From Penang to Kota Bharu and Beyond

Penang is on the west coast of Malaysia and Kota Bharu is on the East coast, almost opposite each other. Rather than fly (which was all booked up anyway) we decided to take a coach which turned out to be one of life's really good decisions. The coach was one of those where you travel on the upper deck with the luggage, driver etc downstairs. We soon realised the front seat was free and bagged that for the whole of the journey. The seats were really comfortable with leg rests and reclining backs and there were only five passengers including us, real luxury. It was like being in a fish bowl with 180 degree vision and there was loads to see.
Coming out of Penang was like a different world to George Town, modern and clean, with commercial multi-story buildings and we even spotted a Tesco supermarket - don't they get everywhere? We were soon out of the town and I was expecting there to be small villages dotted along the roadside with the odd town along the way. As it was we had a journey of six and a half hours and went through one town, the rest of the scenery was empty forest and jungle interspersed on occasions with either rubber or oil palm plantations. There was evidence of logging as trucks were going along the road with huge tree trunks on the back but we didn't see any deforestation from the road, I think it is controlled in Malaysia, I hope so as the scenery is stunning.
I was very amused to see warning road signs with an elephant picture. Unfortunately we didn't see the elephants but the road sign was almost enough.
A few miles from Kota Bharu we encountered our first evidence of a large habitation, when we arrived here the town looked pretty average and that is just what it has turned out to be. Other than the people, who are so charming and friendly, there is very little to recommend it but also not a lot to say against it. We did not choose the best place to spend Christmas as there is very little going on and it is mainly Muslim town, so Christmas is not widely celebrated. We're staying in the only real hotel here and they do have a Christmas tree and a couple of decorations. I have to say that young Muslim women with a black head scarf and then a red santa hat complete with white fluffy trimming on top, do look rather strange.
On Christmas Eve we went to the restaurant for supper and heard carols being sung from the Foyer. We went downstairs to listen. I was feeling rather homesick and, at the end, when they all came up and shook our hands and wished us merry Christmas it was almost too much. Christmas day passed in a haze of Gin and chocolate and paper hats made out of the local paper, the Straits Times. It was the best way of coping we decided.
Kota Bharu is famous for the local hand made kites and every May they have an International kite flying festival. We have seen some flying over the town and they are indeed very special. So today we engaged a taxi driver who took us to find where the kites are made and when we found them they were irresistible. We are now the owners of a couple of large kites to take back to the UK - and they don't fold! I think we'll to take them to our next port of call, Singapore, and try to post them from there. Time will tell if this is a sound idea.
We also went to a factory selling Batik and woven goods where I have bought a skirt in silk for £10. Another bargain.
Our taxi driver was keen to take us to three temples at a nearbytown of Tumpat. One of these has the largest sleeping Buddha in Asia, it was huge. The next had the largest sitting Buddha, again enormous and the final one was the Dragon Temple which was actually really interesting with lots of Thai influences but built to look as if it is floating on a pool filled with gold fish, very clever.
This last temple was originaly built 400 years ago and has recently had significant restoration. It is interesting in that most of the temples we had seen to date have been in the region of 100 years old, not that old in the whole scheme of things.

Tuesday
Yesterday we had to force ourselves to do something as we were both suffering from a tummy upset, the first day we had both felt grim. We had decided that we wanted to visit one of the State Guest houses called Istana Batu. This had been built originally by the Sultan as a home for his daughter but is now a museum housing many of the possessions of the Sultan and his family. Fortunately it was both interesting and small so we were kept occupied with minds off tummies for a while. We were both relieved to return to the hotel for a light bowl of soup. It was soup in a large bread roll, unusual but delicious and just what we needed. Then it was time to pack our bags as we had an early start this morning for our train journey to Singapore.
We have decided we are not too good with time. Having been there for four days, it now appears that the clock in the hotel room was an hour fast and we hadn't noticed of course. That is the time we had been operating on since we'd arrived (rather de ja vu don't you think?). The result was that we were outside on the pavement at 5.00 this morning for a taxi booked for 6am!
Our train left Tumpat Station at 7am and we are on it now, thankfully with settled tums.
Tumpat is in the far north east of Malaysia near the Thai border. By the time we arrive in Singapore at 10pm tonight we will have travelled the whole of the length of Malaysia by train and what a journey this is. The main two thirds of the journey is called the "jungle railway" for the very good reason that it is right through the dense rainforest of the centre of Malaya. It is an unfenced single track line and so one has the feeling of really being in amongst the vegetation. For much of the way it follows the Sungai Kelantan, which is a large river draining the central highlands.
Apparently in the jungle there are tigers, monkeys, exotic birds and all manner of wild life. Unfortunately for us none were was lined up beside the track for our inspection but fortunately for them there are miles and miles of wonderful rainforest in which to hide. Hopefully it will stay that way but here are already some signs of clearance for the planting of oil palms. It is almost impossible to describe the variety and size of many of the trees, bamboos, bushes, ferns and creepers making up the forest. There were huge rocky outcrops covered in enormous trees, plants growing on the trunks of others, ferns encroaching on to the track. One was able to see how colonialists of old would have been reminded of home by the sheer 'green-ness' of Malaya.
We passed through some lovely little stations, I am unsure who they are there to serve as there is often little evidence of habitation. One station had banana trees growing along the back so if one were a little peckish you could just reach over and have yourself a snack. Another was on the edge of a village which was on one side of the track, on the other side you could see just how quickly the jungle would take over if left to its own devices as there was creeper everywhere; growing up through abandoned houses, along telegraph poles and obscuring the pathways.
The northern part of the jungle railway twists and turns through magnificent scenery, through forest that is truly impenetrable but even the latter part continued to be densely wooded and just a series of small towns and villages.

Now it is dark outside so I have the chance to catch up blogging and I shall post this when we reach Singapore... Just how exciting is that??

Sorry no photos too busy here!!

We have arrived in Penang, the heart of the World Heritage town of Georgetown. We are staying in the Feng Keng Hotel, a wonderful courtyard Residence which is one of the oldest buildings in the town. It has been renovated this year and upgraded, so it now has all the modern facilities that a traveller would expect today with the feeling and atmosphere of the original building. Yet again we are wonderfully fortunate with our choice of place to stay.
For me, Georgetown has not been the easiest place to be. It has been awarded World Heritage status because there is so much that is original about the town, some of the buildings are truly wonderful and there is something atmospheric about the decay in places. The other side of this is that there is also something rather dirty about it too, and dirt breeds rot and rot attracts vermin and there are those aplenty. The streets all have storm drains on either side, many of which are open. Street vendors use these for swept rubbish and also to throw away scraps and washing up water, just the sort of waste which is food for some. There are also many buildings which have fallen into significant disrepair and boarded up, again a haven for little animals! Enough said about all that, I am sure you have the picture.

The up-side of all of this is that the town is a photographers dream. Because of the damp humid atmosphere for much of the year, it is difficult to keep damp out of the walls of the buildings and the paint used has to be able to breath. So you get these wonderful colours of bright water wash paint which are thick and matt in texture. Our building for example is a bright terracotta colour, others are lapis lazuli blue and yet others green, yellow and peach. When renovated they are just beautiful. The streets are lined with shop-houses with arcade pavements in front. These are called 'Five foot ways' and apparently appear in Singapore and Malacca too. The design is attributed to Sir Stanford Raffles and designed in such a way as to protect the pedestrians from both the heat of the sun and the rain in the monsoon season. There is British influence in many of the buildings but also Chinese, Indian and Arabic too. Eventually I imagine most of the buildings will be renovated and some of the current atmosphere lost - but also some of those little critters. I'm torn which is the better!

