Luang Prabang

Enjoying Luang Prabang, its a great place to do nothing! The town is small enough to walk around. The only problem is the heat - its hard going walking during the day but at least there's loads of cafes and bars to stop off in, like this one called 'Utopia'..the seats are loungers so you can just lie there admiring the view (and try to ignore the millions of ants crawling all over the place!)

Buddhism is the biggest religion in Laos with most men joining a monastry at some stage - may only be for a month and some stay for life. Monks are highly respected in Laos and one of the main things to see in Laos is the "Morning Alms Giving Ceremony". This is when the monks walk through the streets of Laos and the local people offer food and pay respect - its a religious ceremony and a big part of Lao culture. I had to get up at 5.30am to see it!! but I could watch it from the balcony in  the hotel room..

                                                   Local woman giving rice to the monks

Afterwards I went for a walk to the food market...big choice!

                                                even "fresh" frogs - poor fellas were trying to escape.

Went for a walk over this bridge...its only for pedestrials and motorbikes and its scary walking over as its very wobbly!

Perfect way to end the day...watching the sun go down  over the Mekong river with the "Dom Perignon" of beer - Beer Lao!

Goodbye Cambodia....Hello Laos!

I really liked Cambodia and would loved to have spent more time there - the people there are great, very friendly and always smiling despite the poverty. Here a picture of some houses along the river, just behind these houses is a 5 star hotel "Raffles Grand Hotel d'Angkor", 1 night in this hotel is equivalent to 3 months wages for the people who live in these houses...

Here's a picture I took on the way to the airport..George was right about the amount of people that can fit on  a honda 50! This is typical of Vietnam and Cambodia.

After my experience on the bus from Vietnam to Cambodia I decided to fly to Laos (its a bit long to travel by bus anyway). The flight was another experience! The plane took off 30mins early (luckily I was in the airport in time!) it stopped after 1 hour and we all got off, I assumed we had arrived but it was only to let some people off  in a place called Pakse and collect others, so we all had to wait in a tiny room and went back on the same plane, this time for 40mins then we had to get off again and wait. Eventually we arrived in Luang Prabang - a place I've wanted to come for years. Too soon to tell what its like but it seems to be what I expected - laid back. Nobody rushes here. Its all very relaxed. Here's a picture of  the hotel I am staying in...

Its right in the middle of all the action, here's the website for it  http://www.ancientluangprabang.com/,   because its low season at the moment I got a good deal to stay here, instead of room nmbers they use the chinese aninal zodiac signs, the first room they gave me was the 'rat' but the rat room was at the back so I asked for a room with a view and fair play to them they gave me a room at the front with a balcony - its the cow room...its a bit strange collecting the key in reception when the fella there looks at me and says ' ah yes, the cow'! The room is a bit quirky - the bath is in the same room as the bed! (apparantly this is common in  Laos)..you can see it in this picture just behind the bed - I'm not complaining - its luxury compared to some of the places I've stayed!

it  has a great view of  the night market...

Angkor Temples and Floating Villages

Angkor Wat is described in the guide book as the "heart and soul of Cambodia". Its the largest religious structure in the world, appears on Cambodia's flag and is the no.1 tourist attraction and the reason most people come to Siem Reap. So...I decided I better check it out! It was built around the 12th century and is fairly impressive. There's hundreds of other temples in the area of Angkor and there are all faily close to each other so its easy enough to check a few of them out in a tuk tuk. Here's some pics...
                                            
                                                      see the trees growing aound the ruins...

At the entrance to each of the temples, there are kids selling stuff and mine victims playing music - all looking for money. The kids are very persistent, they follow you around asking questions, these kids were smart - they knew that Dublin is the capital of Ireland! They are selling things very cheap - $1 for 10 postcards or a flute but the problem is when you buy off one of them you are suddenly surrounded by 20 little kids all pleading 'buy from me' and you cant give all of them money.

The kids dont take any cr*p either! I heard one woman lose it with them and told them to "go away", they replied "why you speak to me so mean, I ask you nicely to buy and why you treat me so bad"!

It was really hot walking around the temples - 40+ deg C! Some people spend 3 days going to see them all but the heat was too much for me so I just went there for a day. Today I went on a tour around tbe lake (Tonle Sap) and saw floating villages which was great, really enjoyed it. It was only a half day tour and most of the time was spent in a boat around the lake so it wasnt too hot. The people who live on the river are very poor and any money they make is from fishing, its all they know how to do so they couldnt (and wouldnt want to) survive on land. The water levels are low at the moment and are highest at the end of the Monsoon in October, the changing water levels causes the houses to move up and down the river, they are made of barrels and bamboo and never sink. The water is very dirty at the moment because there is a lot of mud at the bottom but as the water rises it becomes cleaner. Here's some pics of the floating houses...

The tour boat...

There was a lot of people begging - like these people

The boy in red was a character! He had a snake on the boat and put it around his neck and came up to the area where we were standing and he kept saying ' one dollar....one dollar'.                           

