So we got up early in the morning to rent a moped from our hostel (Senem Beach Inn), and after a nice Gado-Gado breakfast at Made Warung's I started driving towards Sanur Beach (rather than try and drive directly to Ubud through the chaotic city of Denpasar).
Although the road signs at first were promising, it didn't take long before I was completely lost. Every street looked identical, with no identifiable landmarks to get your bearings and very little signposting or street name signs, so trying to get to the beach was a nightmare. After literally an hour of driving around in circles, and down laneways and side streets I eventually found a place that I could identify on our crappy tourist map (thank god for KFC!). So once parked at the beachside, I had a very long and relaxing walk along the beachfront to try and relieve some of the stress of the drive.
It's a nice beachfront area, although very quite and mainly made up of expensive looking resorts, so I'd reckon any time spent there would be pretty boring really. The sea was very calm too, with the ocean breakers crashing well off-shore, so in fact this resulted in the sea being a bit dirty in places.
So after about 2 hours walking up and back along Sanur beach it was back on the bike and off to Ubud. Luckily this time I didn't get lost at all, and so we arrived in mid-afternoon. I found a highly recommended restaurant (Warung Ibu Oka) very easily, and although it was really packed, we managed to grab 2 seats at a table for 5. The place is famous for serving a single dish - suckling pig, and so the tiny menu only offered a few variations. Myself and Sarah both had the 'special', and it was really fantastic. The place is a real local institution, so the food was really cheap too, so we got completely stuffed there!
Then I drove round to check out the local Blanco Museum, but they had a cheeky admission charge, so instead we checked out the famous Ubud Sacred Monkey Forest. I'd been here before, and it's still a great little spot for a stroll, although not as big as I remember. There were millions of monkeys around of course, and they were entertaining as always. After the forest we drove through the town a bit more, and stopped off for coffee and milkshakes at the very stylish Three Monkeys cafe, which backs onto a gorgeously lush paddy field.
I wanted to give myself plenty of time to drive back to Kuta before dark, so we set off around 5pm. But not too long into the drive I was totally lost again. Asking various clueless locals for directions was fruitless as always, but eventually I found my way onto a familiar major road. But once we hit Kuta I got totally lost again (and by now it was just getting dark). Myself and Enda had walked around Kuta a fair bit, but I couldn't recognise anything I drove past. Again, just after driving around and around I eventually spotted some familiar landmarks, and I made my way to a road along which I knew how to get home. But of course, the traffic was now totally clogged up, and I was getting worried about running out of fuel.
But eventually, about 7:30pm, we made it back to our hostel, with the bike running on fumes I reckon. I think it was probably the single most frustrating day of driving I have ever had anywhere, and I was mighty relieved to get home. We just grabbed a beer and a bite to eat at our hostel and went to bed, meaning we'd have to spend the following day sorting out where to go next, and how to get there.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
Bali and the Kavanaghs
Our flight arrived in Bali pretty much on time, and so after advice from Enda about visa processing taking ages, we ran past all the other passengers leaving the plane, and arrived at the immigration desk before everyone else. It meant we went straight through without any problems (the immigration guy not even noticing Sarah's brand new passport), and outside the terminal we got a taxi straight to Legian, near Enda and Tracy's hotel.
Anyway, arriving at Enda and Tracy's hotel, it turned out that they were on their first holiday 'date-night' in a very fancy restaurant about 25 minutes taxi-ride away (Ku De Ta). So after waiting for them in their apartment-style room with their babysitter, they arrived back and we all went out for dinner (well, just me and Sarah eating of course).
Over the next 5 days myself and Sarah would stroll over to their hotel and spend the day swimming in their pools, sometimes using their spare breakfast vouchers (all 3 of them had been sick for a day, and hadn't eaten much at all), and generally just lounging around in blissful luxury. We had kinda planned on heading to Ubud for a day, or going to the WaterPark nearby, but in the end none of us could be bothered to leave the hotel. Myself and Enda had Flyn a couple of times (while the girls shopped, or Tracy had a facial), just taking him for long walks along the beachfront, or shopping for sunglasses in the markets.
Generally we just a fantastic time relaxing, chatting, and eating and drinking in the evenings in lovely fancy restaurants and bars. It seemed like a long time since we'd spent days of pure luxury, but as with meeting up with other mates around the world, the splashing out was all very much worth it. Enda and Tracy took us out to dinner in Jimbaron, which is famous for it's seafood, and we got a great table right on the beach in front of the crashing waves. Another night we took them out to the justifiably famous stylish beach bar of Ku De Ta for a couple of drinks (the bar/restaurant could easily be from the most fashionable districts of New York or London), before a brilliant Italian meal in nearby Trattoria and more drinks in Hu'u, before heading back to relieve Flyn's babysitter.
Saying 'Goodbye' to Enda , Tracy and Flyn brought on a wee wave of depression at the thought of us having to head home soon too, but naturally that passed after a bit! We headed back to our nice wee hostel needing to look into what we were going to do with the 3 weeks we have left, but first I'd decided to drive to Ubud for the day.
Generally we just a fantastic time relaxing, chatting, and eating and drinking in the evenings in lovely fancy restaurants and bars. It seemed like a long time since we'd spent days of pure luxury, but as with meeting up with other mates around the world, the splashing out was all very much worth it. Enda and Tracy took us out to dinner in Jimbaron, which is famous for it's seafood, and we got a great table right on the beach in front of the crashing waves. Another night we took them out to the justifiably famous stylish beach bar of Ku De Ta for a couple of drinks (the bar/restaurant could easily be from the most fashionable districts of New York or London), before a brilliant Italian meal in nearby Trattoria and more drinks in Hu'u, before heading back to relieve Flyn's babysitter.
Saying 'Goodbye' to Enda , Tracy and Flyn brought on a wee wave of depression at the thought of us having to head home soon too, but naturally that passed after a bit! We headed back to our nice wee hostel needing to look into what we were going to do with the 3 weeks we have left, but first I'd decided to drive to Ubud for the day.
KL
Although the weather was misty and cloudy (largely due to huge forest fires in Sumatra apparently), we decided to check out the city's massive observation tower. This involved a quick metro journey and then a walk through a densely lush jungle park. But due to the poor weather conditions the girl at the ticket counter suggested we try another day. So after watching a 'building of the tower' video we headed across to a nearby 5-star hotel (the Shangri-La) to check it out.
I had read that this hotel has one of the best restaurants in the city, and after checking out the impressive buffet at the Japanese restaurant we tried to make a booking in the famous French restaurant, Lafite, for that evening. But Lafite was fully booked that night, it was closed on Sundays, and we were flying out the following evening, so instead we decided to give the buffet in the hotel's third restaurant a go.
It was still quite early, just midday, so I read the paper in the hotel's very impressive lobby area and then before the crowds got too big, we heading into the buffet. It was absolutely huge, with various cuisines - we had plates full of huge prawns and crab, Malaysian curries, sushi, Western roast meats, salads, an Italian section and of course loads of amazing deserts (after a long breather reading the paper again at our table).
So after that very long, drawn out lunch-dinner we strolled to the Petronas towers, once the tallest buildings in the world. We knew you needed to get there early in the morning to nab one of the free tickets to ride up to the cool sky bridge that links the 2 towers on their 41st floors, but it was only a short stroll from the Shangri-La, so we headed over there to see what we needed to do the next morning.
As it turned out, as we were about to leave the ticket area, an Indian guy approached us and asked if we wanted a couple of tickets for later that evening. It turned out that he had gotten a bunch of tickets earlier that morning, but now a couple of his mates couldn't make it. So after killing about 45 minutes in the attached shopping centre, and 10 minutes watching the Petronas promotional video (basically a TV advert with rubbishy 3-D technology), we were taken up in the lift to the SkyBridge. The weather was still hazy, but the views were still impressive, and just the fact that you're standing on a mad bridge 41 floors above the ground that links these 2 really cool-looking towers was mighty impressive I reckon.
The tower complex also houses a concert hall, but after checking for tickets at the desk for that evening (which they had), it turned out they had a dress code that Sarah couldn't fulfill, as she didn't have any dress shoes, just flip-flops, runners or hiking boots.
