Cambodia Part II: Current Civilisation

Cambodia is a country rebuilding itself after years of civil war, genocide, communism and there is a concerted effort to regenerate and sustain part of their culture, in the form of skills in sculpture, silkmaking etc. I visited a number of training centres whech bring people from different villages to be trained in the different art forms for them to then continue these crafts in their respective villages. I loved the visit to the silk centre which showed the the process from farming the worms to weaving and the finished product. Fortunately budget and luggage constraints curbed my spending otherwise I would've decked my flat in cushions quilts and wall hangings.

The most memorable experience was a day trip to Prek Toal - a floating village, bird sanctuary and craft making establishment - supported by a French NGO - Osmose. It involved a drive to the Tonle Sap lake, 1-2 hr boat trip past floating villages (on the right were Vietnamese villagers and on the left Cambodian - no love lost between them) and fishing allotments (concessions are now given to big companies due to extortionate cost and then rented to villages) before arriving at Prek Toal - fascinating to see how the villagers live - houses are built on floating bamboo platforms and daily tasks revolve around the water and boats - from children rowing themselves to school, to floating petrol stations, stationary and mobile floating shops/food kiosks. The water level between wet and dry season changes by 12m and we were visiting during the dry season so managed to take a walk past temples (permanent structures), crocodile breeding farms (too scary to mention) and "back gardens". They have introduced floating gardens with herbs, guava/papaya/banana trees and other veggies such as tomoatoes - fascinating and have been sustained over the last few years, so successful too! The waterways get clogged up by water hyacinths during the day creating havoc for locals to manouvre. One of the crafts that has been re-introduced is the weaving of mats/baskets/hats/hammocks etc from the hyacinth - a very successful project involving many villagers. A lot of the sights were very positive, there is also the negative around disease and lack of medical resource, basic sanitation and waste disposal (this is a common theme across Cambodia in both rural and urban places).

We also visited the bird sanctuary (despite an almighty thunderstorm that lasted about 2 hours with torrential rain as we bobbed about in the wide open lake - and this is dry season!). Previously locals used bird eggs as a food source creating endangered species (pelicans, herons, etc) and they have stopped this activity and replaced it with tourism, training rangers and school children on the environment and beauty of the sanctuary and birds. We managed to see many different birds, despite the rain and enjoyed a delicious local meal back in the village at a floating restaurant (soup, rice, fish, cabbage!!) followed by a dessert purchased from a floating vendor (choice of sweet rice and black beans or sweet corn served with coconut milk).

On our return visit to Siem Reap, I appreciated our trip immensely as we saw 100's of boats taking tourists out to the basic villages at the entrance to the lake - a bit dull really! And then we stopped at a lotus flower farm....exquisite!

Cambodia: Part I - Ancient Civilisations

I have only been here a week and yet I feel as if I have gained the experience of centuries! Starting with the temples of Angkor in Siem Reap, built in the 12th Century by King Suryavarman II. and King Jayavarman VI. The "smaller temples of Bayon, Praeh Kahn, Ta Phrom (Angelina Jolie, Lara Croft fame) .. I could keep naming them.... are almost more impressive than Angkor Wat, probably because they fit in the camera view, whereas Angkor Wat is vast and towering. Each of the temples are in different stages of ruin and/or restoration funded by different countries. Despite this, what is amazing is the intricacy of some of the carvings and significance of what the Wats represent to the Khmer kingdom, people, religion and history. I spent 2.5 days touring the temples, at different times - sunset, sunrise and in the heat of midday. At all times there are gazillions of tourists, incl some rather large and loud tour groups and then many touts, either children selling postcards and guides or women selling food and drinks, and everything seems to get down to 1 dollaaaaar (slightly irritating after being accosted by at least 5 of them at each temple (x10) but then better than pure begging. The special moments were when you had the temple to yourself, like in a thunderstorm during my sunrise visit to Angkor Wat (there was no sunrise but it was very early in the morning) or first thing up Kbal Spaen (lingas and carvings in rock under river - a jungle walk of 3kms about 30kms out of town), or sitting in the shade of the tree observing smaller temples over lunch time when the hordes have gone back to town. The beauty of the buddha heads on my first temple is undescribable - photos (still to be added) can attempt to portray the beauty, but I might have to get the proverbial coffee table book!!

