Day 3 - Kompung Phluk, Cambodia

Day 3 Kompung Phluk

We opted for a trip to Tonle Sap lake today, with a visit to a local village market en route to the Floating Village of Kompung Phluk. You could organise this yourself co-ordinating transport to the boat dock up stream, and then renting a boat and driver yourself from the hundreds happily waiting for your fare. That said, we chose the easier option of to joining a tour, which has the benefit of a local tour guide as well as the door to door pick up (www.beyonduniqueescapes.com $30 pp.)

The stop off at the buzzing country village market was a lively and fun encounter with the locals. The guide points out interesting stalls and will happily explain the local produce and barter with the traders on your behalf. It's a great insight into how local Cambodians live and what's on their dinner table. And they seem genuinely pleased to see you and for you to take photographs. Ever wondered how they safely get eggs home on the back of their scooters, when there are no egg boxes? Easy, crack them there and then and pour them into a baggie! There's no shortage of local snacks to try, and I'm now a big fan of freshly cut pineapple on a stick, rubbed down with a chilli and salt dip. Tonle Sap is the largest fresh water lake in the world so fish is a big draw of the market - most of the baskets still alive as they're unloaded. You can even find sea snake for your stir fry. Maybe not.

In the wet season the people of the floating village can get to the market by boat. But as its dry season, we had to take the minibus a few kilometres further up the makeshift mud bank road through the paddy fields to the temporary docks along the canal. Tourism has become a big part of the floating villagers life, and there are hundreds of boats stacked almost on top of each other. Once aboard and moving upstream, the first two buildings you see will really quite shock you. The police station and village school are suspended twenty metres in the air on stilts. Both have huge ladders rising up to reach the platforms. It's incredible to think that in just a few months the water levels will rise so much that the kids will simply arrive by canoe and hop aboard the school deck. 

As you move further down, the scale of the village is jaw dropping. Hundreds of homes float high above the water on stilts. There are people everywhere, all in the water on any kid of vessel that will float. Life really does revolve around the lake. We even saw school kids doing their homework on canoes. The homes are colourful makeshift cabins, but big enough to house families with as many as five or six kids. Husbands spend nights out on the lake fishing, whilst the women seem to do just about everything else, normally on a canoe, and with a young babe in their arms. 

At the end of the village, there's a floating taxi rank to change from the large boat to a smaller canoe for a paddle through the mangroves. The canoe trade looks a fiercely competitive business, with women jostling for position to make sure you take their canoe over the next one. And of course their kids are on board too! After gently winding through the forest, there is a welcome stop on a floating restaurant. It's a heavily fish based menu where you get to try that sea snake you saw at the market if you want. Or maybe you'd prefer crocodile! Well, you could if you wanted to, but we settled for drinks on this occasion. After that, you hop aboard again fora quick spin to reveal the full extent of the huge lake - it's so big, you'd think you'd reached the ocean. Then it was time to turn about and head back through the village, which is no less impressive the second time round.

We were back in the centre of Siem Reap for just after 1pm, and dropped into Kerala Indian restaurant for a dosa and daal, which were very tasty.

We'd had another incredible day, and even if I'm open to exaggerating, surely the best start to a holiday you could hope for. We opted for a bargain basement massage before dinner, at just$7 an hour, and whilst it didn't come close to the Frangapini spa from yesterday, it was still a great pre dinner treat after a hard days sight seeing! After two nights of Kymer Curry for dinner we went for pizza later down the main alleyway at Little Italy, and whilst the food wasn't outstanding, the location more than made up for it.

Day 2 - Angkor Wat, Cambodia

24 January, 2014

We went for it in a big way on our first day, diving head first into the former Kingdom of Angkor an hour before sunrise. We thought we'd be amongst the first to get to the temple of Angkor Wat, and technically we were. Well equal first at least, with around a thousand other early morning thrill seekers. The prize is the picture perfect shot of the sun rising behind the towers of the temple, with a crystal clear reflection in the pond in the foreground. Unless its cloudy and hazy as it was on this occasion, and the sun doesn't come out to play for another hour or two. The result is that we may not have got that perfect photo, but we did see Angkor Wat reveal itself slowly inch by inch as daylight crept in, and it was a truly breathtaking experience. 

Once sunrise was over, the crowd on the shore of the lake quickly dispersed and headed to explore the vast temple. Thankfully it was still only 7am and a few hours until the big tour bus tours arrived, so you can still have many parts of the temple all to yourselves. We began by exploring the outer third wall galleries in an anticlockwise direction, with four different detailed seventy metre long carvings on all four sides, all with intricate stories to tell. By 8am we were ready for a break for breakfast which we took outside of the complex itself, where the choice and price were better value. We then explored the interior of the second and first walls and all their glories, and finished on the first floor as the second floor was closed for cleaning . 

I'm certainly not skilled enough with a pen to really get across just how amazing Angkor Wat is, even though it was built over a thousand years ago. But I will say this - we often throw the word 'amazing' around quite liberally and without much thought. Angkor Wat has changed that for me and I'll be using it differently from this day forth. 

We had time and the energy to visit another temple called xxx afterwards. Though much smaller and a little worse for wear, it has a wonderful position in the middle of thick jungle, which feels like has decided to take it over for itself to enjoy. It's well worth an hour to stroll around, and we found a wonderful fresh fruit stall in amongst the ruins. Plus there is a pretty pond with good views across the main road.

Back in Siem Reap after a day bashing your feet around temples, you understand why there are so many massage parlours in town. Under the recommendation of our guest house owner we splashed out a little and had an hours session at Frangapini Spa. Wow. If I hadn't spent the day witnessing Angkor Wat for the first time, I may have used the A word. As it is, I'll just say it was the perfect way to end a very special day. 

