A week being lazy already!

My apologies to those who are following my travels, for the last 7 days i have been very very spoiled as i have been able to relax at the home of Yvonne and Gary.


I met first Yvonne and then Gary in New Zealand through her brother Jason (my good mate), i also met their two sons Harry and Patrick late last year.
The boys in a Tuk Tuk in Siem Reap


The Runcimans live in Phnom Penh, where Gary works for ANZ Royal, they have lived and worked in a number of countries.


Coming to stay was a big change for me, to move from the guesthouse on the Boeung Kak lakeside to their lovely house was very appreciated. I have been reading books, relaxing and generally spoiling myself.


Not a great reason for having skipped my blog for a week but unfortunately the truth.
I have gone and got my Vietnam Visa and have till the 12th of June to enter Vietnam.

So my plans?
I would like to go to Bokor, there is a wonderful old French Hill station/Casino! that is in ruins in the hills there, apparently it is amazing to see and worth the VERY BUMPY ride up the hill. (after the Poipet to Siem Reap ride i can handle anything?!)

After Bokor, i will make my way to Kratie and then overland up towards Laos, stopping at 4000 Islands in Laos then onto Luang Prabang.

Some of the things i want to try in Laos includes Rafting, Kayaking, caving and some treking before the weather gets really rough.

It is starting to rain here more often, amazing lightening and thunder storms are occuring also. I think the trip into Laos or Vietnam will become more of a struggle against the elements, this will mean i will have to get my wet weather gear sorted and generally "toughen up"

Im not saying its sensible

but......

When you get the chance to try something you have wanted to try for a long time and your on holiday, well sometimes you just say yes.

I got to fire my very first gun yesterday.

And it was kinda fun, actually it was a blast! i know its not sensible but it was safe and super fun. hehehe

How did it happen?

There are several army bases in Cambodia where you can have a go on a variety of weapons, you pay by the bullet.

A friend and I went out and had a go on an AK47 and a handgun.

We got to shoot at targets the handgun was at 15 metres and the assault rifle was at 25.

The thing that most amazed me was the noise! It is DEAFENING.

With each pull of the trigger there is a huge crack and sometimes also a flame shot out of the gun.

It was much louder than i had expected and i kept thinking how silly the movies makes it all look, the weight of the gun and the recoil made firing a two handed job.

The handgun was a russian 45 calibre weapon and was heavy, you had to hold it with both hands as you fired and again the noise and sound of the shell ejecting out the top of the weapon was more than i thought it would be.

The two shells, the AK47 is on the right

So how am i going to redeem myself after this morning of badness?

welli got struck down with a very nasty "stomach flu" (as it is politely called!) oh boy!

So i spent the next 24 hrs in bed feeling less than special

I think someone somewhere was trying to tell me something...... and id listen but ..... have a look at the grouping from my go on the AK47!!!!!

Not bad for a first time (and yes i know i missed with 3!)

Phnom Penh, an unhappy past

Visited two sites yesterday that are on the list of everyones "todo" when in the capital, both relate to the 5 years that the Khmer rouge controlled the country and both are deeply sad.

The first was a memorial at the scene where many thousands of Cambodians, men woman and children were executed for their "suspected" crimes against Angkar (the Khmer Rouge republic)

Like memorials anywhere the very ordinaryness (not the best word i guess) of the Killing fields of Choeung Ek belied the awful crimes that had occured there.

The memorial itself was half religious monument half memorial to the crimes commited and on a hot sunny day it was hard to walk around the fields without wondering how it had looked in 1978.

The next visit was to a school....... unfortuanately its use by the Khmer Rouge was as a prison.

Named S21 it looked like so many schools here in cambodia, simple two story concrete blocks, big open windows and some gym gear in what had been the playground.

What was inside each of the rooms made it very hard to not get angry at how people treat others.

Like despots and rulers anywhere the people in charge of S21 liked to know just who they had and kept track of each new arrival with a big A4 photo of each new prisoner (not unlike the Nazis use of tattooed numbers on the arms of concentration camp victims i guess)

Many rooms just had walls and walls of photos of Cambodian men woman and children looking into the camera, some looked frightened , some angry, some seemed numb. But each one had left here to be driven to the Killing Fields at Choeng ek, from which very few returned.

It was a reminder i guess that this country has had a very sad and brutal recent history (remembering that these crimes occured in my lifetime!)

Phnom Penh!

