First steps in Cambodia

Crammed like sardines, Malene, our two new friends Ellen and Anton and myself began our journey from Surin (Thailand) to the Cambodian border. With horror stories of lost passports and border officials over charging for visas, we made our way through the dense heat in our mini bus, fully equipped with the worse A/C system imaginable. Although uncomfortable, with our bags sat on our laps, the journey itself wasn’t too long and before we knew it, we had arrived at the desolate border. The taxi drivers, touts and guides rushed around outside the bus as we clambered out. Fresh tourist blood was here, and they wanted us! A million polite refusals later, we edged our way towards the visa office. One ‘guide’ who appeared to dismiss our refusal for help, walked in front of us and despite all the clear sign posts, he wanted to help us, and we let him. This, in all fairness, wasn’t a terrible idea.

We filled out forms, handed over our passports, payed in Cambodian Reils (not dollars like the guidebooks said) and waited as our guide ran between offices and got all our paperwork sorted out. Then came the taxi. It took us 45 minutes to haggle for this taxi. Our ‘guide’ was clearly getting commission and wanted to squeeze as many dollars out of us as possible. We argued. We haggled. We refused silly offers and nearly decided to walk away and find our own transportation. This final ploy always works a charm. The price was almost instantly dropped and there we were, shaking hands on the grand sum of 800 Baht per couple (£18).

The guidebooks claimed the journey would take around 6 hours, on roads barely fit for mountain goats. We prepared ourselves for the worse and hopped into the car, cranked up the A/C and set off. As we made our way down the high-way, the tarmac was smooth and void of any major holes, great start. As we continued along, we were still flying, enjoying the smooth ride and watching the countryside pass us by. One section of road, no more than a couple of hundred meters long, had been neglect of maintenance and we carefully plotted the best route through; this was the worse part of the ride and within 1 and a half hours (!), we were in Siam Reap. Void of broken backs and shattered teeth, the journey was smooth and extremely pleasant…thanks Lonely Planet for yet another bang on report.

Ah, Siam Reap! Even the name for me is cool in itself. Like an eagerly unread book, we were all excited to start exploring. And that’s exactly what we did, fully laden with backpacks, front packs, side packs: all the packs you can think of! We ploughed through the thick, unforgiving heat as we searched for a place to stay. Hotels, guesthouses, lodges; all seemed expensive and we were loosing hope as well as severe amounts of bodily fluids. Finally, as our exhaustion reached a new high, we stumbled on a little guesthouse that offered double rooms for 7$ a night, free pool (pool table, not a swimming pool as I first thought), hammocks and a bucket full of charm. They gave us free water and we felt like we had found a lost oasis in the middle of a sparse desert.

There are 2 main attractions that pull tourists into Siam Reap: the old market and Angkor Wat – sometimes claimed as one of the 7 wonders of the world (Angkor Wat, not the market) and we were excited to explore both. The market area is crammed full of little shops selling all the usual riff-raff, banana and chocolate pancake vendors (delicious), bars, restaurants and tuk tuks. Ah, the tuk tuks. Never have we been so bombarded by tuk tuk offers before. I personally think its a little game they play with tourists. See how many tourists they can make angry by constantly offering a ride. These guys pop up everywhere; on the street, in shops, at the bars, out of random windows – it became the standard greeting – “tuk tuk?”

Market done, we arranged to hire bicycles at our guesthouse (1$ per day) and decided to get to the Angkor Wat temple area for sunrise. Waking up the following morning at a ridiculous time, Malene and I hopped onto our rusting bikes and headed off into the morning darkness. With sleep still in our eyes, we flew out of the city and away from the street lights: darker still. As we edged closer to the temple ticket counters, the buzz was already alive. Tourists in tuk tuks arrived and we all lined up for our day passes to be printed off. The whole process was far more professional than the border crossing: set prices left no ambiguity and we even had our mug shots taken which were then printed onto the tickets. There was certainly a few things the border crossing offices could learn from a place like this.

Still under the light of the moon, we got back into the saddle and continued for a further 20 minutes. At the main steps of the temples there was a feeling of excitement as people loaded themselves up with caffeine, happily supplied by vendors, or sugarcane juice that has a similar effect. We locked our trusty steeds up and walked towards what was now an eerie shadow of the incredible Angkor Wat. Perched on the edge of a lily lake we waited along with 200 other people for the sun to rise behind the majestic temple. It was magical. A monument stooped in history and grandeur to match, we watched in silence and overcome by its beauty. As the sun rose, it became clearer and clearer. It’s colours and symbolic shape reflected perfectly in the lake, a symbol of power and grace, it was sublime.

