After getting up from another sleeper bus we had arrived in Hoi An. We ended up finding a good hotel by the river which is always a plus. The town itself was really nice. The french colonial influence was very apparent. Most of the buildings used french style architecture. Many of them have seen better days but it still gave the town a really neat vibe. The majority of these buildings were filled with all sorts of shops. It felf very similar to Ubud, Indonesia. If you are in the market for custom shoes or anything made out of silk this should be your destination. Most of the sites to see were not big attractions. There is a Japanese style covered bridge that is neat but did not take a great deal of time to look at.
The two days we spent there were filled with checking out souvenir shops and trying food at this string of market type restaurants. The spring rolls at these stands were some of the best we have had so far. Also Hoi An is known for a special soup called Coa Lau. It was good but the spring rolls far superior. Our last night there we went out to a couple spots and played some pool.The next morning we were off to Hue.
The bus was left at 7:30 which was kind of a let down. It was supposed to only take four hours but it took a little longer and we ended up arriving around 1. The hotel we checked out first had a deal for us for free Internet and TV if we waited till five o'clock to check in. With very little hesitation we dropped our bags off and rented some bicycles. We road to check out the imperial citadel located in the middle of the city. It is under heavy restoration because it had been destroyed during the war. They have redone the citadel itself but the majority of the buildings are still under major construction. It was still pretty impressive though.After checking out the citadel we explored a market and biked around the city. By this time it was a little after 5 and we were able to check into our hotel. The room was sweet and had a computer inside (though it didn't work in the beginning). We chilled out in the room for a little while before getting ready to grab a bit to each. We found a pretty sweet spot on the river to have dinner. We were able to watch all these boats that you can rent in you want take people up and down the river. It would have been a sweet thing if you had big group a people to go with. Afterword we were pretty tired from the bus ride and biking around so we just went back to the room and slept.
Feeling inspired by our great biking performances the previous day we decided on not renting a motorbike to see the other cites and continue on bikes. Our goal for the day was to see a couple of the famous pagoda's and a tombs in the area. The first one we decided to check out was near the market we had looked at yesterday. So theoretically it should have been easy to find. However the map we had only had two roads while the actual intersection had three. This proved to be a little bit of problem and we ended up checking out all three of them before finding the pagoda. When we got their we realized why it was not that famous. It was pretty lame so we turned around and heading to one that was 4 km outside of town. We got there and it was much more impressive then the first one we saw. We walked around and saw the sites before deciding our next move. The map we had was a little sketchy but we figured we would be able to find our way to one of the tombs anyway. At first it was smooth sailing we easily found the bridge we were supposed to and even got to the roads leaving Hue. It was here that the map got a little weak. It just had two roads and symbols for the tombs. We asked for directions a couple of times and got different answers which was not very helpful. After biking a decent ways we found ourselves at a tombs. It was not the famous one we had set out looking for but it seemed to be worth checking out. The tomb was pretty cool and neat to see but nothing special. After walking around for a couple minutes we went to get a water.
It was here that the day took a dramatic turn. We had two options. One to continue to search for the famous tombs and pagodas in the area or head back. After some careful consideration we decided that going back and having a drink would be more beneficial then getting lost looking for tombs on the outskirts of Hue. After hanging out at the hotel for a bit we decided it was time to give the Hue night life another chance. We went to a couple bars and played some pool but there once again was not a whole lot going on. We got some food and headed back to the hotel. The next day was based around catching our night bus to Hanoi. During the day we hung out at the hotel and by the river. Then it was off to hopefully some colder temperature and Hanoi.
-WBM
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Ho Chi Minh and Nha Trang
After a sleepless night and a near wallet/bus disaster I was totally conked out for the duration of the bus ride into Vietnam. Will woke me up at the border and even helped me edit my departure card (I had put the date as 2010 among other mix ups). When it was time to get off the bus in HCMC we made our way to a guesthouse and I passed out while Will took advantage of cable TV we had in our room (have not had TV during this whole trip which for us is a big deal). That night we took a walk and found a great local spot to eat.
The next day was our exploring the city day. We did about 4 hours of walking around and checking out the major tourist attractions and markets which were all very overwhelming. Trying different food has quickly become our favorite pass time in Vietnam so far so we spend a lot of time at different restaurants and street vendors. In my opinion the food here is close to the best yet although I have a hard time saying it is better than Thai. The rest of the afternoon was uneventful but we were fine with this because we actually had plans for the evening which is something new and different. The previous night during our walk we passed a theatre which had large advertisements for Charles Dickens "A Christmas Carol." We had missed the times for that night but the following day was the final showing so we decided it was a must do. We didn't have high hopes going into it considering we were in Vietnam but we figured "how bad could it be?" As it turns out it was much worse than my lowest expectations. Let me put it this way...there is no way to put on a successful rendition of "A Christmas Carol" when Tiny Tim is played by a stuffed doll. On top of that all the music was different (we didn't recognize one song) and the cast was so small that cast members would play two characters during one scene (meaning they would have to run off stage during the scene and change a piece of their clothing and then run back out as the "new character"). The most exciting part of the whole production was watching the rats climb all over the set while the play was going on. However despite the blaring flaws of the show we had a good time and it was worth the small amount of money we payed for it.
