Monday 25 November Ho Chi Minh City
Early flight so very early breakfast!
Some went off to visit the Cu Chi tunnels and the rest of us went to the hotel then had a wander down to the market. Hard work walking in such high humidity - about 85% today.
Afternoon visit to the War Remnants Museum - first time we'd been out in a rain shower since we'd arrived. We sheltered under the wing of a plane.
A very sobering and thought provoking place.
Tuesday 26 November Mekong Delta - Ho Chi Minh City
Another early start for a two hour drive to the river.
On to the boat. Beautiful scenery.
Very different to our other river experiences but very beautiful again - even though we had to wear life jackets all the time.
Wednesday 27 November Ho Chi Minh City
Free day so a walk down to the Sky Deck past the Opera House.
As we walked past our nemesis roundabout I stood well back to take a short video of the chaos whilst Mike walked and stood round the corner to look at the map.
Quite by chance two of our group - sisters Liz and Julia - were walking back from the market and saw Mike on his own. They immediately rushed towards him thinking that he'd lost me and would need help to find me. They were very relieved as I walked round the corner. Very funny!.
A walk down.. the Walking Street...
Then a visit to the Bitexco Financial Tower and the Saigon Sky Deck.
Photos taken on the way in.
We shot up 49 floors in the lift and popped out to panoramic views... with plenty of space to stand and admire them from afar with my back to the wall!
Then up another couple of floors to the café for a drink. The waiter led us to a small table near to the window and the view - a long way down - so I ordered a large Mai Tai.
One cocktail later I was quite happy about it all.
Popped into a Hindu temple on the way back.
Mike saw Mr Fredrikksen from his favourite film - and after my large cocktail I was very merry.
Thursday 28 November Phnom Penh
Another early start for a 10 hour bus journey - by public bus. This should be interesting!!
Crossing two borders and sorting out visas.
Bus was much better than we expected with reserved seats, food, water and WiFi!
Getting through the border checks...
Fill in visa form with duplicate on bus. Give them, plus passport plus fee (35 dollars - no bent or crinkled or dirty notes!) to girl who checks them and takes them for the next stage.
Worry slightly as we watch the passports all disappearing off the bus!
Vietnam border - get off bus, collect passports (phew!), stamp passports, let another man check the stamps, back on bus.
Drive through 'no man's land'.
Get off bus for Cambodia control. Eat lunch whilst waiting. Collect passports, go through passport control (some fingerprinted, some photographed, some nothing!) then have stamps checked again by another man.
Get back on bus.
Nice and easy not the scramble we expected/feared. Think our guide was surprised too!
So we were soon driving on the bumpy Cambodian roads.
Arrived at our hotel late afternoon.
Out in the evening for a walk round then a most delicious local meal of Chicken Amok. Bit like korma. I asked to buy a beer glass but they gave me it - hopefully I can get it home in one piece!
Tuk-tuk tour.
Friday 29 November Phnom Penh
First stop - the Genocide Museum. Quite harrowing but more so after our guide PK/Piquet/PeeKay told us his personal experiences as he was a young child (about 6 or 7 he thinks - doesn't know exactly what year or month his birthday is) at the time the war started. His father, brother and uncle were taken by the Khmer Rouge in the early days of the war. They never returned.
The families had cheered the soldiers as they'd marched in but had been told the next day to leave their houses.
Such awfuli stories of atrocities and inhumanity but one or two glimmers of light and humour amongst it all.
All intellectuals killed and families turning on each other. Hard to imagine the desperate struggle needed to survive.
Our guide escaped with part of his family and endured many hardships with his mother dying of exhaustion in a camp. A chance meeting whilst sheltering from bombs in a bunker reunited him and one brother with his aunt.
Punishment for stealing a small piece of food was being placed all day in the hot sun and covered with red biting ants. He didn't steal again.
He found another brother many years later whilst attending the wedding of his surviving brother. He went to visit his old family home nearby, now lived in by others and was told another man had done the same thing the week before - also saying it had been his family home. Long story short, tracked him down and took him back to the wedding!
Our guide had held many jobs including soldier and then decided to train as a tour guide. On a visit to the museum he'd seen a photo of his uncle amongst the murder victims. Had he not decided to train as a guide he would never have seen this. The most chilling part? This was only several months previously!!
He'd told us this before we went in but as we walked round he pointed to a picture amongst all the faces and simply said 'my uncle'. Such a gut punch.
He'd told his aunt but she didn't want to see the picture. No pictures of his father or brother but they would have suffered the same fate.
This brave man wanted to share his story with us in order that we could pass it on so others could learn about the atrocities that were committed which ended the lives of so many innocent people. Basically we were part of his ongoing therapy in coming to terms with everything that had happened in his family.
Very hard to comprehend that all this was happening within our lifetime and that we knew so little about it. And humbling to comprehend the forgiving nature of the people who virtually lost a whole generation to this war.
Then a visit to one of the Killing Fields at Cheung Ek.
Very sobering but now very peaceful with lots of butterflies and flowers.
