Cambodia_Kampot

Mon 3oth Jan

Last day in Kampot. Booked for Phnom Penh tomorrow for one night before Siem Reap. Visited the "Seeing Hands" blind massage school today, amazing.

Dedicated to our Malaria advisor Jo :  )

Sun 29th Jan

Daytrip on the bike to Kep, 30 km from Kampot.

Sat 28th Jan

Another lazy day in Kampot. A bit of bike exploring and some coffee on the waterfront. 
Finding it hard to contemplate leaving!

Ang with Thavi at the Columns hotel in the French Quarter of Kampot

 

Fri 27th Jan


We took a long ride on the scooter into the hills above Kampot and got slightly scorched by the sun today!

 Thur 26th Jan

A short bus South to the sleepy little town of Kampot on the banks of Prek Kampong Bay.
The most relaxing place we've ever been, the locals are effortlessly friendly and their smiling is contagious.
So glad we came here.

Cambodia_Phnom Penh

Spent our last afternoon in PP at the Killing fields!  After the previous days visit to S21 we were washed out.
Now we have some insight into what Cambodia has been through!

Arrived in Cambodia after a 12 hr sleeper bus journey where we didn't sleep. Spent our first afternoon recovering.

After a good sleep we hired a scooter and explored quite a lot of the city. We spent the afternoon of our first day at Tuol Sleng Genocide museum! I don't know what to say about it. It's now a privatised tourist attraction if you can believe that!

Felt uncomfortable with a camera, we saw people smiling while having their picture taken, it was just nerves. People don't know how to act here! 



Spent the evening trying to talk our way about the afternoons visit but it's impossible.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuol_Sleng_Genocide_Museum 


 

Saigon

Arrived in Saigon last night. 

We didn't realise but our Vietnam visa has lapsed so after a funfilled day crawling through dirt tunnels and firing M60's and AK47's it's time to take our new skills to Cambodia to avoid capture by immigration.


We leave for Phnom Penh at midnight.


Saigon is already in full Tet mode ( chinese new year ) and many places will close soon so getting out quick isn't so bad.


Saw the Cu Chi Tunnels and the War museum which were the main items of interest here.

Mui Ne_Vietnam

Our last day in Mui Ne, time to stop cheating and actually start travelling again. Its been a great and lazy break here. Saigon booked for tommorow where we will spend the Tet! Looking forward to some war history and culture. Goodbye to the beach for a while!

Angela at the office

9th Jan

After Da Lat we decided we needed more sun and sea so another 6 hr bus back South East to the coast was in order.

The journey was frightening as the brakes made angry noises on every corner as we screamed round high mountain passes.

One part of Vietnam we will be happy to leave behind are the buses! They are in terrible condition and often driven wrecklessly. The train service is ancient and super slow so buses are essential.

After Saigon we hope to get river boats up the Mekong Delta into Cambodia and leave the buses behind for a while!


Mui ne is a major beach destination. It has a weather microcosm due to some huge sand dunes. The sea has powerful currents and a short swim can leave you quite a distance down the coast from where you started. The waves are great fun though.


It's been quite overcast and the full moon has generated some massive swells this week.


Lots of kite surfers here and lots of Russian tourists! We are a bit tired of buses and frequent movement so will stay here another week and recharge the batteries before Saigon which promises to be hectic with lots to see.

Not taken many pics as the wind and sand combination is bad news for the camera!

Our hotel backs right onto this beach

Main road through Mui Ne coast

Da Lat

A 6hr bus brought us to Da Lat in the Central Highlands. There's not much to say about Da Lat so after an exciting Sat night where everything closed at 10pm we decided to get out!

Nha Trang _ Vietnam

We had such a good time at the beach yesterday we rearranged our exit out of Nha Trang until Saturday afternoon.

Another magic day today! Beach running, sea swimming, freshly barbequed prawns and scallops.

Heading high into the mountains next to visit Dalat which is about 5000ft altitude. 


Street tout quote of the day-


"Wanna buy something?"
"no thanks"
"you buy!"
"NO!"
"take it!"

With 6 layers of sun cream I'm ready for the beach!

"hey wanna buy something?"

 ------------------------

Thur 5th Jan

A blue sky afternoon playing in white water at the beach!
Freshly cooked giant prawns on the beach with beers, it was a hard afternoon!

We are of to Dalat tommorow.

Hoi An_ Vietnam

Nice night out with some new Spanish friends last night. Booked our onwards mission to Nah Trang today where the weather is hotter and more humid. It will be great to get back to the sunshine and it's all hot from here onwards, the cold northern destinations are all done. 


Got a 12 hour bus to look forward to tommorow but after India it's all easy!

Hoi An is a great place to be for New Year and our fave place in Vietnam so far! 

Its a great destination to amend a blown budget ( thanks Tokyo ).

Yesterday we stopped for 4 beers, 2 servings of shrimp spring rolls, 1 bowl noodles and soup and it came to £3 !  

At the same time you can turn the corner and drink one cup of coffee for £3.


Weather is warm but overcast with no sign of improvement in the next few days which is a shame as we are heading South sometime soon. 

Still almost 5 months left in the trip, feels like we have been away forever!

Great way to spend 1st Jan! 
Mooching around doing nothing much :   )