Jenny Plant's blog

To the mystical land of Milton Keynes

From Cambodia it was on to Thailand for the last leg of my journey. I took a bus ride from Sihanoukville, on the Cambodian coast, up through the border into Thailand. At one point we passed through Pattaya, Thailand's premiere hooker hang out. It was awash with grizzly old men walking hand in hand with gorgeous young things, and before I knew it all the men on my bus over a certain age were asking to be dropped off there "to go shopping". Queeze.

After one night in what can only be described as the Bangkok Hilton, I headed back down to Ko Phangan to meet up with Olly. We had a fabulous time undoing all my good work from the detox, and we also managed to try out some deep sea fishing.

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Olly caught a selection of tiddlers (truth hurts, Olly!)

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I, on the other hand, caught a shark. That's right, a SHARK. You may need a magnifying glass...

 

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We then went back to Bangkok where Olly flew home, and I prepared myself for my own return to reality. This mainly involved sunbathing whenever the slightest shard of sunlight poked through the clouds, and stocking up on cheap CDs. I also bid a sad farewell to the great girlies I met in Laos, who were in Bangkok at the same time as me. As you can see I'm still working the Wallace and Gromit Wensleydale grin.

 

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 On my final day in Bangkok I reminded myself why I'm on the verge of turning veggie when I spotted these pigs on sticks. As if I needed more reason, what with the Cambodian fried spider situation...

 

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And on to home. I'm writing this on my Dad's PC in Milton Keynes. A bit of a culture shock but SO nice to be able to make my own wholemeal toast with honey and a cup of steaming, proper tea. Not forgetting the cultural phenomenon that is the Concrete Cows of Milton Keynes. Who needs Angkor Wat?

 

Concrete Cow

Looking back on the last four months I would strongly suggest that if you're thinking about doing a bit of travelling, stop thinking and just do it. It's 100% the best decision I ever made, and I feel like a completely new person. Work, drizzle and Big Brother will soon squeeze that out of me, but I'm making the most of the feeling while it lasts.

Until the next voyage, so long and thanks for reading! x

A study in Cambodian snacking (not for the faint hearted)

Spiders:

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Frogs:

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Chickens - apparently you eat the whole thing:

 

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Mmmmm.

Cambodia's history

Having spent a brilliant few days at Angkor Wat I felt nervous about heading down to Phnom Penh. From there it's a few miles to the Killing Fields, the spot where thousands of Cambodians were murdered by the Khmer Rouge.

What struck me most about about Cambodia is that although the genocide is so recent (about a quarter of the population - around 2 million people - were wiped out just 20 years ago) the people seem, on appearance at least, to have come out with their spirit intact. It's likely that most people you pass in the street have lost someone close to them. The Khmer Rouge aimed to level the population and create a society of peasants all exactly equal to one another with no national or personal identity. They destroyed those things that Cambodian culture holds most dear - family bonds, village life and devotion to Buddha. Old songs were banned, family ties were broken (children were separated from parents), and the entire population was sent to labour in the countryside. Anyone considered to be unequal to the level of a peasant was slaughtered, including teachers, the middle class, the educated, even those who wore glasses as this was seen to be a a sign of intellectualism. Even today Cambodia is feeling the effects of being without a whole generation of educated people, and 60% of the population is under 15 years old.

Whatever Communist aims were behind the policy were forgotten over time, and by the end of the Khmer Rouge's reign they were killing in huge numbers, at random, using mainly child soldiers who had been brainwashed to carry out orders, even turning in their own family members to the authorities. Trucks would go to villages and round up anyone and everyone. It was considered a capital offence just to look a soldier in the eye. 

The numbers of those executed grew so huge that I struggled to get my head around them when I visited the site. By the late 1970s 300 people a day were being delivered to the killing fields, more than the executioners could cope with. A Phnom Penh school was closed and converted to a detention centre, where thousands were eventually tortured to death. Amidst the carnage there was weird attention to detail; before their execution each prisoner was carefully photographed and their family biography recorded. At the detention centre (now open to visitors and called the Genocide Museum) one of the most upsetting displays were the walls covered in mugshots of people of all ages who were about to be taken away.