PK/Piquet/PeeKay then said that we needed to lighten our mood and do happy things so he arranged excursions for the evening.
Back for a meal and the market before an evening boat cruise for five of us.
Our guide had been due to join us but Max's sickness and diarrhoea had not abated so he and Dan went off by tuk-tuk to take him to the hospital. An antibiotic drip and lots of tablets soon started his road to recovery and they returned in the evening - with Dan £350 lighter!
Turned out that the advice given by another group member had been very bad. Taking one immodium to get through a long journey was ok but taking them after every sickness or movement was definitely not!! The nurse was horrified to learn that he'd taken about 10 in less than two days. We were horrified too when we'd found out. We'd given him rehydration sachets which of course were being rendered useless by the immodium.
But ever the professional, our guide had made sure that we were looked after on our boat trip - even though he was disappointed that he'd not been able to go himself.
We all sat, chatted and listened to the cheesy music whilst enjoying the scenery. It was a good antidote to the horrors of the morning.
Saturday 30 November Battambang
Another early start for a long journey.
Stop en route to see the floating houses in one of the many villages around lake Tonie Sap. About 170 of these villages have built up around the edges of this huge lake - and they are all complete with everything from police stations to medical centres and churches. Quite amazing.
We arrived at our hotel later afternoon then put bags in our rooms and went out again to go to the bamboo train!..
Originally some sort of makeshift and temporary lines to transport stuff now a tourist attraction.
Such a bizarre thing to do and very funny when you meet a truck coming down the line when you're going up. They stop, people get off and everything gets lifted off the tracks - the flatbed and then the wheels. So then those on the UP flatbed go past, then everything is put back in place on the line, people climb back on and they continue their journey.
We assumed that those travelling on the downwards journey would have to help reassemble their transport as obviously the driver on the UP flatbed is not there to help the other driver.
We didn't meet anyone on our journey back so we didn't find out!
Just time for a quick shower when we got back then out again for a meal.
An exhausting day to say we were travelling and sitting on our bums for 9 hours!!
... continued in part 5...
Early flight so very early breakfast!
Some went off to visit the Cu Chi tunnels and the rest of us went to the hotel then had a wander down to the market. Hard work walking in such high humidity - about 85% today.
Afternoon visit to the War Remnants Museum - first time we'd been out in a rain shower since we'd arrived. We sheltered under the wing of a plane.
A very sobering and thought provoking place.
Terrible traffic here but there are more cars than in Hanoi - still loads of motorbikes and scooters though and if the traffic jams start to build up then they just mount the pavements and drive along there. Seems to be accepted so no safety for pedestrians wherever you are!
Out for a group meal in the evening.
Tuesday 26 November Mekong Delta - Ho Chi Minh City
Another early start for a two hour drive to the river.
On to the boat. Beautiful scenery.
Water hyacinths.
A stop at a small village to see how they use coconuts - for eating, making drinks and liquor, house building, bowls and utensils etc. Nothing wasted!
Coconuts everywhere!
Short walk to a tuk-tuk and a ride through the coconut and palm groves.
Then into small long boats to be rowed down the coconut grove canals. So beautiful! But murky, muddy water.
Delicious lunch of river fish and other local produce.
Then back on the boat and bus with most of the group sleeping the two hours back to the hotel. Quite a day!
Out for our last group evening meal to a restaurant run by disadvantaged youngsters who train there for catering qualifications to help them get on in life. More delicious food.
Then a last group drink before we all went out separate ways.
Probably a good job that we are taking malaria tablets as Mike and some of the others in the group have had some pretty nasty bites. I've had a couple of slightly itchy pimples... so far...
Free day so a walk down to the Sky Deck past the Opera House.
As we walked past our nemesis roundabout I stood well back to take a short video of the chaos whilst Mike walked and stood round the corner to look at the map.
Quite by chance two of our group - sisters Liz and Julia - were walking back from the market and saw Mike on his own. They immediately rushed towards him thinking that he'd lost me and would need help to find me. They were very relieved as I walked round the corner. Very funny!.
A walk down.. the Walking Street...
Then a visit to the Bitexco Financial Tower and the Saigon Sky Deck.
Photos taken on the way in.
We shot up 49 floors in the lift and popped out to panoramic views... with plenty of space to stand and admire them from afar with my back to the wall!
Then up another couple of floors to the café for a drink. The waiter led us to a small table near to the window and the view - a long way down - so I ordered a large Mai Tai.
One cocktail later I was quite happy about it all.
Popped into a Hindu temple on the way back.
Mike saw Mr Fredrikksen from his favourite film - and after my large cocktail I was very merry.
Met the new tour leader in the evening and found out that there was only one other lady joining our group so we are 11 for this trip.
Thursday 28 November Phnom Penh
Another early start for a 10 hour bus journey - by public bus. This should be interesting!!
Crossing two borders and sorting out visas.
Bus was much better than we expected with reserved seats, food, water and WiFi!
Getting through the border checks...