Day 1: 13 Days in Cambodia and Bangkok

21st January, 2014.

Nobody really looks forward to an overnight flight, no matter how exciting the destination is at the end, but luck was on our side with our nine hour flight to Bangkok. Firstly we had chosen Thai Airways, for no other reason than it was the best deal, yet thankfully this is an airline with at least two inches extra leg room than any other airline I've travelled with. And the flight was only half full which meant fast service and extra space. And big thumbs up for proper silver cutlery! We both managed to sleep easily for most of the flight, and it was all done with the minimum of fuss by the excellent cabin crew. 

Our layover in the ultra modern and cavernous Bangkok airport was only an hour or so, not enough time even to realise that the country you've landed in has just declared a state of emergency due to the political protests. Which is exactly what happened, but we'll save that pending (mis)adventure for another day,

It's just a short one hour flight to the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh. That one hour gives you just enough time to complete the various landing cards, visa applications and customs forms you need to fill in to enter Cambodia. There are a couple of queues you need to line up for to get your tourist visa ($20 USD per person) but its straightforward enough. 

The airport in Phnom Penh is a bit of a throwback to yesteryear with waiting areas and the arrivals hall outside in the open. We arrived around 9am in the morning into a nice cool 18 degrees temperature which meant we could spend the three hour wait here for our flight to Siem Reap outside on a cafe terrace and ponder our five day stay in Siam Reap with a Rough Guide. 

Plenty of time also to realise that no matter where you are in the world, no matter what the airport may be called, nor which continent it may be in, airports have become a global chain of faceless fast food english speaking Meccas. You notice it more when you visit four airports inside twenty four hours, and are hit by Costa Coffee, Burger King and Subway almost as soon as your feet are on the Tarmac in all four of them. I can't help but feel that's a bad thing, but at the same time I'm writing this as we sit sipping our respective flat white and green teas out of heavily branded tea cups in the aforementioned Costa Coffee.

We arrived off our propellor fired Vietnamese Airways flight to be greeted by a tuk tuk driver from the guest house - a marvellous and truly local way to travel in style! We're both really pleased with our guest house the Seven Candles, which is nice and roomy, and very welcoming. We were also taken aback by how big Siem Reap is, temples are obviously big business . It has mostly managed to retain its authenticness, and charm. The roads are the usual South East Asian bedlam, and it's dusty and noisy, but the quaint French colonial charm shines through, especially in the pretty little alleyways. 

We were impressed with our young Tuk Tuk driver Piseth, so booked him to takes us to Angkor Wat at sunrise tomorrow. After a quick refresh, we headed on our first foray into town, and by chance stumbled across the Buddhist monks' chant at the local temple which was enthralling. Then we tucked into our first proper meal in 24 hours at to vegetarian Chamker restaurant with authentic Kymer curry.

By 8pm we were fast asleep. And I'd say, well earned sleep!

9 to 5 Explorer: dealing with extreme heat on your travels.

Melbourne, January 2014

The summer has finally arrived with a vengeance in Australia this week with temperatures soaring to forty plus degrees centigrade even in the coolest states. As the country goes into meltdown (literally) over how to deal with the heat, here's some advice and tips and how to manage extreme heat when you're on your travels, picked up from experiences in far flung destinations and from four year's living and travelling in the harshest summer temperatures  that the Middle East could throw at us. 

Lederberg State Park, Victoria.

Lederberg State Park, Victoria, January 2014. 

 

Lederberg State Park is located approximately one hour west of Melbourne, north of the Western Highway. At over two thousand square hectares, it is one of the biggest parks in Melbourne and offers an excellent range of bush walks, from leisurely strolls, to challenging day walks and even overnight hikes with a free bush camp also available. You can approach the park from the east or west sides off the highway, with both options involving drives along unsealed roads for at least twenty minutes to reach a parking or picnic spot.

The Big Island, Hawaii - Ten Day Tour Itinerary

 

The Big Island, Hawaii, February 2012. 

If you’re a non-US national like us, a first time visit to any Hawaiian island is most probably going to shock you.  This could be a shock of seismic proportions, potentially even earth shattering.  You may have the idyllic vision of a remote Hawaiian Island comprising of a glorious white sandy beach, with palm trees swaying gently behind you as the crystal clear ocean laps in front of you, and a Hula girl serves you the freshest of tropical cocktails.  And you may well find this. But you’ll also find islands of destructive and seemingly bleak volcanic landscapes, huge rugged and smouldering mountains, lush tropical rainforests, and windswept isolated coastlines battered relentlessly by Ocean.  Some of the volcanic plains are too volatile to visit, large stretches of the coastline too dangerous to even paddle in, and the climate so diverse that you could be sunbathing and skiing all on the same day. This is the real Hawaii, and once you’re over the shattering of your pre-conceptions, one that will make your visit simply unforgettable.

The Boxing Day Test - the world's greatest sports event.

December 26 2013, Melbourne.

The Boxing Day Test Match is possibly the world's best sports event. There I said it. Yes, I know that is a pretty bold statement, especially when I've never been to the World Cup Finals, or the London Olympics, or the Superbowl. But I honestly don't know how they could compete.
 

The annual cricket fest combines a clash of two of the game's giants, in the world's biggest and most impressive sports coliseum of the MCG, and taken in breathlessly by almost one hundred thousand sports mad fans. Yes, yes I hear you - isn't Brazil playing the World Cup Final against Spain in Rio de Janeiro next year going to be just like that? Not quite, here is how the Boxing Day Test comes into its own. It's all down to its magnificent and fortuitous timing. It's Boxing Day, it's a national holiday, it's Christmas time, and everybody, and I mean everybody is in the mood to party. And what better place to do it.