The Motorcycle diaries day 7

Hello parents - no blog for a while and now 7 days for you to catch up on. We've kept them all until now so we can tell you that we have finished on the motorbikes(!) and we are all safe! So you'll have to click back to the start (Motorcycle diaries day 1) to catch up in the right order! Its back to foot, bus, boat and plane power for us now.

So day 7 - from Hoi An to Hue via Lang Co beach (we were supposed to stop there but the $7 a night room was grim and the beach side resort was full (of Vietnamese, how inconsiderate, actually having a holiday when we are in the middle of ours!) so Wing and Tin Tin kindly bought us to Hue.

Left Hoi An early at 7.30, had to laugh with Wing and Tin Tin as they must have overslept and they missed breakfast! Tin Tin had to stop for petrol which caused a few organisational jokes but he had the last laugh later on when Wing ran out of fuel!

First stop a marble carving shop (very expensive!) and then the marble mountains (which the marble that is carved does not come from as the government banned them from taking it as they were destroying the tourist attraction....instead it is trucked from near Hanoi!). Lots of tourists here which was a bit shocking for us as we've managed to avoid the buses so far!

Stopped at the side of the road on the outskirts of Danang at a little fishing village to see women gutting fish and laying it all out to dry in the sun and then up and over the Hai Van Pass which was another stunning drive. We thought about buying a ridiculous sized vase, painting and model ship (like on Top Gear) to put on our bikes but figured our bags were big and heavy enough!

Brief interlude at a roadside place that distils an oil from a leaf that is a bit like eucalyptus and then on to lunch. Wing asked if boiled chicken was okay. We said 'yes, lovely'. It was certainly fresh. There was a squawk from behind us and I noticed a cage with 6 (minus 1) chickens in. Fortunately the chicken was taken behind the house. Boiled chicken arrived. All of it. Literally. Feet, head, the lot. WIng and Tin Tin kindly gave us the drumsticks.

I was intrigued how they got the feathers out so quickly. Apparently they slice the neck and let the blood drain and then plunge it in boiling water briefly three or four times, then the feathers pull out really quickly, chop it up, gut it and boil it. Easy. They have to slice the neck because if they chop the head off the chicken runs around!

I wouldn't have wanted to be a chicken today - there were only three left in the cage when we left, everytime someone arrived there was a squawk!

After a very necessary petrol station stop for Wing we arrived in Hue and found a very nice hotel on our second try.

Said goodbye to the best two tour guides we have ever had. I didn't cry, honest, well not much anyway. I have discovered one bit of travelling I really do not like and that is all the goodbyes. Ho hum, you can't have a goodbye without a hello and it was an honour and a pleasure to travel with Wing and Tin Tin for a while!

Cool shower, give laundry in (apologise profusely for smell!) and off to explore Hue, wandered to Citadel where there is a local gastronomy and bonsai fair happening because of the holiday, mingled with the locals for a bit and then dinner - pizza. Feel a bit like we let Wing and Tin Tin down at this point but hey I'm not sure I can cope with any more spinach and garlic!

Next, sleep. 7 days on motorbike, you think you're just sitting there but its really quite tiring. We've found a hotel with a pool for tomorrow so we're off to use that for the day - mind you its raining at the moment so maybe not.

Oh, and we have a pet gecko in our room, yay. Haven't been this close to one since Siem Reap, was missing them. We've called him Gordon! (I hope its a he!)

So there you have it, the Henderson's 'motorcycle diaries'. Not quite the epic that Ernesto produced and we haven't managed a whole continent, but then neither of us is planning on turning into a revolutionary either! Hope you enjoyed our motorcycle diaries as much as we enjoyed the exploits that allowed them to be written.

'Next bit' as we have taken to saying!

('Tin Tin' - left, and 'Wing', right - Sad to say goodbye, a true pair of professional,and very funny guys - we'll miss you! - if you're looking for the 'original' Dalat Easy Riders, look out for these blue jackets!)

The motorcycle diaries day six

From ummmm somewhere to Hoi An.

8am start again but it's okay - we seem to be operating on daylight hours, sleep at 9pm and awake at 6am. Good job - supposed to leave at 7.30am tomorrow and quelle surprise now we're back in civilisation the bass is booming next door!
Anyway, I digress.... We left ummm somewhere in the jungle and first stop was at a sign (!) it was a sign celebrating the completion of turning part of the Ho Chi Minh trails into a road. There were a number of trails but the main ones went close to the Laos and Cambodia Borders, another went over the sea! More maps chalked by Wing on the side of the road. VC used to travel the trails by push bike (not the sea ones obviously!) and there was a small fuel pipe line like a drainpipe all the way along them as well. Resourceful lot!

Next stop a carpenters. Buddha was having his head buffed by an angle grinder!

Photo stop at waterfall and hydroelectric dam somewhere around here as well....
Then an ethnic minority group originally from Laos (lots of border crossings during the war depending on where was being bombed and then people just ended up where they were). These people were really short! And two women we met were really old as well - wearing traditional weaved skirts/wraps which was nice to see.

Lots more stunning scenery - jungle, river, mountains shrouded in mist and a stop for the freshest pineapple ever (with a salt and green chilli dip which was very good), a game of cards with the locals and we made it to a tobacco drying shack and then a rice paper making factory shed. Quick stop at a Cham built tower and on to lunch.
After lunch to Hoi An and afternoon off. Walked the old town, found bar, had drink, watched the royal bride walk down the aisle - approve of dress!, walked around some more, had dinner, back to hotel.......bass from speakers v loud but shhhhh don't tell anyone, it's stopped now!

Tried to find somewhere by the beach to stay tomorrow night but all full or stupidly expensive. Wing says not to worry, he'll sort us out!

Oh, by the way.... The 'somewhere' we were at last night was called Phuoc Son.
Have to go - Wing and Tin Tin have just delivered their 'feedback books' so I have to go and write nice stuff about them.
Hope you all enjoyed your extra bank holiday today !!

Forgot to mention

..... Love visiting French colonies - great bread!

Martyn declared breakfast the best yet. Napoleons breakfast Tin Tin called it - one of those sizzling hot plates you get at Indian restaurants at home with fried egg, tomato, cucumber, steak, ham and a meatball. With French bread.
Martyn in heaven!

Noodle soup was good but I confess this was yummy!
Dinner was White deer(?) a speciality here and some plant from the jungle - it doesn't have an english name and Wing didn't seem that sure of the vietnamese name as he says the people here have a funny accent!
Wherever here is we have learnt we have moved from south to central Vietnam so moving north slowly but surely!

The motorcycle diaries day five

From Kon Tum to ummmm, not sure where but it's quite a small place and very nice just off the road through the jungle - yes we found jungle today!

First stop a tapioca processing plant (well shack) interesting to see what they do with this plant that grows in rubbish soil so is a bit o a staple food here - used in instant noodles and msg apparently. Older people don't like it though - it reminds them of the days after the Americans left when there was not enough food.
Then on to a brick factory where the women admired Martyn and the men admired the motorbikes. I admired two cute puppies!

