The weeks of the unusual (for me)

My first Koniginnedag missed in the last five years, I hope the amsterdamers are enjoying it as usual and I wish for them they had the same weather as here.
Long silence on the blog but after leaving Phnom Penh I realised that having Internet is not given to everyone. I have put 2 new albums in the pics but no time for the comments.

Before starting, just try to guess how many people managed to travel on the outside of this pick up for 4 hours...(answer later in the post)

The past two weeks have been really good, maybe they are a bit like the "honeymoon of the trip" when everything I tried turned out right.

First I have tasted the crispy cricket (miam miam, it was good; just kidding, actually no taste at all). Unfortunately there was no spider but I still have most to Laos to find one. I have also learned to cook the Amok chicken (a kind of mild curry with coconut milk) and fresh springrolls, look the picture it was a real "festin" (I had to make a 3 hours siesta to digest).

Two weeks ago was the Khmer New Year. Since all families reunite in the country side it is pretty difficult for tourists to really be apart of the celebration (it is a kind of Christmas for them). Luckily the wats (Buddhist temples) organise events that look like kermisses. I happened to be at one and go attacked by kids with white powder. Later on as we passed by a small village with my guide we got invited by a group of drunk men for a couple of beers, we had a very nice time with them.

In Mondulkiri, I had the opportunity to meet the NGO crowd that deals mainly with helping the local minorities and protect the jungle and wildlife. Mondulkiri is really beautiful and I had a great time there: riding a mortorbike on my own for the 1st time (had to go through a road full of rocks and that was scary); doing a two days trek through the jungle being attacked by leeches, walking through rivers, staying in a village in the middle of the forest, riding an elephant on its neck (having (almost) nowhere to hold yourself), having a shower under a waterfall.

I am now in Laos for almost a week and I can confirm all the rumors about this country, it is totally relaxed. People are so easy going that after a few days you take their pace and days go by and you wonder how it is possible since you have done (almost) nothing. The typical Laos experience is stay in a bungalow with a view on the Mekong or in the countryside, trek or bike in the morning, lunch, rest, have a swim (in the Mekong), go for a beer, a diner etc... but not too late since around 10 pm you are almost the only one still awake. That is for Don Det in the 4,000 islands. The same applies without the Mekong parts to Tad Lo in the Bolaven Plateau where I spent the last days.

Some other funny things en vrac:
Wash your clothes in the Mekong, they end up more muddy than before you wash them,
Following a buffalo in the dark on the only path on the island to go back to your bungalow, hoping he will not stop otherwise that means you cannot pass,
Going through a land border even if you have to pay $1 at both borders (Cambodia and Laos) for the workers to play cards with it,
Riding in a bus that even the iron scrapper in Europe would refuse,
Getting stuck in Snoul where you realise what in the middle of nowhere means.

Finally what I preferred in the last two weeks is this: the 4.30h journey between Snoul and Sen Monorom on the supposedly the worst road in Cambodia.
This is how the truck was loaded: the boxes with the water to keep the fishes fresh and alive pic at start of post), then the vegetables, then the bags ...

and then the 22 passengers (and I do not count the two chickens and the scooter). Yes, 22, it was so great, I could not fall since three persons were sitting on my feet, I was myself sitting half on a rope and the other half on what I assumed to be a melon; and although the trip was far from comfortable (wihtou mentionning that I was red with dirt and dust at the end) the views and the experience would not make me doubt about doing it again if I could.

After a week at the Southern Laos pace I will now move north to visit caves and try to do a 4 days trek in the jungle.
Considering Internet access, I think the next post will only be early June; I'll make a big update on Laos then.

Last week in Vietnam and first one in Cambodia

It is a while I could update my blog and i have done so much since then:
Saigon where I had a lot of fun sitting at the back of a motorcycle,
Phnom Penh where one could feel the interesting (and daunting) Cambodian recent history
Battambang and some off beaten track temples before riding on a bamboo train
and the amazing temples of Angkor

I have put the albums on the left (some just as hyperlink not to slow down too much the site).

The last two weeks have been really good, I have enjoyed my last days in Vietnam and I dived into Cambodia from the first moment.
Saigon is really a Western city so apart from the War Remnant museum (about the Vietnam War) there is nothing really attracting with regard to architecture or historical buildings. But the thing to do in Saigon is to get on a motorbike and go into the traffic. I went a bit outside the center just to experience it and I made videos here, here and here. This is so fun in real, much more than it looks on the videos (and I find them already good) because this is all around you like on the video. This is difficult to know how there are so few accidents (I did not see any) because with the sheer amount of bikes it is a complete chaos. It is so much that tourists who arrive in Saigon find it very hard to cross roads (and I do not exaggerate)

Next thing was my homestay during one night when I was in the Mekong delta. The delta itself can be very nice when you cruise on small rivers (see album Saigon & Mekong delta) but my homestay was my best time. I was in a small village where the family is used to welcome tourists (there were many beds for tourists) but luckily I was the only one that night. I then had rice wine with locals and later on I had a delicious local diner prepared by the grand-ma of the place and I played cards with the little kids (they were designing techniques in Vietnamese to cheat and beat me). That was a very good evening and the next day I left very early by boat so I could see the morning lights on the river.


We crossed the border on the Mekong and I feared the customs would be bothering us. Que neni they did not even have a look at our bags (they stayed on the boat while we went to the desk) so we could have smuggled in whatever we wanted. Anyway it was a funny experience.

Cambodia is a country full of contrasts. On the one hand it is really poor, many beggars sit in the streets and some buildings are in a desperate state (remember, Phnom Penh remained empty for 3 years when the Khmer Rouge emptied it from its 3 mln inhabitants when they took power); on the other hand you see big 4*4 and many guarded villas so obviously there are some Cambodian who enjoy a luxury life. You can also find many Westerner brands in the supermarkets whereas this was not the case in Vietnam. Second contrast is between the terrible recent history (the torture camp S21 of the KR in PP is really interesting, check pics (from p35 in PP album) as well as the killing caves (p18 in Battambang album)) and how Cambodian people are truly friendly. They are really less "aggressive" than the Vietnamese even when they try to sell you something and they smile all the time.

Finally the Khmer art is really nice and impressive: check the picture of the Royal Palace in the Phnom Penh album and the Angkor temples. Regarding the latter I was a bit cautious of again one must-see site. I still have the experience of Halong Bay where I have to admit I was slightly disappointed. But here it is absolutely not the case I was really impressed and the temples are amazing. If you like this type of historical visit then you have to make a trip to Cambodia.



One funny experience I had was the Bamboo train close to Battambang. I have made a video here of the ride and another one when two trains meet. The idea of this train is to take a bamboo platform, lay it on two set of wheels, get one engine and the whole set is easily disassembled when you meet other trains on the track (there is just one track).

After a week here I really think Cambodia is a fantastic place, one that is 100 times worth visiting and I am convinced this will, explode as a prime tourists destination in the coming years (remember that fights just stopped in 1998 when Pol Pot died).

I will now head to the east of the country to less-traveled roads and then into Laos. Before that the Khmer New Year starts in 2 days for three days of celebrations (it seems you get water-attacked during the celebrations).