So we strolled down the road a wee bit so I could check out a fancy hotel I'd stayed in 10-years ago when Spence, Annie and Mikey came to Malaysia for their holidays and met myself and Hanno. The hotel has changed a bit, but it was still cool to stroll about and remember my few days staying there. We also helped ourselves to free Internet there for a few hours too!
The next day we checked out central sights, mostly around one of the city's main mosques. The mosque itself was a nice building, but in keeping with Muslim tradition everything is quite simple. A cleric guy there approached us and asked if we had any questions, so we got chatting to him for about 30 minutes. He had perfect English, and was fantastic at explaining some of the basic ideas of Islam and their traditions. He even gave us a free Koran and a bunch of leaflets explaining Islamic ideas in simple English.
After that we strolled to a monument to one of Malaysia's founding fathers, and then on to the worlds largest aviary, but that was a tad pricey. Instead we strolled about the nearby orchid and hibiscus gardens before heading back to the centre. We had a great meal in the atmospherically cool Old China Shop restaurant before heading back to the hostel.
The day before I had heard from Enda that the Indonesian visa takes up a full passport page. This caused a fair degree of panic, as Sarah's passport doesn't have any blank pages left. After checking as much as we could on the Internet about ways around the situation we had decided that probably the best option would be to just chance our arms and try and persuade the immigration guys to place the visa sticker over existing stamps (and probably needing to bribe the guy). We found this out on Saturday, so we couldn't ring the Irish embassy (to ask if they could just add extra pages to her passport, which I very much doubted), or the Indonesian embassy until the morning of our late-afternoon Monday flight.
So anyway, on Monday morning Sarah gets up and rings the Irish embassy. As feared, the girl told Sarah they can't add extra passport pages. The girl then told Sarah she'd ring the Indonesian embassy for us to ask if there was anything they could do. An hour later and myself and Sarah are packed, checked-out and back in the internet place to ring the Irish embassy again to see what the Indonesian guys had said. It turned out that the embassy said there was nothing Sarah could do - she would be refused entry to Indonesia (of course, the embassy has to take the official line, they certainly couldn't have suggested bribing an immigration official!).
Anyway, the girl then suggests that Sarah come to the Irish embassy and apply for a temporary Irish passport that would allow her travel, but the chances of getting the new passport for our afternoon flight that day were slim to zero (as the girl's boss wasn't in the embassy for some reason). So we headed straight to the embassy in a taxi, and Sarah pleads with the lovely girl to try and get the passport processed quickly. The girl keeps saying it would be impossible, but I could tell from her general body language that it should be possible, it just meant hassle for them, and working through their lunch hour. It also meant Sarah had run out and get fresh passport photos, fill in an application form, get that form signed by a commissioner of oaths (another taxi ride away) and pay 80Euro!
Amazingly we managed to get all that done and Sarah was handed her new temporary passport after about 2 hours. Totally relieved and with a fair bit of time to spare, we bundled ourselves into a taxi and headed straight to the airport (it wasn't that much more expensive than the express train anyway, even though it's 73km away). So even though we'd had a very stressful weekend worrying about the passport situation, the extremely helpful Malaysian staff at the Irish embassy really were fantastic and saved the day, and at 4pm that afternoon we were on our Air Asia flight to Bali.
I had read that this hotel has one of the best restaurants in the city, and after checking out the impressive buffet at the Japanese restaurant we tried to make a booking in the famous French restaurant, Lafite, for that evening. But Lafite was fully booked that night, it was closed on Sundays, and we were flying out the following evening, so instead we decided to give the buffet in the hotel's third restaurant a go.
It was still quite early, just midday, so I read the paper in the hotel's very impressive lobby area and then before the crowds got too big, we heading into the buffet. It was absolutely huge, with various cuisines - we had plates full of huge prawns and crab, Malaysian curries, sushi, Western roast meats, salads, an Italian section and of course loads of amazing deserts (after a long breather reading the paper again at our table).
So after that very long, drawn out lunch-dinner we strolled to the Petronas towers, once the tallest buildings in the world. We knew you needed to get there early in the morning to nab one of the free tickets to ride up to the cool sky bridge that links the 2 towers on their 41st floors, but it was only a short stroll from the Shangri-La, so we headed over there to see what we needed to do the next morning.
As it turned out, as we were about to leave the ticket area, an Indian guy approached us and asked if we wanted a couple of tickets for later that evening. It turned out that he had gotten a bunch of tickets earlier that morning, but now a couple of his mates couldn't make it. So after killing about 45 minutes in the attached shopping centre, and 10 minutes watching the Petronas promotional video (basically a TV advert with rubbishy 3-D technology), we were taken up in the lift to the SkyBridge. The weather was still hazy, but the views were still impressive, and just the fact that you're standing on a mad bridge 41 floors above the ground that links these 2 really cool-looking towers was mighty impressive I reckon.
The tower complex also houses a concert hall, but after checking for tickets at the desk for that evening (which they had), it turned out they had a dress code that Sarah couldn't fulfill, as she didn't have any dress shoes, just flip-flops, runners or hiking boots.
So we strolled down the road a wee bit so I could check out a fancy hotel I'd stayed in 10-years ago when Spence, Annie and Mikey came to Malaysia for their holidays and met myself and Hanno. The hotel has changed a bit, but it was still cool to stroll about and remember my few days staying there. We also helped ourselves to free Internet there for a few hours too!
The next day we checked out central sights, mostly around one of the city's main mosques. The mosque itself was a nice building, but in keeping with Muslim tradition everything is quite simple. A cleric guy there approached us and asked if we had any questions, so we got chatting to him for about 30 minutes. He had perfect English, and was fantastic at explaining some of the basic ideas of Islam and their traditions. He even gave us a free Koran and a bunch of leaflets explaining Islamic ideas in simple English.
After that we strolled to a monument to one of Malaysia's founding fathers, and then on to the worlds largest aviary, but that was a tad pricey. Instead we strolled about the nearby orchid and hibiscus gardens before heading back to the centre. We had a great meal in the atmospherically cool Old China Shop restaurant before heading back to the hostel.
The day before I had heard from Enda that the Indonesian visa takes up a full passport page. This caused a fair degree of panic, as Sarah's passport doesn't have any blank pages left. After checking as much as we could on the Internet about ways around the situation we had decided that probably the best option would be to just chance our arms and try and persuade the immigration guys to place the visa sticker over existing stamps (and probably needing to bribe the guy). We found this out on Saturday, so we couldn't ring the Irish embassy (to ask if they could just add extra pages to her passport, which I very much doubted), or the Indonesian embassy until the morning of our late-afternoon Monday flight.
So anyway, on Monday morning Sarah gets up and rings the Irish embassy. As feared, the girl told Sarah they can't add extra passport pages. The girl then told Sarah she'd ring the Indonesian embassy for us to ask if there was anything they could do. An hour later and myself and Sarah are packed, checked-out and back in the internet place to ring the Irish embassy again to see what the Indonesian guys had said. It turned out that the embassy said there was nothing Sarah could do - she would be refused entry to Indonesia (of course, the embassy has to take the official line, they certainly couldn't have suggested bribing an immigration official!).
Anyway, the girl then suggests that Sarah come to the Irish embassy and apply for a temporary Irish passport that would allow her travel, but the chances of getting the new passport for our afternoon flight that day were slim to zero (as the girl's boss wasn't in the embassy for some reason). So we headed straight to the embassy in a taxi, and Sarah pleads with the lovely girl to try and get the passport processed quickly. The girl keeps saying it would be impossible, but I could tell from her general body language that it should be possible, it just meant hassle for them, and working through their lunch hour. It also meant Sarah had run out and get fresh passport photos, fill in an application form, get that form signed by a commissioner of oaths (another taxi ride away) and pay 80Euro!
Amazingly we managed to get all that done and Sarah was handed her new temporary passport after about 2 hours. Totally relieved and with a fair bit of time to spare, we bundled ourselves into a taxi and headed straight to the airport (it wasn't that much more expensive than the express train anyway, even though it's 73km away). So even though we'd had a very stressful weekend worrying about the passport situation, the extremely helpful Malaysian staff at the Irish embassy really were fantastic and saved the day, and at 4pm that afternoon we were on our Air Asia flight to Bali.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Getting to Malaysia
We arrived at the bus terminal nice and early (as we had to leave lots of time in case traffic was bad, but in fact we flew in), so we had time to use the Internet for an hour and then got a fantastic Thai buffet lunch in a fast-food kind of place.