It seems disrespectful to use the Killing Fields and the detention centre as a tourist attraction, but once I was there it became obvious that the intention is that visiters will understand what Cambodia has been through, and pay their respects to the dead.

The Killing Fields is eerily quiet. There are large craters in the ground where bones were excavated, to be placed inside a memorial. One of the most troubling aspects for those who have lost loved ones is that they were not given a proper burial, and Buddhists believe that their souls cannot rest in peace until this is done. You can still see bones and pieces of clothing sticking out of the ground all around the site, as they will never fully be able to uncover everything that is there, and with each rainy season more is revealed.

I found this plaque was really moving, in the way it summed up the Cambodian attitude to the genocide.You can click on the photos to enlarge them.

 

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This is S-21, the Genocide Museum. It's hardly been touched since the Khmer Rouge and there was a really unsettling atmosphere about the place.

 

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I was relieved to get that morning over and done with and go back to happier pursuits. I headed for the Cambodian coast, to a small town called Sihanoukville. The beach was gorgeous and unspoilt, give or take the usual hawkers.

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This is October (yes that's his name, unless we got our wires crossed), my tuk tuk driver.  I bought him a cap as a thank you, as he didn't have anything to protect him from the sun. He was mightily pleased with it.

 

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Although Cambodia still has so many problems, the people have a great sense of humour and I was sad to leave. I met people who are planning to head back there to teach or work for an NGO. You leave with a really strong urge to help in any way you can.

The mind boggling Angkor Wat.

On 22 July, together with my Dutch travel buddy Wendy and in truly Dutch style, I hopped on a push bike and peddled to Angkor Wat for the start of a three day tour. This was the part of the trip I have been really excited about. Angkor Wat is a massive complex of giant temples built by the Khmers in the 12th century to honour their Hindu gods. From Angkor the Khmer kings ruled over a huge domain that stretched from Vietnam to China to the Bay of Bengal. It is considered to represent mankind's most enduring achievements, and the Cambodians are justly proud of it. The structures have survived amazingly well over the centuries, and even the Khmer Rouge's efforts to destroy them in the 70s failed. Although the temples are faded, some looted and all of the wooden elements decayed, on the whole they remain pretty much intact.

As with all incredible sights like this, my piddly Canon Sureshot photos have really not done it justice, nor can I accurately describe how breathtaking these temples were. But I can only try!

 

This was the view from the top of our first temple, Bayon. Get me - in my out of breath state I managed to hold the camera still!

 

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There are loads of temples of varying sizes, all with incredibly ornate and detailed carvings.

 

 

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By far the most jaw dropping off them all, though, was Ta Phrom, the temple that was used in the filming of Lara Croft, Tomb Raider. That's right, Angelina has trodden there - in a leather cat suit. What's amazing about this particular temple is how trees managed to grow right on top of the buildings and their roots curve around them. It looks like a battle took place between man and nature. Hard to say who won, but it makes a bloody good film set.

 

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On the final morning we arose at 4.30am (yes you heard me, half past four) to catch sunrise at the main temple of Angkor Wat. It was well worth it, give or take the million or so other tourists who had the same idea. These ones were so snap-happy they were even taking photos of each other taking photos. The irony of me taking a photo of them taking photos of themselves taking photos wasn't lost on me. Or something...

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The temple was gigantic, and involved some very scary steps. Where's the Stenna stairlift when you need it?

 

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The way down was even scarier. I was so nervous about my descent that I got a round of applause when I reached the bottom. The shame!

 

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Two strange things happened when we left the temple. Firstly I was collared by a Cambodian woman with a shaved head (think she might have been on a pilgrimage as there were a few others) who insisted I take a photo of her in front of Ankor Wat. She didn't ask for a copy so I assume it was just to check out herself on film. Bless!

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And finally, a monk gave me the thumbs up. What a legend.