After the show we went back to the our dinner spot (I call it our dinner spot only because we went there for lunch and dinner everyday because it had the best selection of local dishes for the best price) and then checked out a few other bars before retiring for the night.
Another fairly relaxed day because we had to wait around all day for our 8 PM bus to Nha Trang. We went to the War museum which was less than uplifting and then checked out a few other sites. Our bus ride was short, only about 5 hours. Because our stop in Nha Trang was not the final stop for the bus the bus attendant told us he would tell us when to get off. Naturally he forgot about the foreigners in the back and when we inquired about when we should get off he told us about 15 minutes ago. The bus wasn't about to turn around so we just got off in the middle of nowhere and started the walk back to civilization and guesthouses with all of our stuff. It was just after 1 AM when we started walking and luckily after about 45 minutes we came across a randomly placed hotel that was still a ways outside of the actual town. We were tired and didn't feel like carrying all of our bags anymore so we decided to try and stay there for the night (it was closed and dark). After knocking on the window and waking the sleeping guard we were able to get a room for the night.
In the morning we caught a ride to where we intended to stop the previous night. Nha Trang is a fairly quite fishing town right on the water but has become a popular kitesurfing and windsurfing destination as well. We were temped to partake in the kitesurfing but the cost of renting all of the gear was a bit beyond our budget. So instead we rented a motor bike and cruised along the coast just checking out the scenery which was very impressive. The main attraction of Nha Trang however are its sand dunes. After the heat of mid-afternoon we went to check these out of our motorbike. The first of the dunes, the red dunes, are just over 5km outside of town. Neither Will or I had experienced a sand dune before so we were instantly blown away with what we saw even at the "less impressive" (according to the Lonely Planet) of the two. Because it was getting a bit late and the White dunes were another 30 km away we moved on fairly quickly. We arrived at the White dunes about 30 minutes before sunset and we were both in awe with what we saw. We walked through the dunes for about 15 minutes until we were at a place where all you could see in any direction were large rolling hills of white sand. It was really like nothing we had experienced before and as the sun began to set the scene just kept getting more and more impressive. By the time we left it was just about dark and we were totally covered with sand. The 35km ride back was a bit sketchy because the headlight on our motorbike was broken as was our tail light so we were riding completely in the dark on roads that are a bit unpredictable. Thankfully we made it back safely and we showered before heading out for a nice seafood dinner overlooking the ocean (very romantic). The meal was a sensational end to an even more sensational day and we went to bed feeling very satisfied (especially considering the beers at the restaurant were only 25 cents).
-RBC
The next day was our exploring the city day. We did about 4 hours of walking around and checking out the major tourist attractions and markets which were all very overwhelming. Trying different food has quickly become our favorite pass time in Vietnam so far so we spend a lot of time at different restaurants and street vendors. In my opinion the food here is close to the best yet although I have a hard time saying it is better than Thai. The rest of the afternoon was uneventful but we were fine with this because we actually had plans for the evening which is something new and different. The previous night during our walk we passed a theatre which had large advertisements for Charles Dickens "A Christmas Carol." We had missed the times for that night but the following day was the final showing so we decided it was a must do. We didn't have high hopes going into it considering we were in Vietnam but we figured "how bad could it be?" As it turns out it was much worse than my lowest expectations. Let me put it this way...there is no way to put on a successful rendition of "A Christmas Carol" when Tiny Tim is played by a stuffed doll. On top of that all the music was different (we didn't recognize one song) and the cast was so small that cast members would play two characters during one scene (meaning they would have to run off stage during the scene and change a piece of their clothing and then run back out as the "new character"). The most exciting part of the whole production was watching the rats climb all over the set while the play was going on. However despite the blaring flaws of the show we had a good time and it was worth the small amount of money we payed for it.
After the show we went back to the our dinner spot (I call it our dinner spot only because we went there for lunch and dinner everyday because it had the best selection of local dishes for the best price) and then checked out a few other bars before retiring for the night.
Another fairly relaxed day because we had to wait around all day for our 8 PM bus to Nha Trang. We went to the War museum which was less than uplifting and then checked out a few other sites. Our bus ride was short, only about 5 hours. Because our stop in Nha Trang was not the final stop for the bus the bus attendant told us he would tell us when to get off. Naturally he forgot about the foreigners in the back and when we inquired about when we should get off he told us about 15 minutes ago. The bus wasn't about to turn around so we just got off in the middle of nowhere and started the walk back to civilization and guesthouses with all of our stuff. It was just after 1 AM when we started walking and luckily after about 45 minutes we came across a randomly placed hotel that was still a ways outside of the actual town. We were tired and didn't feel like carrying all of our bags anymore so we decided to try and stay there for the night (it was closed and dark). After knocking on the window and waking the sleeping guard we were able to get a room for the night.