The bus was another comfy air-con deal, with seats that reclined really far, and so I had a great nights sleep (and this was the cheapest bus option, so I don't know what you're paying for when you get a more expensive bus). We stopped at about 11pm at a food emporium place, as is usual on long distance bus trips, but as I was just strolling about I noticed that people from our bus were all sitting at communal tables sharing buffet meals of food - like a family in a Chinese restaurant (the same big circular rotating plate in the middle of the table that you see in Chinese restaurants). The people certainly didn't all know each other (nobody was talking to each other), so I asked the hostess from our bus was the food free, and she says 'Yes!' and points me to a seat at one of the tables. So I run back to grab Sarah and we both sit down to our free dinner, which turned out to be fantastic too! We had gorgeous big juicy prawns, and fiery chicken curry with rambutans for dessert - it was great.
It was weird that probably the two best Thai meals we've had on this trip (and this was our 3rd time in Thailand), were in a fast-food place in a bus terminal (58 baht each), and a free dinner included in a bus ticket in a food place in the middle of nowhere. Both meals were catering to Thais as very few tourists take the Government buses (especially from Bangkok to Hat Yai, mostly they take Koh Shan Road buses direct to tourist destinations like Phuket or Koh Samui (which generally involve some kind of a rip-off along the way, as I know from repeated experience)). But also, our guidebook is the 'Shoestring' one for South-East Asia, so it doesn't list any fancy restaurants for Thailand, so that's probably the main reason I haven't been blown away by the Thai food on this trip.
So anyway, our bus arrived on time in Hat Yai, which was early in the morning. Many of the operators for buses to Malaysia weren't open yet, so I just strolled about and eventually got money out from an ATM that didn't charge a fee. After checking with a number of places I took the cheapest option for a bus to Kuala Lumpur (450 baht each, after offers of 590, 550 and 500). By simply changing bus myself in Hat Yai I had saved nearly 1500 baht over getting a bus all the way from Bangkok to KL (and that would have requiring waiting around and changing bus in Hat Yai anyway, so the operators in Bangkok were really ripping people off, and luckily I didn't fall for it - I almost did though).
So at 8:30am, we had a free tuk-tuk to the actual bus departure place, we grabbed some brekkie nearby and then our bus arrived and left for KL spot-on time at 9am. This was a super-comfy bus with just 3 seats across, and big fat cushiony seats, so we both had more sleep on the 8 hour journey to KL.
As we got off the bus in KL it started to rain heavily, but of course in the tropics, the rain generally doesn't last long, so after sheltering for 10 minutes we headed off and got a lovely hostel nearby. Once settled in there and showered we were told they had a free buffet dinner that night in the rooftop bar. Now, I generally don't expect much from a buffet, especially a free one, and especially a free one in a cheap hostel - so in fact I asked could we change to a free breakfast instead, but they said no. So up we went to check out the free buffet, and my god, it was fantastic! I'm not sure what had been going on for the past couple of days, but somehow we seemed to be blessed with the best food in months that was cheap-as-chips, or completely free. Needless to say we both got completely stuffed (the mashed potato was heaven-sent!).
So after that I needed to walk off some of the excess food I'd gobbled, and so we strolled up to nearby Merderka Square (the famous centre of the city), and just popped into a famous restaurant I remembered from my last time in KL (the Coliseum), and then checked out the Little India food market before going back to bed.
It had been super-easy to get all the way from Bangkok to KL, and not so expensive either (once you do it in stages), and now we had a couple of days to relax in KL before flying to Bali to meet up with Enda, Tracy and the FCK (their son, Flyn Conor Kavanagh!).
The bus was another comfy air-con deal, with seats that reclined really far, and so I had a great nights sleep (and this was the cheapest bus option, so I don't know what you're paying for when you get a more expensive bus). We stopped at about 11pm at a food emporium place, as is usual on long distance bus trips, but as I was just strolling about I noticed that people from our bus were all sitting at communal tables sharing buffet meals of food - like a family in a Chinese restaurant (the same big circular rotating plate in the middle of the table that you see in Chinese restaurants). The people certainly didn't all know each other (nobody was talking to each other), so I asked the hostess from our bus was the food free, and she says 'Yes!' and points me to a seat at one of the tables. So I run back to grab Sarah and we both sit down to our free dinner, which turned out to be fantastic too! We had gorgeous big juicy prawns, and fiery chicken curry with rambutans for dessert - it was great.
It was weird that probably the two best Thai meals we've had on this trip (and this was our 3rd time in Thailand), were in a fast-food place in a bus terminal (58 baht each), and a free dinner included in a bus ticket in a food place in the middle of nowhere. Both meals were catering to Thais as very few tourists take the Government buses (especially from Bangkok to Hat Yai, mostly they take Koh Shan Road buses direct to tourist destinations like Phuket or Koh Samui (which generally involve some kind of a rip-off along the way, as I know from repeated experience)). But also, our guidebook is the 'Shoestring' one for South-East Asia, so it doesn't list any fancy restaurants for Thailand, so that's probably the main reason I haven't been blown away by the Thai food on this trip.
So anyway, our bus arrived on time in Hat Yai, which was early in the morning. Many of the operators for buses to Malaysia weren't open yet, so I just strolled about and eventually got money out from an ATM that didn't charge a fee. After checking with a number of places I took the cheapest option for a bus to Kuala Lumpur (450 baht each, after offers of 590, 550 and 500). By simply changing bus myself in Hat Yai I had saved nearly 1500 baht over getting a bus all the way from Bangkok to KL (and that would have requiring waiting around and changing bus in Hat Yai anyway, so the operators in Bangkok were really ripping people off, and luckily I didn't fall for it - I almost did though).
So at 8:30am, we had a free tuk-tuk to the actual bus departure place, we grabbed some brekkie nearby and then our bus arrived and left for KL spot-on time at 9am. This was a super-comfy bus with just 3 seats across, and big fat cushiony seats, so we both had more sleep on the 8 hour journey to KL.
As we got off the bus in KL it started to rain heavily, but of course in the tropics, the rain generally doesn't last long, so after sheltering for 10 minutes we headed off and got a lovely hostel nearby. Once settled in there and showered we were told they had a free buffet dinner that night in the rooftop bar. Now, I generally don't expect much from a buffet, especially a free one, and especially a free one in a cheap hostel - so in fact I asked could we change to a free breakfast instead, but they said no. So up we went to check out the free buffet, and my god, it was fantastic! I'm not sure what had been going on for the past couple of days, but somehow we seemed to be blessed with the best food in months that was cheap-as-chips, or completely free. Needless to say we both got completely stuffed (the mashed potato was heaven-sent!).
So after that I needed to walk off some of the excess food I'd gobbled, and so we strolled up to nearby Merderka Square (the famous centre of the city), and just popped into a famous restaurant I remembered from my last time in KL (the Coliseum), and then checked out the Little India food market before going back to bed.
It had been super-easy to get all the way from Bangkok to KL, and not so expensive either (once you do it in stages), and now we had a couple of days to relax in KL before flying to Bali to meet up with Enda, Tracy and the FCK (their son, Flyn Conor Kavanagh!).
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Back in Bangkok
So leaving Koh Chang we got up early enough, and strolled up to the village to get a songthaw to the ferry. After all the usual connections to and from the ferry and Trat (much quicker and coordinated this time though), we arrived in Bangkok Eastern Bus terminal around 5pm. A quick ride on the SkyTrain, a wee wait for a number 15 bus, and then getting seriously stuck in traffic (one set of traffic lights held the bus up for nearly an hour, so it was lucky I had resisted Sarah's demands to get a taxi from the bus station). After taking so long we were both pretty hungry, so we popped into a recommended vegetarian place for dinner (Arawy). I thought the food was fantastic, although Sarah didn't like it much, which has been unusual for us.
Anyway, then it was a stroll back to the Merry V Guesthouse near Koh Shan Road (Sarah getting worried it might be full - but of course it was practically empty!), and then we used the Internet for a bit before bed.