That day, we followed meandering tree lined roads around the huge temple site. Visiting some incredible awe inspiring buildings and truly feeling like part of the Tomb Raider film. Temples surrounded by lush green forests which gave the whole place a sense of history and mystery. The magnificent Ta Prohm with the huge tree engulfing it was definitely another hi-light to what was an amazing day of exploring.

The ride back to town was hot, but well worth it as I raced a tuk tuk (and won!) and exchanged some strange glances with its occupants. Our final evening was spent watching a local circus, and as they performed tight rope tricks and insane 3 man high stunts we felt such a warm feeling (inside and out) and thought Cambodia is already incredible, how can it get any better? ‘Better’ would be in the shape of Kratie; our next stop, a grueling 12 hour bus ride away.

Crazy market, the smells were…interesting.

Sunrise at Angkor Wat.

Trying to get the best shot.

Religion and history go hand in hand.

Entrance to mystery.

A rare, indigenous lizard.

More rare wildlife.

Ta Prohm: What came first, the tree or temple?

Looking for Lara Croft.

On top of an ancient world.

Cycling *cough* effortlessly.

Circus time.

I don’t even know how this is possible?

We love Cambodia!

Bridges, temples and silk: Thailand

In an attempt to catch up with our travel blog, this post will cover our final 3 destinations in Thailand: Kanchanaburi, Ayutthaya and Surin. All 3 were quite different from each other, and in a way, ticked most of the boxes we had for our visit in Thailand. In all honesty, we had expected more from this country. After reading so many rave reviews, we felt a little deflated as we toured around. So, apologies for those that love Thailand, but personally, we didn’t feel the magic that we expected. Maybe that was the problem; we ‘expected’ a little too much. We also appreciate that it is a huge country and we only dipped our feet in for what felt like a matter of seconds in comparison with India and Nepal.

I think our biggest issue here was money. Much like every other traveller, money and budget play a huge part and truly dictate how you travel, where you stay and for what duration. Keeping a close eye on your wallet is always good advice, despite how mundane it can be.

Compared to India and Nepal, Thailand proved to be very expensive. Certainly travel costs seemed to be far more costly, but accomodation and food were also slightly more inflated. This wouldn’t usually be a problem, but our budget was already set, and if we wanted to ‘last’ out here, then we needed to find cheap and cheerful options: everywhere. Without further ado, I present to you Thailand’s greatest asset: 7/11! Every time we entered one of these convenience stores, we felt like we were cheating. We came all the way across the world, to this beautiful country and appear to spending rather a lot of time in the heavily air conditioned 7/11 shops: crazy! But for those on a shoe-string, these shops were a real money saver. Beer (yes, I’ve started a list with ‘beer’), water, bread, noodles, toilet paper; everything is cheaper in these shops and we really roped back in some of the lost savings that we spent on buses, trains etc. Of course there are street vendors serving up delicious, often an indistinguishable array of delights, but for day to day supplies (water is the obvious big one) then look no further: and trust me, you don’t need to look for them…7/11’s everywhere. In fact, 99% of the time, you can be stood on the doorstep of one 7/11 and if you look down the street, you’ll surely spot another.

Back to Kanchanaburi, our first stop outside of the wonderful Bangkok capital. Lying 4 hours north west on the banks of the river Kwai, and stooped in history, we chose this place for rather obvious reasons. The river itself is beautiful, with water lilies dotted all over and the fantastic back drop of the nearby mountains, every photo taken was like an instant postcard. Our first of 2 guesthouses was on the water itself. Suspended on floating barrels, we felt the slow, gentle rocking motion of the water as we lay in bed that evening. The town itself has been described as a mini, relaxed version of Bangkok – relaxed, yes…but we couldn’t see any other resemblance to the big city. Like a small fishing town, with a few bars and huge flowering bushes lining the streets, Kanchanaburi felt far more rural: a perfect place to rest up for a while. Our second guesthouse was also situated on the river, slightly further away from the centre (which dramatically dropped the price) and offered great views over the river: sunsets here were dreamy, with powerful orange and red tints of light reflecting over the calm water, another postcard view that we felt lucky to part of.

The main attraction here is of course the bridge over the river Kwai. Made famous by the 1957 David Lean film, the bridge itself is a mass of black steel, with the train tracks running across it. The museum is well worth a visit and quickly paints a horrific picture of the slavery and grueling conditions the POW’s faced when constructing the bridge. The heat of the midday sun was well into the 30’s, which made it easier to imagine the suffering that they must have felt. We took the train across the bridge itself, which is a memory that will stick we me for a long time. By closing my eyes, I could feel the dead, stuffy breeze pass through my clothes. I could hear the rhythmic clunking of the track below, which painted a picture of tired men, labouring their heavy sledge hammers and constantly under attack from the brutal Japanese army. It was a difficult concept to try and understand, a lesson of modern slavery and we both felt a wave of gratitude and compassion for all of those involved.