While here we have returned to being culture vultures and have enjoyed walking round admiring many of the buildings. Fort Cornwallis, for instance, is a famous landmark. Little is left of the original fort other than a magazine and chapel but the perimeter wall and cannon placements are intact following some significant renovation. There is a clock tower nearby which was dedicated to Queen Victoria's Jubilee and the Government buildings around are all ex-colonial buildings.

It was when we visited the Christian cemetery that we fully realised the hardship that many of the early settlers here experienced. From what we could see, it would seem that if you lived to be 50 you were doing very well. There was a whole family who died of 'jungle fever', probably malaria, within days of each other, lots of women who died in their 20s, probably in childbirth, and inscriptions relating to very young children - all very sad. We did find the tomb of Francis Light who was the first Governor of the Island and credited with many positive works and developments in trade in the country.

Because of the mixture of religions and the many ethnic groups there are temples and churches everywhere. We have visited Chinese Buddhist temples, seen churches dedicated to just about every Christian sect you care to mention and are woken each morning by the call to prayer from the Mosque across the road. There have been inter-racial tensions in the past but now all seem to live together in tolerance and harmony.

The Botanical Gardens on the outskirts of the city are not to be missed. They are beautifully presented and the plants are just incredible. As you walk round you see things we grow at home as pot plants just growing rampant amongst the undergrowth. In the park there is a waterfall, which was first harnessed to provide drinking water by the British when they first colonised the area 200 years ago. At that time the waterfall would not have been in the middle of a well maintained garden but in the middle of the jungle. It was awe inspiring to think of the e

ngineering and imagination of these people to have achieved this. It is still in use today, albeit with equipment updated.

We had decided to have a reasonably early night on Sunday when we heard drumming and noises in the street outside. On investigation it turned out to be a parade in the street outside so we dashed down thinking we were going to miss it. In the event it went on for ages. There were floats with everything Christmassy you can imagine.

There were Chinese dragons dancing around and just opposite the hotel there is a Chinese meeting room so the dragons would do a special prancing dance in front of the building. The most spectacular part was between the floats there were groups of young men with a pole at least 20ft long with a long silk flag attached which denoted their club, work place or organisation. They would toss this pole into the air with the object of catching it on their head and balancing it there while walking along. As you may imagine, they were not always successful in this so it was a bit hairy at times but huge fun. I have no idea how many people took part in this but the parade lasted about an hour and there must have been at least 50 flag waving groups, at least 30 Chinese Dragons and goodness know how many floats, we were so fortunate in being at the right place at the right time, a fabulous experience.

We have taken to using the buses here which are plentiful, easy to access and inexpensive. Yesterday we went on a lovely journey to Teluk Bahang, round the north of the island following the coast much of the way. Many of the beaches are just perfect so there has been some serious development with holiday homes, hotels, and even a Hard Rock Hotel. Once past the developments, the scenery was beautiful and we had a great bus journey. At Teluk Bahang we visited a Batik factory to watch how it is done and were tempted to buy a few mementos.

We then went on to a tropical butterfly farm. I was unsure what to expect, I was amazed by the variety, size and number of tropical species they were breeding in such a closed environment.

Walking through the butterfly house, we were surrounded by all these brightly coloured exotic creatures it was just stunning.

There are two very famous mansions in Georgetown: the Cheong Fatt Tze mansion is now an hotel and you can have guided tours round the reception rooms (and peek into one of the bedrooms) very beautiful but also very expensive. The other is the Penang Peranakan Mansion, smaller but all is open to the public. It is a super way to see inside the homes of the famous Chinese traders of the time and how they lived. All very opulent and interesting to see the British influences, like the cast iron pillars from Glasgow and the floor tiles that were pointed out as being from Stoke on Trent. The Chinese Feng Shui philosophy pervades all the overall design. It is surprising how well the two harmonise.

Tomorrow we are taking a bus across country to the other side of Malaysia. To Kota Bahru, where we are going to spend Christmas. It will be strange to be away from home for the festive period, as this part of Malaysia is very Moslem I doubt we will have much festive cheer so the bottle of Gin in my baggage will have to see us through!! Happy Christmas to you all.

We are on the ferry from Langkawi to Penang so it seemed a good time to start this episode of the blog.



It is as I write things like that when I realise just how lucky we are to be doing what we are doing and to experience all the wonderful things we are experiencing. Langkawi was just special and made particularly special by the place we stayed. When we were looking for somewhere on the Island we were rather disillusioned: the accommodation was either expensive, which looked rather plush (and out of our budget range), or inexpensive, which just looked rather sad. We very nearly decided to give the place a miss when I received a reply from Farina. I had sent an email enquiry to her at Sari Villas but though her initial response was that they were full, she then sent a further message saying they had a studio flat which was available. We decided to take the chance and weren't disappointed, it was magical.



The Villas are arranged on a hillside facing the sea, all with wonderful views and above a private beach. The road in comes over the hill to a carpark by the uppermost villa. There are steps down through the villas, by the swimming pool at the bottom to our apartment in the lowest villa.

We had a large room divided into a sleeping and sitting area. Our bed was raised up to hip height with storage space under and the mattress on the surface, which continued along the room as a shelf for the TV and fridge. We had a sofa which could sleep an extra person, a TV, and an outside kitchenette. A lovely shower/wet room completed the facilities. The best part was that two walls were sliding glass doors overlooking rainforest coming up from the sea and completely private, no curtains needed. These glass doors slid right back so it was like living in the jungle. All this was set in beautiful gardens with sweet smelling shrubs, the wildlife included very lively squirrels and monkeys which we occasionally saw swinging through the trees and noisy hornbills making their presence known. There was a shared pool but with only half a dozen villas it was really quiet. We would have loved to have stayed longer it was so special. We are now very fit having negotiated the many steps up and down to the car park, those steps would deter the faint hearted but yours truly regarded them as our daily challenge!

Langkawi itself is a strange mixture, all the mountainous middle of the island is natural rainforest, the agricultural flatlands are either rice or rubber tree plantations but the coastal strip, where some of the beaches are good, is quite developed. What stops it feeling too developed is that the government have banned any building higher than a palm tree so everything is low rise. There are lots of restaurants selling sea food but none seem very busy and parts of the island feel run down. We were speculating as to why this may be and think that part of the reason could be the move to all-inclusive holidays in resort hotels which rather spoil the variety of eating and entertainment on offer elsewhere. Another anomaly is that it is a duty-free island so there were several stores just selling the sort of stuff you would get in an airport departure lounge, a bit odd that.

For the first time on our trip we rented a car, a £25 a day bargain. Where we stayed it was essential to have transport as the villas were some way along their private road and on the backside of a hill (if one may put it like that?) away from the town. The roads are wonderfully quiet, very few cars outside the main town , even there it is a bit like small town England. It is also wonderfully familiar as they drive on the left, like at home. The car did give us the chance to explore the Island and we took full advantage. We went up Benung Raya mountain, the highest point on the Island where there are amazing views across to other islands, into Thailand and down into Malaysia. On the way up the twisty road through the forest we joked about Starbucks and, remarkably, at the top there is in fact an hotel with a tower, which you can ascend to receive the optimum view and a complementary cup of black coffee.

We also visited the Temurun waterfall, an amazing drop but not quite as pictuesque as the one in Luang Prebang. We went to a wildlife park, on reflection a rather sad place really but it was an opportunity to get a close up view of some of the island wild life.

Some of the bays and beaches were quite picturesque, the views out to sea near us looked a bit like a mini Halong Bay but instead of limestone outcrops these rocks are granite. Just driving around visiting the beaches, doing a bit of beach combing and taking time to recharge our batteries was an absolute treat.

