Cycling carefree in Cambodia

Hello! Hopefully the festive season was everything you wanted it to be or at least pleasantly surprising! For me these past few weeks have contained some traveling experiences that have exceeded my wildest expectations!

After a year living in Vietnam I needed a good rest. A trip to the relaxing region of the ‘Four Thousand Islands’ in Lao was in order. This is an area of islands in the river Mekong close to the border with Cambodia. It was possible to fully chill knowing that a job was secured in Seam Reap at the beginning of January. Travelling alone was not the daunting experience you might think, as all the routes you end up on are so well traveled the experience is like a mobile village of familiar faces. Comforting, not as adventurous as you might expect. So when I started to meet touring cyclists something in me clicked. Brilliant! What a way to travel, no more predictability!

It becomes predictable because travelling is often an itinerary planned from guidebook with some built in flexibility depending on the stories of travellers coming the other way. After saving long and hard you want a nice time experiencing all the great things on offer not some kind of intrepid personality test so you don’t want to chance it with things not tried and tested. So to get between attractions, whether it be a temple, waterfall, ethnic hill tribe village or coffee plantation you end up on some kind of transport catering for tourists. At your destination you are shown and told the things that people think you want to see and hear. You pay prices that don’t bear any resemblance to the real price, often supporting anything but the local people. In terms of experiencing a depth of spirit in a place you rarely get to actually ‘see’ it at all. You come away with a scarf and a whistle made of bamboo you didn’t want because the kid can speak a little of nine languages and guilt tripped you by not leaving you alone. There’s a load of pictures on your camera of things you don’t remember seeing. It’s just what happens and trying to get away from it is damned hard! There is only so much you can do when you don’t speak the language.

At Champasak the sleeply one street town serving the ancient temples of Wot Phu a group of us managed to charter a small boat to takes us down the Mekong to Don Det one of the slightly quieter areas in the Four Thousand Islands. It was on this luxurious seven hour ride that I met a German cyclist called Sven, who interestingly enough started his journey in Hanoi! For his sins, ha ha!

A few sunsets, sunrises and Lao Lao beers, later he asked if I would like to join him on his continued cycling adventure. I can honestly say I didn’t even think about it, it was just a straight ‘yes’! To be honest I had no idea of what I was letting myself in for. Lucky for me Sven gave it some thought and decided on a plan of action. Buy a second hand mountain bike in the next town and do a small (300km!) three day trip to see if I liked it. I even had the use of his spare pair of padded pants!

The test ride went well. We didn’t cycle more than 50km a day as the roads where spectacularly dusty, just a few hours on the road would provide you with an orange glow, the likes of which haven’t seen since I was in the Next Retail head office in Enderby. Next mission, post my backpack to the school and cycle 700km to my new job.

Things I learnt from cycling with Sven. Take lots of breaks, don’t wait until you are tired or hungry otherwise it’s too late! Eat slow carbs like rice and bananas. Start early to avoid the midday sun and take good break with a nap at lunch time. Have a good map. Learn the local words for rice and water and have written down in the local script ‘do you have a room?’ Ask everyone you can how far it is to the next town and clarify it by writing it down or drawing it in the dusty ground. The answers will be vastly different but there might emerge a pattern. Finally It is ideal to have some kind of healing power like Reike for tired knees or upset stomachs!

I just totally loved it. I can’t recommend enough cycling as a way of seeing a country. You completely get away from all the tourist shenanigans, you feel really healthy and you can eat more! Best of all is the pace makes you more in touch with the local life, children wave and shout hello to you from houses, schools and across playing fields. Cycling through idyllic rural villages waving at happy faces, its how I remember the show Pigeon Street. It’s a value added relationship with the locals because you are of mutual entertainment. Especially if you take along a ukulele!

