Photos

Angkor Thom (Cambodia)

Angkor Wat (Cambodia)

One last temple picture (I took over 100)

Mike and I geting our feet nibbled in a night market in Siem Reap

Ban Lung (Cambodia)

Ban Lung- again.

Don Det (4000 Islands, Laos)

Mike's Knee after the bike crash

 

Mekong River, Luang Prabang, Laos

Snoozing bear

Waterfalls in Luang Prabang

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lousy Laos!

Oh dear oh dear oh dear!!! How I hate Laos. It has been nothing but trouble- and after certain escapades in Cambodia, it is the last thing I needed!
After Don Det we got the bus to a place called Pakse- absolutely nothing there for a tourist really, it is just a stop off town when you're travelling the length of the country. We arrived at our filthy disgusting ant infested room and spent the night. The next day (because the hotel couldn't arrange us further transport due to them being lazy and taking too much time to do anything, allowing us not being able to get a bus for the next day) we flew to the capital, Vientiane, for 4 nights. This was just as dull. the only thing to do really is drink drink drink. I'm suprised everyone isn't an alcoholic in Laos. However, during our 'I'd rather watch paint dry' stay, we met a lovely couple called Diana and Jean. We were so happy to meet them and they are loads of fun. We met up with them again further up the country and of course, we got drunk. After or four nights were up we got the sleeper train to Luang Prabang which caused a lot of drama. Night buses in Asia are notoriously dangerous where the is 1 driver for 12 hour journeys and he stays awake by driving fast and taking cocaine. There are always accidents and crashes and so naturally, I didn't want to make this journey. Especially when other travellers have told me they were scared for their lives on this particular journey as it passes up through mountains with steep drops and the drivers overtake on blind corners and in general just drive too fast- when they asked the driver to slow down he said no as he would fall asleep. Comforting thought i'm sure. Plus I was nervous after our experience in Cambodia, crashing on the night bus. However, Mike was determined and I didn't voice my fears enough. We arrived in one piece to be greeted by the news that just last week a mini-van crashed and killed 7 people on this journey.
We arrived in one piece and headed too our hostel. I was shattered as I didn't sleep at all on the bus of death and spent most of my time peering out of the curtain when I dared as to make sure the driver wasn't too close to the mountain path edge. We arrived at the 24 hour check in hostel, after I had told them we would arrive at 7am and they took my money, to be told they didn't have a room. "WHY?!!!" I demanded. I obviously went off one one. They responded that they wouldn't have a room till 12 and at this news I took the receptionist's laptop off her, went on booking.com, called a nice hotel to make sure if I booked to stay there they would let me check in now, and then grabbed a tuk-tuk and left. It is the only way people will learn. The hotel we finally arrived at was lovely, right on the banks of the Mekong. I slept the majority of that day.
Luang prabang is my favourite place in Laos, despite the bus journey to get there. If you ever go I urge you to fly- it isn't worth risking our safety and I promise you that they crash all the time! I only found out they had an  airport once I arrived! Needless to say we flew back to the capital (Ventiane), no bus! Anyway, Luang Prabang is beautiful but very laid back- too laid back. however something wonderful happened. Mike and I were having a spot of lunch on the riverside and the next thing we know, our friend who we met in Siem Reap (Cambodia) called Gabriel walked over to us and placed our camera charger and plug adaptor on the table! It was such a suprise to see him, but even more suprising he had been carrying our things around with him, knowing we were going to Laos, in hope that he would see us and be able to return our things to us that we left behind. What a huge act of kindness! I was speechless. We weren't friends on facebook at this point as (evidently) we had to leave in a hurry in the morning and didn't get a chance to explain details. That night we took him out to dinner as a thank you. He is such a kind hearted guy. In Luang Prabang we also visited some famous waterfalls, and they were beautiful! Such clear water! Other than that we met up with Diana and Jean for drinks, had too much but had such a funny time. We are hoping to see them and Gabriel again in Thailand.
After our 3 nights in Luang Prabang we flew back to Vientiane. This is where things go bad! So stressfull!
