Siem Reap to Phnom Penh : By Bus

The drivers here seem to be a little more reckless than in other Asian countries I've been to. I've seen about five near road accidents and one actual one since arriving in Cambodia.

On the way to the bus, our tuk tuk was travelling too closely behind the car in front so of course when the car braked suddenly, so did he. We didn't hit the car but the scooter buckled and the brakes stopped working. After sitting in the middle of the main road for a while, Bighead jumped out and helped push the tuk tuk to the side of the road. We ended up having to unload and jump in another tuk tuk to get to the bus on time, leaving the poor guy to sort it out himself.

The Mekong 'limousine' bus was much better than Angkor Express. Cleaner and more comfortable, although I believe each bus differs slightly so it's luck of the draw. The air con was working well and good suspension made the bumpy road bearable. Every so often the bus would bounce around so much that it would start to make this loud grinding noise above the back wheels. It would also shudder violently for short periods. I managed to read my book through all of this so I was happy enough.

About 40 minutes out of Phnom Penh the poor old bus finally gave out and chugged dramatically to a halt. I think the driver thought that if he just gunned it, he might be able to make it. Alas, we all tumbled out into the stinking hot afternoon and watched as the driver disappeared under the bus, to later emerge defeated and covered in grease.
The whole village (or at least it seemed) came out to watch. A lot of the local passengers began making calls for rescue. There was a scramble for luggage as others decided to flag down shared minibuses. It was all quite exciting for the first five minutes. After a while, we were told that another bus would arrive in 20 minutes so we decided to wait it out. It was hot and sticky by the road side, it was getting dark and the mozzies were arriving in full force. The view of the Mekong river across the road with locals gathering at its edge sure was something special though.
After about an hour, the bus that had supposedly had difficulty finding us, finally arrived (there's only one road so I'm not sure how this happened). As we climbed aboard we were greeted with that indescribable full body wave of euphoria that can only be felt the moment you pass from extreme humidity into a glorious, icy cool air conditioned space. Aaaaaah, the relief.

You'll know exactly the feeling (and moment) I'm talking about if you've ever been in tropical heat and had the luxury of air conditioning. It's best if you've been in the heat for too long when every molecule within, forces you towards a safe place. A mall or shop, any place will do so long as it has an air conditioning unit that's right above the door. As it pelts out its constant stream of loveliness and you walk your overheating body through it, it envelops you. Wraps you up in happiness until you feel you might float away. That's what I'm talking about. That moment (and feeling) has to be one of the most pleasurable, possibly even making all that hot sticky heat worth while!

So it wasn't the luckiest of days... or was it?

Siem Reap

Siem Reap is a cool little town, the old market is quaint and easily walkable outside of the mid day heat. We ended up spending a large chunk of the first day trying to find a mid range hotel with a decentwifi connection (one that would load a page in less than four minutes). No luck.

Some of the roads were a little bouncy...

We're not really in to traipsing around temples all day (let alone in extreme temperatures) so we planned to only spend a couple of hours visiting Angkor Wat and Ta Phrom. At 5:30am the crowds were already beginning to thicken and the touts were closing in. I was asked if I wanted tea, coffee or breakfast about 10 times in 10 minutes. Unfortunately the sunrise was a bit of afizzer so after wondering around for a bit we headed to Ta Phrom.

Somewhere between Angkor Wat and Ta Phrom I lost the park entry tickets. I think someone pinched them out of my back pocket, perhaps mistaking them for money. Who knows but we were still able to drive around the area, which we enjoyed just as much as being able to walk around Angkor Wat.

We tried to get into TaPhrom because it was the temple I wanted to see the most but they weren't having it. In hindsight, I reckon the best way to see the sites would be in a helicopter.

In the Old Market area of Siem Reap we found this funky vegetarian restaurant which we were quite excited about. The space was well furnished and it had some really nice finishing touches;
such as a funky little pepper grinder boxy thing, hand crafted cutlery and icy cold towels.

The kebabs were tasty and fresh, especially with the pepper sauce (although a tad over priced).
Bighead's green mango salad was a bit of a let down but the rest of the menu sounded like it would be worth exploring.

Phnom Penh to Siem Reap : By Bus

So it seems to me that just about the whole of Cambodia is submerged in water. The view from the bus was mainly one whopping great big flat rice paddy...

interrupted by stilt houses...

sugar palms...
haystacks...

small villages with road side stalls...and temples.

The bus itself, was not all I had hoped it to be but by all means it was definitely not the worse ride I've ever been on. We were lucky to have to whole back seat to ourselves, even if it meant the seats coming off every time we went over a pot hole! Next time we'll remember to take one of the 'limousine' buses.

It was cool to see the locals going about their daily lives, the animals roaming in the paddies and the children cooling off in the ponds as the day came to an end. I also enjoyed watching the hustle and bustle of buyers and sellers at the road side market where we stopped for snacks.

Holy shit what a dusty bastard!