Arrived tired and dirty

Will go and visit some of the Killing Fields and the former school that was used a s a prison tomorrow but today saw me just chilling out in a town where noone blinks when you see this wandering down the street!

I think it could be an interesting town, you will find

out more tomorrow

So what do you wear when your on a motorbike?

We all know what you need if you ride a bike or motorbike in NZ, well in Cambodia there are less stringent safety laws and you get very used to seeing a family of 6 all on a motorscooter as it rips down the bumpy dirt roads.

It can be scary to think what will happen if they crash as you watch babies being held under an arm as the mum drives with one hand.

We were a little safer but the most important article of clothing you need on a bike is the Krama (a khmer scarf that can be used as almost everything from carrier, hold-all, skirt, pants, you name it)

It keeps the ever present dust out of your face and keep some of the super hot sun off your face as you drive, and it make you look like a very mysterious person indeed (rather than just another silly tourist)

I found out that to Khmers the idea of a guy being given a dub on a bike by a female is about as funny as life gets, we were laughed at and teased by everyone we met, from old grandmas who giggled to kids who called out stuff in Khmer as we went passed.

I like to think its very 21st century to be able to take turns when driving but i guess not! lol

Battambang

Taking our lives in our hands Karin (the Dutch girl from the boat ride and I) hired a motorbike and went exploring around town, the roads are ruled by the "law of the biggest", bikes give way to everyone except people!

We rode out to get a view of the landscape of Cambodia that people often dont get, but to do so required us to trek up a 1000 stairs cut into a limestone cliff, in the heat, of the midday sun, good choice!

The trek lead to a Buddhist monastery which has spectacular views over the countryside, unfortunately in a land that has seen too many wars the view was used to good use by not just monks.

The ruins of fortifications used by Khmer Rouge to fight both the American backed Cambodian govt and to also fight the Vietnamese who finally halted their awful regime is on show all around the mountain.

The worst of it is to be found in several caves that were shrines before the Khmer Rouge used them to kill almost 40,000 men, women and children. The paintings and descriptions of these massacres are familiar sights all over this country but here they are chillingly displayed as the remains of some of the victims are arranged in several tombs that mark where the poor people were thrown down into these caves to their deaths.

I didnt take many pictures here, i just couldnt help but feel sad as our 10 year old guide sang a song to herself as she guided yet another pair of tourists through this grisly piece of her countries recent history. (you get used to seeing kids working most days to help their families survive here, school is just another cost that for many is too much to pay)

We donated money to the fund that is replacing the building used by the Khmer rouge to do such terrible things with a shrine and made our way back down the hill, ready for our next road trip!

Heading down river in search of Battambang

A wise man once said "the road less traveled, is less travelled for a reason"

And with those words ringing in my ears myself and about 6 hardy(or foolhardy) trtavellers met on the banks of the Tonle Sap at 7am to head down river on a "fastboat" to the small town of Battambang.

Why you might ask?

Well according to the Lonely planet that we all seem to carry on us like a holy grail the trip down river is a scenic and pretty one, and Battambang has some "lovely French colonial architecture"

WHAT WAS I THINKING!!!!

Actually the trip was kinda fun, the driver was keen to show us his stylish overtaking skills on the water and the huge lake with its floating families and communities was cool to see.

The 8hrs we took wasnt so cool, and the excitement in Battambang was like being in Huntly on a Tuesday night, in winter (very weird after the hype and bustle of Siem Reap)

The river rises up to 12 metres! with the sea pushing back up the tonle sap, making this area incredibly stocked with fish (so that explains the huge fishing nets and homes built on either bamboo logs or on stilts.

There were even schools and stores that rose with the lake, a very weird sight to see.

Some of the homes were little more than plastic stretched over bamboo, while others were huge two storey structures reflecting the different levels of wealth found here just like anywhere else here in asia

We stopped off for a yummy lunch of rice and a very dark meat sausage that had been barbecued in a very nice sauce

(Im not sure what the meat was but it tasted great)

Every so often you came across whole families on their houseboat and the wake of our speedboat would make their home bounce up and down as if it would flood and sink, but the Cambodian fishermen seemed very relaxed about this highway on the water.

I met new travellers on the boat which i guess is one of the benefits of travelling slowly and with room to move, a cpl of brits and Irish pair who had been travelling for several months through Vietnam and a Dutch girl who was fresh from doing two months volunteer work at an orphanage in Thailand.