So we get to our hotel in Vientiane called iHouse Hotel (named and shamed) and head up to our room. I grabbed a shower and the bedroom floor flooded, soaking my big bag and some of my clothes. Annoying. We chilled for the night. The next day we head out for dinner and a couple of drinks and ended up chatting to an Indian guy called Harri who was great, he and his wife adopt kids with HIV and pay for their medicine. He is an IT Consultant. We also got chatting to a great Canadian couple called Su and Jason. They were great fun. We ended up drinking more and went to the only club. Mike got too drunk and we had to go home but we were all ready to leave anyway. We got back to our hotel and Mike slipped on the floor that was still wet and smacked his head on the headboard. Sodding crappy hotel. the next thing I see is Mike's eyes pratically rolling into the back of his head- it was a fare whack, and even though he was awake, the knock had done some damage and I think he was concussed, nevermind his face COVERED in blood. I was so scared. He was out of it from the accident, covered in blood, I was covered in blood, the bed was covered and it was clear he was going to need hospital. I ran down the stairs and tried to tell the guy on reception to get an ambulance or tuk tuk or something! He was a moron. So I told him our room number and told him to go and look after Mike whilst I ran around the empty streets in my Pjs calling for help. Finally a tuk tuk came by already occupied but the ladyboy (passenger) sensed I needed help and stopped it. She and the tuk tuk driver ran up the stairs with me and the receptionist (he didn't go and look after Mike) to help me support him down the stairs. Off we went to hospital. I say hospital but it was more like a cleaner version of a warehouse with some beds. I held Mike's hand the whole time and made him stay awake as I thought he was concussed (Doctor friends I hope I did the right thing) and I kept talking him through fun plans to distract him as well as letting him know wat was going on around him, we were nearly done with the stitches etc. I think it is years of accidents/trauma etc and having my mum on hand each time that has helped me learn how to act, keep calm and trust your instinct in these situations.
 They wanted him to stay in over night and would let me stay by his side but he absolutely refused so once I got back to the hotel I stayed awake the majority of the night making sure he was ok (was still worried about the concussion thing etc) and when I did drop off I kept waking up to check on him.
However, whilst I was in the hospital with him the tuk-tuk driver went back to our hotel and said we asked him to get a top for Mike. Bullshit. As if we would ask a stranger to do that and as if at that moment in time our main concern was wether Mike needed a top or not. The hotel staff let him into our room where he helped himself to Mike's wallet (2nd time it has been stolen now) and Mike's £200 i-Pod. Then the receptionist turns up to the hospital with the shirt. So the stories he has given us contradict each other and don't add up which makes me think the staff were in on it. What a disgusting situation! We have been arguing this with the hotel and I have NO energy left- we went to the tourism police who said come back tomorrow. The manager of the hotel was meant to meet us at 12- is now meeting us at 4 instead. Nothing is getting sorted. I want them to pay for their mistakes- not likely. Fucking Asia! Who steals from somebody when they are in hospital?! Who lets a stranger into a hotel room?! Just ridiculous. I could go into all the facts but I have to in about 10 mins to the manager and having a chest infection whilst trying to sort all this out is just sapping the life out of me! On top of all this, the hotel have dared to tell booking.com we were a no show which mans we have been charged the total amount of our stay on my card, even though we paid upon arrival and we are here, and we have had the worst time here, and have been robbed here etc. I hate iHouse Hotel in Vientiane. Just wait till all the reviews on various sites I leave. So next step- fight about the theft- fight to get the money back that has been charged out of my account AGAIN, demand a refund for our stay etc etc. I might as well smash a brick into my face repeatedly and attempt a conversion about quantum physics with Stephen Hawking instead, I may have more luck!
Tomorrow we leave for Thailand for 3 weeks and I can't wait! I really can't wait to leave here.
The best things about Laos:
Jean and Diana
Su and Jason
Meeting up with Gabriel
A couple of food dishes
1 waterfall
Getting the hell out of it!
 

