Waterfalls and Historical energy centres

After one night in Udon Thani we decided it was time to move on and a long long bus journey didn't seem very attractive. We decided to hire a car and see a bit of the North East not being locked into the tourist bus route.
The first place we headed for was Phu Phrabat Historical Park not too far from Udon Thani. It took us a little while to head of and find our way there but what a highlight. It was really fantastic, beautiful ancient countryside that reminded me of aboriginal centres like the Grampians at home. There was rock art and some really unusually shaped rock formation scattered across the landscape. It felt like a real energy centre and Adam and I both got a real buzz from being there. We left around dusk and headed west. We hit a small town and decided to stop for some soup for tea. We sat down in the small village and there was an older Dutch man in the same shop who we chatted with. He lives in this village with his Thai wife. He told us what he thought was the best road to take at night and we followed his directions to find ourselves back near where we started 2 hours earlier! Eventually we found the main highway and headed onto Loei arriving very late.


The next morning our car wouldn't start and we had to wait 2 hours for another one to arrive from Udon Thani. We headed off late and decided not to try to do too much that day. We went hunting for waterfalls and were a little disappointed with what we found before making it to Phitsanulok around dusk. It was quite a formal town and the night market was the cleanest and most organised I've seen. We had tea and an early night.
Phitsanulok must have a large Chinese population because that night we saw Chinese Opera and the next morning we were woken by fireworks, drums and gongs as a dragon danced it way through many of the shops in our street.
Phitsanulok also has the second most important sculpture of Buddha in Thailand in one of its Wats (The most important being the Jade Buddha in Bangkok). We went to had a look amongst the many, many pilgrims before hitting the road again and heading North.


We were determined to not spend too much time in the car but realised that most of the National parks and waterfalls were to the east and behind us and eventually we headed out to some waterfalls at a National Park. The main waterfall had seven levels but the disappointment was that the water was a bit dirty.
That night we headed on to Phrae with was a small town with the old city walls still standing. Unfortunately I was starting to feel a bit sick so another early night was enjoyed.










The following morning we decided to head for Chae Son National Park for some more waterfalls but also natural hot springs! It was a beautiful park with nice jungle around the waterfalls and I spent a good 45 minutes in and out of the hot mineral springs. As I had a bit of a cold i then had a fantastic Thai Massage before we jumped in the car and headed back south to Lampang. Lampang was a really cosmopolitan town and we had dinner at a pub with live music amongst trendy clothes shops. I had another early night as my throat was pretty sore. The next morning I decided to bite the bullet and try some antibiotics.

We visited Wat Phra That Lampang Luang which is the oldest wooden temple in Thailand and which felt really great. The Pagoda here is said to contain some of the Buddha's hair so again there were many pilgrims visiting. I also got interviewed by some Thai students studying English. From the Wat we headed up to Chang Mai (Thailand second city) and returned our hire car. It will be nice to stay in the same place for a night or 3 before we are thinking of hiring some small motorbikes and heading up north to Pai.

Kung Hei Fat Choi and another land of smiles

Happy Chinese New Year. I can't believe that now I'm in Thailand.. It was very hard to say goodbye to Cambodia - I can understand people forming relationships with that place.
I didn't like the 'feel' of Battambang much but we had a lazy day there and I rested and had a sauna and massage. From there we jumped in a car to Sissaphon which seemed like a pretty small town - we headed out almost straight away on the back of moto's to the temples which were about 60kms away. It was a long and very dusty ride. We bought cheap, used long sleeve t-shirts to wear and covered our heads in Krama's to try to keep the dust off and we very happy to be able to walk around for quite a while once we arrived at Banteay Chhmer.

It is a massive complex - probably similar size to the main temple at Angkor Wat.. There is a large wall around it and a moat, the temple itself is very run down and has been heavily looted but it is still magnificent and quite fun to climb around in.

We then jumped back on the moto's to visit another ruined complex nearby called Banteay Top .

This was much smaller, but the building's taller and some had wooden beams built in. It felt older and was more ruined than Chhmer. It was great to get out to these sites - particularly as we had them nearly all to ourselves!

After a night in Sissaphon we decided to hit Thailand. We took a car to the border and after having a quick bite (Thailand is so different to Cambodia!) we jumped on a bus to head north. It was a long, long day in the bus - we wanted to head to Ubon Ratchatani but when we got off we re-evaluated. We booked into a cheap hotel with the intention of catching an early train but over dinner that night I realised when Adam was talking to a local, that he thought that were going north and me east. We went down to the station and worked out that it was better to head north so we jumped on a train west not long after - with the intention of getting an overnight sleeper north later that night. When we arrived at the railway junction there was only one seat left on the train that night so we stayed in a nice hotel and got the early morning train to Udon Thani.

We travelled third class on the trains with the locals and its a fun way to meet some of them. We were constantly offered fruit and sweets! It was a long slow journey but from here we should be able to make our way north on local transport and see a bit of the countryside.