A war memorial was next - atop hill 601 otherwise known as 'skull hill'. I'll let you work out why, the only debate seems to be which side the 'skulls' were from - Wing thought southern army but no-one very sure.
And here under the shade of another tree but this time with maps scratched with chalk on the cement we got a history lesson in who came when, went where, learnt what, left, stayed and generally contributed to making the country what it is.
I think Wing would feel better (if that is possible) if he felt that lessons had been learnt. His comments on Iraq and Afghanistan indicate he doesn't think they have been.

Just before lunch an ethnic village, this time the Rong house had horns like a water buffalo. The well was nearly empty and a family of 40 were surviving on tapioca leaf soup with some berries from the jungle. We spent a pleasant twenty minutes with a lady who was cooking the soup.

Another war memorial where Wing showed us which of two types of tank he was more scared of and explained why and then in the shade a story of Charlie hill and an associated song about a hero from the southern army who chose to stay at the base on the hill, drew in all the VC and then rang for the bombers.
After lunch the most stunning scenery. We found the jungle and the Ho Chi Minh trails. Travelled along the main Ho Chi Minh road but did get off now and again to walk bits of the trails.

Finally a village football game on the lumpiest pitch ever but they had managed two linesmen and a ref. Two team members had trainers but they kept slipping on the wet grass. I think the red/blue team were 2:1 up against the yellows but not sure.......

And now we are here, wherever that is......
Oh and we've managed to time our visit with another holiday - Liberation day and Independent Workers day resulting in a long weekend, fireworks in Danang and lots of full hotels....... Ah well, no doubt we'll find somewhere to sleep. Wonder if we'll need the earplugs...........

Tin tins story

He is too young to have been in the army, we reckon he is somewhere around 45-50 but it's hard to tell. We think Wing is 60 odd.

Anyway, we'd got kind of used to Wings army stories (not that you get used to them, I think I mean more used to hearing them from him).

And then Tin Tin started talking about his family. You get a bit of warning from Wing, he says 'we go there, I tell you story'.,....Tin Tin just sort of wound it into conversation.
His dad spent eight years in a re-education camp after the war. He was released but had caught malaria and died after 7months.

We also had lessons in politics and language! There is a place here called La Bas because when the French said 'over there' the locals thought that was the name of the place, also Lac lake, the French called it lac which the people thought was the name of the lake (which is word bought over by Americans) so lac lake it is.
Apparently the Dutch for 'beautiful' sounds exactly the same as the local dialect for 'pig person' which is very unfortunate- Wing has to ask Dutch tourists not to say 'beautiful' around people!

And politics- there is an election here on 22 May. Everyone will vote, tribal people, everyone. I ask if the election is fair. Tin tin says yes, everyone gets to vote and then turns and whispers and shakes his head a bit 'but they change the papers'.
Wing says it is a bit like Russia with lots of tribal areas wanting to be not communist buy either their land is too poor and they could not survive or the land is too rich and the government needs it for farming.

Never seen ethnic people being 'forced' out so obviously as here either. Its funny to use the word 'force' as it's not physical. Towns just get bigger, the minority people own the land but don't know its value so they sell a $1000 plot for $50 and move further into the 'jungle' which courtesy of chemical warfare is not so much jungle anymore it just has slightly more trees than the town!

Tin tin deals with it all as he did at the orphanage - 'this is their destiny'.........

The motorcycle diaries day 4

Lie in again, nine am start and off we went for breakfast - a steaming bowl of pho - beef noodle soup, very yummy.
Then to museum which showed lots of examples of the different ethnic groups around these parts.
After that 'the most romantic place in pleiku' otherwise known as 'the mouth of the dragon' a crater lake where apparently lots of wedding photos are taken and proposals made. We enjoyed sitting under a little pagoda listening to the bass from the large speakers and sound system that someone had installed. Then we walked back up the hill and found a fire by the side of the road, it looked like a little shrine with three incense sticks and a rock but it was very dry around and there were twigs and trees so we put the fire out!

Driving out of Pleiku we stopped at a recycling plant (?) - the locals collect all the rubbish and sell it to this guy who then trucks it to Ho Chi Minh City or elsewhere. They have a different kind of rubbish to collect here though - buckets of shrapnel, ammo boxes and bits of old mines etc........

And then a sort of lumber yard only I can't remember the name of the wood..... The bark is stripped and used for a kind of glue, bits of it are used for incense and it's also used to make paper.... Very useful. As a side industry the owner also grows tapioca, which we had never seen before either.

And on to Kon Tum for noodle lunch and a shower.

The afternoon was Tin Tins. A roman catholic church and orphanage to start. Church beautiful, orphanage very clean and well organised so not as bad as might have been but still heart wrenching.

Finally on to ethnic village with traditional Rong house which was very cool to see. REALLY high roof with amazing structure on the inside all held up with rattan! On the way there we passed workers in a rice paddy who were getting the rice off the stalks so we had a go on their leg powered machine - we weren't very good!
Then we had to race the rain back, there was thunder but not rain so that was ok.

Dinner fantastic - local delicacy - Vietnamese pancakes. Martyn ate three - piggy. Having missed pancake day we feel we have compensated now. Beansprout and shrimp in batter with cucumber and lettuce wrapped in rice paper with a carrot, onion, garlic, chilli and lemon juice dip. More please!

We have sticky rice for pudding - just off to try it now!

Foetus in an egg

If you've been following this from the start you will know that before we left we watched 'An Idiot Abroad' in particular the China episode.

Karl (the presenter) was horrified when his bus driver started eating 'foetus in an egg'.
We've come as close as we would like to thank you very much.
In the Market yesterday Wing proudly pointed out chicken, bird and duck eggs but there was one more basket.
'these are ones the duck has....' he scrunched up his face and wiggled his bum a bit.........'sat on a bit longer' we finished. 'They have bits of the duck in, lots of protein, sometimes if I work a lot I eat two but westerners they no like' Wing said. He'd be right there!

Motorcycle diaries day three

From Buon Ma Thuot to Pleiku.

Didn't realise but we're on our way back to Cambodia - doh! Tomorrow apparently we will be 10km from the border!
Currently sat in hotel having wandered around town and ground bombed with napalm and agent orange. Still not really much growing here. Beggar in street looked very like some of the photos in the war museum the other day. Altogether very sobering.

To get here was a long riding day (not being much of a 'biker' I question if 'riding' is the correct term but in the absence of any other - it seemed better than 'driving' or 'pillioning' as Martyn has just offered). We left at 8am we're still enjoying the lie ins but Wing and Tin Tin seem quite apologetic that we have to leave so early!

First stop building site (?) seriously - pagoda under construction but important that we see it because it will be beautiful when finished. Apologies to any sensitive souls out there for the next bit, focus on the science and the language! It took me a good while to work out how Tin Tin could possibly be implying they would build a pagoda out of semen, sorry of course he meant cement. It was early still. Fortunately my brain had kicked in to gear by the time we got to the two girls making cement pots. Thank goodness!

After pagoda to a war memorial and more sad stories from Wing. This time of the war after America had left - between communist and southern Vietnam, well not much of a war by this point, there were other stories but I remember most the one about what happened when the communists 'won' anyone who was not registered with the communist party was put in prison to be 'reprogrammed'. Wings words. It didn't matter what your sentence was you stayed in until you wrote the 'right' things down, in a cell with 10 other people. Sometimes one of those people would just be taken away and not come back.
There were other words, said with a smile, so that we would know. At the end, a shrug. His eyes say more than his words.
Before we came here people told us Cambodians are nice, Laotians are lovely and the Vietnamese are harder, not bad but that there is a harshness not present in the other countries. It's not that this isn't true but I'm not sure the people who told us those things had looked behind what they were saying - if that makes sense.

