Sweating up a storm - 24/12/2008

Can you notice anything strange for lunch?

Sara and Josh - full steam ahead

The Western Boray

In contrast to my usual Christmas eves this one was spent in the aggressive sun on a bike riding 40kms around a water catchment
We headed out that night for holiday dinner with the PEPY crew loaded with our eco friendly presents. Dinner was a short affair for me as I wanted to hit the bed early in preparation for the first day of long distance cycling ahead

On ya bike - 23/12/2008 - 40kms

Breakfast - fried rice and banana smoothie a much needed protein and calorie increase from the white bread, jam and fruit salad of the day before.

Yeah, so the time had finally come to be issued our trusty steads that would be our mode of transport for the next three weeks and everyone was excited! Once we arrived at the PEPY house to pick up our gear the girls in the group were a little side tracked by the colorful display of hipsters which are fabric wrap around money belts! Needless to say I purchased one :)

This was the first time in about two years that I had been on a mountain bike and it took some getting use to but once I had my rhythm I realized that I missed the freedom and adrenalin associated with riding a mountain bike and how much you can give it relative to a road bike- we were trail riding for most of the day and I was pumped. Unfortunately due to the lack of breakfast that most people had had the stop at Preah Khan was not that appreciated due to the hunger pains starting to kick in. However, this was one of my favorite temples with such intricate halls and rooms.

We had a well needed and deserved lunch, I opted out of the afternoon ride which was another 40kms due to the fact that I hadn't been on a bike for about 8 weeks and not on a mountain bike for 2 years plus it was another 12kms back to Siem Reap.

Internet is slow and very frustrating hence the lack of blogging going on at the moment - never fear though I am taking notes and will be sure to update once I find a connecting that isn't going to make me want to pull my hair out :)

Jen, Sara and I headed out for a FANTASTIC vegetarian dinner with a real Indian man had a mango lassi and was well satisfied afterward when we headed to the pub for some drinks and pool action.

It is sad to see tourists with indecent abusive shirts in countries where foreigners actions are taken as a precedent.

Still not getting a good nights sleep - and you all know what happens to me with no sleep!!!!

Ta Prohm - 22/12/2008

Angkor Thom - Bayon - 22/12/2008

Angkor Wat - 22/12/2008

We started our majestic tour of the temples of Angkor at the most famous and largest religious structure on the world Angkor Wat, and it does not disappoint!

The first day of the PEPYride - 22/12/2008

The Kids from the PEPYride school traveled the 60kms from the school to the temples of Angkor. Although entrance is free for Cambodians none of the 40 or so children had seen the temples that are part of their national pride and indeed take pride of place on Cambodias flag.

This is a great initiative by PEPY in that the kids can only go to the temples once they reach 4th grade - however this does in no way determine their age as kids start school at different ages especially if they are the oldest in their family because it is difficult to get to one of the few schools in the rural areas. If the kids continue onto 6th grade and graduate from primary school they receive a bicycle from PEPY so that they can get to junior high school which is a long way from their homes. PEPY is teaching the kids Khmer literacy and has established a library - and I am so glad to see children learning to be literate in their own language before English. It was also very exciting to see what the children's hopes for the future were, the two girls that were my buddies wanted to be a doctor and a painter.

We met with the kids and they taught us to count to ten in Khmer which is incredibly difficult but very entertaining not only for myself but also for the kids. The children had been learning English for only two months but were able to communicate about their familys, their favourite subjects and understood me when I talked about my family.

Cambodian children smile with their whole face and their heart and they melt your own heart each time they flash their teeth.

This is going to be a wonderful adventure :)

Siem Reap 20/12/2008

A garbage blockage to stop the rubbish flowing into the tourist area of Siem Reap