 

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Children were out in force selling everything from bracelets to flutes. Just what you need after an all day temple trek in the sweltering heat. I had to film their efforts to flog their wares, it was really something. They would ask where you were from, before reeling off impressive statistics and phrases from your home country. I tried to throw them by pretending I was from Latvia, but still ended up being cajoled into buying a bracelet...

 

 

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Next stop, Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh.

Siem Reap, a flooded forest and a strange village on stilts.

Having recovered from the Cambodian happy bus, we arrived in Siem Reap, the nearest stopping off point for Angkor Wat. It seems that Cambodian guesthouses sell tourists' names to their sister hotels in each town, and it was a delight to see mine up in lights when I arrived, even with the odd typo.

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Before heading for Angkor Wat we spent our first day in Siem Reap visiting Kompong Phluk village. The people here live within the floodplain of the Tonle Sap Lake, in permanent houses built on high stilts.

 

IMG_4239   During the rainy season, the villages are submerged, the water comes up to the thresholds and the only way to move around is by boat. In the dry season, from November to May, the villagers migrate out onto the open lake onto temporary floating housing to go fishing. During that time, the houses on stilts are occupied by the elderly. As the lake starts to rise in June, the entire population returns to the villages.       IMG_4249 The village is surrounded by forest that's completely flooded during rainy season.The box to the right is where they keep the week's crocodile catch. Eek.

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After floating around the place for a while, our boat driver offered us some lunch at his family house in the village. Once you're on dry land the place takes on the feel of a massive film set. Weird... but very cool.   IMG_4269   Although it looks quite empty it was full of life. There was even a makeshift barber.   Going anywhere nice on your holidays? IMG-4274   Once at the house we were given a great lunch of fish and rice and met the family.   IMG_4281 On the way home we overtook a motorbike carrying a very uncomfortable looking load. I've seen some crazy bike luggage on my trip, but this has to beat the rest hands down. IMG_4297   IMG_4298 They were alive. But quiet. Probably just a spot of motion sickness.

To Cambodia.

On 19 July, after my idyllic few days in Don Det, Laos, I came down to earth with a bump (literally) during the Worst Bus Journey In the World (TM) to Cambodia. I had heard rumours that the border crossing from Laos to Cambodia was notoriously bad but this really was something else

It all began pleasantly enough when we were waved off the island on a dug out canoe and then onto a pretty modern (by Laos standards) mini bus. Once on Cambodian soil though, such travel luxuries as oxygen and a hint of padding on the seats were cruelly taken away from us. Every few miles of the journey we were mysteriously transferred onto a smaller, pokier and fantastically ancient vehicle.

 

OK:

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Not OK - but still managing an 80s thumbs up:

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Eventually we ended up piling into a priceless antiquity that would have been more suited to the Cambodian National Museum. All it needed was the flooring removed and it would have made a perfect Flintstones car. My knees were just about touching my forehead, so who knows how the 6ft 5 Danish man managed to fit himself in. Just as we thought things couldn't get any worse, the driver and his mate (both of whom by this point had mysteriously forgotten how to speak English) took us off the main road onto a dirt track and proceeded to pile about 15 large wooden logs onto the van roof, before lovingly covering them with tarpaulin to protect them from the rain. Our rucksacks on the other hand, were allowed to be at one with the elements.

 

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Apparently illegal logging is a big problem in Cambodia, so I could only imagine they were doing some kind of dodgy activity. After much praying and squirming as we flew over pot hole after pot hole, the tourists revolted. We decided enough was enough and asked to be dropped off at the first town we came to for a good night's sleep (by this point it was 11pm). Siem Reap would have to wait until our bums had recovered from the double whammy of non-existent roads and suspension-free driving that was our introduction to Cambodia.

Final days in Laos

After bidding an emotional fareweIl to my new buddies, I finished my adventures in Vang Vieng with a long bike ride through the dramatic scenery of the countyside, topped off with a swim in a really beautiful blue lagoon, which I had all to myself. I also met a few locals on the way, who were as usual, so relentlessly lovely I wanted to pack them in my rucksack and take them home.