And quietly we left, to the previously mentioned cement pot making girls and Martyns first love. Two girls, cement pots, anyone seen the film Ghost? Apparently he's very handsome - its the blond hair and blue eyes. Despite the tan apparently he's still quite pale which is much sought after....,,. And then he rolled up his t shirt sleeve. Much girly giggling commenced !
But it was in the Market his fan base truly developed. I swear if the Vietnamese were the sort of people to throw knickers at Tom Jones then the Vietnamese equivalent of M&S would have been out of stock.
Apparently he also has a very long straight nose that doesn't squash at the end. Much ooooohing and aaaaaahing and raising of t shirt sleeve later we made it out the Market!

I of course have a squishy nose, dark hair and brown eyes and my small tan means I look like a woman from a farm - not that much admired in these parts, although my watch strap line earnt me a few points !
And then lunch where we were stared at by 8 labourers from the hills who had never seen White people before. They told Wing that they were going to be late - they had been watching us and forgotten to leave after their lunch! Sort of intimidating but they were happy to have seen us we think!
Next a lie in a hammock for a bit where we could ponder the pepper plantation we also stopped at.
Unscheduled stop at cashew nut farm was fascinating - never seen a cashew nut tree before. Fruit smells amazing and the nut grows on the outside of the fruit!

Rubber tree plantation next, a little walk to stop us getting what Tin Tin calls 'monkey bum' - not sure what that is but it probably aches!

And then a stop under a bridge for a story from Wing. He told us about the napalm and the agent orange and what it was
like fighting with American help and after they left. He comments on Iraq and can see things playing out in similar ways. He pats us on the back and says 'okay we go'.

To the hotel, for dinner, on our own, well..... We'll only have ourselves to blame!

The motorcycle diaries day two

From Lac Lake to Buon Ma Thuot via waterfall, two wedding photograph sessions, a cock fight (didn't stop and as illegal as the rice wine distillery yesterday but no policemen around here so who cares), the only speed trap area in the region (40 kmh on bad roads 60 on good), an ethnic village, a bush with red seeds which are used in curry that i didn't get the name of and some war stories.

Firstly you have to be specific about which war - there have been a few here. If you talk Viet Minh it's the war with the French for independence. If you talk Viet Cong it's the war with America. Then there was the war to free Cambodia from Pol Pot and I think there was another one ah no, I remember, the other one was the left over of the American war after America had left.

So the stories..... All from Wing who we knew had a past just like Ghan our Khmer Rouge Cambodian building colleague......it's all in their age and their eyes...

First by a burnt out bombed roman catholic cathedral by the side of a bridge on the outskirts of town. After the Americans had left Vietnam the Viet cong wanted the town, Wing and his troop watched the bridge and made it impassable. The VC found another way, took the town and surrounded Wing and the southern army stationed at the airbase. They were kept there until they decided to try and escape to get to Da Lat. 200 made it out. In two weeks 7 made it to Da Lat. We sensed there was much more to this story but there are some questions that should never be asked so we took what information Wing was happy to share in the shade of a little tree as he sketched a plan of the area in the dust with a stick.
And then on to the aforemetioned romantic wedding photographs which were being taken on an old burnt concrete bridge that had been bombed. We must have looked like we thought it was an odd place for wedding photos but as Wing said - it's lucky because many people had to die for the bridge to look like that so we value it more.
The bridge has a name now - it's named for the river it passes over. It used to just have a number as there were so many bridges it was easier for the southern army to know which was which by numbers. Mountains they only knew by their heights. Apart from Hamburger Hill - named by the Americans when they were still there.....so called because the area was bombed so much - people died and were buried in shallow graves then bombed out of their graves and reburied so many times they looked like hamburger meat.

On that cheery note we headed to the hotel for the night and dinner which given last nights was quite scary but hurrah fried chicken and rice. The relief. Although I think our nerves were showing (either that or we're learning) as when Wing asked if we wanted a chicken leg we both said 'yes please but not the feet'.....

Divine retribution

Look it wasn't my fault. The frogs were already dead and it would have been exceptionally rude not to eat what was delivered with such pride. Not that you really eat frogs legs, you just sort of nibble......
So why as I sat on the toilet at 3am this morning did the BIGGEST frog jump out the bucket under the leaky tap.
Yikes and up I leaped only to have the frog head towards to toilet. Can you believe my first thought was to flush the chain in case the frog jumped in! Depressingly that is the honest to goodness truth.
I ran, shutting the door firmly behind me.
At a much more reasonable hour Martyn decided it was his turn to use bathroom so went in armed with towel.
In short, I'm surprised we ever got frogs legs for dinner last night, or maybe this one knew something about the kitchen and had that added incentive. I'm not kidding - it scaled the wall, higher than Martyns head. Then it hid under he sink for a bit. You need to imagine martyn running around in nightwear chasing frog with towel to Benny Hill Theme tune for a bit now.......Fortunately froggie then jumped back in it's bucket so we shoved the towel on top and deposited it outside.
We're sorry about the frogs leg dinner okay!!!!!

Heaven help us if we ever do get snake or crocodile or eel....!

The motorcycle diaries day 1

Firstly may I say that I read The Motorcycle Diaries last week, or at least the abridged version. Very enjoyable, especially having been to a number of the places Ernesto (as Che had yet to become 'Che') visited. Altogether a good read.
I must confess to the title being a bit of a swizz though. About 40 pages in to the book La Poderosa (the motorcycle) broke down in a 'dead' kind of way and the rest of the journey was done on whatever transport was available for the least amount of money!

I suppose 'Diaries of a journey through south america using whatever means o transport is available' isn't quite such a catchy title though.

Our Motorcycle Diaries will be better. Hopefully all to be completed on bike for a start! With our drivers Mr Wing and Tin Tin otherwise known as 'country bumkin' and 'bamboo'.

So at 0830 bags were ready down on the street and were hoisted aboard the bikes. Another example of bagstooheavy situation - bags on back of bike, front wheel of bike in air. Oh dear. We balanced our motorised see saws and were installed in our rice cookers (helmets) and off we went on

Day one - Da Lat to Lac Lake via coffee plantation, broom maker, ethnic minority weavers, Easter Sunday service, wedding, greenhouses full of gerbera and roses, Chinese pagoda and a stop for yummy lunch of proper vietnamese food - chicken, rice and greens with omlette.

First half day = fun, having south Vietnamese army guide show you how the Viet minh used to eat with chopsticks = priceless.

Oh and we visited a waterfall as well, very pretty. Martyn had a little issue here which apparently happened all in slow motion and I missed it - Wings and I had sped off in a 'Streethawk' like manner (remember Streethawk ? Oh dear!).
Apparently there was a small but steep hill on the way out the waterfall car park / field. I must have sped over it. Tin tin didn't quite have the momentum (I'm saying nothing about the extra weight of Martyn and his bag). Tin Tin put his foot down but due to angle of the slope Martyn couldn't get his foot down. 'jump' said Tin tin - or at least that's what Martyn decided the stream of panicky Vietnamese was. He opted for backwards over his bag in a graceful half back flip a Russian gymnast would be proud of sort of a way. The bike went sideways.