Next day I got up and got a bus out to the Southern Bus Terminal to check out buses to Malaysia (and getting a bit of a shock at the high prices - so I only booked as far as Hat Yai, as you have to change bus there for KL anyway), and then after heading back to Sarah I headed out to Siam Square for the day while Sarah used the Internet.
I was very impressed with the Siam Paragon centre. Although being the Buddhist I am(!), I wasn't impressed with all the consumerism, flash lambourghinis and designer clothes shops, I was more impressed with all the free taster's they were offering in the Gourmet market on the ground floor (and the cool orchid exhibition they had). The Gourmet market is a seriously huge supermarket of very upmarket (i.e. heavily pre-packaged) food goods, and the nearby food stalls and counters were just irresistable. So I just spent the whole afternoon just pottering around and exploring, and for the first time in my life I think I might have gotten a small insight into why Americans seem to be so entralled by the idea of a shopping mall.
Anyway, by late afternoon I had to head back to Sarah at the hotel, where we ordered a bite to eat and then I used the Internet some more to try and catch up on this blog. We had a leisurely day the next day, as the bus to Hat Yai is an overnight bus leaving Bangkok at 5pm. So after a nice lie-in and a Western breakfast in a cafe we checked-out, and used up all our remaining internet credit before getting a local bus to the bus terminal (it feels a bit weird as I come towards the end of this trip after being on the road now for over 2 years, but getting another overnight long-distance bus seems like a new beginning for some reason...).
Koh Chang, 10 years later
The bus journey to the Thai/Cambodia border was effortless as always, and with no queues at all with either immigration it was all a breeze (although a very sudden, and short-lived, downpour got me soaked walking the 200m between the border posts).
On the Thai side I had to wait around for the minibus to depart towards the travel hub town of Trat. Once at Trat I had to wait around again for over an hour for the songthaw to fill up before heading to the ferry departure point. Once there it was just a short wait for the ferry to arrive, and after a quick turn-around I was off on the 1-hour ferry crossing. Then it was a 45-minute songthaw to Lonely Beach, getting dropped off at Siam Hut, where Sarah was sitting in the doorway of hut 24D waiting.
Due to all the waiting around for transport connections, it was nearly 8pm at this stage, and poor Sarah had been getting worried about me. After a very quick shower it was out for a tasty dinner in the nearby local restaurant, and then a well-deserved early night for me, exhausted as I was by the long day of travel.
The next day we just relaxed on the lovely stretch of beach beside our hotel, swimming in the sea to cool down from the fierce heat. That night we had a good laugh at that night's party place - it was very much low season, and so the various bars alternate their party nights, offering free finger food and cheap booze, of which we freely partook of course.
The following day was again just chilling out on the beach, and although I was very careful of the fierce sun, I still managed to get sunburnt again! Both myself and Sarah thought we were sitting in the shade, but somehow I still managed to get burnt whilst reading the newspaper. So after that I really needed to avoid the sun completely, as so the next day we rented a moped to explore the island properly.
First stop was the small village of Bang Boa, which is weirdly built on a pier extending out into the sea. The tide was out when we got there, so the pier extended out over muddy flats, although the lighthouse at the very end was nicely over pristine water and gave nice views back along the 'town'. We had a tasty curry breakfast here before heading back on the road.
We stopped off at Thor's Palace for a few more nibbles, as it was a fairly hyped place, but we both thought the food there was just average. Then we trekked all the way out to Long Beach, as Sarah thought the blurb about it being 'amazing' sounded good. It turned out that after quite a rough ride when the road turned to bad rough track (and the moped suffered a few nasty-sounding cracks), that the beach was nice, but certainly nothing special. All the hype is based on the fact that the area is undeveloped with just 2 places to stay, but being low-season, our beach at Lonely Beach had much the same number of people hanging around (and had a lot more options for food, drink, etc.).
So then I really wanted to revisit the main stretch of beach on the island, White Sands beach. This was where I had stayed 10 years ago, and which was definitely one of the highlights of my last big trip. I knew that the whole area had been seriously developed in the intervening years, but when I got down to White Sand Beach Resort, which was, and still is, the last resort at one end of the long stretch of still pristine beach, it really hadn't changed that much at all.
It was still a long walk along the beach (the resort had no road access at all 10 years ago), and with me wearing my rain jacket, socks and long trousers to keep the sun off, I must have looked a right sight in the searing sun. Anyway, the resort has certainly moved up-market (the bungalows on the beachfront were 1200 baht in low-season, when 10 years ago I think they were 150 baht in high-season!), and the huts are far more sturdy now (and therefore far less romantic of course), but the location is still fantastic and the rustic feel of the development, and the individual-ness of the isolated beach-front huts has been well maintained.
So after that nice wee trip down memory lane (and a yellow curry in the restaurant, which was nothing like the amazing curries I remembered from 10 years ago), it was back to Siam Hut for a sundowner before bed.
We could have stayed another day on Koh Chang, but with me having to avoid the sun completely, and Sarah getting a bit bored with it all after being there over a week, we decided to head back to Bangkok and start organising getting down to Malaysia.
On the Thai side I had to wait around for the minibus to depart towards the travel hub town of Trat. Once at Trat I had to wait around again for over an hour for the songthaw to fill up before heading to the ferry departure point. Once there it was just a short wait for the ferry to arrive, and after a quick turn-around I was off on the 1-hour ferry crossing. Then it was a 45-minute songthaw to Lonely Beach, getting dropped off at Siam Hut, where Sarah was sitting in the doorway of hut 24D waiting.
Due to all the waiting around for transport connections, it was nearly 8pm at this stage, and poor Sarah had been getting worried about me. After a very quick shower it was out for a tasty dinner in the nearby local restaurant, and then a well-deserved early night for me, exhausted as I was by the long day of travel.
The next day we just relaxed on the lovely stretch of beach beside our hotel, swimming in the sea to cool down from the fierce heat. That night we had a good laugh at that night's party place - it was very much low season, and so the various bars alternate their party nights, offering free finger food and cheap booze, of which we freely partook of course.
The following day was again just chilling out on the beach, and although I was very careful of the fierce sun, I still managed to get sunburnt again! Both myself and Sarah thought we were sitting in the shade, but somehow I still managed to get burnt whilst reading the newspaper. So after that I really needed to avoid the sun completely, as so the next day we rented a moped to explore the island properly.
First stop was the small village of Bang Boa, which is weirdly built on a pier extending out into the sea. The tide was out when we got there, so the pier extended out over muddy flats, although the lighthouse at the very end was nicely over pristine water and gave nice views back along the 'town'. We had a tasty curry breakfast here before heading back on the road.
We stopped off at Thor's Palace for a few more nibbles, as it was a fairly hyped place, but we both thought the food there was just average. Then we trekked all the way out to Long Beach, as Sarah thought the blurb about it being 'amazing' sounded good. It turned out that after quite a rough ride when the road turned to bad rough track (and the moped suffered a few nasty-sounding cracks), that the beach was nice, but certainly nothing special. All the hype is based on the fact that the area is undeveloped with just 2 places to stay, but being low-season, our beach at Lonely Beach had much the same number of people hanging around (and had a lot more options for food, drink, etc.).
So then I really wanted to revisit the main stretch of beach on the island, White Sands beach. This was where I had stayed 10 years ago, and which was definitely one of the highlights of my last big trip. I knew that the whole area had been seriously developed in the intervening years, but when I got down to White Sand Beach Resort, which was, and still is, the last resort at one end of the long stretch of still pristine beach, it really hadn't changed that much at all.
It was still a long walk along the beach (the resort had no road access at all 10 years ago), and with me wearing my rain jacket, socks and long trousers to keep the sun off, I must have looked a right sight in the searing sun. Anyway, the resort has certainly moved up-market (the bungalows on the beachfront were 1200 baht in low-season, when 10 years ago I think they were 150 baht in high-season!), and the huts are far more sturdy now (and therefore far less romantic of course), but the location is still fantastic and the rustic feel of the development, and the individual-ness of the isolated beach-front huts has been well maintained.
So after that nice wee trip down memory lane (and a yellow curry in the restaurant, which was nothing like the amazing curries I remembered from 10 years ago), it was back to Siam Hut for a sundowner before bed.