In the morning we caught a ride to where we intended to stop the previous night. Nha Trang is a fairly quite fishing town right on the water but has become a popular kitesurfing and windsurfing destination as well. We were temped to partake in the kitesurfing but the cost of renting all of the gear was a bit beyond our budget. So instead we rented a motor bike and cruised along the coast just checking out the scenery which was very impressive. The main attraction of Nha Trang however are its sand dunes. After the heat of mid-afternoon we went to check these out of our motorbike. The first of the dunes, the red dunes, are just over 5km outside of town. Neither Will or I had experienced a sand dune before so we were instantly blown away with what we saw even at the "less impressive" (according to the Lonely Planet) of the two. Because it was getting a bit late and the White dunes were another 30 km away we moved on fairly quickly. We arrived at the White dunes about 30 minutes before sunset and we were both in awe with what we saw. We walked through the dunes for about 15 minutes until we were at a place where all you could see in any direction were large rolling hills of white sand. It was really like nothing we had experienced before and as the sun began to set the scene just kept getting more and more impressive. By the time we left it was just about dark and we were totally covered with sand. The 35km ride back was a bit sketchy because the headlight on our motorbike was broken as was our tail light so we were riding completely in the dark on roads that are a bit unpredictable. Thankfully we made it back safely and we showered before heading out for a nice seafood dinner overlooking the ocean (very romantic). The meal was a sensational end to an even more sensational day and we went to bed feeling very satisfied (especially considering the beers at the restaurant were only 25 cents).
-RBC
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Phnom Penh
Needless to say by the time we had meet back up we were pretty tired. That night consisted of grabbing a bit to eat and then going right to sleep. The next morning we decided to move hostels because our room from the night before did not smell the best. We got to our new guest house in the morning in order to seize the day. We tried to rent a motorbike in order to go and see a documentary on the killing fields. However by the time we would have had the motorbike the 10 am showing had already started.
In the earlier afternoon we decided to walk to S-21 and see the movie at 3. S-21 (security 21) was one of the prisons set up by Pol Pot while the Khmer rouge was in power. Before it was turned into a prison it was a local school. The buildings have been untouched sense Pol Pot was overtaken and several bed frames still remain in the rooms. This made the grounds and rooms (cells) very eerie to see and walk through. Many of the rooms just have faded photographs of the cell and a rusty bed frame. Other rooms had prisoner’s stories and photographs depicting life at the prison. While Rooney and I walked around we had a hard time thinking that this was all taking place during the second half of the 1970's. The whole area seemed like it belonged much further in the past. After walking around the buildings we watched a documentary on the prison. As we had been reading and seeing the treatment and torture of the people occupied the cells was beyond brutal.
We did not really feel up to much after the leaving the museum and just hung out at our hostel. For dinner we decided to treat ourselves (seeming how it was thanksgiving). We looked around and not to surprisingly there were no restaurants offering a typical thanksgiving meal. We settled on a pub type restaurant that had mash potatoes (figured at least get one item). Our meal was really good and a great change up compared to our regular meals. A special thank you to Aunt Laura for providing us funds to take each other out for the meal.
After dinner we were feeling great and decided to see what the night life was like in Phnom Penh. We found our way to a club called the Heart of Darkness.......well just leave it at that. The next morning we were feeling very lively. So lively in fact that we almost didn’t get out of bed to see the killing fields at 4 pm. Commonsense soon kicked in and we got a taxi to the killing fields. The monument and the fields themselves were very intense to see the least. It was one of those things that I don’t think we will forget. After some time we headed back to the hostel. A little bit to our surprise our taxi driver decided that on the way back he was going to do his grocery shopping. So while we were waiting we grabbed some sandwich stuff at the supermarket.
That night we booked our bus ticket to Ho Chi Minh City for the next morning. By the time night rolled around we decided to go out and play some pool with some Cambodians we meet the night before. One thing led to another and Rooney was running around the city looking for his wallet at the time we were supposed to be getting picked up. Luckily the much older and responsible of the two of us got our stuff together and found our way to the bus station (the wallet was found and we made it on our bus with all of our stuff).
-WBM
In the earlier afternoon we decided to walk to S-21 and see the movie at 3. S-21 (security 21) was one of the prisons set up by Pol Pot while the Khmer rouge was in power. Before it was turned into a prison it was a local school. The buildings have been untouched sense Pol Pot was overtaken and several bed frames still remain in the rooms. This made the grounds and rooms (cells) very eerie to see and walk through. Many of the rooms just have faded photographs of the cell and a rusty bed frame. Other rooms had prisoner’s stories and photographs depicting life at the prison. While Rooney and I walked around we had a hard time thinking that this was all taking place during the second half of the 1970's. The whole area seemed like it belonged much further in the past. After walking around the buildings we watched a documentary on the prison. As we had been reading and seeing the treatment and torture of the people occupied the cells was beyond brutal.