Culture and the countryside

It was back to Phnom Penh for some relaxing and enjoyment of the city. It does have a great feel and has come a long way in 7 years. Adam and I found a great massage place which we visited a few times and I spent the next 5 days just soaking up living in the city.
It was great to bump into my friend Berenice (French) on the street as she was arriving to stay in the same hotel . There were lots of cultural things to do and many were for free which says a lot about Phnom Penh's development.
Last Saturday we went to see a famous French Jazz musician (Louis Sclavis) play the clarinet, the soprano saxophone and the bass clarinet with a group of traditional Khmer musicians. It was a great experience and there was even an Aspara dancer who came on for a number of songs and did modern Aspara dancing to the music. After the show we had a delicious dinner with Monica and the wedding crew.
On Sunday we went to Khmer Boxing, (same as Thai Boxing) and that night we went to the Metahouse, which is an art gallery and restaurant/bar to watch a Wong Kar Wei movie (Chungking Express) at the rooftop bar which was great. We took Berenice to 'Friends' the restaurant that night and spent some time at Monica's before strolling home late through the quiet streets.
Monday I did some unexpected shopping and too much working out at the gym. Tuesday was pretty quiet although I did make back to the National Museum which was fantastic. It's quite small but there is some really great stuff in there.
Adam and I decided it was time to leave Phnom Pehn. It's a great town but I was being too social and drinking a bit much! So Wednesday we jumped on a bus to Battambang - Cambodia's second biggest city.
It is a really beautiful city with lots of old french colonial architecture and it is much more relaxed than Phnom Pehn. We spent the first day in the back of a tuk-tuk doing a tour of many of the local sites.

These included a ride on 'the bamboo train' of which there are actually very many. A local just builds a platform from wood and bamboo, and sticks it on some wheels on the railway track. It is an easy way to transport food and people between villages. We actually were going really fast and it felt a bit like a roller coaster but we stopped at a village and met some really nice locals - one of who showed me around a brick works they operate there.
We then went to Phnom Sampeau which is a large limestone mountain that suddenly sticks up out of the flat countryside. There were a number of new temples there as well as some left over Khmer Rouge cannons. We also visited the killing caves which were used by the Khmer Rouge during their reign and genocide.
From there we went to Phnom Banan and up the 358 steps to the temple that some say inspired Angkor Wat. You can definitely see the similarities although Phnom Banan is much smaller, I met a lovely young guide there who fanned me as I stopped for a breather on the way up. She also had some good knowledge of the temple as she lived in the village below.
After an early diner at Smokin Pot (A local restaurant that offers cooking classes) Adam and I jumped on a moto out to the Phare Ponleu Selpak centre. This is a centre for homeless and disadvantaged children and was really impressive. The buildings were great but much much better was the artwork that was produced by the children there. From the gallery we went out to a circus performance that was incredible. A mixture of juggling, diablo, acrobatics, interpretive dance, trapeze and live music was incredibly impressive. Many of the artists are going on to do international tours and I later found out that many of the musicians that I saw in Phnon Penh last Sunday came from this NGO as well.
As I have been living the life'' rather than being a tourist I have not taken many shots and I'm also having problems uploading them here in Battembang so apologies for not posting more. I have a bit of a flu again from too much partying and gym work in Phnom Pehn so are planning to slowly make my way to Thailand via Banteay Chhmer and Banteay Top. What to do for Chinese New year?? I'm sure it will be big in these parts!

Phnon Penh - Cambodge the land of weddings

Kampong Cham was a nice town to relax in for a day. Not too many westerners and it's always good to be by the Mekong. We ate a delicious Steam Boat/Hot Pot Khmer style and my dad will be happy that I also decided it was time to lose some hair. My haircut cost $1!
After a day relaxing I fare welled Imke and Martin and got on a bus to Phnon Penn.

Wow - what a city.. It's nice to be back somewhere I've been before but it also pretty different compared to 7 years ago. The country is developing fast! It has a great feel this city and I had another day or so to relax and soak it up before meeting Adam. I spent some time at the markets and wandering around and ate some yummy food and also visited one tourist site I hadn't been too before called Wat Phnon which was nice but I was reminded of the amount of children and amputees (Land mines) begging at tourist sites. You shouldn't give begging kids money so I made up for it by visiting a great restaurant called Friends, it is an organisation that is setup to help street children and the restaurant is staffed by young people from the street. There are pictures all around the restaurant of ex-staff in their new jobs in the better restaurants around town.

I met up with Adam who used to live in Phnon Penh for 3 years. He was back for a visit and a couple of weddings. Its funny - it must be wedding season in Cambodia because I have seen at least one, usually more, every day I have been here.
On Tuesday we met up with Monica (Canadian) who just got married (to a local Khmer) and some of her friends and we went on a boat cruise up the Mekong to "the silk island" - an island in the Mekong - where we saw some women working silk looms and had a bit of a look around. That night we went to a North Korean restaurant which was pretty cheesy! During our meal the young waitresses got up and sang and danced and played North Korean instruments - mostly really cheesy romantic songs. They actually were very good at what they did!

