Posts By Sam
Siem Reap & Angkor
Following our lovely trip to Battambang we’ve headed to Siem Reap, tourist capital of Cambodia and home to the famous temples of Angkor. Most people who visit Cambodia normally just visit Siem Reap to do the temples and never explore the rest of the country. As a result the entire city is built up to cater for tourists of all shapes and forms- from streets full of mid-range hotels to backpacker central near the aptly named “Pub street”, high priced boutique hotels and everything in between. This place is built to cope with tons of tourists.
Surprisingly though, there isn’t much to do (other than the temples). There’s plenty of restaurants and bars of varying quality, and plenty of places that will offer draft beer for 50c. But if you’re not eating or drinking, there doesn’t seem to be much else to do so far!
This hasn’t been an issue for us yet as we’ve been busy doing the Angkor temples. In the 11th and 12th centuries the kings of that time went on a massive building spree, building temple after temple in the Angkor area. All the temples have switched between Hindu and Buddhist in that time too. As a result you have a condensed area with absolutely tons of amazing architecture in various states of decline, from fully renovated to taken over by the trees.
The most famous of the temples is Angkor Wat; We made the effort to see it at sunset and sunrise (which meant a 4:30 start!).
We spent 2 days cycling around the temples; there’s a big loop (37km) and an inner loop (16km) which meant we got very sweaty: temperatures hit the mid thirties which meant we were devouring water at a rate of knots.
There are too many temples to talk about without being overly boring, so I’ll just mention my 2 favourite ones. Bayon is famous for it’s many faces- decorative stone columns with huge faces carved onto them. We came here straight after sunrise, about 5:40am, and had the entire temple to ourselves- very rare as it’s one of the most popular temples and normally rammed.
The entire temple is huge. It’s unfathomable how the ancient Angkorians built such amazing structures without modern technology. It’s an engineering feat, combined with some incredible decoration. Both Laura and I agree this is our favourite temple.
Ta Prohm, aka the tomb raider temple (they used it in the film) has been left almost completely derelict with the exception of wall reinforcements. The trees have been allowed to grow wild and intermingle freely with the structures. These aren’t just little trees, but monster ones which have been allowed to grow for centuries.
After two days we’re both templed and cycled out. Fortunately it’s our anniversary, and we’ve checked into a nice hotel with a pool to celebrate and relax. We’ve still got a day left on our Angkor passes though, so who knows? Maybe we’ll go see even more temples!
SE Asia Backpacking Route
A seemingly massive amount of time is spent whilst travelling figuring out our route; where are we going next, how do we get there, where do we stay? Information on the internet is impressively sketchy, with sites like wikitravel being particularly poor (yet also useful).
So, to try and help anyone else who stumbles upon this page in the future, here is out trip in detail. Where we stayed, how we got there. I hope this helps you figure out your way around.
Quick notes
We’re here in June/July. It’s rainy season and it’s low season, which meant a lot of stuff we’ve been able to do last minute as there’s a lot of availability. We’ve booked mostly through hotels.com, because for every 10 nights booked you get 1 night free, and airbnb, because it’s just really awesome for finding unique places and being able to communicate directly with the owners (really helpful when navigating to new places).
If you click here to sign up to airbnb, you can get $25 for free to use on your accommodation.
Ho Chi Minh City
Common Room Project (booked via AirBnB)
$15 a night
Ho Chi Minh City to Vinh Long, Mekong Delta
We turned up at the bus station (Ben Xe Mien Tay) and found the MaLinh ticket booth (far right of the booths, pretty obvious) and booked 2 tickets on the next bus (ours departed at 10am, we arrived at 9:45 and got on fine). Bus was a sleeper bus despite being daytime and was very cool. Cost about $5 each.
Vinh Long
Happy Family Guest House (Booked via AirBnB)
$15 a night
The guesthouse is a bit of a journey from Vinh Long. Supposedly there is a free shuttle bus provided by Ma Linh to take you anywhere but after an hour and much hand waving nothing materialised. We took a taxi to the An Binh ferry (about 150k dong), went on the ferry by foot, then we were met by Tong and someone else on the other side who scootered us to the guesthouse on what was quite a nervewracking (but enjoyable journey) along thin paths.