One of the women on the tour was terrified of snakes and she was screaming her head off! The little kid wasnt trying to scare anyone though he just wanted a dollar! Someone eventually gave him one and some sweets - he was thrilled and tried to further impress by doing somersaults into the dirty water!

There's even a Catholic floating church..

and a floating school!

When I got back to Siem Reap I went for a walk and saw these people doing their daily workout..they get together in the mornings and evenings and exercise to music - beats the gym!

I passed a stall selling the famous fried crickets and some other insects and took these photos especially for Christopher....

Fried crickets

Not sure what these insects are - but they dont look appetising to me!

I didnt try any of them but the guy selling them tells me they are delicious!

Siem Reap

Love Siem Reap....despite the throngs of tourists its a cool laid back town. Journey here was horrible though, started off well - bus had big comfy seats just like armchairs but the airconditioning wasnt working that well, passed a lot of poor towns along the way, little wooden houses on stilts with tin roofs. The bus stopped at various towns and picked up locals along the way,most of them only travelled to the next stop, there was a spare seat beside me so they sat beside me.... all friendly and smiling faces....no doubt food is more important than deodorant and the little wooden houses hardly have showers.....but the heat and the smell and the windy bumpy roads  - horrible journey!

Anyway good news when I finally arrived - the hotel is great! You can check it out by clicking on this link http://www.steungsiemreaphotel.com/.  Its also in the middle of town and just around the corner from this street...!

There's a really nice atmosphere walking around at night, lots of good restaurants and a good feel about the place. After accidentently eating Kermit I am eating a lot of vegetarian food and went to a really nice vegetarian restaurant tonight..here is dinner, Tofu with curry and peanut sauce in the middle - delicious!

                                                                 Street in Siem Reap

Siem Reap is a great place for massages - I had a foot massage earlier, $6 for 1 hour! It was bliss - I floated out of there after it. Siem Reap is also full of fish tanks with loads of little fish - for $3 you can sit there with your feet in the fish tank for 20mins and all the fish rush over and nibble at your feet! Apparantly its a great massage and looks a great laugh - but I am not convinced!

Didnt do much today as wrecked but went for a tuk tuk ride out to one at the temples at Angkor Wat to see the sunset..
                                                          Tuk tuk outside hotel

Angkor Wat

While out there a little kid about Christopher's age wanted me to buy postcards, I started talking to him and suddenly I was surrounded by about 20 kids all selling stuff and pleading 'buy from me, buy from me'. They all seemed desperate - I bought the postcards from the first fella and made a quick getaway in the tuk tuk with them all running after me!

Cambodia

Made it to Cambodia! The bus trip was grand, not that many on it so lots of spare seats and space, airconditoning worked great too. It took about 2 hours to get to the Cambodian border, had to get a visa there, things seemed a bit chaotic but the bus company sorted it - glad I didnt have to! It was interesting going through all the towns along the way.  Cambodia has its own currency but everything here is quoted  in the US dollar and thats what you get from the ATM machines, so it makes it easy to work out prices. It seems to be priced similar to Vietnam.

Cambodia seems poorer than Vietnam, a lot of begging in the streets, sad to see young children begging. At night people come up to restaurants begging and making signs that they are hungry. Despite the poverty there is a good feel about the place, its very laidback and the people seem quite genuine (compared to some of the scammers I met in Vietnam). Its also got more of an edge to it - there are signs all over the hotel saying 'No Drugs'  and 'No Sex Tourism'!

Today I went on a tour of  the 'Killing Fields' - its about 15Km outside of town so I hired the local transport for a day - a Tuk tuk!

Its a great way to travel, especially in the heat as there is a lovely cool breeze but its also very dusty!

The Killing Fields were used at the time of the Khmer Rouge rule in the 1970s . It is estimated that 1/3 of the population (2million people) were wiped out by the Khmer Rouge, 20,000 of these executed in the killing fields I visted today, most of them were beaten to death to save 'precious' bullets. Its very errie there because it seems so peaceful and birds are singing but as you walk around you pass the big holes where the mass graves were found (over 100 of them). Here's a picture of the memorial 'stupa', which displays the skulls and clothes of 8000 of the victims..

I also went to the genocide museum, known as S-21, this used to be a school but was used by Khmer Rouge as a detention center where they interrogated and tortured victms before sending them to the killing fields. The tour guide told me that at her Brother and Father had been killed by the Khmer Rouge. She explained that most of those who carried out the executions were young uneducated teenagers (aged between 13 and 18yrs), who were taken from their families, put in camps and brainwashed.

All very gruesome and depressing and its hard to imagine this only happened 30 years ago.  

Here's a pic of some of the houses and shops I passed along the way..

On the way back to my hotel along came the rain - a torrential  downpour! No problem for the tuk tuk driver through - he pulled over, covered the area where I was sitting with a plastic cover, put on his plastic coat and off  we went. Managed to get back dry!