With more time in this region it would be good to do a bit of Island hopping as there are many islands and I understand that the snorkling is good off Pulau Payar Island. It is a great place for a holiday if you are looking for sun sea sand and loads of sea food, what more could you want?

Luang Preband to Bangkok

Our last day in Luang Prabang and we were wondering what to do. We had seen a trip to the Kuang Si waterfalls advertised and were uncertain about this but decided to give it a go. We had a rather charming but cheeky driver who really needed to spend a bit of money on his tuc-tuc as it belched oily smoke for the whole journey.
When we arrived at the Falls we found there were two ways in and we opted for the paved road, leaving the forest trail for our return. Our first impression was of a very well maintained park (a bit of a surprise) with lots of wonderful plants and trees many with identification labels. The falls themselves were magnificent, the water tumbling from at least 200 feet into a pool, in turn channeled over a small weir into further pools. There are steps to the top of the falls and we did start the climb; the first half was OK but it then turned into an almost vertical sandy climb and a bit too much of a challenge for us.
The walk back through the forest was amazing. We thought that the water would flow away into a river but it cascaded down from pool to pool. As we approached the bottom, the pools became safe enough for swimming and small changing rooms were provided which looked a bit like static Victorian bathing machines. Needless to say, the only ones in the water were young backpackers and some hardy elderly Germans! Yours truly did not have our bathers with us so we were spared that experience.

Overall it was a lovely day and a real surprise in its beauty, not to be missed if you visit the area. Luang Prabang and Laos as a whole is definitely not to be missed, I am sure we will come back.It was with considerable regret that we left for Thailand.
The next day we flew to Bangkok, uneventfully I am pleased to say, and landing there is like arrival in a different world. Suddenly we were back in the 21st century. It was only once here that we realised how, for the last few weeks, we had been immersed in an series of undeveloped countries where the motor bike is king rather than the car and where there is a real lack of amenities which we take for granted in the West. Bangkok is a total series of assaults on your senses. It is both beautiful and seedy at the same time. It is affluent and yet teeming with poverty. Organised but also chaotic. Exciting but at the same time you can't wait to leave. I can't quite make up my mind if I like it or not. We have had some amazing experiences here and are staying in the most stylish hotel, with a bed so comfortable it feels it has a magnet attached it is so it is impossible to get out and where the staff are just lovely. Part of me thinks I would be happy just staying in the hotel!
On our first day we had a private guided tour of the city which was sold to us on arrival at the airport. This turned out to be a really good deal, we had a guide and a driver for the day who took us to the spectacular major temple in the City, Wat Phra Khaw. The external decoration is so detailed, mostly porcelain flowers in relief and just hundreds of them in all colours. The Temple complex is vast, with tombs of the first five Kings of Thailand. We saw the Jade Buddha, the gold Buddha (made from solid gold) and the reclining Buddha which was 150 feet long. Listening to all the information and taking in the visual impact of such a large and ornate place was overwhelming at times. I think it is one of those places where you need to make more than one visit to really appreciate all the buildings. We also visited a new Temple complex which has been built to house this enormous standing Buddha, the staue is so large it had to be craned into this enormous temple which has been specifically built for the purpose. The hand painting and decoration was all rather splendid and very ornate, very Thai. In the afternoon we visited the Palace, which is absolutely beautiful. The museum within the Palace, houses much of the royal collection and tells the story and history of Thailand through the King's ancestors and through the jewellery, weaponry and artifacts. By the end of the day we were exhausted and cultured out.
Talking of exhausting but memorable days, yesterday we took a tour to the floating market where women and men sold their wares from canoes and from stalls along the canal. We were rowed along the canals with the opportunity to stop and buy souvenirs, food ,fruit and other titbits. There were parts of it which felt rather tacky but also some parts which were great, particularly the little coconut cakes we purchased from one of the stalls - delicious.
On the way to the floating market we had stopped off to see some elephants who were apparently working elephants, normally involved in log moving but as it was the weekend it was their day off. We enjoyed ourselves feeding bananas to a young one.
After the market we saw a 'show' of snakes. Something which on reflection I would rather have missed. It is not that I have a strong attachment to snakes but some of the things they were doing seemed unkind and at worse cruel, not the best experience.
However, the highlight of the day for me was the visit to the river Kwai. We walked over the bridge with the tune from the film playing continuously in my head and I kept a look out for Alec Guinness but he was nowhere around! It was amazingly atmospheric and rather poignant when you read about the death and suffering the caused to so many by its building.
Finally we then travelled to a Tiger Temple. This is a very old temple which some years ago took in a couple of orphaned Tiger cubs, following the mother being killed by poachers. The monks raised the cubs to adulthood and have subsequently taken in further young cubs. These tigers are all now fully grown and range from very young animals to those aged over 8 years or so; all having been habituated to humans. With the guidance of one of the staff you could walk amongst the tigers, pat them and even tickle their tummy. It was quite an experience. Also in the temple grounds they had other animals all roaming wild. Horses, cattle, buffalo, pigs, camels and deer, all just wandering around. It was all most odd, especially, being told on arrival to beware the other animals as they were dangerous - the only animals we could touch were the tigers!
Since being in Bangkok we have been to some splendid places. Perhaps the most beautiful was today when we went to the largest teak building in the world, the beautiful Vimanmek Mansion in the Dusit Palace, which is one of the old royal palaces. Built about 100 years ago for King Rama V, it is a must if you come here.
But tomorrow we leave and Bangkok itself has left me feeling rather disenchanted with the country. It seems to me that the reputation the city has for sex tourism is well earned and there is something distasteful about many of the men who come here which has had a very negative impact on me. Unfortunately, it makes one view everyone with an element of suspicion and cynicism which rather taints the experience of being here. However, on reflection, I would want to come back to Thailand sometime as there is so much beauty here and I think it is wrong to judge a place by one city.
Tomorrow we are off to the island of Langkawi in Malaysia, apparently a very wonderful place and of Rick Stein fame for food. I am really looking forward to that.

Luang Prebang to The Plain of Jars

I have so much to write I am unsure where to begin. I will start with Sunday morning.

Not being deaf, John and I must be heavy sleepers because when our 6am alarm woke us we could hear laughing and chatter in the road outside. Emerging onto our balcony (we are on the first floor), we found the pavement below full of people sat on mats; local residents waiting for the Buddhist Monks to come past for their food donations. When they arrived there must have been 200 saffron clad monks filing past, seniors first and juniors in the rear, it was quite a sight. Apparently it's a daily event to which we had been totally oblivious - shows we have clear consciences!
The reason we were up so early was that we had booked a car to take us to Phonsavan to visit the Plain Of Jars. We knew it to be a seven hour drive and decided to do it in reasonable comfort and overnight in Phonsavan before returning. What a good decision this was.
The journey was amazing in so many ways. Perhaps one of the unforeseen benefits was having a glimps of life outside of the cities Vientiane and Luang Prebang. Had these been the only two places visited here we would have left Laos with an incomplete picture of its life.
Once outside the main town of Luang Prebang (which is so beautiful) you see life as it is led by the vast majority of people and this is really quite poor. A basic house is made from what looks like panels of woven bamboo strips and with a roof thatched with the leaves of Pampas Grass. Some houses are walled with wooden boards and just a few from rendered brick but the great majority were of the simplest construction.
The parts of Laos which we have seen have been sparsely populated and this was reinforced on the journey.
To say the journey was amazing is not to do it justice. For seven hours we travelled roads so winding that to find a straight run of about 50 yards was impossible, we have crossed over mountains so high as to make your ears pop and from where the views from both sides of the car were into wooded valleys so deep it was difficult to see the bottom. When we set off it was an overcast morning but we climbed through the clouds and, for much of the journey, looked down on them ... it was unspeakable incredible.
Dotted along this road were tiny villages of a dozen or so houses all with their frontage right on to the road so every domestic chore was performed for all to witness. We saw women cooking, washing clothes, children naked queuing up at the communal water source to be bathed, babies being bathed in washing up bowls, people washing their hair, men bathing in their underpants and women bathing in their sarongs, it was all there to see. The children played in the dust, often frighteningly close to he traffic, even toddlers who could barely walk would wander into the road. There were cows, water buffalo, goats, pigs no larger than a small dog, dogs and cats just using the road and the habitation as one. There were chickens who must be the super models of all chickens with the longest legs, sleekest bodies and shiniest plumage who played 'chicken' with the traffic (I had wondered where the expression came from, now I know). Children who have little can be very inventive. In one place we saw children on a wooden wheeled sledge whizzing down a dirt hill towards the road - amazing fun but hugely dangerous.