We made it to Seam Reap in time for New Year. Nice to have some western food and chat to other foreigners but given the choice I would take a village homestay and a bucket shower any day ;o)

On the boat we chartered to Don Det when I met cycling Sven

Garden of Eden feeling on Don Det in Lao

View from the old railway line built by the French in Don Det

A day trip on Don Det with travelling pals Sven, Trev and Paul

Tree Buddha on the way to Wot Phu

Traditional village on a tour around the plateau region in the south of Lao

Wonderful presence from a fellow traveller on our tour

The lovely ladies from England and their squeeze!

On a trip to a waterfall in Don Det

Chilling at the organic Farm on Don Det

Kakaying at the Four Thousand Islands

Just for vanity, can’t remember where we were

The moment I bought my dear 10 year old second hand Japanese mountain bike!

The test drive into the wilds of Cambodia’s north eastern town of Bong Long

A day trip around Bong Long

The paved road as you enter Bong Long with the unpaved road in the distance

The kids keep you going with their crazy energy just when you need it!

Obsessed by trees!

I took this picture then showed it to her as I passed by on my bike, much to her amazement!

Magic temple moment, I’ve no idea where!

Temple happiness

You gotta love those trees

I have an unhealthy number of tree pictures

;o)

The village by Koh Ker temple

Someone must have said, you can take what ever you can carry!

Kids checking us out on one of our sugar cane juice breaks

A giant seed!

The shadows of Sven and I on one of our favourite tyes of tree ;o)

A tree grows out of an ancient tomb

The view from The border temple. Sadly the view was marred from the smoke of the logging below

Tourist police at the Preah Vihear temple

Preah Vihear temple in Cambodia a stones throw from Thailand

Mother and daughter and dusty white dog who run a guest house in Beng Meng Chay

Christmas Day swimming in the river

The happiest woman I have ever seen with her lovely baby at the market

Happy shell fish seller in Bong Long

Small truck with big ideas in Bong Long

Religious vehicle with loudspeaks offering blessings for donations

Pig traffic during the heat of the day in a small village on route Seam Reap

Kids with unimaginable loads, day 1 travelling East from Stung Treng.

Sunset over a volcanic lake.

A day trip from Bong Long to the Buddha temple on the hill

The local bus that took us to Bong Long attaching our bikes to the already improbable load!

Bong Long truck

The long and dusty road to Bong Long

The ferry we took across the Mekong river. We were lucky that when we crossed the path was above the water!

Drawing distractions so she would stop running around like crazy pulling up all the plants!

Sugar cane juice – the best refreshment you could wish for!

Typical village scene

Cycling the mysterous Koh Ker

Having fun at the Koh ker temples

Guest house at the village close to Koh Ker temple. Being entertained by these young local soldiers

Hitching a lift on a fish sauce truck

French Francesca

Relaxing at Preah Vihear temple

Getting a lift on the back of my own bike!

Christmas Day swimming in the river in Beng Meng Chay

Sven and I in a local restaurant in the market town before Seam Reap

Proof!

Vietnam

Hello there! I hope this blog finds you well! This is a retrospective look at my time in Vietnam, from December 2009 to November 2010. Enjoy!

Since leaving Hanoi I spent time in Hue on holiday as a kind of decompression zone from the bustle of urban Vietnam. Whilst there, I managed to appreciate many more aspects of the Vietnamese culture and history. Sadly, so much about the experience of modern Vietnam is negotiating the heavy traffic and coping with the air and noise pollution. You do get used to it to some extent and as an expat you have the mixed blessing of knowing that there is another way.

My impression is that it’s not easy being Vietnamese; it appears a very intense, hectic, jostling, crowded, competitive experience, exactly like the traffic! It’s hard especially for the young people. The challenge of balancing the opportunities, liberations and challenges of fast track modernization coupled with the grounded yet stifling confucianist ‘honour thy ancestors’ is not to be taken lightly! Not married by the time you’re 26? Over the hill! Want to go see the world? Don’t even consider it, there’ll be a natural disaster and you’ll never be able to return! This is what a girl who worked at our language school was told by her fearful dad.

