In the morning, before our journey to Phnom Penh we took a trip to Tonle Sap Lake. During rainy season, the Tonle Sap Lake is one of the largest fresh water lakes in Asia. On the lake is the floating village of Chong Kneas, home to millions of refugees. Like any other village it has schools, markets, houses, restaurants and other businesses.
We hired a boat and a guide to take us along the lake. We were witness to some sights that were completely out of the ordinary and worlds away from anything you would see at home.
Small motor boats with young children pulled up along side us and offered a snake, yes a snake, asking for $1 if we held it for a photograph.
Most shocking were mothers offering a hold of their sleeping babies for $1, absolutely heartbreaking to see, imagine being that desperate for money that you would beg tourists to pay to hold your child for a picture. Unbelievable!
On a slightly lighter note, we hopped off the boat to a market to buy food for orphaned children. We visited them whilst they were at school. They were probably between the ages of 4-10 and the most beautiful children you have ever seen. You couldn't help but fall in love with them!
Many children lost their parents during rainy season when the lake rises and becomes very dangerous to live on.
We handed them each a pack of noodles and they seemed very grateful, however in hindsight we could have bought them a lot more. After lots of photographs we left them to continue with their lessons.
On the way back we saw a cemetery which may only be seen in dry season. In rainy season it is immersed under water, bodies are then buried in the mountains.
We left the village feeling overwhelmed, what a culture shock!!!
We would be travelling for the rest of the day, a 7 hour bus journey. We quite possibly had the most annoying bus driver EVERRR, he hooted his horn approximately every 10.5 seconds. It made it impossible to sleep, nevertheless it was nice to just look out the window.
Tuesday, 14 February 2012
Day 4 Siem Reep
Today we woke up early to watch the sunrise over Angkor Wat, one of the wonders of the archaeological world!
Angkor comprises of the magnificent remains of the various former capitals of the Khmer empire. The temple complex was built in the 12th century as dedication to the Hindu god, Vishnu. However since Buddhism became Cambodia's dominant religion in the 14th century, it has since served as a Buddhist temple. Unfortunately in the early 15th century armies from Thailand captured the city and it was left abandoned by its citizens only to be claimed by the vast forest until it was rediscovered at the end of the last century by French explorers.
We arrived in darkness, the viewpoint was already crowded with people in the prime photography positions. Luckily we managed to find quite a good spot. Angkor Wat is architecturally breathtaking, it's difficult to describe how spectacular the sunrise was, it is better illustrated in a photograph. If you ever get the opportunity to go there, take it!
After sunrise we headed back to our hotel for breakfast before we explored the city and it's temples.
The first temple we visited was Bayon, situated within the walled city of Angkor Thom, and famed for it's enigmatic faces.
The second temple we visited was Ta Prohm, which is slowly being reclaimed by the jungle. Trees grow through and on top of ruined walls. It was used as a set on the Tomb Raider film.
The third, and last we visited was Angkor Wat.
In the evening we took a tuk tuk to a Cambodian BBQ restaurant and had some delicious food. Later we headed on to pub street and danced the night away in Temple Bar. After a few buckets I lost all coordination and fell over as I went to jump on a podium, I grazed my leg in two places and almost took off the end of my toe. Yukkkkk! ...Still a brilliant end to a fantastic day!!!
Angkor comprises of the magnificent remains of the various former capitals of the Khmer empire. The temple complex was built in the 12th century as dedication to the Hindu god, Vishnu. However since Buddhism became Cambodia's dominant religion in the 14th century, it has since served as a Buddhist temple. Unfortunately in the early 15th century armies from Thailand captured the city and it was left abandoned by its citizens only to be claimed by the vast forest until it was rediscovered at the end of the last century by French explorers.
We arrived in darkness, the viewpoint was already crowded with people in the prime photography positions. Luckily we managed to find quite a good spot. Angkor Wat is architecturally breathtaking, it's difficult to describe how spectacular the sunrise was, it is better illustrated in a photograph. If you ever get the opportunity to go there, take it!
After sunrise we headed back to our hotel for breakfast before we explored the city and it's temples.
The first temple we visited was Bayon, situated within the walled city of Angkor Thom, and famed for it's enigmatic faces.
The second temple we visited was Ta Prohm, which is slowly being reclaimed by the jungle. Trees grow through and on top of ruined walls. It was used as a set on the Tomb Raider film.
The third, and last we visited was Angkor Wat.
In the evening we took a tuk tuk to a Cambodian BBQ restaurant and had some delicious food. Later we headed on to pub street and danced the night away in Temple Bar. After a few buckets I lost all coordination and fell over as I went to jump on a podium, I grazed my leg in two places and almost took off the end of my toe. Yukkkkk! ...Still a brilliant end to a fantastic day!!!
Tuesday, 10 January 2012
Day 3 Siem Reep
Early rise this morning so that we would be ready for our seven hour journey to the Cambodia boarder.
We crossed the boarder by foot and it was like stepping in to another world. There was an obvious divide of wealth.
In the evening we went by tuk tuk to a local village where a family gave us a tour and cooked a traditional Khmer meal for us. We tried rice wine, Cambodia beer, chicken amok, chicken with ginger, pork and noodles, vegetable and coconut curry and a water apple. All of which were delicious.