Tin tin was traumatised, Martyn was laughing. It took Martyn and 6 vietnamese to get bike the right way up again!
After that excitement we passed a few rivers, lots of deforested land (sad) and some other bits n pieces before we made it to our hotel.

And dinner.

We sat down at 7 and plates of food just kept arriving. The piece de resistance was placed on a burner in the middle of the table. It looked like a sort of Thai green curry covered n green leaves and peanuts.
'Wow, what is this?' said Martyn.
'banana' announced Wing, with pride
'Fill my glass with water please Martyn' I said, swallowing deeply.
Wing began to fill my bowl. It's amazing how much fits into these little bowls. I watched carefully and then the crowning glory was deposited on top.
'chicken' I said hopefully looking at Martyn.
'No but tastes like' said Tin Tin - who speaks French so I'm blaming him.
Frogs legs. Yes dinner was frogs leg, banana and peanut curry. I can sense my brother in fits of hilarity already. I only have myself to blame. My precise words to Martyn just before we left to walk down to dinner were
'ah well as long as it's not snake or crocodile I'll be fine.'
Should have been more specific!

Looking on the bright side

1) Wing apparently sometimes orders eel to go with the frogs leg
2) we won't be dehydrated - it took us a litre of water and a can of drink to get dinner down!!!!

Roll on tomorrow!

The air we breathe

Finally feels like air!
An hour late but our 'plane landed in Da Lat at about 1500m - the air feels like air here and not the hot house at Kew Gardens!
Martyn has been walking around amazed that he is dry and not bathed in sweat!
It's still 25 degrees though - we're viewing it as a small re-acclimatisation ready for when we get home - I had to put a jumper on this evening! Brrrrr
Anyway, having got up at 5am we made it here for lunch - worked out that with taxi, check in time and delays total flight travel time was only 1 hour less than the bus - typical!
Went to Crazy House which was strangely crazy! Rode on cable car and visited pagoda.
Sleep now - long day!

We will be 'off the grid' probably for the next week, as we travel north through Vietnam, look out for more posts when we get round to it!

Beaches or Mountains?

Guess which we chose this time.......

We thought about the train along the coast road and then we thought about the Central Highlands so we're off up to the hills again. Cambodia is a lovely lovely place but I swear its flatter than Holland! So we're off to try and find a bit of real Vietnam in the hills.......

Consequently there may be no blog for 8 odd days so don't panic!

Lee-Hi Kampuchia

or goodbye Cambodia.

Up at 05.30, bus at 7am. Tuk tuk to wrong place, lovely bus company drove us in bus to right place - phew! (to be fair it was the right company just the wrong place for the bus we needed!) Lovely bus driver even stopped at an ATM for us (which was a relief financially speaking as we were a bit skint cash wise!)

Bus left even more on time by Cambodian standards - 0715. Wow. Much smoother journey. Its amazing what a difference, well, a road, makes quite frankly. Oh and suspension. Did I mention the last bus stank of petrol as well? No? Well it did. This one didn't. Martyn very impressed, we got free cold towel, bottle of water and a croissant and pastry as well. Blimey. And a lovely man gave us the odd bit of running commentary and took great pains to see us through border control correctly bless him.

On board entertainment was brilliant! Started off with a sort of Cambodian Top of the Pops which had some interesting videos of wistful looking couples interspersed with group dance scenes which involved lots of hand waving as they like to do here....all very calm and restrained and quite stylish really. I'm thinking Lady Ga Ga could learn something here. But then the Cambodians have already remixed Lady Ga Ga oh and Bros in quite good ways actually. Yo Yo Yo Ya Ya Ya is the phrase the locals use!

Anyway, I digress. The onboard entertainment got better - we progressed on to a comedy triple act performed by look alikes either of Bobby Ball (remember Canon and Ball? we do, oh dear!) or Harry Enfield et al in the 'Ferry 'Cross the Mersey' sketch. Hilarious. More funny because we hadn't got a clue what was going on but every so often all the other people on the bus would erupt in laughter!

And then the best of all. I got quite addicted to it. No idea what it was called but it was a film. I never knew that the movie genre 'Taoist v Buddhist v Vampire slasher slapstick' existed. I tell you, Media Studies is missing out! It was seriously quite funny but I am gutted. Two lovely Cambodian ladies chose a critical moment to offer us some completely unknown but proudly Khmer sweet which of course we accepted and returned their generosity with dried apricots (which they wolfed down much more enthusiastically than we tentatively managed with their offering!) and somewhere during this lovely exchange I missed the end of the movie!!!!!!! Ah well, wouldn't have missed Martyns 'oh gee thanks so much' moment for the world. I dread to think what it was we ate. It might have been coconut candy which they make in these parts but I really have no idea. Its actually probably best not to think about what it was too much.

And then we arrived in Ho Chi Minh City (Sai Gon). Found hotel, dumped stuff, found lunch - expensive BUT the BEST spaghetti bolognaise I have ever had. Yes I know its not local and thats terrible for my first meal in a new country - its my brothers fault, he sent me an email mentioning bacon sandwiches and after reading it I couldn't face noodle soup. Never fear - back on track with local food tomorrow!

Wandered past Reunification Palace and then on to War Museum. Thought we owed it to the country to learn something about what happened. Usually these places are upsetting but we manage to make it all the way through them. Not this one. Only managed one floor of three.

Never underestimate the value of peace.

Cheerful day

When the choice for the day is somewhere known as 'The Killing Fields' or a torture chamber you know it's not going to be the most cheerful of days.

Tuol Sleng - A School in Phnom Penh converted to a torture camp by the Khmer Rouge - still preserved today. A sobering place, Peace to the souls of those who perished here.

Love to all.

Bone shaker

Finished building, sad to go.

(completed re-fitted bridge, proudly stood on (gently) by the building team 8-) )


Bus to Phnom Penh actually only left 30 mins late - early by our expected Cambodian standards!
Seats sized for Asians not surprisingly, plenty of leg room but the actual seat seemed to be completely the wrong shape.
Chose not to believe guide book info about poor Asians not travelling well but there was the supposedly obligatory Cambodian being very ill into a bag for a good while.
84 iPod tunes and one toilet stop later we arrived.
Now we've done some roads in some places but both of us had to do some joint re-alignment when we got off!
Ah well a good nights sleep and I'm sure our spines will straighten out. All ready for another 7 hrs on a bus to vietnam day after tomorrow!

Boy do we feel bad

You know yesterday when I described the house moving / relocating so that we could build new house..... And I said we had made it worse and we hoped it didn't rain.. Guess what......

Biggest thunderstorm ever at midnight. Torrential downpour for an hour. None of us wanted to go to house this morning and didn't know what to expect..... Not so bad, floor was dry (ish).

Ah well, up to ankles in paddy field mud and nearly up to shoulders in canal/moat as we built/strengthened bridge ( not literally shoulders - just nearly fell in!!)

And to top it all off, my mozzy bites have finally all disappeared so what did I do? Walked straight through nest of biting ants...., feet and ankles one mass of ant bites..,.. Ouch.
Good day - bridge to finish, wood to move and computers to hand over tomorrow and then we're off

Nearly time for the next bit....., sad to go, lovely here. Ho hum.