I've got another 6 hour bus trip tomorrow - going to Siem Reap for a few days. Its north of where I am now and from there I can check out the temples in Angkor Wat, which are apparantly well worth the visit. I'm also going to treat myself and stay in  swanky  hotel  with a swimming pool (yippee!)  the room I am staying in now is far from swanky - it hasnt even got a window! Its clean though and only cost $15 a night but I am looking forward to a bit of luxury although not sure how much luxury $40 a night will get me!

Mekong Delta

Went on a tour to the Mekong Delta today, its known as the 'rice bowl' of Vietnam and there's loads of tours advertised for it, you can go on 1, 2 or 3 day tours. Its an area which is very lush with tropical trees and lots of rivers, Some people live on houses along the river and there are even floating markets! I was a bit wary of spending a few days with a bus load of people so I went for the 1 day tour - glad I did! it was a bit of a tourist scam, first we went to a Pagoda (Temple)....here's a pic outside it

next  we went to local coconut candy making factory (manual), this was very boring but of course the aim was to  to buy there - coconut candy wasnt nice but I got a nice buzz of the shot of banana wine they gave us- strong!
Next we all piled into a boat which drove up the Mekong Delta and dropped us off for lunch which was a noodle dish and tasted ok. Here's some of the houses we passed along the way...

Next onto a bee farm with of course the option to buy honey. Then we all got into small rowing boats like this ....

......and went along some of the smaller rivers, nice scenery (see how dirty the water is - glad I didnt fall overboard!)  but unfortunately down came the monsoon rain and it lashed on top of us! Just as well it only lasted 5mins! The trip was a bit of a joke but it only cost 10 USD (most prices are quoted in US dollars in Vietnam) and that included lunch!

It was still raining when we got back to Ho Chi Minh city - no problem for the bikers though....who are well prepared with raincoats.

To cheer myself up after the boring trip I went to a great coffee shop I found a few days ago.....its french and  they sell lovely cakes - this is my favourite, its like sweet bread with peanuts on top and cream in the middle - yum!

The only problem is the shop is across a really busy road but it  was worth the terror of crossing the road!

Last night in Vietnam! I am getting the 7.30am bus to Phnom Penh in Cambodia tomorrow. Early start but dont want to arrive there late. Bus takes 6 hours and only costs 10 USD, its not a local bus but a 'tourist' bus which had aircond and the locals here call it the 'VIP' bus - I hope it is!

Ho Chi Minh

Left the calmness of Hoi An yesterday for the madness of Ho Chi Minh city (Saigon). Had planned on travelling by bus until I found out it takes 15 hours! Fortunately its not expensive to fly and I got a one way ticket for  50e which only took an hour - way to go! Ho Chi Minh was described to me as "Hanoi on speed" and its true! Its a crazy place, I sat outside a cafe yesterday for ages just taking in the madness....hundreds of motorbikes zooming around in all directions, try crossing the road with this coming at you....

Its scary! the rule when crossing is 'dont stop', the only way I can manage it is to wait until the locals cross and walk with them! Majority of people use motorbikes to get around and only the very rich have cars. You can even buy trendy helmets...

Ho Chi Minh is much busier than Hanoi but I prefer it here, the atmosphere is more friendly. I didnt really like Hanoi - found the people there (especially the women) unhelpful and a bit grumpy whereas its different here. Went on a tour to the 'Cu Chi tunnels' earlier - these were used during the Vietnam war in the 1960s and at one time went all the way to the Cambodian border. People lived in these for weeks at a time! You can see how narrow they are in this photo of the tour guide ( he's really skinny) getting down in one...

They widened the entrance to some of them for 'fat western tourists' and we got chance to go into them - only went 100m and it was horrible - really clammy and claustrophobic, glad I went down though. During the war American soldiers often got stuck in them! Eventually they (the Americans) bombed the whole area.

Went to the War Remnants Museum on the way back - its very sad looking at the effects of  war especially the pictures of those born with birth defects due to their parents/grandparents being exposed to chemicals (agent orange). Children are still being born with problems today, the tour guide was telling us that his girfriend is from the area where chemicals were spread and he is very aware that it they marry and have children, their children may be born with defects. There was a few guys outside the museum selling books, I was talking to one of them, he was a young guy, had no arms, blind in one eye and had problems with one of his legs. Also in the museum, a American solder had dedicated the medals he received during the vietnam war to the museum with a note ' I am sorry - I was wrong'.

It was pouring rain all afternoon which was good as it cooled things down a bit..dont thnk this pic (taken at the museum) shows how heavy the rain was but it was lashing!

When I came back to the hotel, my room had been cleaned and the cleaner had left the windows wide open - there's a puddle on the floor, I had left most of my clothes in my rucksack on the table beside the window and everything is soaked - the joys of travelling!. At times like this I wish I had paid the extra dosh to stay in the posh hotel  but at least they will dry quickly in the heat.

Going to spend one more day here and then a day or 2 at the Mekong delta and then its time for Cambodia. Will try to get some better pictures of Ho Chi Minh - its hard though to capture how mad it is in a photo!