The following morning Adam and I hit the road to head down to a local village in the provinces, we hired small motorbikes (100cc) and drove for about 1.5 hrs. Unfortunately my bike was pretty bad and broke down but a mechanic had it fixed in no time for the fee of 50 cents!

We made it to the village we were headed and to the house of Peat - an old friend of Adams. Peat has been 51 for the last 8 years that Adam has known him and he used to ride a cyclo in Phnon Penh when they met. Adam had a new house built for Peat in his village 5 years ago and now Adam is treated like a prince by Peat and all his family and many of the people in the village. I was lucky enough to be asked by Adam to go with him to the wedding of one of Peat's nephews - Raksmey.




After meeting a Peat and his wife we then jumped back on the moto's for another 2 hours to the village where the wedding was - near the Vietnamese border.
We were treated like VIP guests and sat on the table with the grooms family. Apparently the grooms father is now famous because he had foreigners at his son's wedding! We ate delicious food and had a couple of drinks before we got back on the motos for the trip back to Peats village. The party apparently went all night but we left quite early as riding a moto after dark on the roads in Cambodia is pretty tiring ánd we tried unsuccessfully to make it before dark.

The following day we headed to a local pre-Ankorian temple with a Peats daughter and a few of her cousins from the village. We went to Phnomn Chisor which was pretty nice and visited all the many temples on top of this mountain. Peat told me later that Pol Pot used to live around this mountain during his time as leader, and apparently both the Americans and South Vietnamese had tried unsuccessfully to bomb the temple.






We drive back to the village were we were treated to a delicious lunch by Peats brother Pai and his lovely wife. The Khmers would not eat with us foreigners - Adam has asked them many, many times but they always wait until after we had finished. It is a bit strange to be watched by a group of people when you eat!
We decided to spend another night with Peat and his lovely family (his brother and sister both have houses next to Peat) and their children.. Most of their children (and grandchildren) were in the village as they had come from all around to go to the wedding. After another early night we jumped back on the moto's to go back to Phnon Penh for more of Monica's wedding festivities.

Holiday in Cambodia

Again it's been awhile but I'm sure everyone is on new years holiday in the west - so I am too! Don Det was great to get back too and I spent 7 nights there just relaxing and recovering from my biking adventure. I hooked up with a few of the gang from Xmas and of course we made new friends as they arrived on the island. I did a fair bit of reading in my hammock, ate well and had some fun with the different people that I met. Some girls in a local restaurant looked after me one night and asked me for dinner with them local style which was a great experience. We did one sunset cruise up the river where Mr Vixay - the guesthouse owner took us in his boat up the Mekong to a deserted beach for sunset.

Of course in the middle was new years eve which was pretty big on the island. I was having a great time but I think that I had too good a night the night before and around 11.15pm I was exhausted so I went for a quick rest and then woke up at 6am the next morning. I was a lot better off than most people on the island the next day!
My last night we walked across Don Det to another island Don Kong where there are waterfalls and large rapids in the Mekong river. We had a BBQ of Chicken and Duck which was delicious and brought a lot of comment from the local villages as we walked to the beach with them.
January 3 my Laos visa ran out so I had to leave the country and head down into Cambodia. I think that it was exactly 7 years to the day that I first came to Cambodia and I was excited to see much more of the country this time.
We got a bit of a shock at the price differences for buses at the border but I was travelling with Imke (German) and Marting (English) who I met on Don Det and we headed for Ban Lung - to the mountains in the north east of the country.

We arrived after dark and checked into the Lake View Lodge which is a former Governors residence and was huge!
The following day we hired 3 local guides to take us on the back of their mopeds to see the local sites.

We visited 3 waterfalls which were spectacular and Martin and I went Swimming at the 3rd one. After lunch at the Delicious Gecko restaurant we visited the volcanic crater lake which was also spectacular and great for swimming. Ban Lung is a very dark red color because large amounts of dust everywhere. We were pretty dirty but it was a great day. The following day we wandered around the town and took it pretty easy before taking a bus to Kratie the following morning (6am).
Back on the Mighty Mekong river we spent a day again on the back of Moto's having a look around at the local villages and sites . We visited a meditation retreat which was very peaceful and another Wat. There wasn't too much to do so we jumped on a bus the following morning for Kampong Cham.
It is a great town a - little bigger than the previous 2 towns and I really feel like I'm in Cambodia again. The people here are great and today we hired a Tuk- Tuk to get out and see the local area again.

We visited a Bamboo bridge that gets built every year in the dry season - before being washed away in the wet. We also went to a huge rubber plantation and out to the oldest Wooden Wat in Cambodia. It is around 150 years old and locals say that it has huge powers. Apparently the Amercians tried to bomb and destroy it but couldn't.
We also visited the local ancient temple from the Ankgor Wat days. It dates from the 10th Century and was really spectacular. I don't think I'll head up to Ankgor again this trip so it was nice to get a bit of a feel for the memory! I think I'll relax in Kampong Cham before heading down to Phnon Penn and meet up with Adam who was living here when I first visited 7 years ago. As an Ex-local who speaks Khmer it will be good to catch up and get a few ideas of where else to check out.