On the reverse leg, we paid to get biked all the way to the bus terminal; this was marginally more expensive (think 150k dong each) but compared to taxi ended up cheaper and much easier. Would recommend doing it both directions.
Vinh Long to Can Tho
Not sure which bus station this went from as the xe om took us directly in. The bus clearly said “Vinh Long to Can Tho” on it and was a pay-on-bus affair. It was quite reasonably priced at a few dollars each.
Can Tho
Nguyen Shack Can Tho (booked via agoda)
$TBC
Again, a bit out of town. As soon as we stepped off the bus we were jumped on by a xe om driver. With the help of his English speaking friend they figured out where we were heading, and took us for 60,000 dong each.
The manager organised a taxi back for us (a proper, 4 wheel, air con taxi) which dropped us off at the bus station.
Can Tho to Chau Doc
We got our accommodation to book the bus for us, going with the bright orange bus company. Despite being harassed by an old lady who wanted us to go with her cheaper (and less appealing) bus, we just headed straight to the offices, claimed our ticket and waited for the bus to turn up.
Chau Doc
Victoria Nui Sam Lodge (Booked via hotels.com)
$30 a night
Although out of town, it was really easy to get to. The Chau Doc bus station is out of town, so there is a free transfer minibus. This took us to the Victoria hotel in town, which then had a free shuttle up to Nui Sam.
Chau Doc to Phnom Penh
There are a number of boat options at different price levels, but they’re all effectively the same (some may offer lunch for a huge added price to the ticket). We booked through our hotel which was an error as it cost us an extra $9 for nothing. We went with Hang Chau which, if you book with them, will cost you $25.
They will slightly overcharge you for the Visa for a “handling” charge, but it’s not worth fighting (think we paid $34 each).
The boat leaves from the dock right behind (and slightly to left) of the Victoria riverside hotel. Even in low season the boat was overbooked; we had to sit out back. I’m glad we did because we got great views and natural air conditioning, but the wooden seats are hard: we had travel cushions so it wasn’t so bad. A lot of people were angry about having to sit out back. If you would be one of them, get to the front so it doesn’t happen. Boat leaves at 7.15.
Don’t forget a passport sized photo.
To Be Continued…
Week 2: Cambodia
Somehow it’s only been two weeks since we started our adventure. It feels like we’ve packed so much into our time whilst also still being very relaxed; a nice combination of running around and chilling.
During my last post we’d just arrived at our open shack near Can Tho. We did a floating market tour of Can Be (the largest floating market in Vietnam) and the nearby land market where we got to try some new Vietnamese food: Bird’s ear (not actually made from bird, a deep fried sweet desert type thing) and beefcake (again no meat; sticky rice based cake). We also got to try some fruit that I’ve never seen before which tasted like Lychee.
After saying goodbye to the 5 cats, 2 dogs and Bacon the pig we headed up to Chau Doc, a border town between Vietnam and Cambodia. Having heard in advance that the town was a bit of a dump (it was) we headed slightly out onto the sacred Nui Sam mountain, which towered over the rest of town which was completely flat. Despite the dull weather the views were absolutely stunning, with Cambodia visible in the background and the farmers burning the excess organic material near by, fields of freshly planted rice in yellow and ready to harvest fields in green. Being low season there were only 5 or 6 people in the entire resort, which whilst eerily quiet allowed us near exclusive access to the pool.
We then moved onto Cambodia via speedboat. Not as glamorous as it sounds, as they’d overbooked the boat so we didn’t have a proper seat indoors but had to go onto the wooden benches out back for 5 hours. I’m glad we did though as we got to see life on the Mekong as we travelled between the countries, and my amazing travel cushion made the journey bearable.
The border itself has to be one of the laxest attempts at security I’ve ever seen. The waiting area was a big garden, there were no queues or immigration areas. People just mulled around whilst the guide acquired our visas and our passports got stamped. It would be very easy to get past if you were so inclined!