 

Cliffs and rice fields in the Vang Vieng countryside. There was a mouthwatering smell of sticky rice everywhere...

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More lovely Lao people I met on the way...

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The blue lagoon - not photoshopped, really...

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The next day I headed further south to the capital, Vientiene... by kayake. That's right, by kayake. I really am getting a bit concerned about my new found love for the great outdoors. Will I ever catch up with Corrie again? Vientiene is pleasant enough but a little dull to say the least. After one night in a crumbling hotel that seemed to be a disused lunatic asylum, I got straight on the bus again to the far south. This time I caught a public bus - for the princely sum of $2 for a 5 hour journey - to Champasak. The Laos public buses (their real name is songtheaw or something) are good fun but bloody hard work. They can best be described as a pick up truck with a lid on, and a great way to hang out with the locals and get away from the well beaten tourist path. Once I'd been on one I could safely say I'd roughed it.

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Champasak was a really sweet village, supposedly the ancient capital of Laos. I found this hard to believe as it consisted of a long muddy track of road with rice fields on either side. I stopped over to visit some ancient temple ruins, Wat Phu, that are supposed to be worth the detour. However as it turned out the monsoon season decided to make a dramatic entrance just as I and some fellow bus passengers were peddling furiously to get there before it closed. So we sat and drank a coffee in a little hut near the ruins, squinting carefully at what appeared to be the ruins through a thick curtain of rain.

The real highlight of Champasak though, was Mr Khamieng, the chirpiest guesthouse owner in Laos. His whole life seems to be a constant battle to contain fits of giggles, as demonstrated on this clip...

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The other Champasak highlight was the big boy buddha I found relaxing under a tree...

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And the morning alms-giving. I arose at 6am to get this shot of the monks collecting their daily rice donations, so please enjoy...

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My final stop was 4,000 islands, an area in the far south of Laos where the Mekong River widens to about 14km with lots of little islands dotted about. I stayed in a tiny island called Don Det, which must be inhabited by no more than 50 or so people. I spent my days soaking up yet more Laos loveliness...

 

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Watching the rice growers doing their thing...

 

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reading my book and swimming in the Mekong (not recommended - it's thick, brown and full of cow's wee). The sunsets were just phenomenal, and I enjoyed this one over my final bottle of Beerlao.

 

 

 

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At night the generators were switched off at 10pm, at which time everyone scarpered to bed. I was serenaded to sleep by the gentle mooing of a cow that appeared to live right outside my bedroom door. Well it beats the police sirens of Isleworth I suppose. Next stop, Cambodia.

 

Still in Laos

From Luang Prabang, a civilised French colony in the north, to Vang Vieng, a den of iniquity further south. Vang Vieng really is the Marmite of Laos; either you love it or you hate it. Like Las Vegas but without the neon, it's a small strip of guesthouses, restaurants and souvenir shops plonked in the middle of nowhere. It's geared up 100% for backpackers, although as word starts to spread about the great scenery surrounding it, upmarket hotels are starting to spring up here and there. There seems to be a relaxed attitude to soft drugs, with some restaurants providing a separate menu to cater for those who want to indulge. The menu was pretty much identical to the food menu but with the word 'happy' suffixed to it. There was happy pizza, happy shakes, even happy garlic bread. Those who had had their fill of happy snacking could later be found in one of an entire street's worth of "Friends bars", where they were lying comatose on couches watching episodes of Friends on endless, mind-numbing loop. When I first arrived in Vang Vieng I thought I was in some kind of mid 90s time warp. All I could hear were the combined voices of Rachel, Joey, Chandler et al mingled with extra loud and multi-layered canned laughter. By the time I left town four days later, I was ready to commit murder at the next hearing of 'Ill be there for you' by the Rembrandts.

Anyhoo... the highlight of Vang Vieng for me was...

Kayaking.Yes, you heard me right. I kayaked. Twice!

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The views were breathtaking, as usual.