Chatting with her made me more determined to do something positive for others in Cambodia so i will search out how i can help over the coming weeks.

Oh apologies for not having updated for a week (Cambodia is not as online as Thailand i have discovered lol)

You turn around in Siem Reap and who should you see?

I went for breakfast this morning to a french/khmer cafe that has a very flash upstairs area (not what im used to at all!)

It is all white, with wifi connection (not that it help me) and very comfy couches to lounge on and hide from the killer heat.

Im having my food when some kids and a dad come through the door, i think i know them but.....

then the mum comes through and it turns out to be my best mate jasons's older sister (well not too old!) we make a scene and spend the next wee while chatting, im off to their flash hotel for my first HOT shower in a month (dont laugh, its warm here and i do shower everyday!)

We will use the flash hotel pool they have and Mr j will have some luxury for a bit!

YAY

Is it just me or does the fact that the staff are all dressed in a black top and baggy black pants with a red apron/scarf around their waist seem like bad taste? The Khmer Rouge who did such terrible things in this country only 30 years ago had that very same uniform?!

Maybe it is because the cafe is only used by expats (its too expensive for your average Khmer)

Maybe im being judgemental but ....

I know it is out of sequence but this is the tough side of Cambodia

A sense of smell is mising from these pictures, i guess that is a good thing.

I made my way through the Thai Cambodia border and found myself in Poipet, its a border town in Cambodia and was a bit of a shok after travelling through Thailand which is fairly well off in comparison to Laos and Cambodia!

The first thing that struck me was the filth, the roads were deep in the worst smelling mud ever (you know how if you go the the rubbish tip on a wet day in summer you have this rotting smell on the tires as you drive through the mud, well this was that x100)
It was depressing and sad to see little kids playing in this and knowing that they would get sick from doing so.

I guess we take for granted all the little things that make life so much easier in NZ.
I know this wont be the last time i go "woah!" and i guess its part of why im travelling.

Mr J explains why a tattoo isnt something you should do in a hurry

OK

I kinda thought i might need to add this after posting the Mr J gets a Tat post

The fact that i got a tattoo at my age......yes im old is because for several reasons i wanted to have something visual and permanent to remind me of the last year.
As lots of you will know my best friend got very sick in November and is still very ill (he may never recover and has to be looked after 24/7 by nurses still)
This made me think about a lot of things, one of which is how we look after our mates , through the good times and the bad and i realised that i had not been there for my friend as much as i should have, the reasons for that are lots (lets just say adults have lots of things going on in their lives too!)
As godfather to Taika and Alex (Jason's kids) i know that when i get back to Welli i have a responsibility to be there for them also.
When Jason got sick his sisters all got the same tattoo done (Jason had a little sorpion on his shoulder from when he was a younger) They got the tattoo to show support for their bro but also to make a link between what he was goiing through and the pain that they were also suffering.
I guess for me the image of the scorpion chasing the monkey, chasing the scorpion sums up the relationship i had/have with my mate and reminds me that being there for someone is not just being there in person but in action and thought.
Phew!
So the moral is....... you shouldnt get a tattoo unless you have a pretty good reason to do so!
I still havent told my mum and im not sure how impressed she will be with her boy having a couple of animals playing tag on his calf. gulp

Angkor What?!

OK that was about the lamest "word joke"i could make but.....words kinda fail when you see something this huge, this awesome and this imposing created so long ago.

Quick history?

Built by a series of Khmer kings from the 9th to 13th centuries. At the same time Angkor had a population of 1 million people London had only 0nly 50,000!

The buildings are covered and i mean covered in carvings, some tiny and intricate (think tukutuku panels on a marae, but in stone) while others are huge!

Religious stories, battles all sorts of imagery is seen and it is mind blowingly huge!!!

Sorry to keep using exclamation points but this place is gigantic, you know the moats that european castles had around them, well the Khmer kings made lakes around theirs, they look like huge olympic swimming pools surrounding these incredible stone structures.

The rainy season in Cambodia is like nothing ive ever seen, the trees started to cover Angkor as soon as the civilisation that created it was destroyed, you can see how the jungle did this in

The trees are now holding up the walls so are left as they are.

So lets have a quick look at the pics, oh yeah, there are monkeys there as well! and crazy steep stone staircases that threaten to make you fall to the bottom of these temples.
In several of the temples, it looks like the Ents are destroying ruins (sorry, a LOTR thing)

There are carvings of Monkey soldiers battling demons and all sorts! each carving is so detailed even after 800 years!

