We had a long but uneventful day of travel back to Bangkok from Battambang. The border was pretty scruffy, especially on the Cambodian side. Once we got into Thailand they told us that the bus was going right to Khao San road in Bangkok (the backpacker's ghetto where we stayed the first time) but this German couple put up a bit of a stink because they didn't want to go there so that suited us just fine because they negotiated with the driver to drop some of us off near a skytrain station. We decided we just couldn't handle Khao San road this time around and really had to reason to go back there since we had seen all the temples and attractions in that area anyways. We actually stayed at this really cool hotel called The Atlanta whose style has not changed since the 1960s so it's very funky. They had a pool in the back and a nice restaurant and lots of resident cats plus a very sweet little dog! So our last few days in Bangkok were pretty uneventful but it was just what we wanted. We swam in the pool, slept in, and generally enjoyed what the big city had to offer. Everything in Bangkok seemed so clean and modern after being in Cambodia.
So I guess that's it really! I have 10 days in Denmark to see the family and Dan will head home now and get started on some brush hogging I think! Can't wait to see you all soon and catch up!
Love from Hanna and Dan xoxo
Pigs crossing the border into Cambodia
The Atlanta's strict No Sex Tourists policy..."Zero tolerance and sleaze free zone. No sex tourists, junkies, louts and other degenerates."
We ended up coming to Battambang a day earlier than expected...we decided we couldn't stay forever at our wonderful hotel in Siem Reap, although we would have liked to :>) Our tour through the countryside around Siem Reap was nice. We got to sample some sticky rice cooked in Bamboo that was very tasty! This method of cooking was originally used by the army because they couldn't carry pots around to cook the rice, but now it's used as a snack food for the locals. The rice is mixed with coconut milk and a few beans and cooked inside the bamboo over an open fire for an hour. We also went to see some remote villages where the homes are built on very tall stilts because apparently in the wet season the roads floods and becomes a river! It was a bit shocking to see how little the people have and how simply they live. It is such a stark difference from anything that we are used to. It is unfortunately not difficult to see how much poverty there is here. We feel it much more so than in any other country we have visited. There are beggars everywhere, many of them amputees and children. What you really want to do is fix their social system, but since that's impossible for the average tourist, we have to content ourselves with giving small amounts of money and food to the children.
On our arrival to Battambang, we were totally unprepared for the mayhem at the bus station! Before we even got off the bus there were tuk-tuk drivers tapping on the windows at us and furriously waving signs for various hotels. We could barely get around the bus to get our luggage because we were totally surrounded! It was worse than both Siem Reap and Phnom Penh! It didn't really make sense for us to accept a ride though since you could see our hotel from the bus station!
Yesterday we visited Phnom Sampeau, a temple at the top of a limestone outcrop, with beautiful views over the surrounding countryside. It was a bit of a trek to the top, especially since I didn't think it was possible, but it seems to be getting hotter here! In the afternoon we went to some other temple ruins outside of town, and tried unsuccessfully to find an old Pepsi bottling plant. After circling the area 5 times we gave up :>) Today we rode on the famous bamboo train. A little touristy but very fun! When two trains approach each other in opposide directions one train is dis-assembled and removed from the tracks and then put back on! I continue to be impressed by Khmer cuisine as well. Most everything I have had here has been delicious and there are so many veggie options too!
So tomorrow we are taking the bus to Bangkok and we officially begin our journey home....but we'll probably make one more post before we fly out. I have also added some pictures to the Phnom Penh and Siem Reap/Kampot posts if anyone is interested.
Bye for now!
Hanna and Dan xoxo
Fruits and veggies at the local market - the big red ones are banana flowers. I ate banana flower soup at a restaurant one night and it was amazing!
Village on stilts
Notice the traditional checkered headscarf - called krama.
Fishing village on Tonle sap lake
Sticky rice in bamboo! It was so delicious I ate too many and now won't go near the stuff...