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The locals were having a dip and cheering us on.

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The other famous highlight in Vang Vieng is tubing. For $4 you hire a tractor inner tube for the afternoon and float in it down the Mekong river.

Tubes at the ready.

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You can stop every so often for a beer at one of the various bars dotted along the shore...

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And you can jump into the river from ridiculous heights, all aided by Beerlao of course.

 

The high jump

After six or so bars and numerous jumps (just two for me though, vertigo and all that) it's time to float home to Vang Vieng, dry off and recover.

 

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Hooray for tubing! I might set something up in Richmond....

First few days in Laos

On 3 July I left Chiang Mai, Thailand and headed to Laos via a 3 day, 2 night boat trip. It was the best way to check out the scenery along the river and to arrive with a very sore bum. The seats on the boat were made for a 6 stone Lao person to sit on for 3 minutes, and instead it's used to ferry generously proportioned backpackers on mega voyages down the Mekong every day.  

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They serve plenty of the tasty local brew, Beerlao, to numb the pain. Legend has it that Heineken bought Beerlao and tried to improve on the recipe before realising it was impossible. Beerlao really is The Best Beer In The World.

 

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On the first night we were put up in a tiny, friendly village consisting of a sprinkling of guesthouses and restaurants that run on very dodgy generators. This was the obvious choice for dinner.

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When I ordered a mango shake, the owner Mr Sivilai ran off to buy mangoes and borrow a blender. As there wasn't enough juice in the generator for both blender and lightbulb, the power cut out every time he switched it on. So for the next two minutes or so the other diners were treated to a strobe light effect and Mr Sivilai shouting "Sorry! Sorry!" as my shake was prepared and I sunk further and further in to my seat.

After another day checking out the amazing scenery and trying to soothe our poor aching behinds on the boat, we finally arrived in Luang Prabang, which is an old French colonial town sitting on the river. It's absolutely beautiful, so much so that a few years ago it was awarded World Heritage status so the entire town is protected from the beady eyes of developers. It's ultra relaxed, with plenty of guesthouses, restaurants and a great night market. There are also lots of temples in Luang Prabang and it's awash with young novice monks strolling around looking very photogenic.

Even monks have to do laundry
 

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While in Luang Prabang I took advantage of the gorgeous scenery by doing 2 days biking and trekking in the mountains. It was really hard work but well worth it. We were taken by our guide to see villages that are hours away from the nearest road, only accessible by slogging uphill for hours. The guide told us that when he first took tourists up there, the villagers were scared and ran away (Allie, you didn't tell me you'd been to Laos?) They'd never seen a  white person before apparently. The Laos people are lovely. Many of them have absolutely nothing but a few chickens and a mud hut, but they are always smiling and laughing, and they made us feel really welcome. They seemed to be as intrigued by us as we were by them.

 

I couldn't stop snapping the children, they were just so gorgeous. They looked as though they had undergone 10 years at stage school to be able to work the camera that well.

 

Lao kids

 

 

 

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Lao kids 3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the village where we had lunch. If you look closely you can spot a satellite dish... kind of ruins the charm, doesn't it?

 

Village

More from Vang Vieng and Vientiene soon. (I know, the place names are very confusing. I'm just pretending to know what I'm talking about.) Ta ra for now! x

At the Elephant Nature Park

A few pics from the elephant sanctuary. Witness the cuteness!

 

The day began with our group loading up two trucks worth of fruit from the local market, enough to feed the elephants for one day.

 

Elephant food truck

 

Later in the morning we fed them breakfast. Their trunks are so clever, like precision tools grabbing three or four corn cobs at a time - similar to dinner at the Plant house.

Feeding elephant

Then it was bathing time. The deal seemed to be, you scratch my back and I won't trample you underfoot.

Bath time

 

Clip of the young elephants leaving the river after a bathe, and getting irritated by the resident doggies.

 

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A baby elephant mucking about with his mum

 

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What a top day out - if you're thinking of heading to Thailand make sure you pay them a visit. www.elephantnaturepark.org.