One story I was told particularly stood out, of a Vietnamese lady I met at yoga. She has broken the mould, but only by being extraordinarily brave. In her twenties she decided to go to the UK because she had made friends with a couple from Wales who had invited her over. Knowing her family would never hear of it she secretly took on a part time job for two years to save up enough money. Traditionally you live in the family home if you are unmarried and your wage goes to your parents. Finally on the day of the flight she announced her plans. The family rallied round, aunties, cousins and all! ‘Don’t go, you can’t go!’ they cried. ‘If you go the they’ll kill you and harvest your organs!!’ Suffice to say she had a wonderful trip and returned alive. ;o)

The Vietnamese proverb: ‘you don’t know your chains until you move’ couldn’t be more apt. My thanks goes out to the kindness and warmth shown to me by my Hanoian friends and students. Enjoy, be bold and be brave!

Once of the saving graces of Hanoi – Thang Loi pool. Only $2!

Can’t beat ’em join ’em!

Mobile pet shop

Last minute touches to a new temple outside of Hanoi

Rice

The view from the yoga school towards the language school where I worked

Blue Dragon Foundation art club

At a yoga retreat outside of Hanoi. Thank you to everyone who made it such a magical weekend.

Off to get a wash

In a village on a day trip from Hanoi

‘Sea World’ creation with the kids from The Blue Dragon foundation

Say hello to your strange new teacher!

Xe om motorbike taxi drivers in the Old Quarter living the hard life ;o)

In the Old quarter selling decorations for the Autumn Festival

Selling something to do with plastic.

1000 year celebrations, I was hit with this the day I got back from a holiday from the UK! It was incredible!

Joy at the 1000 year celebrations! A wonderful moment, wish I had more than my i phone with me to capture it!

Lady selling baloons at the 1000 year celebration of Hanoi being a city.

A moon bear in a santuary rescued from the terrrible bear bile industry. :,,(

Caption reads: ‘The white, the brown and the yellow’.

If in doubt wear it on your head.

Rehearsing for Teachers Day at Marie Curie school. Too cool for school!

Now put your book on your head! A whole generation of Vietnamese children now with strange habits…

We will miss you cake. Okay guys, I get the message! ;o)

Class 6E1. You are still in my heart! Please be kind to teacher Bill! xxx

Nicki and I with our flowers from Marie Curie School on our last day. Emotional!

The state primary school I worked at rehearsing for Teachers Day

One of my students and I at the last lesson ‘party’

The usual stuff on bikes madness

Borneo

Even a TEFL teacher needs a holiday, so I decided to meet up with my friend Adam in Malaysian Borneo for a two week break. Boy you need it when you are living in a city that tries to break its own motorbike congestion record every day. On my way out I was thinking I was done with the City Of Motorbike, but now on my return I have softened again to the place, it is fascinating to be here. I might even try and start speaking some Vietnamese. The truth is, the pay is just too good which will keep my loyally bound to my year contract before I leave with provisions to begin some exciting ventures in early 2011.

The scuba diving PADI course was a strange start when I realised that I didn’t actually like scuba diving. Well that’s not quite true I was just happy to experience it and come straight back up again. It was the skills that finished me off. Taking my mask off and exchanging breathing equipment (a regulator) 12m underwater, by choice, on holiday? I must have gone mad. I did like the ‘pivotal breathing’ buoyancy skill though. At the bottom of the sea you breathe in so your body rotates upwards pivoting on your fingers which are resting in the sand. As you breathe out your body gently rotates down. Very relaxing until you remember you are 12m under water. My instructor also a Sarah, said its like any new experience, you get more confident with time. Her boyfriend now takes off her mask and pulls out her reguator just for a laugh and she says she’s fine with it. I think she should get a new boyfriend. Instead of being fully certified I became a ‘dive master’ which sounds grand enough to me (it means I can dive with a qualified instructor down to 12m) and was very happy with snorkling after that.