We did not really feel up to much after the leaving the museum and just hung out at our hostel. For dinner we decided to treat ourselves (seeming how it was thanksgiving). We looked around and not to surprisingly there were no restaurants offering a typical thanksgiving meal. We settled on a pub type restaurant that had mash potatoes (figured at least get one item). Our meal was really good and a great change up compared to our regular meals. A special thank you to Aunt Laura for providing us funds to take each other out for the meal.
After dinner we were feeling great and decided to see what the night life was like in Phnom Penh. We found our way to a club called the Heart of Darkness.......well just leave it at that. The next morning we were feeling very lively. So lively in fact that we almost didn’t get out of bed to see the killing fields at 4 pm. Commonsense soon kicked in and we got a taxi to the killing fields. The monument and the fields themselves were very intense to see the least. It was one of those things that I don’t think we will forget. After some time we headed back to the hostel. A little bit to our surprise our taxi driver decided that on the way back he was going to do his grocery shopping. So while we were waiting we grabbed some sandwich stuff at the supermarket.
That night we booked our bus ticket to Ho Chi Minh City for the next morning. By the time night rolled around we decided to go out and play some pool with some Cambodians we meet the night before. One thing led to another and Rooney was running around the city looking for his wallet at the time we were supposed to be getting picked up. Luckily the much older and responsible of the two of us got our stuff together and found our way to the bus station (the wallet was found and we made it on our bus with all of our stuff).
-WBM
Monday, November 30, 2009
Angkor Wat
After the border crossing Rooney and I were on a very comfortable bus heading into Cambodia. It had many empty seats along with a TV playing Micheal Jackson music videos. About 20 minutes or so into the country it was time for us to part ways and I had to get out. Everyone who was traveling to Siem Reap or Phenom Penh had to leave get off the bus. Unfortunately instead of another big bus like we were promised a small van pulled up. To make matters a little worse their was 17 people (the van is supposed to hold 11 or 12). Since we were in the middle of nowhere we did not really have a choice. So they loaded everyone in and I sat on the edge of one seat and some of the outside seat belt buckles.
We were told that it was only going to be an hour or so in the van but I had my doubts. As we started driving away in this van with no ac all i could think about is how Rooney was sitting in the AC big bus comfortably watching TV. It took at little over two hours before the van stopped to let 5 people out. This new space helped out the cause but we still had to travel in the van.
Around 9 pm we stopped again to get some dinner at a local restaurant. We had to wait around an hour and a half for a new bus to take us up to Seim Reap. Fortunately this one was once again an big bus. The bus finally pulled into the station at around 1:30. I tried to get to a cheap guest house but this tuk tuk driver had other plans. He drove me around for an hour taking me to his friends full or expensive guest houses. Finally I told him I had enough and just take me to a cafe or something. This was because it was 2:30 and I was planning on getting up at five to see the sunrise at Angkor Wat. I think he felt bad and ended up taking me to his brothers guest house were i could just stay up and use the Internet for free. There was a couple people up hanging out but they soon went to bed.
Finally it was 5 am and it was time to go. The night before I had arranged a tuk tuk driver to take me around for the day. He came and picked me up and it was off to Angkor Wat. The sunrise was really sweet and I ended up walking around the temple instead of just watching it like a couple hundred people were doing. This turned out to be a huge move because everyone was sitting watching the sunrise and the temple was pretty much empty. By the time the masses were done with breakfast and entering the temple I had seen everything I wanted to see.
Next it was off to a Wat Thom. This had a bunch of temples inside it that were really cool to see. One had giant stone faces on all over that were still intact. Luckily once again there was not many people around and it felt like I was the only one. After a couple of hours of walking around Wat Thom it was time to keep moving. The rest of the morning I stopped at a couple of other temples including the one featured in a Indiana Jones movie. It was really neat and had a ton of trees growing in and on the temples. The trees had destroyed portions of the temple but it made it really unique and cool to look at.
Right around noon the crowds really started to pick up and the heat was in full force. Since I had been looking at temples nonstop for about 7 hours I called it a day. I booked a room in a guest house and after a water it was time for so much needed sleep (I had been up sense 7 am the previous day). I woke up only to grab a bite to eat and then it was back to bed for good.
The next morning was pretty uneventful and I got on a bus around noon to head to the capital and meet up with Rooney. After a 7 or 8 hour bus ride that was supposed to take 5 I arrived in Phenom Penh.
-WBM
We were told that it was only going to be an hour or so in the van but I had my doubts. As we started driving away in this van with no ac all i could think about is how Rooney was sitting in the AC big bus comfortably watching TV. It took at little over two hours before the van stopped to let 5 people out. This new space helped out the cause but we still had to travel in the van.