We could have stayed another day on Koh Chang, but with me having to avoid the sun completely, and Sarah getting a bit bored with it all after being there over a week, we decided to head back to Bangkok and start organising getting down to Malaysia.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Phnom Penh
My pickup arrived spot-on time at 06:30, and dropped me to my bus a few kilometers away through the city, and then off I went to Phnom Penh, a journey of about 5 hours. The bus was again really comfy, and the roads were great and the countryside lush, so I arrived feeling pretty fresh.
First thing was to get money from a nearby ATM, then lunch at a nice-looking local diner place I'd passed (more lovely local food), and then a bit of a stroll to check out hotels. I settled on the last one, Tat Guesthouse, a nice cheap place that also just happened to rent bikes - a real bonus. So that evening I just strolled about the local area, and was again struck by just how clean, neat and tidy everything seems to be. The roads are in perfect condition, the streets are wide, the traffic seems relatively light and the whole region seems to be totally flat. So after another tasty curry dinner near the riverfront it was a nice leisurely stroll back to bed.
But one thing that did really annoy me was the constant approaches of the tuk-tuk drivers asking where I was going, and did I want a ride. It was the same in Siem Reap, and I had noticed in Phnom Penh particularly that nobody walks anywhere. Even though the pavements are wide and in good condition, they are just used as car parks with cars parked perpendicular to the road, and thereby making it awkward to walk along. Anyway, like in Siem Reap, an MP3 player was invaluable and Marilyn Manson at full volume was just the ticket for easily ignoring their constant pleas - and afterwards having the bicycle meant no hassle at all.
Next morning I got my bike and off I went to the famous Khmer Rouge prison, S-21. This prison was notorious during the reign of Pol Pot as it was used to interrogate and torture many thousands of Cambodians before they were moved out to the nearby Killing Fields and executed. I spent the whole morning here, as it was really quite other-worldly. There are obvious comparisons with Auschwitz, but here they have no qualms about showing lots of gruesome photos of dead bodies, which I found the most disturbing thing about the whole place.
It's incredible that the place used to be a school, and is right in the middle of a busy city, but the way they've presented everything there was very impressive, and it was really informative (although the English documentary movie they showed was a bit rubbish).
So I had lunch across the road from the 'school' in a lovely modern restaurant and sat out the usual hourly daily thunderstorm in great comfort. Then it was back on my bike and off to the national museum after riding down along the riverfront (although they are currently building something along much of the front). The museum was quite small, and was mostly just statues, bronzes and the like so I didn't linger that long. Instead I headed to the nearby Raffles Hotel to check out the restaurant and bar there.
The Elephant Bar is famous, and justly so I reckon. It has a lovely colonial feel to it, and the happy hour beer (a cool half-yard of ale) was great value, given that I got a big bowl of tasty nachos to go with it. The restaurant menu was very expensive of course, but it had lobster and so I reckoned I might give that a go the next evening when I was properly attired (I had arrived in the posh bar, ordered a beer and popped into the toilet to freshen up a bit after cycling around the city all day. It was only when I saw myself in the mirror that I realised what a total and utter knacker I looked in my ripped shorts, and totally bedraggled looking T-shirt that is full of holes. I had a right cheek swanning into such a swish hotel looking like I did - so after a wee chuckle and a shrug I felt quite proud of myself really!).
I only stayed in the Elephant Bar for one beer and then hopped back on the bike and explored the city a bit more (having the bike in Phnom Penh was really the perfect way to get about, even more so than Siem Reap).
Next day I took the bike again, and this time headed out to the Killing Fields themselves. These are about 12km from the city centre, and the guidebook said they were clearly signposted. Well, the book was wrong again, and I ended up going the wrong way and added about 20km to the ride out there (at least I got to see a lot more of the city outskirts, not that there was much to see).
But after all that extra cycling, the Killing Fields site doesn't have that much to see either. The on-site museum was small, empty and closed, and the site is really just a number of marked graves and a nice poignant pagoda that displays a large number of human skulls reclaimed from some of the graves. It was a nice peaceful place to stroll around for a bit though, and I relaxed there for a while after my overly long cycle. On the way back to the city I stopped off to use the Internet to avoid the daily rains and then after heading back to my hotel for a quick refreshing shower, I got back on the bike and explored yet more of the city's cool cafes and bars.
I didn't bother eating at the restaurant at the Raffles Hotel in the end, as the place was completely deserted and so had no atmosphere (and the last time I ate lobster in a deserted fancy restaurant it hadn't turn out so well). So instead I just went to the cool FCC bar for a couple of happy hour beers sitting on the terrace looking out over the river, and then got dinner at a cool outdoor local restaurant. Again the food was really tasty, and I really loved the nighttime atmosphere there, being the only Westerner in the place, and the whole outdoorsy-ness of sitting on a plastic stool and being right on the corner of a busy road intersection.
As with Siem Reap I was very tempted to spend another day just relaxing in Phnom Penh, but I decided to head off the next day back to Thailand and catch up with Sarah again on Koh Chang. So it was a not-so early morning stroll to the bus depot and hopping on the bus to the border, which yet again was really comfy and left spot on time.
First thing was to get money from a nearby ATM, then lunch at a nice-looking local diner place I'd passed (more lovely local food), and then a bit of a stroll to check out hotels. I settled on the last one, Tat Guesthouse, a nice cheap place that also just happened to rent bikes - a real bonus. So that evening I just strolled about the local area, and was again struck by just how clean, neat and tidy everything seems to be. The roads are in perfect condition, the streets are wide, the traffic seems relatively light and the whole region seems to be totally flat. So after another tasty curry dinner near the riverfront it was a nice leisurely stroll back to bed.
But one thing that did really annoy me was the constant approaches of the tuk-tuk drivers asking where I was going, and did I want a ride. It was the same in Siem Reap, and I had noticed in Phnom Penh particularly that nobody walks anywhere. Even though the pavements are wide and in good condition, they are just used as car parks with cars parked perpendicular to the road, and thereby making it awkward to walk along. Anyway, like in Siem Reap, an MP3 player was invaluable and Marilyn Manson at full volume was just the ticket for easily ignoring their constant pleas - and afterwards having the bicycle meant no hassle at all.
Next morning I got my bike and off I went to the famous Khmer Rouge prison, S-21. This prison was notorious during the reign of Pol Pot as it was used to interrogate and torture many thousands of Cambodians before they were moved out to the nearby Killing Fields and executed. I spent the whole morning here, as it was really quite other-worldly. There are obvious comparisons with Auschwitz, but here they have no qualms about showing lots of gruesome photos of dead bodies, which I found the most disturbing thing about the whole place.
It's incredible that the place used to be a school, and is right in the middle of a busy city, but the way they've presented everything there was very impressive, and it was really informative (although the English documentary movie they showed was a bit rubbish).
So I had lunch across the road from the 'school' in a lovely modern restaurant and sat out the usual hourly daily thunderstorm in great comfort. Then it was back on my bike and off to the national museum after riding down along the riverfront (although they are currently building something along much of the front). The museum was quite small, and was mostly just statues, bronzes and the like so I didn't linger that long. Instead I headed to the nearby Raffles Hotel to check out the restaurant and bar there.
The Elephant Bar is famous, and justly so I reckon. It has a lovely colonial feel to it, and the happy hour beer (a cool half-yard of ale) was great value, given that I got a big bowl of tasty nachos to go with it. The restaurant menu was very expensive of course, but it had lobster and so I reckoned I might give that a go the next evening when I was properly attired (I had arrived in the posh bar, ordered a beer and popped into the toilet to freshen up a bit after cycling around the city all day. It was only when I saw myself in the mirror that I realised what a total and utter knacker I looked in my ripped shorts, and totally bedraggled looking T-shirt that is full of holes. I had a right cheek swanning into such a swish hotel looking like I did - so after a wee chuckle and a shrug I felt quite proud of myself really!).
I only stayed in the Elephant Bar for one beer and then hopped back on the bike and explored the city a bit more (having the bike in Phnom Penh was really the perfect way to get about, even more so than Siem Reap).
Next day I took the bike again, and this time headed out to the Killing Fields themselves. These are about 12km from the city centre, and the guidebook said they were clearly signposted. Well, the book was wrong again, and I ended up going the wrong way and added about 20km to the ride out there (at least I got to see a lot more of the city outskirts, not that there was much to see).