Well we had a fantastic time in Kampot! As we are well used to by now, the bus took 5 hours to get there from Phnom Penh instead of the advertised 3 hours, but we were very efficient at finding a place to stay when we got in. We got our own cabin in a lovely garden and the food made by the family restaurant at our hotel was to die for! I had this fantastic Khmer red curry that was made from scratch because you could see all the pieces of chili cut up in it...yum! The following day was quite busy, since we took a tour through the countryside. First we went to see some natural caves, then we got to see the pepper farms and the salt mines. There wasn't actually much going on in terms of work because it's the dry season in the case of the salt and not harvesting time in the case of the pepper, but we got the gist of what goes on in both cases. Kampot pepper is world famous so we are anxious to try it out in the kitchen when we get home! In the afternoon we headed to Rabbit Island for a few hours. The boat ride was pretty sketchy as the boat seemed very unstable and there were pretty big waves and a lot of wind! I was happy to get off on the island, but much happier when we returned safely to shore :>) We did have fun on the island however, since they had inner tubes you could rent so we spent some time playing in the waves. Our last ocean swim was on the Perhentian Islands in Malaysia so it was nice to hop in again! Our tour group was nice and small, (there were only four of us) and we got on so well that we had supper together in town later that evening. We got to ride around in a tuk-tuk all day, which was much nicer than a minibus. The local people are so friendly and, of course, we got the usual waves and "hellos"from the local kids :>) The homes in the countryside here are quite lovely. They are made of wood, stand on very tall stilts and have lovely trim around the roof, a large front porch and a big staircase going up the front. Other than a few more motorcycles, it seems like not much has changed here in the last 50 years. There is no farm machinery, and we see lots of farmers out in the fields working with water buffalo and cattle. It's quite an amazing sight. And I absolutely love at 11am and 5pm when all the kids get off school because we always see them riding home wearing their white shirts and carrying their big backpacks on their bicycles, usually two to a bike. The following day we rented a motorbike and toured around the countryside. We stopped to get Dan lunch at the crab market in Kep and it was quite an interesting scene! They have all the crabs in bamboo cages in the ocean, and when you show up these women wade in through the waves and haul the baskets in for you to pick which ones your want. Then they boil them up right there...for an extra dollar. We then headed up to the lookout at Kep National Park for some views of the water and the city.
The following day was a marathon travel day to Siem Reap. We were originally going to break up the trip by staying overnight in Phnom Penh but then decided to do it all in one day so we would have an extra day in Siem Reap. The entire trip was about 12 hours in length, including the 2 hour stop-over in Phnom Penh that we hadn't really anticipated. We looked at our budget for the trip and we are pretty much on target with what we had expected to spend, so we decided to stay in a really nice place here in Siem Reap that was recommended to us by another traveler who we met in Chau Doc. And it's pretty amazing. It has an inner courtyard with a pool and the bed is sooooo comfortable! And we get this amazing breakfast every morning :>) There are these really big geckos that somehow keep finding their way into our room and we can't figure out where! But we are happy that they are keeping the bugs at bay!
We have spent the last 3 days at the temples of Angkor. Amazing. There is really not much else to be said. And we are actually pleasantly surprised at how few people are here! I sort of expected there to be mobs but many of the temples are quite peaceful and sometimes you can just sit and soak up the atmosphere without another soul in sight. The first 2 days we rented bicycles and cycled around the various temples, but today we spoiled ourselves with a tuk-tuk, since we were pretty wiped last night. Fortunately the roads are in very good shape and it's very flat, but it's HOT here. At least there is no shortage of cold water. As soon as you arrive at a new temple, there are usually a minimum of 5 different people trying to sell you water :>) There are a lot of monkeys hanging around the temples here too, thanks to all the good food the locals give them :>) Tomorrow we are off on a boat tour to see a village where the homes are built on very tall stilts, then we may hang around town here for one more day before heading to Battambang. Then after a few days there we are off to Bangkok to fly home! Crazy!
Lotsa love -
Hanna and Dan xoxo
Pepper farms in Kampot
Dan's feast in Kep by the ocean
This guy made a nightly appearance outside our room in Kampot
Salt fields
You all know "Wat" this is....sorry....couldn't resist :>)