Eventually we arrived in Phnom Penh, which was nothing like we expected; The internet had sold us stories of it being a recovering city, and we were expecting something even more run down that Ho Chi Minh. We were very wrong; Phnom Penh is more like Bangkok than anything else, and is highly internationalised. Restaurants of all different kinds of cuisine (including Mexican, which was a nice treat), tons of fancy shopping and guesthouses, pavements which were walkable and an amazing waterfront make this into a true cosmopolitan city.
The only problem was that it is much more expensive than we imagined. It was so hot that you couldn’t walk around, and the only transport option is tuk tuk; There were no public busses we could see. Each trip comes to $2 or $3 which quickly adds up over a day. Whilst food can be cheap (we got a curry and pad thai for $1.5 each at the night market) it can also get western-pricey, which resulted in us breaking our budget on a couple of days.
Interesting aside; The currency here is bizarre. For transactions over $1, US dollars are generally used. For anything under, the local currency “Riel” is used at a conversion of 4000R to 1 USD. You need to be quick at maths to ensure that you’re not getting ripped off by the tuk tuk drivers!
Mid way through our stay we decided to go on a bicycle tour to the Killing Fields and Mekong Islands. Less than 40 years ago Cambodia suffered a Genocide at the hands of the Khmer Rouge with millions of the population killed, often at one of the hundreds of “Killing Fields” around the country. The largest is located 15km south of PP, and was a truly harrowing experience. In a central monument they have placed thousands of excavated skulls, arranged by age, along with the weapons used to kill them; bullets were too expensive so executions were normally done with hand weapons like bats or much worse. Whilst I’m glad we went, there is something deeply unsettling about walking atop human remains. The government has left a number of the mass graves unexcavated as a reminder, and with each rain more bones and fragments of clothes exposes on the surface.
The day cheered up a bit from then. We cycled back to PP and onto a Ferry to one of the many islands adjacent to the city. The juxtaposition is startling; looking over the water you can see skyscrapers and a modern city, all whilst standing on a dirt track next to metal shack. We then embarked on an epic tour of the islands that, by the time we arrived at the hotel, meant we’d clocked over 70km of cycling. Laura cycles at the gym so found it easy, whereas I was a broken man but pleased to have completed it. If you’re ever in PP, we highly recommend you use Phnom Penh Bicycles. The owner Thong was our guide and it’s amazing the work he’s done setting the company up from scratch. He used to cycle 15km a day to the American embassy to use the free internet to teach himself English, and he’s then been teaching himself business and has set up a really professional outfit. He was exceptionally personable and the whole tour was one of the highlights of our trip.
We learnt how hand made silk is created. It’s impressive and laborious!
Which brings us to today. We decided to try to go somewhere a bit more remote, which we have thoroughly achieved. We are at Chi Phat, an eco-village located in southern Cambodia. To get here, we had to get a bus to the middle of nowhere to then get a 2.5 hour boat down the Mekong. It’s a beautiful place, and really cheap (dinner is $3.50, accommodate is $3-$10), and with lots of excursion to waterfalls, bat caves and see other local flora and fauna. There’s just one problem.
It’s raining. Really raining. Monsoon raining. It’s day 2, and other than a brief lull this morning, it’s been non stop.
If it stops, we’ll hopefully put some nice photos of waterfalls up. If not, then there’ll be photos of us looking wet and sad. At least the beer is $0.75 a can!
One Week into the adventure
Sam:
It’s insane that we’ve only been gone a week. Already feels much longer (which is no bad thing). Our first week of travelling has been split into two distinct sections; the utter craziness of Ho Chi Minh City and the tranquil relaxation of the Mekong Delta.