The visual impact of all this was enhanced by the scenery of valleys and mountains covered in trees. The roadside lined with white and silvery pink pampas grass, a humble dwelling made chocolate box perfect by a swathe of cerise bouganvillea. Bushes of marigolds glowing orange in the sun, wild Poinsettia bushes taller than me; yellow daisies on tall stems which looked like they had been transported from an English cottage garden and new bamboo shoots reaching the sky like redundant fishing poles. To add to the picture there was the inevitable washing drying in the sun alongside mats of rice and bright crimson chillies, it was incredible.

At Phou Khong, about midway, we stopped for a short break. The street food market had the usual array of tropical fruit & veg and suspect cooked meats. We were, however, a bit shocked to discover one stall selling hundreds of dead bats, all so tiny it seemed such a waste when they were barely a mouthful. Another with the corpse of a kind of bush-baby, not good.
After this assault on our senses we arrived in Phonsavan, a bit of a one horse town where the sole reason for its existance seems to be servicing the visitors to the Plain of Jars. There are many locations of Jars but three main sites for visitors. We went straight to Site 1 the main site. You are probable aware that the Viet Cong were very active in the North of Laos (the border is very near) and Laos came in for a huge amount of bombing by the Americans, the Plain of Jars was heavily used as part of the Ho Chi Minh trail so this area was extensively bombed. Trails have been cleared of unexploded ordnance and are clearly marked, needless to say we stuck to these paths. There are large bomb craters all over the place and trenches used by the Viet Cong. Then there are the Jars. Site 1 has a 250 jars with about 100 in a group in large clearing. They range from one as large as about 7ft tall to a small one of about 1ft. As some are sunk in the ground it is difficult to say exactly how large they are. Archeologists are of the opinion that they were used as burial containers and it would be difficult to see that they could be used for any other purpose.

There is always something strange, and rather moving, touching something made by people who lived and toiled two thousand years ago. It is one of those experiences where if time travel was possible I would like to travel back to see just how they were made and used. Walking around the site and up the hill to where more Jars were located gave one a sense of wonder at how anyone could move such huge pieces of stone with equipment we have today let alone 2000 years ago.
We then checked into our Guest House for the night, sufficient to say it was adequate and John clearly has a more robust constitution than me as he ate my dinner as well as his own!
The following morning, our driver collected us early and took us to Site 2, even better than Site 1. As it is several miles along a rough dirt road, it was more difficult to get to but oh so worth it. We were the only ones there and the morning mist was still in the air as we walked up the hill to the main group of Jars. They were quite ethereal as they emerged from the gloom of the fog, gathered together under and around a large tree which seemed to add to the mystery and atmosphere of our visit. Many of the Jars were remarkably well preserved and I have to confess to a strange urge to get inside one of them. This I resisted as it seemed to be irreverent in a way - but I was also concerned I wouldn't be able to get out again.

The whole experience was something I shall always remember and treasure.

Luang Prebang

Our journey to Luang Prabang was uneventful, the flight was short, on time and with a delicious snack of freeze dried fruit, really tasty. Entertainment was provided by the in-flight magazine, issue number one, which hadn't been proof-read very well and had some wonderful errors.

We had booked out Guest House in advance and first impressions were just about OK. It is in a quiet side street in the centre of the town and so the location is just perfect. However, whilst relatively new, it is suffering from a lack of maintainance so some things do feel a bit three legged. For the first time we have a bit of spring in the mattress which is something of a relief. Breakfast is fruit, fruit juice, french bread and eggs cooked how you want them, perfectly fine. Yesterday I had an omelette so today I thought I would have scrambled eggs for a change. When it arrived it was just an omelette as yesterday but chopped up. I thought it highly amusing but also summed up the place.

I have restrained myself in describing Luang Prabang; that is because in many ways words fail me as it is so wonderfully beautiful. The whole town is a world heritage site and it is obvious why this should be. The buildings have a destinct French feel to them with big shutters and french doors on just about every building. The streets are quiet and many are lined with trees of all sizes and types. Bouganvillea and frangipani are everywhere.

The town is located in the junction of two rivers the Mekong and the Nam Khan. The rivers clearly swell at times so the banks are deep and quite steep in places and the riverbanks are just lovely with terraces and trees growing down to the waters edge. There is always some activity: people fishing, children bathing, small boats floating along, it is quite quite beautiful. Along the pavements there are restaurants, cafes and guest houses but there are also ordinary homes too, with everyone going about their daily business. This stops the town feeling like a museum and makes it feel real and a wonderful place to live. I know I keep saying this but... we love it here.

Around the town there is a profusion of historic Wats, many shabby and falling into disrepair which is terribly sad. Wat Xieng Thong, the oldest in the town, has a series of buildings around a courtyard. The outer walls of two of them have the unusual decoration of village scenes, all picked out in mosaic of mirror glass and each telling a story of village life. There is everything, from harvesting of rice to dancing scenes to justice and even a beheading. I could have spent ages there just trying to unravel all the activities shown. In the market I had seen handicrafts with these scenes embroidered on them but it wasn't until I saw the buildings that I realised the significance of this embroidery.

Talking of markets this has to be a shoppers paradise for silk, fabrics, handicrafts, bags and just about anything girly you care to mention. I have no idea how all the vendors manage to make a living as there are hundreds of them all lined up for the very large night market. The stuff is irresistable and I am going to have to ditch some clothes to compensate for the additional weight in scarves alone. A typical price for a scarf is about two or three pounds, just crazy. As I walk through I think how my friends would just love this.

Last night we ate in the market, it was with a bit of trepidation I have to say as hygiene appears not high on the agenda. You queue up at your chosen stall with either a large or small plate and help yourself from the various dishes of noodles, rice, vegetables and other things which I didn't have a clue what they were. Once you get to the front of the queue, you hand your plate to a lady who tips the lot into an electric wok to be reheated. I think if she has a long queue it doesn't get as long in the wok as it would if she was quiet. You then choose either fish or meat from the barbeque, pay and then find a seat at one of the bench tables along the opposite wall. We had two enormous plates full, some chicken and a whole fish, John had a large beer, all for £5 - my tum is fine today!

We had booked to go to the Pac Ou caves today which is about an hours journey from the town. We traveled there in the back of a truck, we do seem to have adopted this form of transport. As you are all currently knee deep in snow, I understand, I feel a bit guilty saying this but the journey there was quite chilly. I should have put on my cardy as first thing in the morning can be a bit fresh! Anyway, the truck took as far as the river and you then get a boat across to the caves, it was all very picturesque. The caves are famous here for the number of statues of the Buddha which were found there and for the fact that people continue to bring more statues so there are now about 3000 Buddhas.