Fill in visa form with duplicate on bus. Give them, plus passport plus fee (35 dollars - no bent or crinkled or dirty notes!) to girl who checks them and takes them for the next stage.
Worry slightly as we watch the passports all disappearing off the bus!
Vietnam border - get off bus, collect passports (phew!), stamp passports, let another man check the stamps, back on bus.
Drive through 'no man's land'.
Get off bus for Cambodia control. Eat lunch whilst waiting. Collect passports, go through passport control (some fingerprinted, some photographed, some nothing!) then have stamps checked again by another man.
Get back on bus.
Nice and easy not the scramble we expected/feared. Think our guide was surprised too!
So we were soon driving on the bumpy Cambodian roads.
Arrived at our hotel late afternoon.
Out in the evening for a walk round then a most delicious local meal of Chicken Amok. Bit like korma. I asked to buy a beer glass but they gave me it - hopefully I can get it home in one piece!
Tuk-tuk tour.
Friday 29 November Phnom Penh
First stop - the Genocide Museum. Quite harrowing but more so after our guide PK/Piquet/PeeKay told us his personal experiences as he was a young child (about 6 or 7 he thinks - doesn't know exactly what year or month his birthday is) at the time the war started. His father, brother and uncle were taken by the Khmer Rouge in the early days of the war. They never returned.
The families had cheered the soldiers as they'd marched in but had been told the next day to leave their houses.
Such awfuli stories of atrocities and inhumanity but one or two glimmers of light and humour amongst it all.
All intellectuals killed and families turning on each other. Hard to imagine the desperate struggle needed to survive.
Our guide escaped with part of his family and endured many hardships with his mother dying of exhaustion in a camp. A chance meeting whilst sheltering from bombs in a bunker reunited him and one brother with his aunt.
Punishment for stealing a small piece of food was being placed all day in the hot sun and covered with red biting ants. He didn't steal again.
He found another brother many years later whilst attending the wedding of his surviving brother. He went to visit his old family home nearby, now lived in by others and was told another man had done the same thing the week before - also saying it had been his family home. Long story short, tracked him down and took him back to the wedding!
Our guide had held many jobs including soldier and then decided to train as a tour guide. On a visit to the museum he'd seen a photo of his uncle amongst the murder victims. Had he not decided to train as a guide he would never have seen this. The most chilling part? This was only several months previously!!
He'd told us this before we went in but as we walked round he pointed to a picture amongst all the faces and simply said 'my uncle'. Such a gut punch.
He'd told his aunt but she didn't want to see the picture. No pictures of his father or brother but they would have suffered the same fate.
This brave man wanted to share his story with us in order that we could pass it on so others could learn about the atrocities that were committed which ended the lives of so many innocent people. Basically we were part of his ongoing therapy in coming to terms with everything that had happened in his family.
Very hard to comprehend that all this was happening within our lifetime and that we knew so little about it. And humbling to comprehend the forgiving nature of the people who virtually lost a whole generation to this war.
Then a visit to one of the Killing Fields at Cheung Ek.
Very sobering but now very peaceful with lots of butterflies and flowers.
PK/Piquet/PeeKay then said that we needed to lighten our mood and do happy things so he arranged excursions for the evening.
Back for a meal and the market before an evening boat cruise for five of us.
Our guide had been due to join us but Max's sickness and diarrhoea had not abated so he and Dan went off by tuk-tuk to take him to the hospital. An antibiotic drip and lots of tablets soon started his road to recovery and they returned in the evening - with Dan £350 lighter!
Turned out that the advice given by another group member had been very bad. Taking one immodium to get through a long journey was ok but taking them after every sickness or movement was definitely not!! The nurse was horrified to learn that he'd taken about 10 in less than two days. We were horrified too when we'd found out. We'd given him rehydration sachets which of course were being rendered useless by the immodium.
But ever the professional, our guide had made sure that we were looked after on our boat trip - even though he was disappointed that he'd not been able to go himself.
We all sat, chatted and listened to the cheesy music whilst enjoying the scenery. It was a good antidote to the horrors of the morning.
Saturday 30 November Battambang
Another early start for a long journey.
Stop en route to see the floating houses in one of the many villages around lake Tonie Sap. About 170 of these villages have built up around the edges of this huge lake - and they are all complete with everything from police stations to medical centres and churches. Quite amazing.
We arrived at our hotel later afternoon then put bags in our rooms and went out again to go to the bamboo train!..
Originally some sort of makeshift and temporary lines to transport stuff now a tourist attraction.
Such a bizarre thing to do and very funny when you meet a truck coming down the line when you're going up. They stop, people get off and everything gets lifted off the tracks - the flatbed and then the wheels. So then those on the UP flatbed go past, then everything is put back in place on the line, people climb back on and they continue their journey.
We assumed that those travelling on the downwards journey would have to help reassemble their transport as obviously the driver on the UP flatbed is not there to help the other driver.
We didn't meet anyone on our journey back so we didn't find out!
Just time for a quick shower when we got back then out again for a meal.
An exhausting day to say we were travelling and sitting on our bums for 9 hours!!
... continued in part 5...
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