Our second stop proved to be quite different to both Bangkok and Kanchanaburi. Ayutthaya is home to some very famous and fascinating temples. The historical park itself is spread across many acres, with hundreds of temples and Buddhist monuments, you could easily spend a couple of days getting lost and exploring. Lush green grass and shady trees adorn the park and as we cycled from one area to the next, it was fun to imagine the life and energy that once was. One of the most memorable images here was at Wat Mahathat and the stone head of Buddha entangled in the roots of an old fig tree. The huge 37 meter long (8 meter high!) reclining Buddha at Wat Lokayasutharam was also incredibly impressive and a true tribute to the past artists and sculptures.

On a slightly different note, Ayutthaya also has some of the strangest, coolest tuk tuk’s we have seen so far. Looking like something from the future, all brightly colourful and even a Batman one: fully equipped with a batman figure glued to the roof, brilliant! We stayed at a tiny little internet cafe which only had a handful of rooms, but had two things that Malene and I have been looking for all over Thailand. Firstly, it was cheap as chips, secondly, and a huge bonus, it had A/C…oh what a delight! We even had to break out the sleeping bags which were starting to collect dust. It was certainly nice not to sleep in a pool of our own sweat for once: 200 baht (£4 a night) for those interested. It was next to this place that I had my first ever Thai full-body massage. As lovely as the girl was who gave me the massage, I sort of felt like she broke me. I have absolutely nothing against larger women, but my spine has a different opinion! It will be a while before I get another massage, and probably even longer until I walk with a straight back again.

Our final stop in Thailand and possibly our quietest stop, was in Surin. North east of Bangkok and close to the Cambodian border, this sleepy town would be our port to Cambodia and our chance to see hand woven silk, a famous Thai skill and one we didn’t want to miss before leaving. Staying at a remote homestay, we started to feel a little bit more of what Thailand had to offer. Away from the buzz of big cities, tour agencies and inflated prices, it was great to finally enjoy Thailand. The silk village that we visited was equally quiet and secluded and a lovely setting to experience hand woven silk garments up close. The patience and skill the women have in weaving was breathtaking to watch. A small team of ladies, each with individual roles would effortlessly weave intricate and detailed patterns using the ultra-fine threads of silk. It was so wonderful to see the traditional methods still being used and reminded Malene and I of the simple beauties of life. Patience, hard work and dedication can all be admired and learned from an afternoon here at the silk village.

It was a brief encounter with Thailand, much like this post. Short and sweet sums our travels around this country and we wish, in some ways, that we had more time and definitely more money to explore it further. We’ve heard so many great things about the north of Thailand, but with our ‘home-dates’ firmly set in our minds and 2 highly anticipated countries to go, it was time to close this chapter and begin another. We were also lucky enough to meet two fellow travelers: Ellen and Anton who would bravely join us to cross the Thailand/Cambodian border. That journey, however, will be for the next post as I feel I have already bitten off more than I can chew for one entry!

Onto country number 4: Cambodia, will it prove to be better than Thailand?

“What to do in Kathmandu?”

8th – 14th February 2013

Although not the cheapest option, flying direct to Kathmandu from New Delhi is certainly the quickest and easiest method. An overland crossing is lined with problems (so I’ve read) and with a flight ticket costing £75 and taking just over an hour, it was a no-brainer for us.

The first problem (hopefully this post won’t be a list of problems!) occurred in New Delhi airport, more specifically, in the duty free area. We knew we had to find a cash machine and get some dollars ready for getting a visa in Nepal, but couldn’t spot one anywhere. What was also a little strange, was that there were no currency exchange kiosks anywhere either. After enquiring as to their whereabouts, we were told that neither a cash machine nor currency exchange office existed in the airport. This created a problem. We had to find $80 from somewhere in order to pay for our visa when we land in Nepal. We had no idea how big the airport would be when we landed and didn’t want to find out what happened if we couldn’t cough up the cash. New Delhi airport – sort it out, invest in a couple of ATM’s.

Luckily, Kathmandu (in fact Nepal in general) is far more switched on. With a cash machine and a currency exchange office next to each other, they know exactly what tourists need. The fact that you can’t buy a tourist visa using Nepalese Rupees is a little baffling. I know the dollar is obviously stronger than the rupee, but still. Most of the places we visited, hotels, adventure sports offices, even some restaurants all offered services in dollars. Being a Brit and a Dane, these figures meant little to us and it normally came as a shock when we asked for the price in rupees.

