Where to start??

Firstly, an apology to all those who have been eagerly awaiting my next post (somebody? anybody?) Its been nearly two weeks and I have no real excuses short of cheap beer and hot weather. A lethal combination likely to strike down even the most dedicated blogger.

So, no, despite your suspicions, I am not stuck in the Cu Chi tunnels (they made them bigger for fat tourists) but live and kicking in Siem Reap, Cambodia, the home of the Angkor Temples. We have been away for over a month now and celebrated in style by getting someone else to wash our sweaty, sticky, skanky clothes. What luxury!

From Saigon, we headed down to the Mekong Delta, the highlight of which was a boat trip down the river to the floating markets. All the stress of independent travel was rewarded when we compared our small junk to the mammoth tourist boats sailing by. I didn’t see any other tourists stuffing their faces gleefully with tropical fruit (half a pineapple to myself!) so I felt pretty satisfied, both of stomach and of mind.

From the Mekong Delta, we caught a boat upriver to Cambodia and transferred to a bus just outside the capital, Phnom Penh. By some strange stroke of luck, we bumped into Saad (a traveller who we met in Halong Bay) at our guesthouse and hung out with him for a few days, the highlight of which was learning how to ride a motorbike. Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!! Two near-death experiences and one exhaust-to-leg burn later (the local remedy of which is to liberally apply toothpaste to the burn) I can confidently label myself a motorcycle junkie.

While in Phnom Penh, we visited the Killing Fields and the S21 museum, both places illustrating the horror of the Khmer Rouge/Pol Pot regime. It’s no surprise that I have not been able to make sense of the death and torture that happened there, nor do I believe that I have been able to fully comprehend the effect of that period on the Cambodian people. We also visited the National Museum and Silver Pagoda during our time in Phnom Penh, but to be honest, these monuments seem trivial by comparison.

From Phnom Penh, we travelled to a small town called Kampot, and again (!!!) hired motorbikes, but this time, to tackle bumpy pot-holed country roads looking for a cave that the locals insisted existed, but we found no trace of. Needless to say, we had fun honing our biking skills, appreciating the Cambodian countryside and waving to the local people (and the local pigs!) Oh, to be a pig and lounge in the mud all day….

A long bus ride to Siem Reip and too many days here (we are waiting for our Laos visa to be processed) and we are both getting itchy feet. The temples were amazing, if exhausting, and for Rachel, nauseating. (We are now shunned from the guesthouse restaurant because of an incident involving projectile vomit)

Ok thats it for now. I have plenty of photos to post, but technical problems (read: I have no idea what is going on, but I’m freaking out that I’m going to lose my photos) Ah!

Love to all,
Nicky

Dear all,

Xin Chao! I best start this where I left off….

Over a week ago, we left Hue and travelled to the ‘living museum’ of Hoi An; an old trading port set on a serene river. The town is famous for silk lanterns which hang from the old buildings along the river to create a magical atmosphere in the evening. Despite being sick for one day, my impression of our time there includes good food, a nice beach and some amazing old houses and buildings.

Somewhat tired (actually, exhausted) of the constant touting and harassment common on the tourist drag, we decided to head ‘off the beaten track’ and discover a hill town of the North called Kon Tum. After negotiating our way to a town 1 hr south of Kon Tum (taking 4 hours longer than expected), we were effectively ‘dumped’ at the local bus station, which was (apparently) as strange for the locals as it was for us. We spent the next hour nodding with the locals to agree that yes, we are fat (she grabbed my thighs to demonstrate this one) and yes, we are hairy, and YES, we do have bizarre piercings. Lucky I didn’t show them my other piercing. tehehehehe (only joking Granma)

Catching a connecting bus and arriving at Kon Tum late, we checked into a hotel which felt straight out of a Stephen King novel. Both Rachel and I agreed that being the only people staying in a dark 40 room hotel of four floors was pretty unnerving. Still, the optimist in Rachel managed to note that (quote)”there is excellent wildlife in this hotel” having noticed several geckos, a large frog and what could only be described as ‘a bizarre insecty thing’.

After checking out the local sights in Kon Tum, including 2 Indigenous villages we took the overnight bus to Ho Chi Minh City and have since seen some of the sights, the most interesting (and affecting) of which was the war museum. Yesterday I did a little camera shopping and managed to swing a deal with anther Aussie, who was looking to buy two for himself. He comes to Vietnam frequently to deal in pots (at least I think he said pots… then again, he was from Darwin) so he had a friend bargain for us in Vietnamese. Saigon (as it is still called by many of the locals) is far more Westernised than Hanoi and here the disparity between rich and poor is more apparent, as indicated by the white gold, diamond encrusted mobile phone I stumbled across while looking for my camera. ($40,000 US, and I know people who would drop it in the toilet!)

On that note, I better run… Tomorrow we are off to a temple and to Cu Chi, a famous section of the extensive Viet Cong tunnel network. I am really looking forward to seeing this part of Vietnam, having studied it in school. Unfortunately, I don’t think I will be able to crawl through the tunnels, as most Westerners are too fat. It’s all in our thighs, apparently.

Love to all,
Nicole xxx

3 – The number of times we have eaten french fries with chopsticks

27- The current number of mosquito bites on my body

6- (and counting) The number of times Rachel has become very excited about tropical fruit

3- The number of foreigners we have taught the phrase “sticks out like dogs balls”

3- The number of people who threw up on the overnight bus between Hanoi and Hue

5- The number of hotel towels we have stained by rolling dye-ridden wet clothes in them

3- The number of times I have shirked all responsibility when getting lost

0- The number of times I have missed you… oh, maybe a little 1…