Reap the whirlwind

...and relax.

Where were we? According to our last post, we were in Phnom Penh. Seems like weeks ago, but apparently it was only 8 days.

Kinda impossible to go into everything we did in detail, so we'll summarise:

• Got in touch with Cambodia's tragic past at S21 (Tuol Sleng - the Khmer Rouge's detention/torture centre) and the Killing Fields at Choeung Ek
• Enjoying watching 16 year old Joe soaking up the fun: his first cocktails, fully enjoying a free beer hour, being pestered by a waitress, becoming a savvy traveller, learning to bargain, crossing the road in Saigon
• Sunrise and sunset at the majestic temples of Angkor
• The 2 Debs having exactly the same food and drink tastes
• Joe's comedy mango-spilling moto-taxi crash in Chau Doc
• Getting up at 4 am about 50% of the time - either for sunrise experiences or hardcore taxi/bus rides
• Dissing the self-important owner of Funky Munky in Siem Reap, who bumped us from our reserved table in favour of some "regulars" - screw you!
• Employing 12 separate modes of transport, including the moto-taxi, remorque, canal boat, etc.
• Joe puking in Poipet (fair enough, it's a shithole)
• No complaints from Joe and Deb, at all - despite several unsatisfactory experiences
• The crazy, crazy waterfights in and around the Khao San Road for Songkran
• 3 countries and 2 border crossings in 10 days

Utterances which quickly became catchphrases:

• Get ready to be sad (Debra, prior to imparting bad news)
• Beer mouth (Ben, explaining why drinking warm beer over ice is less satisfying than drinking cold beer)
• I'm 16! (Joe's shout as he leapt out of the Elephant Bar, Phnom Penh, after his first ever cocktails)
• Communicating with the Vietnamese via the power of mime (Debs was undoubtedly the best at this)
• ST at 8 o'clock (code for pointing out sex tourists to each other)
• "Hreakfrast" (hotel employee in Vinh Long)
• Good, clean feast (Joe longing for some trustworthy food)
• Same same but different (everyone, all over Asia says this - doesn't really make sense unless you've been here)
• I'm out of ammo! (Bangkok, Songkran - HUGE, awesome waterfight)
• I'm totally pumped! (Joe and Debra, all the time)

And two pictures - before and after a Songkran battle. That white crap all over our faces is some sort of chalky stuff. People just wipe it all over you "for luck" I think.


It was too dangerous to take any pictures outside, cos of the immense amounts of water flying around. Just image search "Songkran" and you'll find some.

Goodbye, fellow travellers, you did us proud, and we miss you already.

Ben and Debs

Enter the Aussies

We have some traveling companions! Debs' Aussie Aunt (also called Debs) and cousin Joey (AKA 'Bonnie Tyler' are traveling with us for 10 days, during which time we'll be taking them from Vietnam to Bangkok, via Cambodia, on a whirlwind tour of SE Asia.

Their visit started shakily, in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC)/ Saigon with some lost luggage that threatened to derail our tight schedule, but arrived 24 hours later. Soon though, we were all crossing roads like this true Vietnamese style, and drinking bia hoi with the locals:

Crossing the road in Vietnam is no joke, and so much fun! The trick is to boldly step out into the stream of thick and uninterrupted traffic, and walk really, really slowly so that the cars, buses and motorbikes can swerve around you - usually without the need for brakes. Wowsers! We all loved this activity, and sometimes crossed the road just for fun. Everybody loved Saigon!

We then took an epic journey to a "homestay" in Vinh Long, using 6 different modes of transport. It was a nice place, and we took advantage of its location on an island in the Mekong to take a couple of little boat rides around the canals, and down to the floating markets at Cai Be. However, Debs got angry - very angry, in that special Debs way - about being relentlessly milked by our hosts. It was just one bill after another. It didn't end up adding up to that much, but it was a lot more than expected. More on Debs temper later...

We really had to haul ass to get to Chau Doc - long days at the moment, e.g. 05.00 starts for a trip, then back to the hotel, pack, get to the bus station, go to another town to catch a connecting bus... etc. After some lovely sights on the way, including a skinned dog for sale in a market in Can Tho, and a nasty looking bike accident on the road, we got to the hotel which Joey instantly declared to be "luxury", simply because the shower actually worked.

A much needed rest, combined with some amusing attempts at communicating with the hotel staff, then we were off on a boat trip up to Phnom Penh. Rather brilliantly the boat company had the "get your visa at the border" system down pat, so we weren't stung by surly officials for $10 "rapid processing" fees.

And now here we are in Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia. It's a beautiful place, much less modern looking than HCMC, and full of in your face poverty. It's quite sobering turning away very young children from your dinner table... but we really don't know the best way to help. Money just doesn't seem right, and offers of food are scorned.

Finally, here's that anger update: Debs flared up in outrage at the news that our hotel would be charging us $0.25 per item for laundry. This isn't actually much more expensive than any other hotel laundry service so far, but it's very hard to keep track of relative values when you change currency every week, oh dear we are so put upon :-)

Debs and Ben

Down to the delta

WOW, WHAT A CONTRAST TO LAOS! VIETNAM IS A BEAUTIFUL, oh sorry, I'm shouting - it's so damn loud here!

We've only got a short time in Vietnam, but we're determined to get the most out of our $55 visa. I've already lost track of how long we've been here though, er... what day is it?

We decided it would be fun to walk across the border from Laos to Vietnam, and so it was - never done that before, quite a cool thing to do. Strangely enough, it was like waving a magic wand - "Shaz-nam!" (geddit?) - as the landscape suddenly transformed into the classic Vietnam you see on TV. Ludicrously green hills and mountains, muddy little rivers and guys with pointy hats on the banks, mist rising from the vegetation and so on and so on...

First impressions have lasted too - it's an incredibly beautiful country.

And the people? That's what we were worried about! Several travellers we met in Laos told us that the Vietnamese were really horrible, hasslers and ripoff merchants to a man. Based on this and other advice we completely ditched plans to visit the north (Hanoi, Halong Bay, Ninh Binh, etc.) in favour of staying longer in Laos. And we don't regret it at all.

But the Vietnamese have turned out to be surprisingly nice after all the doom and gloom prophesies. They are out to squeeze your wallet, sure, but a smile and some really determined haggling makes all the difference. Our first encounter was in Lao Bao, where we emerged from the border crossing and spent about half an hour negotiating the price of a minibus to Dong Ha down from $10 per person to a more reasonable $6 for two.

Once in Dong Ha we found a rather grubby $10 room at the Mai Yen hotel, ate some OKish food at Quan Chay Vegetarian House (weird chewy fake meat, but at least it was vegetarian), and booked a train ticket for a 22 hour ride down to Ho Chi Minh City. Long day, very tired, crash out.

Up very early the next morning we marched off to the train station to catch the 07.14 Reunification Express to HCMC. The locals giggled at us as we strode past with our enormous backpacks. Times like these you do feel a little foolish... but we don't care! We have fresh baguettes and Laughing Cow cheese for breakfast and the world is a better place.

The train... took... ages. I'm not sure "express" is the right name for it, but it was all good fun. Stunning scenery out the windows, steep Tiger beer prices ($1 a can) and lots of very loud Vietnamese in our little 6 bunk compartment. We bought - cos it was the only sleeper ticket available - a hard sleeper aircon seat/bunk. Slightly cheaper and less comfortable than the soft sleeper, but much better than the seated all the way option. The whole ride cost us VND 1,280,000 which is about EUR 50. Not bad.

We arrived in Ho Chi Minh City at 05.30 and dived into the already bustling streets... let's go!

Ben