There are tourists everywhere, every nation on earth is visiting and yet the place is so huge (i had a motorcyle and driver each day you often find whole temples all to your self, well to you and the many kids selling scarves, coke, flutes etc!)

Its really hard to say no when a kid starts chattering away to you and when they find out your kiwi, starts counting to ten in Maori!!!, the same kid was able to do it in Polish and 8 other languages, talk about a clever kid and yes i bought her postcards and they will be coming to Hataitai soon (apparently the post office in Cambodia isnt quite like the one in Kilbirnie.... letters sometimes just dont get there!)

Because Angkor is still a Religious site, you find monks and shrines everywhere and the general mood in the place is quiet and thoughtful, most of the tourists are pretty cool with it and dont treat the temples like a climbing frame (but there are always exceptions like this pair of Yanks)

The Huge stone faces that seem to look down on you are quite spooky and at times you find yourself all alone in the jungle which can add to the whole Tomb Raider feel of the place.

The number of carved animals is amazing, you get elephants, monkeys, serpents tigers etc and they are often carved in 3-D (rather than as a relief carving eg just a little part is carved out of the rock)

I wont bore you with all 90 photos of Angko, but it was a very cool experience, im now doing some shopping before getting a bike and riding out to catch the sunsetting at Angkor.

I will be catching up with my friend Jasons sister in Siem Reap before going down to Phnom with them next week.

Some pretty pics of koh Phangan

Its so green and beautiful here, and its just moving towards rainy season!

Often each day starts or ends with an amzing thunder and lightening storm which lights up the sky like a fireworks display.

Had a midnite dip a couple of days ago with some Aussies. As we were swimming the whole sky was lit up by sheet lightening and the thunder made you feel like it was just abouve your head as it exploded, very very cool!

There are so many cats and dogs here its awesome, i have been missing Harrum scarrum but the Thai cats have been very nice too

So what does a kiwi do on holiday?

Well, we do what everyone else does, we build stone and coral retaining walls on the little island we're living on of course?!

Martin, an English traveller i met and I repaired a sea wall that had collapsed after the last big storm ( a few hours work in the hot sun was just what we needed, the coral we used is as sharp out of the water as it is under!)


You can see the wall behind my grinning but glad its over face.




Yesterday was a big one for me in that i finally got my tattoo done.

Its my first (maybe my last) and this is the process i went through to get it

• get design done (this was done by a good friend of mine in Welli and has my Chinese year sign -Monkey chasing my best mate - he is a scorpio) Its a wicked picture and thankfully it looks good as a tattoo!


• Shave the Farangs (european person in thai) leg!

• Turn design into transfer and put it onto leg







• Have you lie down while this tool is used to poke a very sharp needle into you again and again and again and again (you get the point)

This is the tattooist, his name is Duong and he was impressed with the fact i didnt complain during the tattoo (dont worry, i was complaining loud in my head!!)

Here is the completed tattoo, the monkey is holding the scorpions tail as the scorpion is holding the monkeys

• Then you get to try and keep the skin clean and covered while riding a scooter and crossing a sandbar back to your camp, hmmmmm you can guess how that ended.

Wow its been two weeks!

Sorry to anyone who may have gone to check where i was , what i was doing for the last two weeks!

Mea Culpa

In my defense i have been off the beaten path somewhat and spent one week in thong pan noi, in a small bungalow swimming and reading (yes it is a busy life)

Before it all sounds too much like luxury the picture below will help put my comfort in context

I then moved to an island called Koh Ma, it is connected by a thin sand bar during low tide and this becomes flooded as the tide turns, leaving you no option but to wade across in the dark (kinda exciting as the waves hit you from two directions at once!

Yes here i am soaked and feeling very pleased with myself as i get across the sand bar last nite

I have made friends with a couple of travellers (an English guy named Martin and his Korean partner Gina) We have spent the last week or so moving about the island and it has been fun sharing some of the cool things you do each day with someone.

I am leaving the island on the 4th and will be doing a visa run to Myanmar (burma) because my visa is only valid for 30 days so i will get an exit/entrance stamp then im off!

My next update will be as i go to Myanmar and you will then find out if im going to Laos or Cambodia!

Frankly im not sure yet myself.

:)

Matt

PS This is one of the two spiders i had as bed mates last nite (they are not only big! they jump sideways almost 20 cm really fast! shudder