The town of Siem Reap is hectic - the traffic and drivers hae mindes and routes of their own - haphazard and hazardous!! There are 100's of hotels, restaurants, massage parlours, makets and 1000's of people, tuk tuks and motorbikes. I wandered through a number of markets selling temple and buddha carvings, silk items, clothes, food products (mostly for locals). The choice of food and drink is unversal, I even came across Springfield Life from Stone (Sav Blanc) at $27/bottle! The local Khmer food is spicy and includes curry, spring rolls and stir fries. Fish is common given the proximity of Tonle Sap Lake and Mekong River and fruit in abundance!! There is a distinct French influence and many other nationlities represented dur to the abundance of NGO's in Cambodia.
I stayed slightly out of town at a Cambodian run hotel - Palm Village Resort & Spa - ensuite, air con bungalow with pool, cable tv , internet - all for $35 B&B - slightly higher than my budget allows, and being out of town, I had the service of a tuk tuk driver which cost anywhere between $6 and $30/day depending on distances covered! After visits to the temple and into town, it was an absolute pleasure to get away from it all back to the quiet resort for r&r.

Scuba diving in Similan Islands - Thailand

An easy flight over from Singapore and our first night was in the basic Andatel hotel on the main road of Patong Beach. As it had been 15 years since I was last in Phuket, I was not sure what to expect. The roads are lined with massage parlours, bars, restaurants, hotels and shops and then there is an endless stream of cars and motorbikes. We wandered around taking in the atmosphere, walking past outside restaurants with fresh seafood on display and were enticed by large prawns and fresh fish, settling on one restaurant served by a man girl, surrounded by an assortment of tourists. The beer was cold and the food excellent. The area is not “attractive” and we experienced “an assault of the senses” after the orderly clean Singapore. The beach at Patong is lined with beach chairs and umbrellas and waiters serving cold drinks – heaven, and the water warm – double heaven. The area continues to be re-developed with new hotels and apartments. Tsunami warning equipment and evacuation routes the limited evidence of the 2004 tsunami. We were to discover later in the day the plusher parts of Patong with Starbucks, Haagen Daz, Marriot and Holiday Inn! Patong beach is not recommended, but is was only an overnight stay before the start of our liveaboard.
A moment of reflection - glad to have experienced an element of Phuket that majority experience – over and above just being transported from plane to luxury boat/hotel and realize how fortunate we really are.

Shortly before boarding our vessel – MV Mermaid II – we were feeling rather intrepid (worried/scared/….) as we heard of a dive boat capsizing the previous day and 6 people still missing (5 divers and the cook). Based on my previous experience, you can imagine, I was feeling a little tentative about boarding, and there was a magnificent electric thunderstorm that added to the feeling of trepidation. After an inquisition on the safety merits of our boat, we felt better and settled into the comfort of our en-suite cabins. It was a fitful nights sleep as the boat motored overnight to Similan islands.There are 9 granite islands covered in tropical jungle, with clear blue ocean and idyllic beaches. They lie in a 25 km long north-south chain, 65 km offshore from Phang Nga Province in the Andaman Sea, about 100 km from Phuket. There are lovely coral gardens with relatively shallow diving with reef banks down to about 40m, we dived mainly in 20-30m of warm water (29degrees) and variety provided by large granite boulders. Although the tsunami of 2004 did affect a few of the reefs here, most are in excellent condition. We had some great dives (14 in all), at sunset, sunrise, throughout the day with clear water and largely calm waters. The manta rays and whale sharks alluded us, but we saw other big creatures - leopard shark, white tip reef shark, turtle, barracuda, tuna, moray eels, Napoleon wrasse, and great small stuff - forg fish, flatworms, ghost pipe fish, nidbrands, flatworms. We visited Richelieu Rock with about 10 other boats and did several excellent dives and wnet onto one of the islands and walked the adventure trail to the viewpoint - absolutely stunning (await Catherine's photos). We experienced beautiful sunsets, full moon and enjoyed a few beers on the last night with Rut - friendly and professional divemaster - always smiling underwater!

Our last few days in Thailand have been spent at the luxury Indigo Pearl resort at Nai Yang beach, lazing by the pool, enjoying cocktails in the bar and a champagne Sunday brunch - a great send off by Catherine and Oli - and a sad goodbye to my friends! Next stop Cambodia, time to immerse myself in culture, history, eco-tourism and possibly some backpacking!!!

The comforts of London and Singapore

Well I have just spent two wonderful weeks in the luxury and comfort of friends' homes in London and Singapore - thanks for the great hospitality.

London was grey and cold but fantastic to be back after a few years/months - it was great catching up with so many friends, managed some cultural activity - National Portrait Gallery exhibition, tea with new mums, dinner at Tom's Kitchen in Chelsea with girls, dining at friends in the country! And then walked the streets of London while obtaining Russian & Chinese Visas, sorting out banking and property - feels a bit like hard work to get prepared for a year off, it was much easier when we had no responsibility or assets to take care of!!!

Singapore has been very hot and humid and very relaxing as I ease into holiday mode, running in Botanical Gardens, much needed cycling in the gym, lazing by the pool and catching up with friends, shopping on Orchard Rd, lunching at Turf City, dining in Dempsey Hill - photo of night out at Dempsey Hill with Joann and Catherine - and just practising my blogging skills....