We flew straight into HCMC from Hong Kong (our flight was at three, and Laura only finished work at 12). We landed just as it was going dark and hopped into a cab having sorted out sim cards- £6 for calls and unlimited data. Incredible value and very useful as even in rural Vietnam the data works (as shown by the bike drivers on their smartphones). The only place that I know of that resembles the insanity of HCMC is Bali, but that seems relatively calm in comparison. Cars are a recent addition to Vietnam as they used to have a heavy import tax, which means that most people are on mopeds or motorbikes. Traffic lights are routinely ignored, and the general approach to crossing the road is just to keep walking as the traffic flows around you.
As is traditional for when we stay in a city we stayed a bit further out (District 5, about a 40 minute walk to the backpacker district) and walked everywhere. It’s not an easy city to walk in, as the pavements tend to be covered with things for sale or parked scooters. It’s a city of mixed architecture; part new and flashy, part old and run down. Despite the many warnings online before hand we didn’t get hassled or have any issues whatsoever; perhaps because we stayed away from the hardcore tourist areas. Even at the War Remnants museum, one of the biggest tourist attractions in the city, there was just one kid outside selling coconut water.
The museum itself is brilliant, and shows there is two sides to every story. It’s (understandably) very anti-American, and paints a horrifying image of the war. There’s no filtering here; pictures of corpses and people being tortured mean it’s not for the faint hearted. Outside there is a great selection of military hardware from the war, and a lot of the significant buildings (like reunification palace) also have a couple of fighter planes outside. There must have had plenty left over.
After two days we were definitely exhausted. Everyone we spoke to beforehand told us Saigon is like marmite; you either love it or hate it. I think I lie somewhere in the middle though. It’s amazing how cheap everything is, and getting to zip around on the back of a scooter on a foodie-tour was an amazing experience (the highlight for me was eating frog; it really does just taste like chicken). But with no underground or rail system it’s a frustrating city to get around, relying on taxis (relatively expensive) or busses (which are unreliable).
After two nights we set of for the Mekong Delta in very southern Vietnam. We turned up at the bus station and managed to buy a ticket for the next bus which we were shuttled onto quickly for a speedy departure. This is the first time I’ve ever been on a sleeper bus; three columns of bunk beds with a quintuple bed at the very back. As a bit of a transport nerd I found this exciting and would highly recommend it. We were staying pretty much in the middle of nowhere, so after arriving at Vinh Long bus terminal (then waiting for an hour for a mythical shuttle bus that never appeared) we then jumped in a cab to a ferry which we crossed on foot, before being met by a couple of Xe om’s (motorbike taxis). They impressively balanced our massive backpacks up front and us on the back (not as impressive as the guy we saw with 3 pigs on the back of his bike today though) as we then drove for another 30 minutes into the middle of nowhere to our accomodation.
The guesthouse was lovely; a pool (a rarity around here), darts, pool table, 40p bottles of beer and some amazing, freshly cooked Vietnamese food helped us to wind down after the insanity of HCMC. Although the rooms left a bit to be desired (the bed was considerably shorter than I am, and the lack of aircon didn’t help) for 15 quid a night including breakfast we couldn’t complain. It also had the most incredible river side area for relaxing by, with some amazing sunsets.
After 3 nights we set off on a (very local) bus to the near by town of Can Tho, to another guesthouse about 5km outside of the city (still in the Mekong Delta). Our room is completely open (we’ve got about 2 and a half walls) with dual hammocks, and there’s a pet pig called Bacon. 
Some quick highlights of the trip so far:
- At each stop I am throwing away more stuff I’ve packed. Despite packing lightly (I thought) my bag has been incredibly heavy to carry more than a few meters. As a result I’ve already shed 1 pair of shoes and my gorillapod/stand along with several apple chargers (I accidentally packed 5?). Still not there though, so need to figure out what else to shed. Laura started out with 9kg and I had 13kg. Determined to get equal before the trip is out.
- The insects have taken a liking to me and I’ve been bitten about 20 times on my right arm (and various other places) . I look like I have track marks on my arm. Itchy as hell.
- I’ve managed to only get lightly sunburnt so far, and may even be getting a slight tan.
- Everywhere we’ve been has had dogs and/or cats, which has been awesome having been without pets in HK for 4 years.