Cambodian customs was exciting! A hodge podge of baffling procedures, which thankfully we came out of with visa in hand and money in pocket (most of). We were greeted outside by a familiar face (MJ) holding a 'Bighead and Samesame' sign. Love your work.

It truly is a luxury to arrive in a strange country and be greeted by someone you know, who's in the know (if ya know what I mean). I don't think we've had the pleasure before, so leaving the airport was a 'haggle free' breeze this time round.

Phnom Penh has a real edge to it. It's energetic, dirty, dusty, smelly, loud and sure has a shit load of scooters. I'm diggin it. We're both quite excited about the range of different food available and the architecture is really cool too, a mish mash of different styles.
MJ took us in for the night and after a delicious home cooked meal (akun), we popped out for a walk, stopping at a local bar for a beer. Wow, a bit of a culture shock for old Samesame I'm tellin ya. They sure have a lot of staff working in the bars and they're really friendly.

We zipped all over town this morning looking for a room, eventually finding one just around the corner from MJ's. Our room overlooks the point where the three rivers merge (Sap, Mekong, and Bassac). They're massive and flow really quickly. I like standing on the balcony and taking in the view below.

Seeing the locals hanging out by the river and children playing in the water.Wondering if the load on this boat is regulation??

The Most Beautiful Thing

We ended up with a bit of a raw deal regarding the boat journey to Koh Phi Phi. When I booked the tickets, I’d asked the dude how long the trip would take. He paused, just for a millisecond, before telling me it would take one hour. So I wasn’t particularly surprised when the trip ended up taking two, as his ever-so-tiny pause had sewn a seed of doubt in my mind as to whether he was being completely honest with me. However, that wouldn’t have been so bad if the boat had been in the least bit comfortable. No air-conditioning or cushioned seats to be seen! Aren’t we flashpackers now? How could this happen? Check out the life jackets… Anyway, I couldn’t whinge because we were on our way to one of the most beautiful islands ever.

It’s difficult to explain how gorgeous the island is. I can’t even really show you with pictures (although I’ll try) as they just don't do it justice. It certainly is one of those places that needs to be visited in person in order to fully appreciate its natural beauty.

Seeing the sheer size of the surrounding mountains and the way they shoot straight up into the sky from the ocean is a sight that will remain with me forever. When you combine an awe inspiring view like that with beaches lined by jungle, stunning crystal clear bays, great diving and very few vehicles, I reckon it could just about be called paradise (if you shut out the extremely pushy touts, one million speed boats, and over-the-top resorts).
After the ferry trip from hell (I’m exaggerating, but it was pretty bad), being harassed by touts the moment we set foot on the creaky old jetty, and nearly causing an all out brawl between them and our hotel porters (it’s complicated), we finally made it safely to our room. Later that night at Papaya Restaurant (good value tasty food), I couldn't help but photograph this clever little guy. He knows where it's at!On Saturday, we took a two dive trip with Hippo Divers. We had an awesome day and two really enjoyable dives. The scenery all around us was stunning. Hippo Divers provided a great service with yummy food and friendly, professional staff. The visibility on the first dive was better than the second, but we were still lucky enough to see loads of sort after species, including a reasonable sized shark, several turtles, two octopus lovers (they were holding tentacles), sea snakes, scorpion fish and loads of others that I won’t bore you with. It was very cool and some of the best diving we’ve had on the trip so far.

Dive Site #1 - Bida Nok

Dive Site #2 - Palong West

Phi Phi Leh

While all the delightful action packed travel was taking place, other decisions were being made. We're now in Krabi Town, on our way to Bangkok. We’d always planned to include Cambodia in our travels and have decided that now is as good a time as any. Might as well do it before ‘settling down’ in Phuket. Do they have mango sticky rice in Cambo?

So it was a bit of a whirl wind tour to Phi Phi this time round but we've promised to go back soon. I’m still shocked that I was able to leave such a beautiful place.

The time has come

Bighead and I found a massive mall in Patong (wasn't hard). It has a cinema (always handy). Back in NZ I used to despise malls. Over the years they've been seeping into Wellington City, crushing the funky independently owned shops to make way for horrendous chain stores and clinical looking food courts. But here, I seem to have taken a bit of a shining to them. I think it's mainly because it's a bit of a step back into western life. They feel comfortable (go the air con!) and familiar. The other cool thing about the malls here is that the food courts actually dish up some pretty tasty, well priced food.

So here we were in this mall the other day and we walk past a bag shop. Now Bighead and I had recently been contemplating the possibility of trading in the old back packs for some cases on wheels. It's a big step to make, does it mean we have officially become flashpackers instead of backpackers? Somehow, I think that happened a while ago but I think changing our luggage truly seals the deal.

We spent some time umming and arring over different cases and in the end bought one small hard case for Bighead and his office, and then one very large case for me, the dive gear and everything else. It must be the biggest case ever made by man I'm telling ya!

What cracked me up was the journey home.

There we were, driving on the scooter, in the rain, splashing through puddles of who's knows what (let me just say that the drainage system here receives a regular flushing out), with the largest case ever made by man nestled awkwardly between us, me hanging on for dear life with my feet tucked in way up the front and Bighead perched right on the front tip of the seat, navigating the winding streets from Patong to Kata. It was hilarious! We must have looked hilarious!