But after all that extra cycling, the Killing Fields site doesn't have that much to see either. The on-site museum was small, empty and closed, and the site is really just a number of marked graves and a nice poignant pagoda that displays a large number of human skulls reclaimed from some of the graves. It was a nice peaceful place to stroll around for a bit though, and I relaxed there for a while after my overly long cycle. On the way back to the city I stopped off to use the Internet to avoid the daily rains and then after heading back to my hotel for a quick refreshing shower, I got back on the bike and explored yet more of the city's cool cafes and bars.
I didn't bother eating at the restaurant at the Raffles Hotel in the end, as the place was completely deserted and so had no atmosphere (and the last time I ate lobster in a deserted fancy restaurant it hadn't turn out so well). So instead I just went to the cool FCC bar for a couple of happy hour beers sitting on the terrace looking out over the river, and then got dinner at a cool outdoor local restaurant. Again the food was really tasty, and I really loved the nighttime atmosphere there, being the only Westerner in the place, and the whole outdoorsy-ness of sitting on a plastic stool and being right on the corner of a busy road intersection.
As with Siem Reap I was very tempted to spend another day just relaxing in Phnom Penh, but I decided to head off the next day back to Thailand and catch up with Sarah again on Koh Chang. So it was a not-so early morning stroll to the bus depot and hopping on the bus to the border, which yet again was really comfy and left spot on time.
Siem Reap
First impressions of Siem Reap, and the journey from the Thai border, where all very good indeed. Everything looked so clean, neat and tidy, the road was in perfect condition and had very little traffic, so we zipped along. Nobody seemed to be beeping much either, which was a great relief after four and a half months of it in India and Nepal, so everything was so easy and just a real pleasure.
The first thing I noticed about the town of Siem Reap was the number of fancy hotels all along the main approach road. They all looking the same though, with none of them having anything distinctively characteristic about them (at least from the outside). So after getting settled in the lovely Jasmine Lodge and watching a rerun of the Champions League final I strolled into the town centre. Again here everything seemed really well kept, with the bars, cafe and restaurants all looking very swish. I settled into a nice looking place for a beer (US$0.50) and stayed when I say how good looking the food was that other people were getting. It was a delicious Cambodian soupy dish call Amok, and so my positive first impressions just kept on coming.
Although tourism numbers are well down in Cambodia (probably like everywhere at the moment), the town had a good buzz about it, so I hung around until quite late. Next morning after a big US$1 breakfast I hired a bike and set off to explore the town properly. The idea was just to potter about really, but it turned out the map in my guidebook was pretty crap, and so I soon lost any idea of where I was and ended up surrounded by lovely forest. But having a bike of course, means you're never too far away from anywhere, and I still had a vague idea of where the city was, so I just kept going.
Eventually I come across this mad arched gateway in the middle of the forest. I stop to take a wee video, and then continue on and next thing I know I'm looking at one of the most famous structures of Ankgor Wat - Bayon! It was obvious I'd stumbling onto the Ankgor site via a side entrance, and not having a ticket I was a bit nervous of getting nabbed and fined. But after riding about for a bit it was clear that the ticket inspectors only check for tickets if you actually enter a temple - just riding around the site seemed safe enough (in fact, the whole complex is so large that many locals pass through various sections of it as they go about their daily business).
So I spent the next couple of hours riding around the complex just getting my bearings. It was great, as this meant I could now just get a single day pass (I had planned on getting the 3-day pass, as there is no 2-day pass) the following day, and I'd already know my way around. I did get the worst sunburn of the whole trip though. I had applied suncream of course, but it was just so hot and humid all day, that I should have re-applied it a lot more than I did.
So very early the next morning (5am), I get up and set off for Angkor Wat again, hoping to get there for sunrise. I had to cover up as much as possible after getting burnt the day before, so I looked a bit stupid wearing a rain jacket on such a hot day (to cover my arms), and with my T-shirt pulled up over my mouth and tucked in behind my ears (to protect my burnt neck). But luckily since SARS a few years ago, the swine flu now, and general traffic pollution, a lot of people cycle and ride their motorbikes with face masks, so I actually looked pretty normal really!
Unfortunately, on the way to the site I took a wrong road (again my guidebook map was wrong), and it meant I had to backtrack about 10kms to find the one and only ticket office. Having gotten my ticket I arrived at a recommended temple a little after sunrise. There was just one other couple there, so it was nice and relaxed, but the view of distant Angkor Wat itself wasn't as impressive as I was expecting.
Next I strolled about the main temple of Angkor Wat itself. Again the whole site was relatively quiet, something I've now noticed all over Cambodia - I even read yesterday in the paper that the tourism board of Cambodia is asking operators to reduce prices to get more tourists. Anyway, the murals were impressive (although most of the most famous one is being renovated at the moment), but all-in-all I wasn't completely blown-away like all the hype seems to imply.
So I spent another few hours riding about and checking out various temples before riding all the way to the town (about 8km) for a shower and another really tasty lunch. While I was eating the daily thunderstorm struck, so I just relaxed and sat it out - within an hour it was hot and sunny again. So I rode back to the site to ride around the major sightseeing route and see more of the famous temples, including my favorite one with huge trees growing up, over and through the ancient stone buildings.
It started to get dark while I still a good bit away from the entrance (the site really is huge, which is one of the most impressive things about it all I suppose), so I had to race back towards the town, not wanting to crash into a big pothole in the dark. As darkness set in the cicadas started, and at first I got quite a fright - I thought it was some weird kind of air-raid siren (they are one of the loudest insects in the world). Then millions of them started their piercing calls, and it was quite amazing really. As it got really dark the whole surrounding jungle seemed to completely come alive with loads of mad-sounding insect calls, it really was amazingly atmospheric.
So back in the town, it was yet another delicious dinner that night (it seems you just can't go wrong with Cambodian food), and a well deserved early night after the serious number of kilometers on the bike over the past 2 days. I was seriously tempted to stay on another day, as I really liked Siem Reap, and I could have just ridden through the Angkor site again at my leisure, but instead I decided to move on down to the capital Phnom Penh.
The first thing I noticed about the town of Siem Reap was the number of fancy hotels all along the main approach road. They all looking the same though, with none of them having anything distinctively characteristic about them (at least from the outside). So after getting settled in the lovely Jasmine Lodge and watching a rerun of the Champions League final I strolled into the town centre. Again here everything seemed really well kept, with the bars, cafe and restaurants all looking very swish. I settled into a nice looking place for a beer (US$0.50) and stayed when I say how good looking the food was that other people were getting. It was a delicious Cambodian soupy dish call Amok, and so my positive first impressions just kept on coming.
Although tourism numbers are well down in Cambodia (probably like everywhere at the moment), the town had a good buzz about it, so I hung around until quite late. Next morning after a big US$1 breakfast I hired a bike and set off to explore the town properly. The idea was just to potter about really, but it turned out the map in my guidebook was pretty crap, and so I soon lost any idea of where I was and ended up surrounded by lovely forest. But having a bike of course, means you're never too far away from anywhere, and I still had a vague idea of where the city was, so I just kept going.
Eventually I come across this mad arched gateway in the middle of the forest. I stop to take a wee video, and then continue on and next thing I know I'm looking at one of the most famous structures of Ankgor Wat - Bayon! It was obvious I'd stumbling onto the Ankgor site via a side entrance, and not having a ticket I was a bit nervous of getting nabbed and fined. But after riding about for a bit it was clear that the ticket inspectors only check for tickets if you actually enter a temple - just riding around the site seemed safe enough (in fact, the whole complex is so large that many locals pass through various sections of it as they go about their daily business).
So I spent the next couple of hours riding around the complex just getting my bearings. It was great, as this meant I could now just get a single day pass (I had planned on getting the 3-day pass, as there is no 2-day pass) the following day, and I'd already know my way around. I did get the worst sunburn of the whole trip though. I had applied suncream of course, but it was just so hot and humid all day, that I should have re-applied it a lot more than I did.
So very early the next morning (5am), I get up and set off for Angkor Wat again, hoping to get there for sunrise. I had to cover up as much as possible after getting burnt the day before, so I looked a bit stupid wearing a rain jacket on such a hot day (to cover my arms), and with my T-shirt pulled up over my mouth and tucked in behind my ears (to protect my burnt neck). But luckily since SARS a few years ago, the swine flu now, and general traffic pollution, a lot of people cycle and ride their motorbikes with face masks, so I actually looked pretty normal really!