Around 9 pm we stopped again to get some dinner at a local restaurant. We had to wait around an hour and a half for a new bus to take us up to Seim Reap. Fortunately this one was once again an big bus. The bus finally pulled into the station at around 1:30. I tried to get to a cheap guest house but this tuk tuk driver had other plans. He drove me around for an hour taking me to his friends full or expensive guest houses. Finally I told him I had enough and just take me to a cafe or something. This was because it was 2:30 and I was planning on getting up at five to see the sunrise at Angkor Wat. I think he felt bad and ended up taking me to his brothers guest house were i could just stay up and use the Internet for free. There was a couple people up hanging out but they soon went to bed.
Finally it was 5 am and it was time to go. The night before I had arranged a tuk tuk driver to take me around for the day. He came and picked me up and it was off to Angkor Wat. The sunrise was really sweet and I ended up walking around the temple instead of just watching it like a couple hundred people were doing. This turned out to be a huge move because everyone was sitting watching the sunrise and the temple was pretty much empty. By the time the masses were done with breakfast and entering the temple I had seen everything I wanted to see.
Next it was off to a Wat Thom. This had a bunch of temples inside it that were really cool to see. One had giant stone faces on all over that were still intact. Luckily once again there was not many people around and it felt like I was the only one. After a couple of hours of walking around Wat Thom it was time to keep moving. The rest of the morning I stopped at a couple of other temples including the one featured in a Indiana Jones movie. It was really neat and had a ton of trees growing in and on the temples. The trees had destroyed portions of the temple but it made it really unique and cool to look at.
Right around noon the crowds really started to pick up and the heat was in full force. Since I had been looking at temples nonstop for about 7 hours I called it a day. I booked a room in a guest house and after a water it was time for so much needed sleep (I had been up sense 7 am the previous day). I woke up only to grab a bite to eat and then it was back to bed for good.
The next morning was pretty uneventful and I got on a bus around noon to head to the capital and meet up with Rooney. After a 7 or 8 hour bus ride that was supposed to take 5 I arrived in Phenom Penh.
-WBM
Cambodia....ugh
We woke early and caught our boat taxi to the mainland where we met our motorbike taxis that took us to the bank. For some reason my card wouldn't work but thankfully Will was a nice enough cousin to let me borrow a large sum of money from him so that I didn't have to stay behind and go all the way back to Pakse. Border crossing days are always a total pain and you feel like you are spending lots of money on a whole lot of nothing. The Laos-Cambodia border crossing was no exception especially since we were crossing at an unofficial crossing which means the officers there can charge you random fees and there is nothing you can do about it. For example we got slapped with some random "stamping fee" before even leaving Laos. Then as we crossed into Cambodia we were stopped at a small tent that had a big sign reading "quarantine" where we had our temperatures taken and then had to pay yet another fee. The last random fee came as we purchased our visas which are supposed to be 20 USD. However, we got hit with the "Monday Fee" meaning we had to pay an extra 3 USD because it was a Monday (are you shitting me?) Sounded a bit ridiculous to us and all the others but there isn't much you can do about it.
At this point Will and I headed in separate directions because Will was off to Siem Reap to see Angkor Wat (I had seen this last year on my trip with Ned so I opted to do something different) while I headed to Ban Lung in Northeastern Cambodia. So this blog will be about my adventures getting to and from Ban Lung and Will will give you some info about his trip as well.
Things got off to a bad start right away for me in Cambodia. While waiting for my bus out to Ban Lung I got scammed into buying an overpriced return ticket (as I found out later) from BL to Phnom Penh (where Will and I would be meeting back up in a few days). I was told that there were no direct buses from BL to PP in one day and that I would have to spend a night in another city between the two. This was semi believable considering BL is out in the middle of nowhere. The guy (who I had been playing cards with for the past hour) told me that he could help me out and could arrange for me to make the journey all in one day. I went against my better judgement and bought the ticket from him right then and there and also booked a night at his friends guesthouse in BL because I would be arriving late and didn't want to wander looking for a place to stay.
The bus ride was only about 5 hours long but it was by far the worst I have had on this trip so far. The bus pulled up and I instantly knew it was going to be anything but a comfortable ride. The best way to describe the bus is simply by saying it was a "very,very local bus." Not only were all the seats full but the isle was also full of people sitting on the floor. To make the trip even worse after 10 minutes of driving the pavement ended and the rest of the way was extremely bumpy and dusty roads. The dust was so thick in the air of the bus that I had to tie a t-shirt around my face just to breath. After about 20 minutes my entire body was also covered in a thick layer of the red dust. Needless to say after the 5 hours I was more than ready to get out of the bus and was extremely happy with my decision to book a place to stay ahead of time. I was met by a guy with a "Mr. Rooney" sign and he took me right to the guest house which was very nice (one of the old Governors houses). That night I didn't do a much - just got some dinner and chatted with some other travelers staying there then called it a night.