There also seem to be about 3000 steps of varying shapes and sizes. There are two caves, lower and upper: the lower is itself up a flight of steep steps and the upper ... well, it was a feat of fitness to get to the top. We took frequent rests as we were sure that having a heart attack there meant certain demise! I think that some people might have found the trip a bit of a non event but for me it was great; it was the only time I have been into a deep unlit cave with just a torch and with only John and I in there, it was an unmissable experience.

When we got back across the river we stopped at some roadside vendors and had fresh coconut juice. The coconuts were then split for us to eat the flesh too, yummy.

OK I also bought another couple of scarves, one can never have too many!

More from Luang Prebang and Laos later.

Vientiene Laos

Our plane was delayed in Phnom Penh so we did not arrive in Vientiane until it was dark. Our first taste of Laos was getting a taxi at the airport. Our experience so far has been that you emerge from a terminal with a $ sign on your forehead, you are seen as easy bait and the negotiations start from there. We came out prepared for this and... there was nothing, no taxi, no tuc tuc drivers, nothing. We then realised you have to go back inside to book and pay for the taxi first. There is a fixed price for the trip into town regardless of where your hotel is - what a change. This sense of order has, in many ways, continued.

The roads here are not so crowded and much to our surprise some people do use their indicators and they also obey the traffic lights. There seems to be an understanding, too, that the traffic keeps to one side of the road rather than just taking to the piece of road ( or pavement! ) with the fewest vehicles. We actually felt that we could hire a car here and drive comfortably, not a feeling we have felt anywhere else.

I know I have bored you by saying we 'love this place' before. Well we really really love Vientiane. Before we came we had read that a couple of days here is enough so that is all we have booked in for. We deeply regret this as this last two days has been so interesting and rewarding.

Yesterday we took our 'Lonely Planet' guide and started one of the suggested walks. First stop, the local market. The interesting bit is always the food section and this was no exception. To see all the meat laid out is enough to confirm my vegetarianism and to enhance John's love of a pork chop. However, even the committed carnivore did draw the line at the sight of this very large bowl full of hundreds of live toads which were destined for the dinner table!

We visited two of the Wats near to the hotel: That Dam and Wat That Fume. We did not stay long at the latter as there was a funeral taking place, the mother of a Governement minister apparently and we felt we were intruding.


We then wandered up the road to the monument Patuxai, which means Arch of Victory. It was built in the late 50's and has a strong resemblance to the Arc De Triumph, with an oriental flavour. It commemorates those who died in the independence struggle with France - strange then that it should be modelled on one of the most famous Parisian landmarks. If you were feeling energetic you could climb to the top, we decided on a leisurely lunch at a pavement cafe instead.

With regard to the above I should point out that French is the second language here and the city does have a French feel. Lots of old colonial buildings line the streets and the Presidential palace is a rather grand chateau. There are good cafes and restaurants, many of them tucked away in secluded locations where it is a pleasure to eat.

Yesterday evening we ate at one of the open air street restaurants and took a stroll along the riverside where the handicrafts and mementos on sale - just irresistable and so cheap.

This morning was more sightseeing, the Palace, a museum and another Wat.

This afternoon we've had a real treat and visited a silk weaving and dyeing workshop. This workshop trains women from the villages who have not had the benefit of education so have no trade. After several months they can master the basics and work up to be really skilled weavers. Initial training is free and once they are competent they are paid a wage. If they have very young children they bring them along to work, there was a ten month old little girl asleep on the floor at the side of her mother's loom, later I saw several on the women sat on the floor playing with the children, it all felt just so right for everyone.

To get there, they came and collected us from our hotel in a lorry, in which we had to sit on benches in the back. The worksop was a good 20 minutes drive from town and along an unmade road, a very jiggly experience. Only John and I were there, so we had a private guided tour and saw the women weaving the most intricate patterns on ancient manual looms. We were shown how the silk is dyed prior to being woven and then were given our own raw silk scarves to dye ourselves. I was hoping that John would have a go too and he did and really enjoyed it. We made two scarves each which, for a modest sum, we have kept. We are both very proud of our efforts.

It is with regret that we leave Vientiane tomorrow and travel to Luang Prabang. If you are thinking of coming to Laos I would suggest you do it soon. Tourism here is not well developed and so many of the things we have found so annoying in other cities are largely absent. Not once have I been asked to buy post cards, I haven't been bothered by anyone trying to sell things, and the cost of things for sale is very reasonable. Vientianne is highly recommended.

Sihanoukville Cambodia

We are in Sihanoukville and have been for the last three days, today is our last day here. I know I have said it before but we love it here! We are having a particularly lazy few days, there are quite a few things we could be doing and we decided it was time just to recharge batteries.
To give you a picture, I am sat on the small veranda of our beach side bungalow, I am in a circular cane chair which is padded and very comfortable. If I wanted to I could climb into the hammock which is by my side but this would make doing the blog quite difficult. Our veranda overlooks the garden and the sea, In front of me is a large fan palm, some coconut palms, a pink hibiscus and an aloe vera type plant and through all this foliage I can see the sea.
The bungalows are all built up a hillside so everyone has a perfect view. The accommodation has its own bathroom, is built from wood, is pretty basic, and very rustic - but then so is the price of £20 a night for us both. I think they make up their money on the food, which is quite pricy for here at about £3 each. We were just saying we have been in South East Asia too long as we are starting to think that is expensive!
We have just been for breakfast in the dining area by the sea, I had fruit salad and yogurt, perfect. (John had a full English, you can't change a man overnight). The other guests are the usual mix of Europeans and Americans but all are friendly and fun. I think we are the oldest ones here.
Yesterday we broke our pledge of just lazing around and reading books and went out on a boat to the Islands which are about two or three miles away. There were six of us in the boat, us and two German couples who were really chatty and nice. (I am amazed at the good level of English spoken by all the non-English people we meet, I can't think that we have ever been in the company of anyone who did not have a decent grasp of English.) We had an excellent day on the boat and spent some time snorkling around two of the islands. The snorkling was good but not brilliant, there were some lovely corals but also some which had been badly broken, I don't think the boat owners take a lot of care when they drop their anchors as I think these do quite a bit of damage. John also thinks that they may have been using explosives to stun the fish to make them easy to catch, this too has caused damage. The fish were few but lovely, I think I was spoiled for snorkling in Oman where the fish and coral are plentiful.
We landed on Bamboo Island, the boat driver said it should be called 'No Bamboo Island' as there actually isn't any bamboo, seems logical to me. We lazed on the beach and had a swim then climbed back on the boat and had a delicious lunch of fish and salad and french bread with fruit salad for pudding, it was just lovely.
I just mentioned climbing back on the boat, well, that is exactly what you had to do. When we were going out towards the Islands I had scanned around the decks looking for a ladder as I could see that there was quite a drop into the water. I had asked to John if he had seen one, as the eternal optimist he said he felt sure there was one. The first time we stopped and the snorkeling equipment was handed out, I casually asked if there was a ladder. Of course there wasn't but I was assured that there were ledges along the side of the boat to help you get in. Ever the pessimist, or should I say realist, I didn't believe this and getting into the water was difficult enough.
All the time we were snorkeling I kept thinking of how I was going to get back in the boat. With dread we approached the boat and, to my horror, I saw the others were already on board - I was at least hoping I could be undignified in private. My first attempt to lift my leg to my shoulder height to get a grip on this so called ledge failed miserably and my suggestion that they tow me along was not taken seriously, although I was deadly serious. After a series of contortions that Houdini would have been proud of I eventually landed on the deck like a dead fish being slapped on a plate. This manouevre was repeated on three occasions during the day. You would have thought my technique would have improved but in fact the last attempt was the worst. I am just pleased there was nobody in the water viewing me from behind! Just as a footnote the other two women on board were in their late 20's with bodies to die for, I think you get the picture.
Tomorrow we are off to Laos. So we leave here early in the morning to go the Phnom Penh airport to fly to Vientiane which is the Laos capital so more blog from there later.