Sara and I having our feet eaten by fish at the night market in Siem Reap

Night market Siem Reap

Flying into Siem Reap is stunning! Cambodia has such a different feel to it than Viet Nam. There is no hustle and bustle (apart from getting off the plane - when as soon as the wheels hit the ground people are up and taking things out of the overhead lockers..) It was interesting as although I flew Vietnam Airways everything was in English and we had a very French lunch of cold meats - strange but none the less good. Walking into the airport is great - one person takes your passport, visa application and photos and then your passport travels along a line of abut 10 people until the visa process is complete at the other end :) My tuk tuk driver was there as i exited the building with my name on a sign - this is the first time in my life where I have had a name on a sign :) Wind in my hair, the sun setting in the most beautiful array of colours I liked this place already.
As I arrived at the hotel Sara, who I had been emailing previously was there and we arranged to meet later that night for dinner. Had great Khmer food before heading to the night market. Although it is a very touristy market is is lots of fun with people everywhere. We heard a lot of giggling in the distance so we wandered over to check it out - imagine a large foot bath elevated with people on every side having their dead skin on their feet eaten by the fish! We had to try it so jumped on in - it was one of the strangest and most ticklish experience I have had in a while and you are guaranteed to laugh. We spent about 20 minutes in there recruiting people who were walking pass - they had to try this!
Siem Reap is very tourist focused and has very large boulevards and pavements and shop fronts and all brand new - very different from anywhere in Viet Nam and indeed anywhere in Cambodia.
The next day we met up with other members of our group Jen and Jess and spent the day relaxing, drinking coffee and of course giving blood. My brother had told me that I must go out to the hospital and give blood - it was a very emotional experience. They hospital stores were out of blood group O and when the nurse discovered that both Sara and I are O positive the universal donor the joy on her face made it all the worth while.!

Hanoi 12/12/08

More Sapa 16/17/18 Dec 2008

Sapa - 16/17/18 Dec 2008

Ok, so now that I have regained feeling in my fingers and have arrived at my hostel at 6.30 in the morning I thought no better time to fill in the blanks in my blog. Caught the night train up to SaPa from Hanoi and spent 3 days 2 nights up there before catching the night train back again. Each time I get on a night train my cabin is full of Vietnamese men just chating, it is a little off putting entering a cabin full of men. However, when I enter they soon disapate. I was really fortunate with the weather up in SaPa as the previous couple of days before my arrive had been terrible, and at an elevation of 1600m there is not a lot to do when the weather packs in. From the moment you arrive in Sapa you are befriended by several almost a gaggle of local minority people (Black H'mong) whose line of questioning follows this sequence...

Whats you name?

Where are you from?

How old are you?

You married?

You have boyfriend?

Why not? Whats wrong with you?

They are lovely people who want to learn about your life and tell you about theirs. The girls I spoke to went to school until the age of 16 and then were marrying age - the local boys selected them and then it was time form children. It is not uncommon to meet young girls of around 24 with 4 children. I can see why they think something is wrong with me if i have managed to make it this far without children!!! They have mastered the fine art of selling you something... They follow you wherever you are going just talking to you and will seize any opportunity to offer there hand made products. Their hands are blue from the dye used on the garments and I know the money goes directly to them so I must say that I purchased a few things that will now need to be sent home. However, if you do not want to buy anything they are polite, the key is not to say later or I will think about it as they will find you.

A lady from the Red Dao tribe

Making incense sticks


The cultivated rice terraces - stunning and such a work of hard as well as a tribute to the hard labour gone into carving these into the landscape.

Me being a poser

There are several distinct tribes in Sapa each with their own dialect and costume, this got me confused as they live so close together surely they would have more things in common. The only explanation I have would be that each group moved to this area seperatly with an already strong identity and hence has been preserved.

Halong Bay -13/14/15 Dec 08

Halong Bay is a majestic place and brings well needed piece and quiet from the roads as the junk crusies through limestome karst formation. It does worry me however how sustainable the current level of tourism is. There are a lot of boats out on the water and the Halong city port is rammed with people constantly - the water is not what is use to be. I really hope they can keep the beauty of this place for many generations to come.

The tour that I went on was a great group of people which made up for the lack of itinery and fullfilment of what was sold as part of the tour. It is times like this when you dont get what you paid for that you just have to enjoy what you got. Leave the bad energy behind and make the most of it and we all had a great time. I spent one night on the junk and the other in a hotel on Cat Ba island.

These kids came and sat next to me while I was watching the sunset over Cat Ba Island in Halong Bay and wanted me to take photos of them. I was playing with the settings and they were so excited when they were captured in black and white. They were just so lovely just wanted to hang out.

Sunset over Halong Bay. The sun never makes it to the horizon it sets at about this height as it dissapears into the mist. The first night I spent on Halong Bay I was in a kayak when the sun went down it was just magical.

Halong bay during the day. I have so many photos from this trip that i was hard to decide what to put online. I hope these capture it :)