I woke up the next morning and had a plan. I went to BL because it is known for its beautiful waterfalls and an impressive crater lake. I decided not to take a guided tour but to rent a motorbike instead and do it myself (which the Lonely Planet specifically warns not to do because they said it was very easy to get lost and see nothing). But I went for it anyways because it was about half the price and it is always more fun to do things like this on your own. I rented a motorbike from some guy rather than from a company because he was at my guesthouse and it was cheaper (but the bike was a piece). I got a basic map that had the sights I wanted to see on it and headed off towards the first waterfall. Naturally I ended up getting extremely lost because the map was awful. So for about an hour or so I road around trying to find this waterfall and kept stopping to ask people where it was but this was a joke because no one speaks English and I speak zero Khmer. To make things even more difficult all the roads were thick gravel which made driving very slow. At one point I was coming down a big hill and tried to stop to ask some guy where I was and as I did so the bike totally went out from under me and I went flying down the gravel hill for a good distance before coming to a stop (Mom I was totally okay and was wearing my helmet like a good boy). The bike received some damage but nothing too bad considering it was already fairly beat up.
After this tough start the rest of the afternoon went fairly well. I ended up getting my directions figured out and made it to all 3 major waterfalls and the crater lake. I spent the late afternoon swimming at the lake and just relaxing there. I headed back to my guesthouse around 5 because that is when I needed to have the motorbike back by. Of course as soon as I pulled up the guy noticed that I had crashed his bike. He was very nice about it and didn't make me pay hardly anything for the damage. What he did request however was that I take him out for a drink that night at a bar as payment because he wanted a chance to practice his English. I thought this sounded like a great idea and was happy to do this as a "sorry for messing up your bike" rather than having to pay an arm and a leg to have it fixed (as most places make you do). So later that night he returned and picked me up and we headed into town (which is not much of a town at all) for a drink. What I didn't realize when I agreed to this deal was that the idea of a bar in this town is nothing like the my idea of what a bar is. The first place we pulled up to was dark and had florescent lights blaring and also had about 15 skimpily dressed girls standing outside. I immediately asked him if we could find another place where we could just hang out and have a drink and he agreed and we were off to the next place. Our second stop was almost identical to the first except there were about twice as many girls awaiting our arrival. Again I tried explaining my idea of a bar to him and he seemed to get it this time. When we arrived at our third stop I realized that all the bars in this town were the same and that they all came with a large flock of "working women" as I will call them. Feeling obligated to come through on our agreement (after all I did crash his motorbike and this was the payment) I said the place looked fine and agreed to go in with him. As it turned out there was no bar at this place at all but instead it was made up of individual rooms with big couches and karaoke systems. We were escorted into such a room and about 15 girls followed us in. I was so embarrassed and awkward I could hardly look up at them as he selected which ones he wanted to stay and join us for the evening. Once he had made his selection the others left and the karaoke began. After about 10 minutes the girl who was seated next to me got the point that I wasn't interested in the whole situation so she left (not too happy). So for the next hour and fifty minutes I sat there with this guy and his girl listening to really loud and bad Cambodian karaoke songs. Let's just say that when our time was up I practically ran out of the place (but of course I had to pay and the total was a bit more than the drink I was expected to buy this guy). A bit scarred I returned to my guesthouse and went to sleep very ready to leave BL the next morning on my early bus to PP.
But the adventures continued the next morning. As I was leaving the guesthouse I discovered that ONE of my sandals had been taken (you have to leave your shoes and sandals at the entrance) so I was left with only my left sandal. Pissed, I found a right sandal that fit me and took that and then headed for my bus. This is where the real fun began. When I handed them my ticket (which remember I had payed almost twice the actual price for) they told me that it was not a real ticket rendering it useless. This was the straw that broke the camels back and I started to get a bit heated with the bus guy which is something I never do. After many phone calls and me refusing to believe that the bus was full as they were saying it was I finally was able to convince them to let me on and to give me an actual ticket free of charge. Stressed but relieved I took my seat on the bus and spent the next 12 hours calming down in the hot, dusty, cramped, and uncomfortable local bus that brought me all the way to Phnom Penh. As I said..not the best start to Cambodia.
-RBC
At this point Will and I headed in separate directions because Will was off to Siem Reap to see Angkor Wat (I had seen this last year on my trip with Ned so I opted to do something different) while I headed to Ban Lung in Northeastern Cambodia. So this blog will be about my adventures getting to and from Ban Lung and Will will give you some info about his trip as well.
Things got off to a bad start right away for me in Cambodia. While waiting for my bus out to Ban Lung I got scammed into buying an overpriced return ticket (as I found out later) from BL to Phnom Penh (where Will and I would be meeting back up in a few days). I was told that there were no direct buses from BL to PP in one day and that I would have to spend a night in another city between the two. This was semi believable considering BL is out in the middle of nowhere. The guy (who I had been playing cards with for the past hour) told me that he could help me out and could arrange for me to make the journey all in one day. I went against my better judgement and bought the ticket from him right then and there and also booked a night at his friends guesthouse in BL because I would be arriving late and didn't want to wander looking for a place to stay.