Happy anniversary to us

And boy was it a hot one. Too hot in fact. Hid out in air conditioning all afternoon. Went for fish massage again at 5pm, still too hot, hiding out in air conditioned ice cream/ cake shop now. Closes at 11pm, we think it might be cool enough to get a tuk tuk home by then!
Started new house today. As with all building projects it got worse before it gets better! The original house that was 2 foot off the floor and flooded is now at ground level so we hope for late rains. Most of the stuff that was inside the house was over the field when we left. But 10 of us managed to lift it to it's new location so we can start to build the new house where the old house used to be!

Before that though we have to rebuild the bridge across the ditch - little bamboo thing, flexed with Cambodians on it. Didn't like large westerners! Will like large westerner with concrete and 4m planks of wood even less!!!

Dilemma

Now this is a serious one!

We have declared today our wedding anniversary present and so having purchased Martyns first gadget this morning ( portable speakers that are much better than our iPod ones we left at home) we headed for the pool at a local posh hotel.

Oh Martyn has just told me he has already blogged all this. Oh dear.... I'll just get on to my dilemma then...,

Bought more sun cream yesterday but they only had factor 50 and factor 20 so we compromised on one of each and we still have a little factor 30 left.

So for our day by the pool exactly how should I apply this stuff? I confess to us both being moderately striped ( well Martyn just has the classic 'Brit abroad' t shirt lines but I have a wonderful patchwork courtesy of my myriad 5 tops). Do I give up and go for factor 50 on the White bits so they don't burn or should I put the 20 on the White bits and the 50 on the brown bits to try and even myself up?

Do you know what - it's so hot I think I'll just sit in the shade!!!!

Happy Anniversary!

Well, we're a day early, as we actually have to work tomorrow - we're going to a new village to start a new house for a lady and her family.

We treated ourselves to a trip to the hotel next door to use their pool ! - not bad for $10! - it's pretty hot today though, K had to wear her hat in the pool after wetting it to keep her head from boiling.

slightly better wi-fi today too, so uploaded some more pictures 8-)

Here we go 'round the mulberry bush

We were going to visit another temple today but we found out we needed a 'temple pass' and we used the last day on ours yesterday! Doh.
Then we decided it was too stinking hot to go round another temple so we went crafty instead. Visited silk farm and weaving workshop, silver plating, wood and stone carving, marquetry and silk painting. Very nice posh associated shops and fair working conditions (well as fair as it gets out here anyway - 8 hr days 6 days a week paid by the metre of silk produced). Had our usual success at avoiding the coach loads!
Time for associated silk worm 'did you knows....'
Mulberry bushes are cut 4 times a year
Thai mulberry is used as it has bigger leaves and produces more silk
Silk worm sex lasts 12 hours and then the male dies (this is of course nothin compared to previously studied glow worm maggot sex!)
And this was the point at which we started to feel sorry for the little worms that have quite a cute face (in an ugly worm face kind of way)

20% of the cocoons are allowed to live and hatch to become moths ready to start the cycle again. Unfortunately for the other 80% they get baked in the sun and then plunged into boiling water, this has to be done as it easier to get the silk off the cocoon if the moth is still inside!
Never will I view silk in the same way - I'm surprised I haven't heard of an animal cruelty lot going against silk production!
By the end we could both tell the difference between raw and fine silk but we just couldn't justify the cost even with Cambodia discount so we went for ice cream instead - what a surprise!!!
After that managed to find adaptor plugs for the donated laptops and also printed our documentation so they have very nice user guide now. Just need to find some speakers but if we get stuck with those maybe we can just give them a cable and they can get hold of the ones that were under our window the other night!
Many apologies for no pictures in the blog recently - for some reason the Internet here has been really slow for the last few days, struggling to download pages let alone upload photos. Still, have found hotel with nice pool and free wifi so we're off there for the day tomorrow as our anniversary present - bought the factor 50 today so hopefully won't burn! Maybe their free wifi will be faster!

Sunset

Quick trip in tuk tuk to Phnom Bakheng, walk up hill, claim viewing spot in amongst crowds, watch sun fall behind cloud, take piccies, back down hill, giggle at people running up hill to catch sunset that has already finished due to cloud, tuk tuk back!

Zapped crisis

Now this is REALLY a problem - my mosquito bite electric shocker has just stopped working. What am I going to do???!!!!

Don't panic - have spare, just have to find it!!!

Today was so hot the road was too hot to walk on in flip flops so for some reason we opted for bike ride???!!!

Fortunately we weren't the only ones - very nice lady who cycled passed us said 'glad there are other mad dogs around!'

Rode out to floating village at Chong Kneas but decided against to 15 dollar boat ride due to the 8 coaches we could see in car park. Rode through more small villages instead around the bottom of the small hill that around these parts is known as 'the mountain'.

Back to guesthouse to realise I forgot to put on sun cream - ooops but not too bad.

Gotta go now to try and catch sunset at temples - well there is more hope of that than a sunrise!

Back to work

What? Sorry? We are still in Cambodia aren't we?

Spent the day getting Martyn to do documentation! Ha ha - had to laugh, been out of project management for however many years it is and still had to work hard to get the techy to do the paperwork!!!! Needless to say Martyn enjoyed getting all the laptops to work but didn't enjoy my nagging quite so much.

We compromised and I did some documentation as well - a day of ctrl alt prtscrn ctrl v is always good - especially when you don't know the Khmer for 'use to scroll bar'.

8 documents and about 30 pages later we have a users guide for three laptops, a wireless Internet connection and a projector, in minimal english with lots of pictures. Now all we have ti do is print it.

Phew. Can we go back to building houses now - it's easier!!

Tits or Teeth

Apologies for the title of this blog to those with a sensitive nature but its a funny story.

Guess what - we made it to the party last night. It was lovely. Until the tiddly Cambodian man made all the western girls get up to dance with him. He was very apologetic about being 'dlunk'. We left very shortly after that. Actually the VERY loud music stopped at 11pm and I think they settled down to the more serious drinking and rice wine.

Wandered down for breakfast (supposedly included) at 7am, took in the surrounding party remnants and people asleep in hammocks, poked head in kitchen and then walked to the petrol station to buy a pastry and some juice!

2nd temple day today - guided tour around Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom and the Bayon. WOW. At around the time King Harold was being shot in the eye Angkor Wat was well under way! Its actually not as impressive as the Bayon which was built 100 yrs later. Many stone carvings of Apsara, scenes from the Ramayana and Kama Sutra and another book whose name I can't remember. Also lots of carvings showing daily life - great one of a woman carrying a live turtle that has stretched its head to bite the bum of the man in front!

Angkor Wat was unfortunately draped in a bit of tarpaulin due to renovations but our guide was very good and showed us some great picky spots that avoided the scaffolding!

Our guide was then at great pains to show us that all of the Apsara carvings are very slightly different - usually slightly different hair or hands but there is one where the Apsara is smiling (they all smile) and showing her TEETH. He was a bit worried about his pronunciation at this point and had to explain he had had a number of trips where tourists had got completely the wrong end of the stick. SE Asians really struggle with the TH sound - its sounds a lot like TS. You can see the problem. Now, the Apsara are all scultped with at least 32D cup breasts that are to say the least a little more obvious than the little teeth we were supposed to be looking at and our guide was at great pains to apologise for any errors in his pronunciation and to point out the TEETH!

