubai to Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam. It looked like I would be sitting alone, until about 40 minutes into the flight an air host came over and asked me would it be ok if a lady came to sit beside me as she was having trouble with some drunk men in the sits beside her. I said of course. We landed later than schedule at 7.30pm. I mostly slept for the flight but we got chatting after. She was traveling alone also but doing a tour starting from HCMC. She said she had thought about doing it all alone but chickened out and said I was very brave. Brave or Stupid? hmm. She was Polish, but living in Dublin. We decided to share a taxi from the airport. She'd also met a bubbly Thai woman in Dubai airport who was on our flight. She told me she had been stopped in Dubai airport and strip searched and they accused her of being an illegal immigrant. Poor thing, I thought. The three of us stuck together going through emmigrations and then our bags were scanned again on the other side. Thai Woman got pulled aside and asscorted with three guards, along with her bag. After about 10 minutes of waiting and soul searching we decided to go on without her, not knowing just how long she would be, or even if we really trusted that it was just very bad luck that she would get stopped twice in her trip.

Both having heard lots of stories of taxi drivers ripping customers off, especially from the airport into town, we tried our best to get a reliable taxi, with a meter. We got one with a meter, but we still got ripped off. Something I actually didn't realise until the day after, mostly owing to the Vietnamese Dong being the most confusing currency I have ever encountered.

I arrived safely to what I thought would be my hostel. But I was told they were going to put me in their sister hostel, that it was brand new and lovely. I said that was fine. What I didn't realise was that I was expected to hop on the back of a motor bike to get there. And so, within 10 minutes of being in HCMC I broke my 'No Motorbike' rule. The traffic in this city is like nothing I've ever seen. There are few traffic lights, or rules seemingly. Its like a constant game of chicken, whether you're the motorbike or a poor pedestrian battleing several lanes of cars and motor bikes with no decent crossing.

I got there in one piece, in what seems to be a work-in-progress Hotel, which is currently operating as a Hostel. It is nice, clean and new. I crashed at 11pm exhausted with jet lag but excited!