Phnomn Penh and the Boat Festival

We arrived back in Phnom Penh from Siem Reap and are staying at the Manor House again. We really like it here, at the moment I am sat by the pool with a gin and tonic, with the scent of Frangipani in the air writing this blog, life doesn't get much better than this. But I suppose I am going to have to tell you about the water festival so I shall make a start.

We spent the whole of Saturday at the river side watching the start of the festival. We were fortunate, as there is a pavilion for non-Cambodians which is run by the department of tourism, all very civilised for us. The pavilion is right next the King's Royal Enclosure so, as you can imagine, the view is terrific.

Day one is the day for eliminations to see who goes into the next round, consequently we saw all the boats and all the crews. There were 423 boats with an average of 50 rowers to each boat (that is more than 20,000 rowers!). The boats are dragon boats holding up to about 80, mostly rowers but there is a chap who sits on the front and seems to be the stroke master, but he gets so excited there is no way any of the rowers could keep up with his time. There is also someone in the middle who bails out all the time and is obviously crucial to the success of the whole enterprise. Finally, the chaps at the back are the ones who steer the boat, one or two of them getting so involved in winning that they started rowing too, often resulting in chaos. Keeping 70 or so people rowing at the same pace must be difficult and where some of the crews lost their rhythm the boats were starting to flex in the middle and looked quite unstable. There was an interesting pattern of placement within the boat. As a general rule the first third sat down to row, the second third knelt and the final third stood up. There were a few boats where they all the rowers were standing, facing forward, using oars on what resembled a platform. It all looked most unstable as the boats had a very little clearance above the water. I think these boats must have been in a different strand of the competition but it was difficut to tell.

All the boats were highly decorated, usually with some sort of serpent or dragon. The crews, too, were colour coordinated: there were blues, greens, oranges, reds, pinks, infact all the colours of the rainbow - quite a sight.

The boats raced in pairs and the finishing post was between two canoes, moored to buoys, in which judges sat with a large drum in front of them. Each boat was bonged in on the drums as they crossed the line. All very high tech.

In the evening the King took his place and switched on the illuminated floats which came up the river. These floats depicted his coat of arms and the emblems of all the Ministries. Once these were underway there was an amazing firework display. What an incredible experience.

After all this we had to walk back to the hotel; not easy as the crowds were immense and it was difficult to move. Astonishingly, amongst the pedestrians, shuffling along shoulder to shoulder, were motorcyclists beeping and trying to make their way.

Apparently the population of Phnom Penh is swelled by a million during the time of the festival. I can well believe this, We encountered them all that night, or thought we had.

When I got this far with the blog I saved what I had written, intending to write more today.

You may have heard on the news that there was a dreadful incident at the end of the final day, Monday, when over 300 died and many were injured. Fortunately, we had decided not to go out that evening, as the day before the crowds had been so dense and it did feel unsafe. This sad event has rather taken the joy out of what was an amazing experience, I hope the following

pictures give you a flavour of the event in the first two days.

Lake Tonle Sap

To give ourselves a bit of a change from temples we decided to take a trip out to Lake Tonle Sap. This is the largest Lake in Cambodia and could be likened to a huge reservoir of water for the Mekong. We had heard that it was well worth a visit so off we went.

I have already mentioned Hat, our Tuc Tuc driver. Well, he was keen to have as much time as possible with us (there is fierce competition amongst the drivers and several days can go by without a fare). He told us that he would take us in his Tuc Tuc. If you have ever travelled for two or three hours in a Tuc Tuc you will be able to imagine how wind-swept we were on arrival. It was a great adventure though, because you are open to the elements and travelling at quite a slow pace you get to see everything. We stopped and watched the harvesting of rice; stopped to buy tubes of bamboo stuffed with sticky rice, black beans and coconut juice, and then barbequed (scrummy); we brought sweets made at the roadside from palm sugar and just watched the world go by, it was fabulous.

It was amazing to watch the traffic go by and to see the strangest things on the back of motorbikes. We saw several bikes going in the opposite direction with really strange looking loads. It was only on closer inspection we realised that on the pillion seat, cross-wise, was a live pig, trussed up and lying on its back being taken to market I presume. When we saw this we thought we had just about seen it all until we saw one bike with three trussed up pigs on the back. Unfortunately we did not get a photo of the trio but we did of the one pig.

We saw trucks piled high with people going into town, flat bed carts being towed by rotavators and carts being pulled by buffalo, there were cows everywhere, it was a real experience.

When we arrived at the lake, a couple of tourist buses were just decanting their loads on to boats. Not the easy way for the Pointons - we were led to 'our own boat', and had a private tour of the lake. No luxury yacht, John kept looking at the steering mechanism of the boat, which had an old car steering wheel and a couple of ropes coming from either side of the rudder at the stern to the front, where there were a couple of turns around the steering column. There was another slack piece of rope tied to a bracket by the steering wheel which disappeared into a box at the stern. This was the throttle; driver rested his foot on it to take up the slack and pressed to go faster. All very high tech!!

The floating villages on the lake were extensive, all built on very high stilts and about ten foot clear of the water. They have to be built this high as the lake can swell dramatically in the wet season. Some of the houses looked quite affluent and others quite poor. What was very noticeable was the lack of rubbish in the water, clearly relying on the water for their livelihood has led them to respect this environment, I can't remember seeing one piece of plastic or paper or detritus of any sort.

Our boat took us past a school which was supported by the State of Carolina in the USA, there was also a US aid building, and a school run by Buddist Monks. We landed on an Island which has a small market and a Buddist temple. As we approached the Island it was obviously time for the primary children to go home. All these children got into boats to go home, there was no adult to take them, no life jackets, just half a dozen of them in the boat all rowing off to their homes, perhaps we don't give our own children enough freedom and responsibility.

Hat was very good and told us about the different people who populate the river, some were from Cambodia and had worked the river for generations, others were locals who picked up work when ever they could and some were from Vietnam who came on a seasonal basis to catch fish. We had a great day and then had our journey back to town in the Tuc Tuc again ...I loved it

Angkor Wat and the temples

I have seen photos of Angkor Wat so had some idea of what I was going to see but no picture can prepare you for the reality. Adjectives to describe the experience, the beauty and sheer scale of things are lacking but I will do my best.

To start with, our Tuc Tuc driver, Hat, said the best time to see Angkor Wat was first thing in the morning so I was mentally preparing myself for an early start of about 8am, well it is a holiday! The reality was somewhat different, he said he would pick us up at 5.15 to see the sunrise over the temple. After doing a quick rethink we agreed this was a good idea. It really was amazing. Crossing the moat to get to the main gate was an experience alone, the moat was the size of a small lake and the first of what we kept remarking on as extreme engineering.

Despite there being several hundred other stalwarts who had also got up at this ungodly hour, it was peaceful and serene and a magical experience. Overnight it had rained and the sun reflecting on the few remaining clouds just added to the experience. After about an hour of just standing and wondering at the beauty of the exterior of the temple, and taking loads of photos we crossed the enormous outer area, and entered the temple.