Oh Country Roads, Take Me Home!

We got up at 8am to head off to the famous temples of Siem Reap. What an experience! We visited so many and still didn't scratch the surface! For those of you who know me, don't die of shock, but....I walked around these temples in the BLAZING HOT sun for about 7 hours, with sweat literally dripping off me in every direction. Attractive. Everybody raves about Angkor Wat, the real treasure in my opinion is Angkor Thom. You can decide for yourselves at the bottom of the blog post. I can't remember the names for them all so i'll just label Wat and Thom. It was a great experience, however the amount of beggar children at the ront and back of each temple gets a little over bearing, it is all a con. If you really want to help people go through a trusted organisation to an orphanage or something, even a lot of those are scams so be really careful and do your research. I just block it out and after I have said no/tried to out walk them they know not to bother me again. This is when they all flock around Mike, much to my amusement! He doesn't give in but I don't think he is as abrupt as me. On some occassions he even tries to get people back onto my case by exclaiming 'she is the one in charge of the purse strings', and then they go away. Again, I know I sound hash but I promise you it is all a con and these children should be in school. It is free to go until a certain age where they have to pay for exams but it is the young children adults use for the begging purpose. I do feel so sorry for them but by buying a $1 fridge magnet, you're not actually helping them.
After our long day at the temples we headed to the night market. It was already quite late when we got there and so we settled for having that treatment where the fish nibble your feet (Mike's choice not mine- he loved it) followed by a pedicure and 1 hour foot massage (my choice) all for $10 for both of us. Whilst sat getting our feet done in the dingy night market, a group of people came and started playing traditional music whilst young adults came in traditional clothing and did traditional dances, it was a really nice experience.
The next day we went walkig round the central market and the old market, both were rubbish but it was something to do. We went to get some treatments done as I was in desperate need for an eyebrow wax, they looked as though they had taken on its own life form and were trying to conquer my face! We had a honey and milk body scrub which wasn't too different from the horrific experience we had in Udaipur, India. At least this time we were allowed to be in the same room and were given paper knickers (it always makes me giggle looking at Mike wearing them!), however, that is where there positives end. Again, I was made to lie on my back with my bits out, and again they were massaged and scrubed against my will. I have dealt with this horror before so it wasn't as traumatic- I kind of laid back and thought of England. We were then taken to seperate wash rooms to get the first layer of scrub off and when we came out, one look at each other told us that we both had the same experience. We were both led into a room with a bucket of water ad a pan. We had to wash the scrub off this way. Utterly bizzare, cold and hilarious. I don't think Mike found the funny side. We went back into the treatment room and were lathered in honey and waited for it to set. This time we were led into the same 'bathroom' and were told to help each other wash it off. The bathroom wasn't the one I went into on my own, this one had a much bigger bucket of water- a massive barrell, so I just climbed into it and crouched down to make the honey come of quicker. It turned all the water murky. Once we got back to the treatment room they insisted on drying me themselves, again, I felt ncomfotable but I had been through this hell before so I just went along with it. That is until the two ladies started squeezing and groping my breasts whilst exclaiming 'oooh very good very good'. At this point I nervously laughed and asked Mike to pass my bra, the lady grabbed it off me and put it on me- very weird, but not as weird as her then thrusting her hand into my bra, grabbing each boob and pulling it into a position that suited her. ARGGGGGHHHHH!!!! After we  walked downstairs (whilst they were refilling the big bucket with fresh water- ooops) where we had an hour foot reflexology and got the hell out of there. That night we went out with everyone in our dorm, for the first time since travelling everyone in there was really nice and fun. It wasn't the best of ideas considering we got back at 2am and had to be up at 4.30am to catch a 5am bus to Laos.
We paid $25 each for a 10 hour bus for Laos, it doesn't sound a lot but out here it is, also when you are travelling for a year it all adds up. This price was for a VIP sleeper bus with one change at the border. Easy. Or not. It was the most hellish day of travelling we have had so far. We were taken on a mini-bus for 11 people, that actually had 18 people crammed inside with no seatbelts, no room, no nothing, half way down the country to a place called Kratie as they decided that was the place they wanted to go first. We, and other passengers were furious. This jouney had taken about 10 hours in itself, along country roads, full of potholes, with no room for our bottoms or legs. Then they decide we all go to another place right ack up north again. This took another 4 hours. The problem was that not only had we paid for a completely different experience, we were told we would be in Don Det, Laos by 2pm, the border crossing closes at 5pm. We