The next bit was my favourite, being in the jungle and seeing wild orangutans limbering through the trees. The name comes from ‘man of the forest’. We watched one sitting on a tree and heard it cough, it sounded exactly like a person. We also saw orangutans at Sepilok rehabilitation centre where orphaned orangutans go to be nurtured back to jungle life. They set up feeding stations in the jungle for visitors to see, but you will see more by hanging around the kitchen at the back of the café. Cheeky monkey (okay great ape). It so sad to see that their habitat is shrinking because of all the palm oil plantations. I’m going to adopt an orangatan in the meek effort to not feel so guilty. Check it out if you are interested. http://www.orangutan-appeal.org.uk/

I get the feeling there could be some TEFL teaching work here. A girl I got chatting to in the Body Shop told me she was going for an interview to be an English teacher. ‘I really want the job but I speak English not very good.’ No I said, you need to say ‘I speak English not very well.’ I wonder how that interview went.

In the capital of the West of Borneo, at Kota Kinabalu I decided to visit the museum. It reminded me of when I used to work in a museum… and retiring colleagues would tell me what museums where like when they were young. Only here they had added a plasma screen playing lift music to newpaper cuttings about the great white shark washed ashore in 1983. I did see a lovely stuffed tufted squirrel though. The real treasure was outside where they had recreated six of Borneo’s tribal bamboo huts, complete with a dozen people in each one dressed in tribal costume, all bored stiff and texting. For some reason there seemed to be only about 6 other visitors there, outnumbering staff to visitors by 12.1. I hung around in a hut thinking it was a bit odd, but stayed anyway because it was raining outside. With my lingering presence, slowly and a little begrudgingly it was showtime and after an awkward start, it was really fun, I even joined in with the girls doing some kind of loopy wrist dance while the men banged the drums. The next hut took me by surprise because it was full of grandma’s in period costume. It was about 35 degrees and these ladies just looked a bit hot. I was wondering how grandma ended up paying her way by exhibiting herself in a museum?

The general impression of Malaysian Borneo is, this is very relaxed, tolerant place to live. A fellow traveller said he was watching the much loved Malay heavy rock on TV when there was a prayer break. Then back to heavy rock. That about sums it up here. Anyway, back to the monkeys. There are proboscis monkeys here characterized by their striking resemblance to the character that went ‘wodneeb’ in Popeye the sailor man. They chose their leader by the male with the biggest nose. The questions is, according to that logic, which out of our selection of monkeys would we choose? Ha ha. 

All in all, a lovely trip.

Mabul Island off Sabah, Borneo

The village next to our resort on Mabul Island

These kids always want you to take their picture!

Super love boat

being daft with old rig in the background

Can you see the scuba people?

I’m glad I did it!

Its fun photographing schools of fish!

Urgh, still like it even though it looks like an O2 corporate shot.

Yay for snorkling!

Bojangles from Borneo

Lucky accident!

An orangutan at Sepilok rehabilitation centre. He knows he shouldn’t be in the car park!

Being led back to the jungle so that one day the will be independent from humans

Kinabatangan River, Sabah

A proboscis monkey. The monkey are lead by the male with the biggest nose.

some kind of large bird

Dusk on Kinabatangan river

Dawn on Kinabatangan river

because I am a tree loving hippy

A monitor lizard. He was chuffed when we left.

A brief passing pigmy elephant!

Our guide. Nod and agree with what he says about the tree (Itchy spikes?)

Probably the biggest leaf of the day.

I’ve no idea why but it stayed there for ages

A hungry leach! It reminded me a bit of the ident creatures from Cbeebies

Bored tribesperson

A stuffed tufted squirrel – a good foot and a half including the tail

English and Dutch travel buddies listening to Malaysian Lionel Richie

Happy Christmas from Hanoi!

I am now qualified to teach English anywhere in the world, ya hoo! Four week TEFL course, done. Teaching job in a private Language School in Hanoi already under way. I have classes with Children, teenagers and Adults for 17.5 hours a week. Still time to explore this amazing city.