Many steep steps up and down later we trundled off for a yummy Khmer curry lunch from a tiffin followed by a snooze in a hammock and then the Terrace of the Elephants (elephant training ground) and Terrace of the Leper King (which is actually a crematorium / hospital area they think)

We have one more day left on our three day temple pass. We think we might be templed out now but we're going to try and hold out for a sunset trip for the photos!

Monk-ey bikes

Well - for a people who are genetically pre-disposed to be unable to deal with alcohol the SE Asians certainly like to party!

We noticed this morning that the fridge we get our drinks from has been filled with rice wine. This is dangerous stuff - we remember from Borneo.

They have a three day new year here and it starts tomorrow which means tonight is New Years Eve and there is a party at our guest house - still not sure if we are invited and, because we didn't know we booked tour for tomorrow so we have to be up at 7am. Lovely. Even more lovely considering that the MOST MASSIVE speakers have been set up just outside our ground floor window. Oh joy. I think our earplugs might just get the volume to about 150 decibels!

Anyway, popped along to nursery this morning to help out with their New Year party. Got given very nice sandwich - pigs ear and salad. Yum.

Up to house for house blessing and gift giving - much dancing and beer drinking by some. Much laughter at expense of one of our house building colleagues who was handed a water bottle and started chugging it back thinking it was water only to discover it was rice wine......nasty, bless her, she was on canned soft drinks from then on!

Older monk started the ceremonies and then the younger monks from the monastery arrived to finish the job - I'd naively been expecting a sort of small procession of monks or something being as the monastery is a 5 min walk away but no, they arrived on the back of mopeds!

My Cambodian dancing is not good. I simply cannot get my fingers to bend back like that.

Back for lunch and evidence that partying from 9am util 12 is a dangerous practice - I fell asleep so that was the afternoon - oops.

Its now 6pm and the party is just starting judging by the noise. Martyn and I have slotted nicely back into our 'pre Claire and Ian New Year Party' routine. I am sat reading a book and Martyn is busy working on the donated laptops. Maybe we'll visit the party later but hey, if not we've got another three days of this to go!

Humble Pie

Finished house this morning - hurrah. Well, strictly speaking there is still a mud bridge to make but the mud wasn't delivered so we declared the house done anyway as the monks are coming to bless it tomorrow.

Visited war museum this afternoon. It wasn't so much the displays of rusting Russian tanks, personnel carriers or landmines as the guide here.

There is nothing more humbling than a person whose opening line is 'I am very lucky - I have been shot three times, hit by shrapnel and stood on a landmine and I am still here.' His wife died 6 weeks ago from TB and once he heard we were building houses he took Martyn quietly to one side and said 'Thank you very much, you had nothing to do with this and you come to help us'

There are still more than 4000 landmines left here and they are all the ones made of plastic which they need sniffer dogs to find. Even now roughly 32 people a month are injured or killed by landmines.

Needless to say we needed ice cream to cheer ourselves up.

And we still managed the Pol Pot film after that (we missed it yesterday as dinner over ran). Apparently it is quite watered down (for which I am eternally grateful - it was bad enough as it was). Had to read between the lines a bit as it was a 'government approved' film but still, informative and just, well, very sad.

Needed something to cheer ourselves up after that as well. Will power prevailed and we didn't have another ice cream. Went for fish spa instead. Felt a bit sorry for the fish really but they seemed to enjoy it. Feet all sparkly and tingly now!

You see the thing is, with Hiroshima (and most of the other war memorials / cemeteries etc we've been to) its very peaceful, well balanced and informative with interspersings of horrific photos but somehow there is a sense of detachment. This is yet another beautiful country with the most stunning friendly innocent people who have seen things that just shouldn't be.

Ah well, hugs to all. Stay safe.

Hot butts

No we are not on a beach where Martyn is ogling females ...... Title of today's blog is to remind us to make sure we leave hired bikes in the shade! Had one quite major ouch as we sat back on our bikes - left them in the shade after that!!!!!

Left at 9 ish for a day cycling around the smaller temples as we work up to the big ones. It was destined to be an expensive day - two bikes for the whole day = 2 dollars!

Lovely lovely cycle ride past rice paddies, fishermen and tuk Tuks into temple land. Lots of apsara carvings (nymph like things) with stone lions and elephants and lots of window and doors with lovely views.

We cycled the grand circuit visiting Pre Rup, East Mebon, Preah Khan and Ta Prohm ( which is the one Tomb Raider was filmed at but we liked the others more!) favourite one was Prea Khan I think. After Prea Khan we scooted through the north gate of Angkor Thom and out the Victory Gate trying to cycle with our eyes closed so we would not see any of the big temple complexes we are planning to see later in the week!

Had a packing error this morning and completely forgot first aid kit (thankfully not needed) and food - ooops. Consequently had to buy food - three cans of drink, two bananas, one pineapple (small), two orange lollies, two litres of water and a tube of Pringles. What a balanced diet!

Banana purchase was funny - lovely yoda type man wanted one dollar for his bananas - after a while we worked out it was a dollar a bunch - well what were we going to do with twenty already wonderfully ripe bananas? We gave him a dollar for two and completely made his day judging by the cackling laughter as we were leaving!

Back at hostel by five thirty in time for Martyn to be traumatised - Wallie our Scottish building manager had two computer issues neither of which Martyn could fix. I think he needs therapy. I may not be able to remove him from the wifi until he has found the answer! To be fair one of them is to do with cambodian 3G card and we think is an issue with the phone provider! I think however that the challenge is on now and Martyn has the bit between his teeth as it were!!!!

After dinner tonight we are off to the night Market to see film on Pol Pot, no doubt this will result in more late night ice cream as we attempt to cheer ourselves up. Oh well, we must have cycled in the region of thirty km today in well over thirty degree heat so we deserve it - and we've a house to finish tomorrow!

My lovely hubby

Has fixed our shower by hitting the reset button with his toothbrush and 'borrowed' the air conditioner remote someone had left on reception desk - warm water and cool room ....... Ahh the luxury - trouble is he seems to think this will do as my anniversary present. To be honest, it probably will!!!!

Scary....

Have handed passports over to agency for Vietnam visa processing. Due back on Wednesday - hope this works! One hour of pointing at calendars and phone calls to lady who runs hostel to act as three way interpreter later and we've got our fingers crossed! Two of the girls volunteering with us used this agency and all worked out so hopefully will be ok!

Then went to handicraft workshop and the National Museum. Lots of temple history to prepare ourselves as we are off to see some smaller outlying temples tomorrow - apparently it's best to do the little ones first and work up to the big three!

Finished the day with a cello concert. Yes, a cello concert. A weekly event that is free and given by a Swiss doctor raising money for his 5 free childrens hospitals in Cambodia. Concert was interspersed with lots if depressing statistics about encephalitis, tuberculosis and dengue fever.

Had to go for ice cream after dinner to cheer ourselves up!

Day two building

And Kay gets a machete and is trusted with the only power drill - woop woop!
Rained hard this morning so had to delay leaving for an hour. Consequently worked double hard for the time we had left. Stripped bamboo and finished the two panels that make the Walls. Final construction on Monday when we stay until it's finished!