Out of the airport doors, the sun was high in the sky and with a cool breeze we soaked up our first Himalayan view. The snow capped peaks that stretch panoramically across the horizon are breath taking: we already loved Nepal! Our hotel had provided a free pick-up service, which is a great way to save money and more importantly, confusion when landing in a strange city. As we crawled through the busy streets, tourists were everywhere, all peering into shops and trying not to be hustled too much as they browsed through a variety of souvenirs. The shops themselves were so enticing. Beautiful wooden carvings, richly coloured textiles, musical instruments and trekking equipment are just a few to mention. But what seemed apparent, was the lack of plastic, tacky items, that we came across frequently in India. For once, I was really looking forward to a shopping spree, much to Malene’s delight.

Our hotel was basic, but the rooms were large, there was hot water, the internet worked and the manager was helpful. With the added bonus of an airport pick-up (and drop-off) included in the price – 700 rupees (£5 per night) seemed like a good deal for a city that was crammed with hotels and tourists queuing to fill them. I must stress, to get a good price, you need to haggle and haggle hard. Be prepared to walk out and find somewhere else. Quite often, when you walk out, they will normally ask you back – that’s when you know you’ve won the battle!

We stayed in the Thamel area: the most touristy area, but good for a short stop. About half an hour walk to Dubar square and other temples, Thamel offers live entertainment in the evenings, great shopping and a host of restaurants offering food from around the world. Unfortunately, it was this international cuisine that was an early downfall for us. Our second evening in Kathmandu hit us hard. We decided to eat continental style and ordered a couple of cheese burgers at a beautiful restaurant lit by candle light and soaking in the atmosphere of quiet, chilled out music. The burgers, were delicious. The price, reasonable. The effect 4 hours later however was not so pleasurable. 24 hours later, most of which were spent either asleep or on the toilet, we felt a lot better. We had survived our first bout of food poisoning.

However, I don’t want to finish off our Kathmandu experience write-up with a negative feeling. There were so many great things about this city, mostly in the way it felt when walking around. It is far more relaxing than anywhere we had been to in India. The Nepalese people are absolutely delightful, very helpful and have very pure and kind hearts. We spent an afternoon at Dubar square which was very entertaining. Although advised by another tourist not to go, this was one of my hi-lights of our stay in Kathmandu. With huge temples and beautiful views across the city, this is a great place to relax and watch the world pass for a little while. And that’s exactly what we did. Sat high up on one of the temple steps and eating some fresh momo’s, we watched locals and tourists mix beneath us. Tourists, like ourselves, are fascinating to watch and we both recommend it.

As for a place to fly to, Kathmandu proved to be a lovely first stop. A place to find our bearings and learn what was on offer for the rest of the country. We used this place to plan out our next month, but I don’t think we would have believed at that point, just how good this month would turn out to be. This post is short, and probably incredibly boring for most, but I’m itching to write up what happened in our second stop: Pokhara, the adrenaline playground of Nepal, possibly the world!

Walking in the footsteps of the Gods: Hampi

Leaving the beaches of Goa, it didn’t take long to find ‘India’ again. In fact, minutes after starting our local bus trip back to the main town of Madgoan, we were stuck in traffic, in 30 degrees and standing nose to armpit with hundreds of locals. Oh India, how we’ve missed you!

The train to Hospet was calm in comparison with the bus. On the way, we travelled through some incredible scenery. Dudhsagar falls, or the milk waterfall as its sometimes known was definitely the hi-light. The train literally passes under the waterfall and through tunnels carved out of the hillside.

At Hospet, Malene and I walked to the bus stop, much to the surprise and confusion of the local taxi drivers who persisted on trying to take us. It became apparent that the ‘normal’ tourist option in this situation was to take a taxi (probably with AC) from the train station straight to Hampi – home of India’s most incredible lost temples. As we watched the private taxis drive past, we finally stumbled into the bus stop, slightly sweaty, but on the right track as we were pointed to the right bus by numerous workers, locals and children. On the bus, we managed to cram our huge bags in the overhead compartment knowing full well that if either of them fell out mid-journey, it would probably do some real damage to the poor guys sitting underneath. Traveling with locals has its positives and negatives. The good stuff definitely outweighs the bad and that’s why we always look for this option. The conversations are brilliant, it’s obviously considerably cheaper traveling this way and the sense of achievement and relief that we’ve made the right bus/train is tremendous.