After six weeks of being here we thought we had begin to get a feel for the rhythm of the city and the people… until Vietnam got through to the finals of the South East Asia cup on Monday (apparently Thailand usually win but they got knocked out in the quarters). The usual busy streets where nothing compared to this as most of the city seemed to decide to mobilize themselves on motorbikes and bang saucepans, wave flags, generally go nuts. We couldn’t help but go and see where all the traffic ended up,  so followed it to the central lake where everything was gridlocked and it was party time, better than any organized carnival. We managed to get high up in a bar overlooking the main square and watched in awe. It was different from home, spirits remained high, there was no edginess and everyone went home to bed at midnight. I will keep you updated with the outcome of the final on Thursday…

Some pictures below of a break on Cat Ba Island after the course, celebrating with course mates and some seasons greetings, Hanoi style.

Sx

Chiang Mai – Pai – Phi Phi

hello and sorry it’s been so long!
 
After Bangkok we got the night train to Chiang Mai in the north of Thailand. It was a welcome relief, 5 night in Bangkok was enough! I saw a tourist walking around with a t-shirt saying ‘no I don’t want a tuk tuk / taxi / massage / tailored suit!’ which sums it up.
 
I can now say ‘delicious!’ (alloy) and ‘Really?!’ (ching-orr and the reply if true is ching ching!). At Chiang Mai we stayed at Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep, the temple on the mountain for three nights on a meditation retreat, which was ace. We had to wear all white to symbolise purity and modesty. I liked walking around the temple grounds at sunset when the monks performed their evening chanting. One such time I was taking in the atmosphere when a tourist gave me a nod of respect, the kind of nod you are supposed to give a holy person or a monk. I nodded back but felt a bit bad, little did she know she had just paid her respect to an interior designer from London!

 

After Chiang Mai we got the bus through the winding mountain road to Pai. A very chilled out hippy place where travellers just fiddle about for weeks on end. We stayed in a complex built in the rice fields, I don’t know if it comes across but the crop was like neon.

 

So now a night train and night bus later we are at Phi Phi which is mostly built up again since the Tsunami. Some pictures of the fire show in the bars at night, if I can work it out I will post a video of some fire skipping. Right I’m off as this internet cafe is expensive and is going to cost as much as the massage on the beach I’m about to have!

 

Laterz Sx

Thai smiles

Hello, and smiles from Thailand!

It was described to me that when you arrive in Thailand off the plane, the air feels like a warm bath and its so true. Speaking of analogies, my first trip on a Tuk Tuk was so surreal I felt like I wasn’t so much there as watching it on a screen. Well, that’s probably the jet lag.

I’m feeling privileged to be in good hands as Rob speaks Thai and knows his way round Bangkok as well as you can, considering it has no real logic. I can relax into it while Rob chats to the taxi drivers / street sellers / bar tenders about the reoccurring themes such as the Hull City and Liverpool match (Thais all seem to support Liverpool). When the subject matter isn’t football I can still mostly fathom what is being talked about, as most things discussed seem to be referring to what’s happening in the moment. I love all the people we’ve met so far, a cliché but the Thais are so friendly, you’re never far away from a good laugh. I need to learn some more words, so far I can say ‘good’ – ‘dee!’ and very good ‘dee dee!’ and ‘ma’ dog, ‘ma maa’ which is, ‘come over here dog’. 

We went to see the 46 meter long reclining Buddha at Wat Pho. I’m quite partial to a bit of Buddhism and found it very moving.

Until next time, I’ll leave you with some of those smiles, starting with a weird rendition of our HRH…

 

First and last post from the UK

 

 

In 4 days I am leaving with Rob for a year in SE Asia! I am very excited and cant wait to leave now after all the goodbyes of the last few weeks.

I am a reluctant blogger, I knew that I would take it far to seriously to avoid the mediocre variety of blogs that end up being a gallery of  happy snaps with a ‘get jealous’ sentiment. No disrespect to those blogs, its just that unless you are a family or a best mate, they are predictable and dull. Another reason not to blog is the fact that everyone reads it, including Granddad (If you are reading this hi Granddad, well done for logging in, next challenge, leave a comment!!). I just hope that this is an interesting read and that I don’t offend anybody.

Righty-ho, so the next time I write I will have been extensively masseused in our 4 star hotel… having swam in the roof top swimming pool with views over Bangkok (Yes alright, rules are there to be broken).