End of term at school today - new year holiday next week so we gate crashed their end of term party, played Cambodian games and taught the kids musical statues and the okey cokey!
Builders get paid today so apparently we all meet up for pizza and rice wine. Supposedly there are special herby pizzas available if desired. I think not! And we remember rice wine from Borneo - dangerous stuff and we don't want to ruin our obviously maturing wine taste buds so I think we might avoid that as well!
Oooops just seen time - gotta go!

Building or beaches?

Guess which we chose...

Yes well, not hard really was it!

Around a week ago we realised that in all the time we have been away we havent actually sat on a beach and vegged out once. We thought about it for a while and then came across this project. It's about 2km from Siem Reap and is in a village called Atvea. They have sorted out nursery, school and labour ward with midwives so far and are now into maintaining those and building houses. They work with the monk and village elders to identify the most needy people in the village who then get a house built for them. This is a really big thing as the people are living in little bamboo huts that are knee deep in water during the rainy season. They get a house like the one behind me in the picture.

We've arrived in time to help finish this one off so we spent the morning making bamboo shades and whittling bamboo for more shades. Hopefully we will have it all done by Tuesday and we will get to see the monks bless the house and the handing over ceremony!

Its for a widow with two little kids.

Siem reap is a lovely place - much more chilled out than Bangkok. Great dinner with the other volunteers last night - vegetable spring roll in a tapas bar - only in SE asia!

Anyway, we are going to hang around here until next weekend so we don't have the added hassle of finding somewhere to stay for Khmer new year (which is also when everyone celebrated their birthday as courtesy of the Khmer rouge many people do not know when they were born). Have been here one day and already have too many sad stories to tell about the history. There is no-one here aged between 35 and 60ish. There is massive illiteracy in the adult population......it's pretty bad and that's before you even start to think about the land mines. The teaching volunteers all have stories about orphans and trying to teach the words 'mother' and 'father'. The teacher at the nursery school is one of 12 kids born from what we an work out from their mother being raped by the khmer rouge soldier she was given to after they killed her husband. The teacher works 8-12 in the nursery and 6-midnight in a bar in the nightmarket and supports mother and her 11 siblings (and two orphans her mum has taken in) she would like to work longer for the nursery but tips at the bar are too good!

That's enough sad stories for now- this is a beautiful country with beautiful happy smiley people. We might get stuck here for a while!

You never know - we might even fit in the odd visit to a temple - apparently there is a big famous one here somewhere :)

We feel dirty

Starving hungry in airport last Thai baht would stretch to three spring rolls each or a junior whopper with cheese meal each. Guess which won.

We are convincing ourselves that strictly speaking having gone through passport control we are not actually in Thailand anymore but more in no-man's land so junk food is less of a sin.

Only now I've eaten it does anyone have any hints for taking the taste away??? Ooooh Martyn has just found chewing gum in bag - my saviour!!!

Thai massage with....

Hilarious taxi ride

Got airport shuttle to airport after farewell wander around Banglhamphu this morning - tomorrow is holiday here - Songkran festival (big party with large water pistols and fireworks) which with my usual capacity for planning we are missing as we fly to Cambodia! Didn't know what effect holiday would have on traffic and airport shuttles so we are in airport hotel for the night!

Then got taxi from airport to airport hotel - whatever our taxi driver had taken could I have some please - he was the happiest driver I have ever met ....... Although after a few minutes I decided it was quite a dirty laugh..,, then I tuned in to the conversation a bit more and he was talking to Martyn (in front seat) about Thailands greatest export - the women that old English men like. Martyn was being his best polite Englishman at this point.

Taxi driver then started to talk to Martyn about Thai massage. Martyn faded out for a bit I think because he missed out completely on the 'Thai massage with sex' offer that came next and was quite shocked when the taxi driver handed him a laminated plastic sheet of a poster advertising all the girls who would offer 'Thai massage with sex'.

Martyn tried valiantly to explain that as his wife I may have some issues with him taking the driver up on his offer. Didn't seem to bother the driver at all!

I confess that I was not much help at all to my by now somewhat flustered husband - too busy having hysterics in the back of the cab!!!!

Martyn makes a new friend

Her name is Bettina. She is dark haired with beautiful deep brown eyes and a gorgeous smile and spoke French fluently. She is three. Martyn was very pleased his school book fresh could manage conversation with Bettina. Well he was at the start of their relationship. Towards the end of the 4 hours it took us to get back to Bangkok I think he was rather glad he had his iPod!

After a peaceful night on our floating hotel (once earplugs had been inserted to block out sound of locals playing snooker outside our room - do you have any idea how annoying the clacking of snooker balls can be??) we went for our bamboo rafting and elephant riding experience which was okay but was made much better by the fact that we had already met Bettina by then and these two activities were much improved when viewed through the eyes of a three yr old!

For the grown ups there was the Hellfire Pass memorial museum and walk which was much much better than Kanchanaburi in terms of information and remembrance. The things human beings can do to each other..........

And then back to Bangkok for our last night in the centre. It was on the way back that we were reminded of something from our student days..... Whilst I am still not keen on mango we do quite like instant noodles occasionally - they're good because they're fast! Having overcome the culture shock I think we might quite miss this crazy place but ho hum, on to Cambodia!!

Sometimes

You have to laugh.....and sometimes you laugh so much it hurts!

Forgot to mention the German tourists on their way for a swim in the waterfall earlier - looking lovely in their too small speedos!!

But the reason for our current hilarity.....sat on plastic stool eating dinner at wooden trestle table watching sun set over river Kwai. Listening to Celine Dion on their tv (very loud), admiring pretty colour from glitter ball (not kidding) and what is she singing as we sit on our floating hotel - you guessed it - the theme to Titanic !!!!!!

I have a stitch from laughing so much ! Please stop - it hurts!!!!

Hmmmm we appear to be listing

But only really excessively in the bathroom of our ensuite in our floating hotel! And you can see the quite fast flowing river from between the floorboards (well the ones not covered in Lino anyway). Quite surreal illusion of movement as you attempt to compensate for the distinctly left hand sloping toilet. One of lifes important experiences I think :)
So today saw another 6am start and we headed off to Kanchanaburi home of the Bridge Over the River Kwai. True story not quite as the film and no David Niven either just lots of tourists and Market stalls, oh and the bridge. Found a museum which gave a bit of insight and you can't complain for £1 entry really!
Suffice it to say we have been to quite a number of war memorials, cemeteries and war museums on our various travels. Peace, tranquility and remembrance usually pervade, with historical information if desired. Kanchanburi is not especially peaceful or tranquil - the firecrackers and backfiring engines from the garage next door to the war cemetery didn't really help.

Did enjoy the train ride along the "death railway" as the views were very nice. Somehow it seems very wrong though to have turned such a thing into a tourist attraction. We did our best to ignore the scantily clad loud American teenage girls behind us and paused to remember how the railway came to be in existence in the first place.
Then off to lunch and to view a waterfall before tootling down to the most peaceful place we have found so far on our travels around Bangkok. Our little floating hotel. Nothing but us, ten other guests, two long boats, a few bamboo rafts and the sound of the raindrops (yes, classic rainy season downpour at 4pm for half an hour has cleared the air a bit) oh and a crocodile!