The bus ride was only about 5 hours long but it was by far the worst I have had on this trip so far. The bus pulled up and I instantly knew it was going to be anything but a comfortable ride. The best way to describe the bus is simply by saying it was a "very,very local bus." Not only were all the seats full but the isle was also full of people sitting on the floor. To make the trip even worse after 10 minutes of driving the pavement ended and the rest of the way was extremely bumpy and dusty roads. The dust was so thick in the air of the bus that I had to tie a t-shirt around my face just to breath. After about 20 minutes my entire body was also covered in a thick layer of the red dust. Needless to say after the 5 hours I was more than ready to get out of the bus and was extremely happy with my decision to book a place to stay ahead of time. I was met by a guy with a "Mr. Rooney" sign and he took me right to the guest house which was very nice (one of the old Governors houses). That night I didn't do a much - just got some dinner and chatted with some other travelers staying there then called it a night.
I woke up the next morning and had a plan. I went to BL because it is known for its beautiful waterfalls and an impressive crater lake. I decided not to take a guided tour but to rent a motorbike instead and do it myself (which the Lonely Planet specifically warns not to do because they said it was very easy to get lost and see nothing). But I went for it anyways because it was about half the price and it is always more fun to do things like this on your own. I rented a motorbike from some guy rather than from a company because he was at my guesthouse and it was cheaper (but the bike was a piece). I got a basic map that had the sights I wanted to see on it and headed off towards the first waterfall. Naturally I ended up getting extremely lost because the map was awful. So for about an hour or so I road around trying to find this waterfall and kept stopping to ask people where it was but this was a joke because no one speaks English and I speak zero Khmer. To make things even more difficult all the roads were thick gravel which made driving very slow. At one point I was coming down a big hill and tried to stop to ask some guy where I was and as I did so the bike totally went out from under me and I went flying down the gravel hill for a good distance before coming to a stop (Mom I was totally okay and was wearing my helmet like a good boy). The bike received some damage but nothing too bad considering it was already fairly beat up.
After this tough start the rest of the afternoon went fairly well. I ended up getting my directions figured out and made it to all 3 major waterfalls and the crater lake. I spent the late afternoon swimming at the lake and just relaxing there. I headed back to my guesthouse around 5 because that is when I needed to have the motorbike back by. Of course as soon as I pulled up the guy noticed that I had crashed his bike. He was very nice about it and didn't make me pay hardly anything for the damage. What he did request however was that I take him out for a drink that night at a bar as payment because he wanted a chance to practice his English. I thought this sounded like a great idea and was happy to do this as a "sorry for messing up your bike" rather than having to pay an arm and a leg to have it fixed (as most places make you do). So later that night he returned and picked me up and we headed into town (which is not much of a town at all) for a drink. What I didn't realize when I agreed to this deal was that the idea of a bar in this town is nothing like the my idea of what a bar is. The first place we pulled up to was dark and had florescent lights blaring and also had about 15 skimpily dressed girls standing outside. I immediately asked him if we could find another place where we could just hang out and have a drink and he agreed and we were off to the next place. Our second stop was almost identical to the first except there were about twice as many girls awaiting our arrival. Again I tried explaining my idea of a bar to him and he seemed to get it this time. When we arrived at our third stop I realized that all the bars in this town were the same and that they all came with a large flock of "working women" as I will call them. Feeling obligated to come through on our agreement (after all I did crash his motorbike and this was the payment) I said the place looked fine and agreed to go in with him. As it turned out there was no bar at this place at all but instead it was made up of individual rooms with big couches and karaoke systems. We were escorted into such a room and about 15 girls followed us in. I was so embarrassed and awkward I could hardly look up at them as he selected which ones he wanted to stay and join us for the evening. Once he had made his selection the others left and the karaoke began. After about 10 minutes the girl who was seated next to me got the point that I wasn't interested in the whole situation so she left (not too happy). So for the next hour and fifty minutes I sat there with this guy and his girl listening to really loud and bad Cambodian karaoke songs. Let's just say that when our time was up I practically ran out of the place (but of course I had to pay and the total was a bit more than the drink I was expected to buy this guy). A bit scarred I returned to my guesthouse and went to sleep very ready to leave BL the next morning on my early bus to PP.
But the adventures continued the next morning. As I was leaving the guesthouse I discovered that ONE of my sandals had been taken (you have to leave your shoes and sandals at the entrance) so I was left with only my left sandal. Pissed, I found a right sandal that fit me and took that and then headed for my bus. This is where the real fun began. When I handed them my ticket (which remember I had payed almost twice the actual price for) they told me that it was not a real ticket rendering it useless. This was the straw that broke the camels back and I started to get a bit heated with the bus guy which is something I never do. After many phone calls and me refusing to believe that the bus was full as they were saying it was I finally was able to convince them to let me on and to give me an actual ticket free of charge. Stressed but relieved I took my seat on the bus and spent the next 12 hours calming down in the hot, dusty, cramped, and uncomfortable local bus that brought me all the way to Phnom Penh. As I said..not the best start to Cambodia.