So now I have cool suitcase and Bighead's mobile office is looking all the more professional. I'm a bit of a packing nazi so I must admit, I'm probably more excited than your average punter but check it out...See how nicely that dive gear packs in there? No more squashed dive gear, no more lugging our packs around in the obscene heat, no more wrestling with my pack to get the zip done up, and no more hours on end of using every possible packing skill I have to make everything fit!

Anyone wanna buy a backpack?

So far so good!

It was so beautiful flying in to Phuket, which made me realise I'd never arrived this way before. The sun was just beginning to set and a scattering of limestone cliffs and lush green mountains could be seen protruding from the ocean with great gusto. Stunning. Hopefully we can visit this area sometime to see it up close.

We stayed in Phuket Town for the first night, waking early the next morning to explore the island and work out what's what and who's where. Our eyes were wide and sparkling with excitement as we headed south on the scoot around the coastal road. We wanted to stop every time we saw a 'house for rent' advertisement (which would mean every 5 minutes so we had to restrain ourselves somewhat!). We cruised through Chalong, Rawai, Kata, Karon, and finally Patong before heading back into town.

It was clear we'd been on the bike far too long when we began to snip at each other in our attempts to navigate the poorly signposted streets of Phuket Town. Trying to find our way back to the hotel under the screaming sun, with our tummies rumbling, was not the way to do it! (Phuket is so much bigger than Koh Phangan!). We made it with just enough time to pack up and check out.

The last time we came to Phuket we literally went straight to Patong Beach and stayed one night before jumping on a live aboard dive boat for three days to the Similian Islands (best diving experience either of us have had by the way!). We really hadn't seen Phuket at all so it's been really cool to see more of the island.

I'm pleased to announce that this is the one.

Kata had captured my soul from the moment I saw it. With its gorgeous white sand beach surrounded by hill top vistas, coconut groves, banana trees, and a funky wee town (how could it not have?). In the pic below the first two bays you see are Kata, then Karon, and Patong is over the next hill.

We've found a cool place to stay in Kata for the mean time and with low season prices it's a great deal. The Sugar Palm (I keep calling it sugar plum by accident, I just can't help it) has double rooms for 800 baht a night (approx. NZ$35) and there's high speed wireless internet (like actual high speed not same same high speed). So we're both chuffed and here I am merrily blogging into the wee hours of the evening.

Oh and the Phuket Vegetarian Festival has started so we have our white clothes ready to roll!

A Cut Above

So I guess you may have been thinking that I'd disappeared off the face of the earth. No blogging for 3 days! Heaven forbid, I think I've even experienced a teeny bit of withdrawal.

There is no doubt that Koh Phangan is a cut above Koh Samui in its beauty. The island is littered with coconut groves, granite boulders, breathtaking crystal clear bays, fine white sandy beaches, stunning mountain vistas, laid back people, and local reefs that offer some outstanding snorkeling. Koh Ma (pictured below) is teaming with different species of fish that can often been seen in large schools. We're getting into a bit of a routine with the old early morning snorkel. It's got to be one of the best ways to stay fit!

Can we live here? Possibly. Thongsala is the main town and seems to have everything we might need. If we'd like to go to a cinema, then we could skip across to Samui, no problem (12 mins via speedboat! Hey, I could even commute to work this way! How cool would that be?!).

We spent a couple of nights in Haad Rin (home of full moon party). The party was a few days prior to our arrival so we practically had the whole place to ourselves as the party is what most people come for. The vibe there is pretty cool and there are lots of cheap eateries with a range of food on offer (which is good for us!). There's even a place called 'Same Same Burger Bar'. Most of my dear friends in Welli will know that I was a wee bit crazy about Brooklyn Fish Supplies cheeseburgers, so seeing this spot had me somewhat excited. I miss my cheeseburgers (but not my thighs!).

There's quite a few more shops and roads in Haad Rin than there were last time and the beach is as stunning as its always been (bar the 2 zillion cigarette butts and bucket of joy straws strewn all over the sand).

It's amazing how quick and easy it is to get about on the island. They have a new highway that shoots straight up the middle, taking only 15 mins on the scoot from Chaloklum in the north to Thongsala in the south. That means we can pretty much live anywhere on the west coast and still be nice and close to town. The beaches on the west coast are sublime, Haad Yao being our favourite (which is where we are now).The accommodation here is the best value we've found. Bay View Resort has low season rooms for 900 Baht (NZ$40) a night with sliding glass doors onto a large patio overlooking one of the most stunning bays on the island, a gorgeous swimming pool (also overlooking the bay), and it's only a hop, skip and a jump to the beach.

Here are some other spots we've had the privilege of staying as we've fluttered from bay to bay (some not all that cheap!).

The internet here is not as fast as Samui but Bighead has managed to forgive the slow connections when working from his mobile office.
Stayed tuned for night market and sticky rice with mango (O.M.G!)