had now missed the border crossing and missed out on the accomodation we had paid for. They dropped us and two German girls off (the two German girls had paid to go to Ban Lung in Cambodia, very North East) in the middle of nowhere refusing to take us to Ban Lung. We had now decided to go with these girls as we had nowhere else to go for the night as we were meant to be in Laos and when I say we were dropped off in the middle of nowhere, I really mean it. Not a guesthouse, hotel or anything in sight apart from a roadside shop. We called the tour operator there and then to complain and explain our situation, plus it was getting dark so it was very worrying, and they wouldn't help us, we said we were going to call the police and they didn't care and responded by saying if w did that they wouldn't even try and help us. It was such a ridiculous situation. We hadn't eatn all day, by this time it was 6.30pm and we were p at 4.30am, travelling all day in the wrong direction because it was all one big money making scam (quite the norm in Cambodia) and stranded in the middle of nowhere.
Then the travel Gods decided to send some sort of luck our way. At this deserted little roadside shop where tubleweed would have fit in, a pickup truck arrives with a married Cambodian couple who both speak English, good English is rare to find in Cambodia. They just so happened to be going to Ban Lung. They put all four backpacks into the back of the truck as the four of us squeezed into the back for 1 1/2 hour last stretch of the journey. It was great talking to them about Cambodia, we learnt a lot about the state of the country, their government etc. We arrived finally in Ban Lung, which is not a tourist place really at all. It was a nightmare trying to get transport to take us to the girls hotel as it was on top of a hill. Eventually we managed to get four motobikes (one each with our massive backpacks and hand luggage to boot) to take us to our destination. About another 10 minutes. I am terrifid of such things but my guy was very good and went nice and slow for me. W arrived and thankfully the hotel had a spare room for myself and Mike although they obviously saw the opportunity to rip off the two stranded guests. We booked two nights, one to recover and sleep in the next day and to have time to find transportation to Laos etc. We were just so relieved to have a bed and a shower! But, of course, the bad luck didn't end there.
The next day we had asked to have a scooter ready to go and explore the area. They turned up with a manual motorbike. We told them we didn't know how to drive it but they insisted we gave it a go after a few demonstrations. Mike did well on his own, but when I was on the back, we didn't make it off the driveway and lost control of it (even though we going snail pace) and fell off it. We are both ok, no hospital needed thanks to my trusty first aid kit. I have badly bruised knee, ankle and a sore breastplate but nothing massive at all. Mike has a chunk of skin gone from his knee and various minor grazes. His knee however is gross. I am re-dressing it everyday and giving it 'airing time' and it seems to be improving along with my bandaging skills! I went to restock on supplies today. I am just thankful we weren't on a road or trying to be cocky by going fast. We have learnt however to only trust ur own judgements now and won't be trying it again. We were on it for about 6 seconds and it did quite enough damage! So now we are taking things easy to recover.
The next day we thought we would try again to get to Laos. We got a minibus to somewhere which took about 3/4 hours and when we got there (again, a desolate place, burning hot, very local, nothing to do at all) we were told we had a 4 hour wait to get a bus for an hour the border. I had finally snapped afer all the bad luck and demanded that he get us a friend to drive us to the border, have a minibus waiting for us on the otherside to get us to where we needed to be to catch the boat to Don Det. For a price he agreed and 15 minutes later a man with a van turned up. Maybe saying a man with a square piece of tin with 4 wheels and glued in seats would be a bit more apt. It was a dirty death trap but we only really realised it when we were bouncig along on our way to the border. My seat was not bolted down properly, it felt like there was one bolt the amount I was swinging backwards and forwards, from side to side, clutching onto Mike's seat for some sort of stability. Miraculously, an hour later we arrived at the border and walked across it, greeted on the other side by our own private, safe, a/c mini-van. Lush. 20 minutes to the 'harbour'. Followed by a load of hassle in the baking heat to get a boat ticket, get down to the 'harbour' and onto our own little wooden motorised boat. The scenery and breeze made me relax a bit, well, for about 10 minutes. The boat pulled up to a very steep banking which was pure mud and rocks, it was obviously not a place for you to get off due to it being dangerous but we were made to do so with our injuries, backpacks and hand luggage with no help. It was pure torture and the heat makes everythng a million times worse. Plus we realised there is a perfectly safe harbour now, our boatman was just a s**t. If only I could see him again and have a word with him.
We are now on the island of Don Det in Laos, and I am just happy to finally be here. Even if we do have to flush the toilet by chucking buckets of water down it.
I've just tried uploading pictures but the internet is really bad here so I will do a picture upload hopfully on the 4th Dec when we move off Don Det.