The bus journey took less than an hour which was good because what was waiting for us was simply incredible. In fact, words cant really describe how beautiful, but strange this place looked. It felt like we had landed on Mars. Rolling hills covered in dark red sand and gigantic round boulders that almost look handmade covered the plains. It was as if the ancient Gods had dropped their giant marbles thousands of years ago and we are but ants on their playing fields. We traveled in silence with our mouths open as we got closer to our final stop: Hampi Bizaar.

Although tourists were everywhere, the surreal surroundings meant that we didn’t really focus on them so much. The huge Virupaksha temple that overshadows the little town is the first attention grabbing monument. Its decorative carvings and sheer size is amazing. As well as this beautiful temple, the monkeys playing on the buildings and dancing their way across the village gave us a lot of entertainment as we sat in the roof restaurant of our hotel. On this first day, we visited Virupaksha and met a guide who organised bicycle tours of the local sights – we instantly booked a tour with him for the following day. Tired, but excited, we slept well that evening.

Early the next day, we re-entered the Virupaksha temple and met with our guide and the Austrian family that would be joining us on our bicycle tour. Our guide proceeded to give us a detailed lecture on the temple, it’s history, the religion and stories that surrounded it. Deep inside, I was aching to get to the bikes. As a keen mountain biker, I was eager to see what machines they were offering and looked forward to ‘getting back in the saddle’ – however, this time not on a camel!

Rusting, BSO’s (bike shaped objects) equipped with baskets wasn’t what I originally had in mind, but the amusement factor was certainly there. We all hopped on, adjusted our saddles and started up the first (and only) climb out of the town. If the bikes didn’t impress us much, the tour certainly would. Our first stop, at the top of the hill, was at an impressive, column lined square shaped temple that housed the largest remaining statue of Ganesh – the half boy, half elephant God. Unfortunately, hundreds of years ago, we were told that Muslims destroyed parts of many temples in Hampi. These Muslims realised that by destroying just part of the statues (for example, just the hands, trunks, feet etc) then the Hindu’s would be unable to pray to them. It was a sad story, but luckily, reconstructive work had been carried out on a lot of areas which gave us a real insight into what they looked like in the 16th century.

Our bike tour continued for hours and we tirelessly visited some incredibly temples including an underground temple that was partly submerged in water. The beautifully carved walls and pillars really showed off the talent of the Hindu people and we felt like privileged VIP’s walking in the footsteps of Gods from long ago. After separating from the group, we found a beautiful temple close to a river that we used to bath in and cool down. We even spoke to some locals that were packing bananas onto their lorry. Eating bananas and chatting to the guys was a lovely round-off to the afternoon. Later on, we walked alongside the sacred river and found the Mango tree restaurant and enjoyed local food served on banana leaves whilst overlooking the quite river. It was heaven, and a welcome change to the frantic beaches of Goa.

We woke up early the next morning and enjoyed the sun rise over the Virupaksha temple as we ate our breakfast. We began our walk along the river, this time in search of the Vittala temple and the famous stone chariot. After an hours walk, we reached the main stone entrance and proceeded inside, again in total amazement of the size and magnificence of the grandeur of the place. Imagining how royalty lived here so many years ago was wonderful. The parties they must have had enclosed in the private chambers would have been incredible. We could really in visage the flamboyant lifestyles that this ancient civilization had.

From here, we started a long trek through the hills and saw many monuments. The views across the river and over the eerie landscape was breathtaking. The sun was high and despite the heat, it was a beautiful walk though banana plantations and over rocky passes. But the real delight came when we reached the royal enclosure: home of some of the biggest temples and of course, the famous elephant stables. We enjoyed all of these stunning monuments whilst sipping on fresh coconuts. One of the most beautiful of all the temples was the Lotus Mahal, the queen’s residence. Set in beautifully lush gardens and surrounded by green lawns, this place is a true testament to the architects and stone workers of that time.

It was so easy to be totally captured by this place. The first temples were built in 1336 and the community that lived there reached a staggering 500,000 people. It was a thriving metropolis, covered in bazzars, and life and noise. With the smallest of imaginations, anyone can feel the life that was once here. The temples, of which there are thousands, range from tiny, 4 walled boxes to the huge, elaborate homes of past kings and queens and all of them are bathed in history and stories of a great kingdom that once was. The surrounding landscape, like something from a comic book based on Mars, is the perfect setting for this ancient civilization. Getting lost here will remain a hi-light on our journey. After all, it’s not everyday you get to walk in the footsteps of kings, queens and the Gods themselves.

Next up, magnificent Mumbai; home of the biggest slum in Asia and the most populated city of India.