Unfortunately, on the way to the site I took a wrong road (again my guidebook map was wrong), and it meant I had to backtrack about 10kms to find the one and only ticket office. Having gotten my ticket I arrived at a recommended temple a little after sunrise. There was just one other couple there, so it was nice and relaxed, but the view of distant Angkor Wat itself wasn't as impressive as I was expecting.
Next I strolled about the main temple of Angkor Wat itself. Again the whole site was relatively quiet, something I've now noticed all over Cambodia - I even read yesterday in the paper that the tourism board of Cambodia is asking operators to reduce prices to get more tourists. Anyway, the murals were impressive (although most of the most famous one is being renovated at the moment), but all-in-all I wasn't completely blown-away like all the hype seems to imply.
So I spent another few hours riding about and checking out various temples before riding all the way to the town (about 8km) for a shower and another really tasty lunch. While I was eating the daily thunderstorm struck, so I just relaxed and sat it out - within an hour it was hot and sunny again. So I rode back to the site to ride around the major sightseeing route and see more of the famous temples, including my favorite one with huge trees growing up, over and through the ancient stone buildings.
It started to get dark while I still a good bit away from the entrance (the site really is huge, which is one of the most impressive things about it all I suppose), so I had to race back towards the town, not wanting to crash into a big pothole in the dark. As darkness set in the cicadas started, and at first I got quite a fright - I thought it was some weird kind of air-raid siren (they are one of the loudest insects in the world). Then millions of them started their piercing calls, and it was quite amazing really. As it got really dark the whole surrounding jungle seemed to completely come alive with loads of mad-sounding insect calls, it really was amazingly atmospheric.
So back in the town, it was yet another delicious dinner that night (it seems you just can't go wrong with Cambodian food), and a well deserved early night after the serious number of kilometers on the bike over the past 2 days. I was seriously tempted to stay on another day, as I really liked Siem Reap, and I could have just ridden through the Angkor site again at my leisure, but instead I decided to move on down to the capital Phnom Penh.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Cambodia, at last.
So at the Thai border town of Aranya Prathet I was immediately accosted by the usual moto-taxi guys, and bargained a price to the border, about 15 minutes drive away.
The guidebook had warned me of plenty of scams at this border, so I wasn't surprised when the driver turns off the main road, with the border clearly visible straight in front of us. He pulls up outside a travel agent guy, who of course comes running out and starts pushing forms in my face telling me I have to apply for the Cambodian visa with him. I knew this was the first of the scams, and so told the driver to take me the border immediately. He's a bit hesitant, looking at the agency guy, but I'm insistent. At this point, I see a Westerner guy walking back from the border (he was clearly going the other direction), so I called him over and asked him what the story was with visas etc. He explains that the agency guy is trying to scam me, and that you can get the visa at the border itself. He tells me that the border guards try and scam more money out of you though, and if you refuse, they'll leave you waiting for hours, but eventually you'll get through.
So anyway, I again insist that the driver take me to the border, and he agrees (obviously I haven't paid him a cent yet), so off we head again. Just before the border he pulls over again, to another agency place! This time I can see the border is just 100m in front of me, so I pay the driver, ignore the touts pushing the same visa forms in my face, telling me that I HAVE to fill them in (I just tell them politely 'Oh well, in that case I'll be back so'), and walk straight over to the border. I saw a group of 4 Westerners filling in the forms there, and was tempted to go over and tell them they were all being scammed (the agency charges 200 Baht to fill in the forms, which are free really), but I just couldn't be bothered - they'll learn eventually I suppose, maybe.
At the Thai border the large queues moved quickly and I got through easily. I knew the problem would be the Cambodian side. Luckily, there wasn't any queue at all at the visa-on-arrival counter, and a nice big helpful sign over the booth stated the visa charge was US$20. A 'helpful' border guard gives me the form, lends me his pen, and smilingly states the charge is 1000Baht (US$30). I, of course, say 'No!', and I point at the sign over his head. He then sheepishly tells me to talk to the guy behind the counter, who also suggests 1000Baht.
I had been expecting all this of course, and had deliberately emptied my wallet of all cash except a single US$20 note. I made a very deliberate show of opening my wallet and giving the guy the 'only money I had', telling him, and showing him, I had no more, and pointing again at the sign. He then sheepishly asks for an extra 100Baht, which was a bit pathetic of him really, but I just repeat that I have no more money, and that the visa is US$20. He backs down pretty quick, smiles, and just takes my passport and money, and tells me to take a seat and wait.
Now I'm kinda worried that I'll be left sitting there for the whole day, but just 2 minutes later I'm called over, and handed my passport with the visa in place and the guards are all smiles and 'Thank you's, and off I go.
So with the border stuff sorted out with no problems, the next issue was getting transport to Siem Reap. As soon as I get through the Cambodian immigration the touts are on top of me trying to push their bus services, but I can see immediately that their prices are outrageous. They offer a free shuttle bus to the 'station', so I hop in that (I'm the only passenger), and the bus drives about 400 meters to a tour agency office. So ignoring their pleas and their very helpful information that they had the only bus going towards Siem Reap, I walk on and start asking shared-taxi drivers for prices to the town of Sisyphon (half-way to Siem Reap).
Naturally the prices start crazy high, so I walk on and ask the next guy, and then the next. You always need to let the next guy know you've just refused the price of the previous guy, and so after a few of these guys I eventually get a fair price (according to the guidebook anyway, you can never be completely sure what a 'fair' price is with local fluctuations). With shared-taxis the driver will generally wait until he has a full taxi, but generally they'll leave within the hour if not full, hoping to pick up extra passengers on the way. It was a very slow day when I was there though, and so with just 3 passengers (instead of the usual 6), and after waiting about 45 minutes, we headed off.
The road from the Thai border to Siem Reap used to be the most notoriously bad road in all of South-East Asia for backpackers (apparently a local airline bribed the Government into not improving the road for many years, so that people would pay the extra to fly). Anyway, the road has finally been upgraded - even my guidebook from late 2008 talks about the road being a nightmare, and I just read that they only finished it less than a month before I got there. So it was a total breeze flying along brand new tarmac to Sisyphon. Once there I transferred to another shared-taxi, waiting about another 30 minutes, and headed off to Siem Reap with just 2 passengers (so I had the whole back seat to myself).
Along the way the taxi driver stopped to grab a bite to eat, which turned out to be a small plastic bag of fried crickets. He kindly offered one, and of course I took it - and I swear it was actually very tasty. I've tried fried maggots before, which only really tasted of the oil they were cooked in, and had a big of crispyness to them, but this cricket was genuinely lovely and had a good bit of 'bite' to it. At another stop later in Cambodia I saw stalls of fried crickets, but also huge fried cockroaches and a massive pile of big, black fried tarantulas. I'm afraid I didn't have the nerve to try either of them, which I kinda regret now - if I had someone with me who was game (certainly not Sarah I'm sure), I'm sure I would have. I didn't take any photos even, which was really stupid - for some reason I assumed I'd see lots of these types of stalls, but in fact I only saw it once more and they didn't have any of the spiders.
Anyway, once at Siem Reap it was the same story with the taxi driver - he left me off a little outside the town, with more moto-taxis pouncing on me when I got out. But I wanted to head to a guesthouse a bit outside town anyway, so I just walked there in about 10 minutes. I got a great big room there for just US$3 a night, with attached bathroom, fan and cable TV (Jasmine Lodge). Then I headed out for a top-notch Cambodian curry in the lovely centre of town, and then a few US$0.50 beers to celebrate finally getting to Siem Reap, on this my 3rd attempt (the 1st attempt was when I was with Hanno 10 years ago, but I got 'stuck' on Koh Chang - the 2nd attempt was from Vietnam with Sarah, but I'd screwed up on the Vietnamese visas and lost a few days sorting them out in Hong Kong, and so skipped Cambodia again).