The temple complex is vast and covers an area of 400 square kilometers and has 200 monuments, I was unprepared for the size and complexity of the site. It is remarkably well preserved considering that much of the building dates back to the seventh century. It was possible to walk round the whole of the temple, go inside most of the rooms and climb the steps to the top of the temple tower. This was my initiation into stairs and steps in all the monuments. To say they are steep is an understatement, some of them are virtually vertical. I think they must all have had very small feet too, as the depth of the step is really narrow, so much so that in some cases it was easier to 'climb' down backwards - inelegant but necessary. Not only was it steep and small but in places some of the stone had broken away so it was a bit scary, but worth it every time.

The picture (left) may give you some idea of the steepness of the steps

The steps at Angkor Wat and also other temples were as steep, if not steeper, at times. Angkor Wat was originally dedicated to the Hindu God Vishnu and most of the Bas relief around the temple tells the stories, and depicts the characters from Hindu mythology. There are numerous aspara carvings, who were again mythological celestial nymphs, these carvings replicated in just about all the temples. In the 12th Century, Buddhism became the Cambodian main religion and it was then that Buddhist features appeared in the Temples. It is interesting that in most cases the Hindu carvings have been preserved and maintained. Angkor Wat is a must for any traveller to Asia.

This was not the end of our day of temples for we then visited the group at Angkor Thom and Bayon, another vast complex and from where the picture of the scary face above was taken. We ended this first day at the temple at Ta Prohm, which is where 'Tomb Raider' was partly filmed. (Angelina Jolie is very popular here!). Despite the fact that they have had to construct wooden walkways through the temple you still have the feeling that it is still partly absorbed by the jungle. For me, this has to be the most atmospheric of all the temples and we felt absorbed into the history and atmosphere of the buildings.







By the end of two days of visiting temples we were beginning to get 'templed out'. There are two main 'temple circuits' the inner and the outer. We have visited all of the inner and most of the outer circuits with Angkor Wat the most famous and well preserved of them all. What was so impressive to me was the hugeness of everything and the state of preservation of most of the carvings, some looking so well preserved that they could have been tens of years old rather than hundreds. One essential for the visit is a good reliable Tuc Tuc driver and we were very lucky with Hat (we have his phone number if you are thinking of visiting Siem Reap). The temples are far apart but there are a couple of short cuts to some of them which Hat knew about. He was also a bit of a guide in that he knew some of the background and history and so could prepare us for things to look out for. We did not have a guide at any of the temples but we did quite a bit of reading beforehand and eavesdropped on the guides of other visitors. The benefit of not having a guide was we were able to go at our own pace, spend time exploring and sit and take in the views when the fancy took us. It was an experience to treasure for the rest of our lives. We have loads of pictures but hope these give you a taste of what we saw.



(Remember you can click on the thumbnail pictures for a better view)

Phnom Penh and throught to Siem Reap

This first part of our stay in Phnom Penh is just for one day, we are then going to Siem Reap to see the temples and then back to Phnom Penh again for the boat festival.

When we arrived at the bus station in Phnom Penh it felt busy and confusing as do most places when you arrive for the first time. We settled on one chap and told him where we wanted to go. He looked rather puzzled and asked if we had a reservation as he knew a really good hotel we could go to. We said we were sure, so off we went. When we arrived he said we should go in and look first and he would wait for us in case we changed our mind. As I had booked this place I was feeling a bit nervous at the Tuc Tuc driver's behaviour, though discounted it as we thought he was touting for business elsewhere. We went to the reception and met Long, with whom I had been in email contact, and he was absolutely charming. We then met other staff and were shown to our room which was just lovely with an enormous bathroom. We were delighted with everything.

We knew that the hotel was owned by a gay couple and it became clear that most of the residents had chosen this hotel for exactly that reason. On reflection, we deduced that the Tuc Tuc driver knew this and thought that perhaps we were unaware.

The hotel is in a great central location, is very comfortably furnished and has some homely touches like a choice of reading materials, books and magazines, and feels more like staying in a friend's house. The pool is surrounded by lush green vegetation and just like a little jungle. It is really lovely and we will be staying there again once we return from Siem Reap.

The following morning it was up early to be collected from the hotel to get to the bus station to start our six hour drive to Siem Reap

We had elected to go by Mekong Express luxury coach ($11!) and were not disappointed. Whilst long, the drive from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap was comfortable and the time just whizzed past as the scenery is so interesting. There were paddy fields ready for harvesting and some in the process of being harvested. Nearly all this work is done by hand, many of the fields were busy with people bringing in the crop. There were water buffalo soaking in pools, cows grazing at the roadside, children waving at the bus and motor bikes , with anything between one and five people on board and very often with a load of some sort or other too. It is supposed to be the end of the wet season (I don't believe this), the water was high and along the road there were quite a few pools with fish and ducks. There was also a profusion of water lilies in white, dark pink and pale pink. It was truly beautiful - a super journey.

On arrival in Siem Reap we looked around, a sea of faces again, many of whom were Tuc Tuc drivers trying to get us to hire them. John was cornered by one of them who agreed to take us to our hotel for $2. Everything here is in US dollars. This driver's name is Hat and he quickly made an effort to befriend us. I suppose we were a bit wary as it's so easy to get taken for a ride in more senses than one, and we'd had a couple of experiences of rip off scams. As it turned out, this chap is an absolute treasure. He took us to our hotel and was then keen to get us to engage him for the following day for a trip to the temples, this is what we did, more about that in the next blog.

The hotel in Siem Reap is a real find. We booked on the internet after checking it out on 'trip advisor', a useful web site for reviewing hotels. It had a good write up from past guests and we can see why. It is ridiculously cheap, we have a great room with lots of space and a lovely little balcony overlooking the garden. The garden is quite exotic with tropical fruit plants and shrubs, including beautiful orchids in flower. There is even a secluded pool. The restaurant serves excellent food all reasonably priced and the staff are just so helpful. We are very comfortable here. The following day it is our first experience of temples and what and experience!!

Across the border into Cambodia

We enjoyed our free day in Can Tho: got up late, went out and found a nice cafe for breakfast, sat by the waterside and watched the world go by for a a while. A nice relaxing start for the day. After a wait and a few phonecalls, we were eventually collected at about 3pm to join the boat which was taking us to the floating hotel, where we were to spend the night prior to our journey up the Mekong and crossing over into Cambodia. Before I tell you of the delights of the floating hotel just a few very personal reflections on Vietnam.

I have to say Vietnam was not, on the whole, what I was expecting. It is very fair to say that our journey has only been along the coast and not always with the best of weather; both factors which can colour impressions of a country. We have had some wonderful experiences, visited amazing places, now the 'but', but somehow there was a lack of 'beauty'. When I say beauty I don't necessarily mean Temples and Pagodas and manufactured buildings and artifacts but just scenery and people going about their everyday business. It is true the women, especially the young girls, have graceful lithe bodies and look enchanting just riding a bicycle. The people themselves, so dignified and so keen to be friendly, emphasised to me that there was just something lacking in the everyday scenery.

I have told you all that, before telling you about the floating hotel, so you don't think that the experience has coloured my view of Vietnam. This place has to be seen to be believed. I know we were on a budget trip but it was something else. It was apparent from the minute we docked that we were in for an interesting experience - I thought we were approaching a ship wreck!! We were shown to our cabin which had three beds, all of which had previously been slept in - I was pleased I had my silk sleeping bag liner. Over each bed there was a mosquito net which I later established had less to do with mosquitos than keeping the cockroaches out of the bed. The walls of the room looked like children had been let loose with a paintball machine as the 'decor' was white walls with green splodges, all hand done. The less said about the bathroom the better, suffice it to say that we both used wet wipes rather than water and John had to check it out for me before I could use the loo - and then only in hover mode (all the women who read this will know about hover mode!). We slept very little and it was a relief when morning came. After a skimpy breakfast, that we had to pay for, we departed this no-star accommodation.