-RBC
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Last day in Laos
Our boat left at 7 AM and it took just over an hour to get to Don Det. We had an agenda when we arrived and first thing was to figure out our transportation to Cambodia for the following day. While investigating this we both realized that we had close to no money left in our wallets and it was then that we remembered reading that there are no ATMs in the area. The closest one is back in Pakse which is a 4 hour bus ride away in the opposite direction from where we want to go. Clearly we did not think this one through before making the rushed decision to not stay (or at least use the ATM) in Pakse. So now we were in a bit of a jam. We had enough money to pay for our housing that night and to eat 2 more meals but that was it. We went to one of the travel places and began trying to figure out what our best option was and after 30 mins it seemed like there was no good option. The last thing we wanted to do was pay a bunch of money (that we didn't have) to backtrack to Pakse simply for an ATM. After more conversation with some other locals we discovered that there was a bank on the mainland only 15 minutes north of where we were. However it was Sunday meaning the bank was closed. The bus to Cambodia was to leave at 9 AM the next morning and we were able to convince the travel man to take us early to go to the bank so we could try and get money to pay for the ticket. He agreed and bumped the price of our ticket up a bit but nothing compared to the cost of having to go all the way back to Pakse.
With that speed bump temporarily taken care of we decided to seize the day. Again we rented bikes and set out to explore the island. Don Det is much smaller that Don Khong and it also is connected to another island (Don Kong) by an old railway bridge so there was a lot for us to check out. The roads however are not roads at all but rather dirt paths that are extremely rocky and bumpy which made the going slow and our butts even more sore than they already were from the previous day of biking. On our way to our first destination (Southeast Asia's largest waterfall..by volume) I hit a rock and my front tire went flat. Major bummer but I was able to walk to a place that could fix it using some crazy fire patch technique I had never seen before. After that we were back on our way and the rest of the afternoon went fairly smoothly. After seeing the waterfall we tried circumnavigate Don Kong but ended up getting lost and very confused because we were without a map. It worked out though and we got to see some old French port which overlooked Cambodia and also met up with another lost and confused biker, Joe from England. Together we were able to find our way back but in total we had been on our bikes for over 5 hours so when we finally got back we were spent and very sore (there has been limited physical activity up to this point during our trip). The rest of the night was standard - food and drinks over the river then off to bed.
-RBC
With that speed bump temporarily taken care of we decided to seize the day. Again we rented bikes and set out to explore the island. Don Det is much smaller that Don Khong and it also is connected to another island (Don Kong) by an old railway bridge so there was a lot for us to check out. The roads however are not roads at all but rather dirt paths that are extremely rocky and bumpy which made the going slow and our butts even more sore than they already were from the previous day of biking. On our way to our first destination (Southeast Asia's largest waterfall..by volume) I hit a rock and my front tire went flat. Major bummer but I was able to walk to a place that could fix it using some crazy fire patch technique I had never seen before. After that we were back on our way and the rest of the afternoon went fairly smoothly. After seeing the waterfall we tried circumnavigate Don Kong but ended up getting lost and very confused because we were without a map. It worked out though and we got to see some old French port which overlooked Cambodia and also met up with another lost and confused biker, Joe from England. Together we were able to find our way back but in total we had been on our bikes for over 5 hours so when we finally got back we were spent and very sore (there has been limited physical activity up to this point during our trip). The rest of the night was standard - food and drinks over the river then off to bed.
-RBC
4000 Islands
So our original plan was to go from Vientiane to Pakse and spend a day or two there as Will mentioned. We got the overnight bus which actually was a sleeper bus where we had our own beds! This sounds great at first but then picture Will and me sharing a bunk that is designed to fit the small body frames of Asian people for 12 hours. Not so comfortable. The beds were about a foot too short and we were practically laying on top of each other. Despite the fact that we got no sleep I think I would take that set up over the regular bus seat any day. When we arrived in Pakse we decided we didn't want to stay after all. I'm not sure how/why/when this decision was made but as soon as we stepped off the bus we walked to the counter and bought another ticket to continue our journey to the 4,000 Islands (another 4 hours south). When we finally arrived there we were tired and hungry so we quickly found a guest house on the island of Don Khong (the largest of all the islands) and rested briefly. Our next move was to rent bicycles and tour around the island for the afternoon. We were originally planning on going around the entire island but after about 7 minutes of peddling on uncomfortable bikes in the afternoon heat we decided the short loop would be more than enough. It still took us just over an hour and despite the heat and our sore butts it was a very scenic bike ride. When we returned to our guest house we had little motivation to do anything so we decided to do nothing. We went to a restaurant overlooking the river and ate/read/played backgammon for a few hours. We attempted to go for another hour bike ride after our relaxation session to see the sunset but only made it about 20 minutes before returning to the comfort of our guesthouse. The rest of the night was very uneventful...more food, more reading, more games then off to bed. Oh we did book a ferry boat (when I say ferry I mean little wooden canoe with a engine that looks like it could sink at any moment) to Don Det which is another island a bit farther south of our current location.
-RBC
-RBC
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