The guidebook had warned me of plenty of scams at this border, so I wasn't surprised when the driver turns off the main road, with the border clearly visible straight in front of us. He pulls up outside a travel agent guy, who of course comes running out and starts pushing forms in my face telling me I have to apply for the Cambodian visa with him. I knew this was the first of the scams, and so told the driver to take me the border immediately. He's a bit hesitant, looking at the agency guy, but I'm insistent. At this point, I see a Westerner guy walking back from the border (he was clearly going the other direction), so I called him over and asked him what the story was with visas etc. He explains that the agency guy is trying to scam me, and that you can get the visa at the border itself. He tells me that the border guards try and scam more money out of you though, and if you refuse, they'll leave you waiting for hours, but eventually you'll get through.
So anyway, I again insist that the driver take me to the border, and he agrees (obviously I haven't paid him a cent yet), so off we head again. Just before the border he pulls over again, to another agency place! This time I can see the border is just 100m in front of me, so I pay the driver, ignore the touts pushing the same visa forms in my face, telling me that I HAVE to fill them in (I just tell them politely 'Oh well, in that case I'll be back so'), and walk straight over to the border. I saw a group of 4 Westerners filling in the forms there, and was tempted to go over and tell them they were all being scammed (the agency charges 200 Baht to fill in the forms, which are free really), but I just couldn't be bothered - they'll learn eventually I suppose, maybe.
At the Thai border the large queues moved quickly and I got through easily. I knew the problem would be the Cambodian side. Luckily, there wasn't any queue at all at the visa-on-arrival counter, and a nice big helpful sign over the booth stated the visa charge was US$20. A 'helpful' border guard gives me the form, lends me his pen, and smilingly states the charge is 1000Baht (US$30). I, of course, say 'No!', and I point at the sign over his head. He then sheepishly tells me to talk to the guy behind the counter, who also suggests 1000Baht.
I had been expecting all this of course, and had deliberately emptied my wallet of all cash except a single US$20 note. I made a very deliberate show of opening my wallet and giving the guy the 'only money I had', telling him, and showing him, I had no more, and pointing again at the sign. He then sheepishly asks for an extra 100Baht, which was a bit pathetic of him really, but I just repeat that I have no more money, and that the visa is US$20. He backs down pretty quick, smiles, and just takes my passport and money, and tells me to take a seat and wait.
Now I'm kinda worried that I'll be left sitting there for the whole day, but just 2 minutes later I'm called over, and handed my passport with the visa in place and the guards are all smiles and 'Thank you's, and off I go.
So with the border stuff sorted out with no problems, the next issue was getting transport to Siem Reap. As soon as I get through the Cambodian immigration the touts are on top of me trying to push their bus services, but I can see immediately that their prices are outrageous. They offer a free shuttle bus to the 'station', so I hop in that (I'm the only passenger), and the bus drives about 400 meters to a tour agency office. So ignoring their pleas and their very helpful information that they had the only bus going towards Siem Reap, I walk on and start asking shared-taxi drivers for prices to the town of Sisyphon (half-way to Siem Reap).
Naturally the prices start crazy high, so I walk on and ask the next guy, and then the next. You always need to let the next guy know you've just refused the price of the previous guy, and so after a few of these guys I eventually get a fair price (according to the guidebook anyway, you can never be completely sure what a 'fair' price is with local fluctuations). With shared-taxis the driver will generally wait until he has a full taxi, but generally they'll leave within the hour if not full, hoping to pick up extra passengers on the way. It was a very slow day when I was there though, and so with just 3 passengers (instead of the usual 6), and after waiting about 45 minutes, we headed off.
The road from the Thai border to Siem Reap used to be the most notoriously bad road in all of South-East Asia for backpackers (apparently a local airline bribed the Government into not improving the road for many years, so that people would pay the extra to fly). Anyway, the road has finally been upgraded - even my guidebook from late 2008 talks about the road being a nightmare, and I just read that they only finished it less than a month before I got there. So it was a total breeze flying along brand new tarmac to Sisyphon. Once there I transferred to another shared-taxi, waiting about another 30 minutes, and headed off to Siem Reap with just 2 passengers (so I had the whole back seat to myself).
Along the way the taxi driver stopped to grab a bite to eat, which turned out to be a small plastic bag of fried crickets. He kindly offered one, and of course I took it - and I swear it was actually very tasty. I've tried fried maggots before, which only really tasted of the oil they were cooked in, and had a big of crispyness to them, but this cricket was genuinely lovely and had a good bit of 'bite' to it. At another stop later in Cambodia I saw stalls of fried crickets, but also huge fried cockroaches and a massive pile of big, black fried tarantulas. I'm afraid I didn't have the nerve to try either of them, which I kinda regret now - if I had someone with me who was game (certainly not Sarah I'm sure), I'm sure I would have. I didn't take any photos even, which was really stupid - for some reason I assumed I'd see lots of these types of stalls, but in fact I only saw it once more and they didn't have any of the spiders.
Anyway, once at Siem Reap it was the same story with the taxi driver - he left me off a little outside the town, with more moto-taxis pouncing on me when I got out. But I wanted to head to a guesthouse a bit outside town anyway, so I just walked there in about 10 minutes. I got a great big room there for just US$3 a night, with attached bathroom, fan and cable TV (Jasmine Lodge). Then I headed out for a top-notch Cambodian curry in the lovely centre of town, and then a few US$0.50 beers to celebrate finally getting to Siem Reap, on this my 3rd attempt (the 1st attempt was when I was with Hanno 10 years ago, but I got 'stuck' on Koh Chang - the 2nd attempt was from Vietnam with Sarah, but I'd screwed up on the Vietnamese visas and lost a few days sorting them out in Hong Kong, and so skipped Cambodia again).
Back in Bangkok
Our first day back in Bangkok we just relaxed in the Khao San Road area, not doing very much. The following day Sarah just relaxed there again, but I fancied getting out and exploring a bit. I also wanted to check out the Government buses to the Cambodian border (the tourist buses from Khao San Road are all notorious rip-off merchants).
So I hopped on a local bus to the SkyTrain, got a train to Mo Chit and started walking towards the bus station. It all looked very straightforward on the map, but turned out to be a major hike - I really shouldn't have even tried it. But of course, once I started I wasn't going to quit, and after wandering around for ages, I eventually arrived at the bus station (and one big consolation was that I spotted a huge, fat 6-foot long snake right in front of me as I strolled though the park - and this was right beside people's family homes). So I got the information about buses to the border, and then strolled back to the SkyTrain, but this time took the metro to Sukhumvit (the subway is new, and very like the one in Hong Kong, all extremely modern, clean, slick and air-conditioned).
So I strolled about Sukhumvit, checking out Cheap Charlies, the historic Atlanta Hotel, and the famous Cabbages and Condoms restaurant. Had to wait nearly 30 minutes for a bus back to Sarah, so when I got back we just popped outside to the street stalls for a quick dinner (eaten under tarps as torential rain came down, but only briefly of course). Next morning we got up early and both got taxi's to different bus stations - I was heading to Cambodia while Sarah headed to Koh Chang.
The Cambodian visa takes up a full passport page, and Sarah's passport is almost completely full, with no blank pages at all. I had tried 5 or 6 times to get an online visa for her, but every time the website was down, or would report an error during the application process. This is the third time I've tried to get to Cambodia, so we decided that I'd just head there on my own (my passport has plenty of space), while Sarah would head to Koh Chang and wait for me to catch up with her there.
So I got to my bus station at 6:29am, and as I get to the counter the girl asks if I want a seat on the 6:30am bus. I ask her if I have time, and she says 'Sure!', and so I get the ticket, run around the corner and hop on the bus. Literally 2 minutes later it's pulling out and off I go towards the Cambodian border in cheap, air-conditioned and rip-off-free comfort.
The Cambodian visa takes up a full passport page, and Sarah's passport is almost completely full, with no blank pages at all. I had tried 5 or 6 times to get an online visa for her, but every time the website was down, or would report an error during the application process. This is the third time I've tried to get to Cambodia, so we decided that I'd just head there on my own (my passport has plenty of space), while Sarah would head to Koh Chang and wait for me to catch up with her there.
So I got to my bus station at 6:29am, and as I get to the counter the girl asks if I want a seat on the 6:30am bus. I ask her if I have time, and she says 'Sure!', and so I get the ticket, run around the corner and hop on the bus. Literally 2 minutes later it's pulling out and off I go towards the Cambodian border in cheap, air-conditioned and rip-off-free comfort.
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