In contrast, our trip by 'fast' boat up the river across the border into Cambodia was another good experience. On the way we stopped at a fish farm and saw how fish that we can now buy in our supermarkets are managed. Basa fish, that I have bought in Sainsburys (it's delicious!), is mostly farmed along the Mekong River.

It was a first for me to cross a border from one country to another by boat and I now have even more rubber stamps in my passport; border guards just seem to love rubber stamps.

It is unteresting that the minute we were through the border the scenery changed and became much more how I imagined Vietnam was going to be. The banks of the river seemed much less populated and the land was clearly given over to farming. There were cows and water buffalo by the river banks, small villages which were obviously poor but where there was a small temple for the village. There were decorations on some of the rooves, it was all simple but had a feeling of identity and aesthetics which Vietnam lacked.

This impression continued after our boat journey ended just about an hours drive from the capital Phonm Penh.

Mekong Delta days one and two

We keep pinching ourselves to really believe that it is us who are doing this trip. As we set off on a boat along the Mekong Delta we just looked at each other and said "who would have thought that we would be here" It is just amazing, we are having the experiences of a lifetime.

The Mekong Delta has to be seen to be believed. Our boat trip is very much a tourist tour but we thought the best (and cheapest) way of doing it. I think we were right. Within a very short time of leaving Saigon on the boat, we were in wonderful waterways which could be wide or narrow, depending on the number of small streams and rivers flowing into the main river. At one point the river was so wide it was impossible to see the far bank. We are on the river at the end of the rainy season so it is swollen to capacity, so we are seeing it at its best. Apparently the farmers rely on the volume of water to wash the silt down the river as this is what makes the land so fertile.

In many places the sides of the river are lined with ramshackle housing. People, who's livelihood comes from the river, tend to be poor, it is impossible for them to afford the price of land to build a home so they build in the water. The photo shows what some of these homes look like. What was unsettling, is the level of pollution of the river, which in places is used as a rubbish dump. In the local paper they were saying that Vietnam is going to experience a water shortage in 10 years time because many of their water reserves are so polluted. With this recognition it is hoped they address the dumping of rubbish soon.

Once away from the densely populated river banks, the waterway is a hive of activity with large boats delivering containers of goods, small boats transporting people, water taxis buzzing around and tourist boats taking in all the atmosphere. It is really exciting and you cannot help but be involved in all the goings on.

At just over 80 kilometers from Saigon we stopped for lunch and a trip round a coconut candy factory. As with lots of things here a health and safety person from anywhere in Eurpoe would have had kittens if they could have seen the shed in which these toffees were being made. I think it was the rolling of the sticky toffee on a piece of tarpauline which rather took my breath away. However, we did accept the offer of a piece of the toffee from the tarpauline and it was yummy - and with no after effects!!

We stopped at another Island where we had a boat trip in a canoe rowed by what looked like a husband and wife team. It was along a narrow stream between dense foliage, it felt a bit like a lazy river theme park ride but it went on for quite some way. Clearly the villagers make their livelihood from taking tourists along this waterway, it was quite an experience for us and we also felt we were aiding the income of these families by enjoying ourselves.

After a good meal at a pavement 'restaurant' by the riverside, we had a reasonably early night as we had an early start this morning and with another early start tomorrow as we are off exploring again.

Today's trip on the Mekong took us to the largest floating market in the delta. People come from miles around to sell their fruit and vegetables from the boats. This is a wholesale market where the produce is sold in huge quantities, purchased by retailers who sell to the public. To advertise what is for sale, they have a pole on which are tied sample items of produce. So some poles had an onion and a cabbage, others a squash and onion and so on. It was a hive of activity. One enterprising lady had realised that tourists might fancy a piece of fruit so, for 40 pence, she would sell you a pineapple which in front of you she trimmed off the outside and all those little fibrous bits, cut it in half down the middle almost to the bottom but left a 'handle' on the bottom made from the trimmed crown of the fruit, it was just delicious.

Afterwards, we were taken to a rice noodle making family business. The equipment was pretty basic and it was hot and humid work. The rice flour was mixed with water and tapioca flour, left to ferment overnight. The mixture is then made into huge pancakes by spreading it on silk and then steamed for about a couple of minutes. It is then laid on bamboo racks and dried in the sun. Once dried, it is cut into narrow strips (the noodles) with a rather ancient loking machine, packaged up and sent off to market. It was clear the noodles had been made in this way for generations and I am sure on the same equipment.

Tomorrow is our last day in Can Tho, we are off again further up the Mekong to stay the night in a floating hotel. Is this the simple old Pointons' doing all this, I can't believe it!!!

Siagon

The weather has broken and we are now having some sunshine, this does make life easier getting around and it does mean I can leave the trusty poncho mac behind for once. We have had a good couple of days. Yesterday we went to the Cu Chi tunnels and the Cao Dai Temple. It was an organised tour and yet again a marvellous mix of nationalities, with us the only British people. That is not exactly true, there was a chap who had lived in new Zealand for 30 years, he believed that he had lost his northern accent but all I could hear was a broad accent which just said the north of England. The rest were from the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand (or so he claimed), America and a very noisy group of teenagers from Singapore. It was an early start as our first stop was the Cao Dai Temple about 3 hours from the city.

The Cao Dai Temple, and the community which surrounds it, is, I understand, unique to Vietnam. It is a religion which takes aspects of Buddhism, Catholicism, Taoism and Confucian and was started at the beginning of the last centuary. The temple is highly decorated with dragons bright paintings, some of the worshippers wear robes which signify the religious root they follow; for example, white for Catholicism and yellow for Buddhist. We arrived in time for the midday service, music and singing was performed by some of the worshippers, this had a rythmic rather spell-binding rhythm which was clearly linked to meditation. At intervals a bell was sounded which provoked the worshippers to bow. It was fascinatinationg to watch and had a certain spirituality. The photo was taken from the balcony where we were able to observe the service.

From this peaceful episode in the day, we then proceeded to the Ch Chi tunnels from where the viet cong, and residents of the nearby village who supported the viet cong, hid out and attacked the American service men. It was amazing to see the tiny tunnels in which they made their way undergound. The ingenuity of some of the steps they took to remain secret was incredible. Of course, the Vietnamese are slight people, the entraces and exits to the tunnels were tiny, far too small for any of the Americans to use. There were a couple of boys in our group who were about 10 or 12 and they were the only ones who would have been able to go through most of the entrances. We were also shown some of the booby traps they laid, most of which were made from shrapnel from American ordnance, they were simple in their constuction but lethal in their impact, all rather scarey.

Today was our last day in Ho Chi Minh City. We walked for miles, really enjoyed the city. There is a beautiful Botanical Gardens, which has a not quite so beautiful Zoo. It was good to see that they were making changes to some of the compounds in which the animals were kept to make them more interesting and stimulating but there is still some way to go. The plants and trees were excellent, well established and it was apparent that there has been a long term commitment to ensuring this garden is kept well for the enjoyment of visitors.

Today we sent home some stuff we know we will no longer need, (cold weather stuff - sorry all of you in England!) it is good to empty some of our luggage to make way for a couple of new acquisitions on our travels (don't tell John!)

We are off on a boat tomorrow on the Mekong Delta so may be out of contact for a few days.