Some things are the same the world over though - Sunday afternoon is obviously sports watching time , at home it would be grand prix or something, here all the blokes avidly watching Thai boxing!
Happy Mothers Day by the way, to all mothers reading our blog but especially to our mums - hope the presents arrived and have a lovely day.

That's odd - someone has a radio playing here and the overture from Carmen is playing - now where have I heard that before?!

Well I'm off - postcards to write and I need to make sure Martyn doesn't drown himself - I've just looked round and he's leaning upside down over a barrier trying to take a photo.

(worth it I think -m.)

More tomorrow - if the anchor holds!!!

And the sweat bath begins

Now thats more like it! Lie still, feel damp, move, sweat. Not actually that hot - yet but humidity has arrived. Yum. Not quite at the 'wet n dryin' it clothes stage but working up to it for Cambodia we think.

Sun came out when we were at Ayutthaya yesterday - gotta laugh, we'd been commenting on how cold it was and then when the sun came out we headed for the shade of the railway station. Lovely train journey back to Bangkok though - saw a bit more of the Thailand I had imagined and FINALLY managed a successful train journey having missed out on two in NZ. Hurrah.

Had to walk for an hour to get back to hostel from train station. We were dripping wet by then so resorted to air conditioner in room for 20mins and a shower. After 20 mins of A/C I had goose bumps so we had to turn it off again!
Unfortunately whilst in Ayutthaya the mozzies found us again - our hostel had a fish pond and they got us there. I have three bites around my left ankle. At least I think its where my ankle is - having been on feet all day ankle bone has disappeared in puffy mass. Very pretty! Needless to say Martyn is now being organised and hunting for our DEET - its time!

Today was another busy day - up at 8am and off to Dusit Park to see the worlds largest teak building - Vimnamek Palace - sort of the Royal families summer residence. Very proudly displaying china from Denmark, Italy and England, grand piano from England, glass from Italy, more china from China and stuffed turtles from Phuket.

It took us 1.5 hours to walk to Duset so we looked really good when we got there. Not at all sweaty, just cool calm and collected (yeah right). Found cafe and downed ice cold drink each - much relief.

After palace walked (are we mad) to sky train station - another 30 mins ish so again we looked really good when we hit the nice air conditioned train. It was quite full and unfortunately for everyone else all the hand holds required that we raise our arms to hold on. I don't think the locals here have sweat glands. Martyn and I were making up for all of them!
And we were off to Chatuchak market - MASSIVE market selling everything from.....well no just pretty much everything actually! Nearly came away with about 25 puppies a) because they were so cute b) because some of them did not look weened yet and c) because it just seemed wrong them being there. Resisted puppies and were quite tempted by the knock-off jeans and shoes but still have 'x' weeks to go and not carrying anymore in this heat. Decided the huge paintings might result in excess baggage fee and that we really didn't need 25 silk elephant key rings, Thailand pencils or plastic flowers. Bought lunch instead. At least you now know what you are not getting as presents when we come back!!

Ankle had gone all puffy by this point so got Tuk Tuk back to hostel. Who needs the adrenalin thrill Queenstown when for two pounds fifty you can hurtle through streets with cars coming at you in the opposite direction. Martyn assures me we didn't go more than 40 but he hasn't qualified a unit km/h, mph or metres per second.......he did comment that he feels he has now fully lived through the arcade game 'Need for Speed'.......personally I do not think there is any 'need' for it at all. Ah well, had a lovely conversation with a chap at lunchtime who said roads in Vietnam are way worse than here. Oh joy, its good to have things to look forward to in life....

Hello Postcard

But Martyn wanted to call  todays blog

'This must be where the monks go to get ummmm monked'

 - not my fault, I didn't know if monks were ordained like priests or if there was some other ceremony......next sign I read said 'ordination hall' not fair as Martyn was trying to pick himself up off the floor from laughter by that point.

Anyway, long day. Up at 6am. Had read that if you got up early then you could watch the monks collect their alms. Didn't think it was likely I'd get to see that but I did see three monks whom we decided had probably had a lie in and were consequently a bit late. Bus at 7 up to Ayutthaya, back in time 3 - 400 years to the old capital of Thailand. Haven't got time to go up to Sukkothai which is even older and the first 'capital' so we'll have to come back.

We think we managed 5 temples and palace plus another three temples in the evening on a boat trip but to be perfectly honest we lost count. They were all slightly different though. We are now experts in the different 'tops' they put on......Sri Lankan style is all circles, Thai style looks like a corn cob (but we are a bit confused as to how similar this is to Cambodian and think there might have been some kind of tour guide translation issue) and Burmese style is the other one (but its hard to describe).

We think we've been toWat Phra Si Sanphet; Wihan Phra Mongkhon Bophit; Wat Phra Maha That; Wat Chai Wattanaram; Chinese Temple; Wat Phra Ram; Wat Phutthaisawan and another one with a big Buddha in it but we can't find it in the book!

Have seen Buddha in all four positions - walking, sitting, reclining and standing and am now beginning to be able to remember what the different hand positions mean.

Martyn says its amazing that 450 years ago whilst the brick work was a bit dodgy (not enough mortar) the rendering was really very good! They could also have done with an improved understanding of foundations as many bits were sinking.

Still, this was very good practice for Angkor Wat and it was good to find another place that had been ransacked and burnt down etc that we hadn't had anything to do with! Ayutthaya apparently means 'undefeated' which was a good name until the Burmese won one.

Got hassled a bit by kids at entrance to one temple. Guess what they were saying ....... ' hello postcard' Always feel more guilty saying no to the little people, still we resisted. Probably is postcard time again though!

Dinner at night market - yummy.

Slow day today - 10am and still not left - ah well, internet here is free and the fastest since we left home so we've done some more photos etc and sorted out some other bits. Had plans to go to museum and a few more temples but to be honest yesterday was enough and after counting out the Baht we're on for another walking day!!

So off we go.... tootling down to train station to get back to Bangkok with the locals. 200Baht for air conditioned bus, 15 Baht for train (about 30p) for a two hour journey - come on British Rail watcha playing at???!!!! Of course that assumes we make it to the train station - have counted, we have to get across three roads.......yesterdays road crossing was the most interesting yet as we stood in the middle of the zebra crossing with a bus and a scooter going behind us and a scooter and a car going in front of us - who needs theme park adrenalin rides???

Martyn is looking forward to the train but is a bit gutted he doesn't get to go on his 'Chav Bus' - saw it in petrol station yesterday, double decker bus with low rider suspension, custom paint job, spoilers, grill at back showing the engine (which I think may be a more practical cooling option but Martyn is convinced is just chav) and a really kicking sub and stereo which the driver left on all the way through the stop at the petrol station and it was still on when they drove off. I personally am glad I'm not going on it - using my ear plugs on a bus would be a bit much really!

ooopsie

Have just re-read yesterdays blog. I think I need to employ a better proof reader!

City of Angles no - City of AngELs - yes.....sorry about that.

I don't know, what is the world coming to - power of ten error, transposing of letters....anyone would think I was on holiday.

Martyn and I have just had a huge debate about where to put the apostrophe in our picture tagging. We couldn't agree so have left them all out. Ha Ha.