After dinner the local children wanted to practice their English on us. They were all very good at speaking, they explained that learning English was very important as it will help them to get a better job in the future. Many of them wanted to be teachers.
We crossed the boarder by foot and it was like stepping in to another world. There was an obvious divide of wealth.
In the evening we went by tuk tuk to a local village where a family gave us a tour and cooked a traditional Khmer meal for us. We tried rice wine, Cambodia beer, chicken amok, chicken with ginger, pork and noodles, vegetable and coconut curry and a water apple. All of which were delicious.
After dinner the local children wanted to practice their English on us. They were all very good at speaking, they explained that learning English was very important as it will help them to get a better job in the future. Many of them wanted to be teachers.
Monday, 9 January 2012
Day 2 Bangkok
Our first full day in Thailand!
We got up early and headed for the Chatuchak market, a short metro ride away.
This is quite possibly the biggest market I have ever seen! It had lots of interesting foods, household goods, clothes & jewellery etc. However there were some quite disturbing sights such as small dogs, rabbits & birds caged up in the scorching heat with no water.
We were shattered after walking around in the heat so decided to head back and sleep, again, so we were fresh to meet our tour group that evening.
We had some quick introductions and headed out for dinner.
A few of the group stayed out after dinner to get better aquainted. Little did I know that we would end up partaking in a THAI TUCKA CHALLENGE!! Much like a bush tucka challenge on I'm a Celebrity get me out of here, we ate deep fried CRICKETS AND COCKROACHES!! Crickets were quite tatsy, on the othetr hand, cockroaches taste like how petshops smell... I had to spit mine out!
I would advise never to eat a cockroach.
Much love, wish you were here... Alicia xoxo
We got up early and headed for the Chatuchak market, a short metro ride away.
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We were shattered after walking around in the heat so decided to head back and sleep, again, so we were fresh to meet our tour group that evening.
We had some quick introductions and headed out for dinner.
A few of the group stayed out after dinner to get better aquainted. Little did I know that we would end up partaking in a THAI TUCKA CHALLENGE!! Much like a bush tucka challenge on I'm a Celebrity get me out of here, we ate deep fried CRICKETS AND COCKROACHES!! Crickets were quite tatsy, on the othetr hand, cockroaches taste like how petshops smell... I had to spit mine out!
I would advise never to eat a cockroach.
Much love, wish you were here... Alicia xoxo
Saturday, 7 January 2012
Day 1 London to Bangkok
Hi all, hope you're well and not missing me too much!
I made it to Thailand, absolutely exhausted, I thought I would tell you a little about the journey.
The day started well, I made it to Hethrow in good time. However the winds had delayed our plane by an hour. This turned out to be the best thing ever because Katie's plane from Scotland had also been delayed an hour.
Me and Katie met in departures and did our last minute shopping. Our flight wasn't boarding for another two hours so we had plenty of time to relax.
We flew with SriLankan Airlines, I kept Katie entertained with Sudoku, which she loved of course. To our frustration we still haven't managed to complete one!
The entire journey to Bangkok took 14 hours, much chatting and a sick bag. Hopefully by the end of this trip I will be immune to the side effects of public transport, blurgh!!
We arrived at the hotel around 2pm local time only to find that we weren't booked on the tour for that day. At first we were outraged, how could our travel agent have got it wrong?
In true Katie and Alicia style (we've found) we turned it to our advantage and booked to stay there an extra night, for the bargain price of $20 each. We slept for a LONG time.
We awoke in the evening in time for some dinner. To get to the restaurants we had to cross a busy road, the traffic here is crazy, we were worried we would end up as road kill so we took the long way round. Sensible I'm sure you'd agree.
Dinner was spectacular, we both had a Thai green curry, it was the best I've everrrrrrr tasted, especially because it was so cheap! Dinner and drink cost around $2 for both me a Katie!!
After dinner we opted for an early night so we could be fresh for out adventures the next day.
Much love, wish you were here!! Alicia xoxo
I made it to Thailand, absolutely exhausted, I thought I would tell you a little about the journey.
The day started well, I made it to Hethrow in good time. However the winds had delayed our plane by an hour. This turned out to be the best thing ever because Katie's plane from Scotland had also been delayed an hour.
Me and Katie met in departures and did our last minute shopping. Our flight wasn't boarding for another two hours so we had plenty of time to relax.
We flew with SriLankan Airlines, I kept Katie entertained with Sudoku, which she loved of course. To our frustration we still haven't managed to complete one!
The entire journey to Bangkok took 14 hours, much chatting and a sick bag. Hopefully by the end of this trip I will be immune to the side effects of public transport, blurgh!!
We arrived at the hotel around 2pm local time only to find that we weren't booked on the tour for that day. At first we were outraged, how could our travel agent have got it wrong?
In true Katie and Alicia style (we've found) we turned it to our advantage and booked to stay there an extra night, for the bargain price of $20 each. We slept for a LONG time.
Dinner was spectacular, we both had a Thai green curry, it was the best I've everrrrrrr tasted, especially because it was so cheap! Dinner and drink cost around $2 for both me a Katie!!
After dinner we opted for an early night so we could be fresh for out adventures the next day.
Much love, wish you were here!! Alicia xoxo
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