5/8/09
GOOD MORNING VIETNAM!!!
On your marks, get set, Go!!!!
Love, love, love this place, noise, dust, traffic everywhere & tiny alley's but great fun!
Arrived after one of the worst border crossings ever, standing in line in the sweltering heat waiting for your passport to be called out! Plus they were taking temperatures checking for swine flu! How they could tell if anyone had a fever in that heat is beyond me!
Found a cool little hotel down one of the alleys called Hoang Phong Hotel, $18 per night with brekkie.
Sat & had a few beverages down the main street & fell for the first blag in Vietnam! A guy came up & started massaging my shoulders, it was lush! I thought he worked at the bar & it was all part of the service but after about 15 mins & the best massage ever he wanted about $4! J gave him $2 & told him to do one!
6/8/09
Still alive after numerous road crossings! Get in!
Went on JJ's walking tour of the city all around the historical sights, needless to say we got to all the museums at lunch time & they were shut for lunch! The post office here is amazing, huge high ceilings, art deco etc....
Just stood watching the traffic at main intersections, it was hilarious!!
Stopped for a pit stop & I had an iced coffee, they put a mini perculator thing on your glass for the coffee to filter through onto a layer of condensed milk, then you mix it all up & pour over ice, lush!
The city has a real friendly feel, lots of small alleys with the narrowest houses ever with stairs leading up, kinda like bunk bed stairs! Very strong sense of community here with people all out on the streets, in the alley's talking, selling, playing games.....
Walked down what must have been shoe street with hundreds of pairs of shoes, all looking the same & then Antique road full of old coins, camera's, paintings etc....
After a full day's walking we got showered & headed out.
Walked left out of the hotel instead of right & turned one corner to find the 'Taj Mahal' Indian restaurant! What a find & it's not even curry Sunday! 2 chicken tikka's later, couple of beers & a mango lassi we've made friends with the owner a very funny smiley lady! Took J's picture with her!
Went for a walk around & found all the action so going back tomorrow night!
Friday 7 August 2009
Monday 3 August 2009
01/08/2009 to 04/08/2009 Phom Penh
01/08/2009
In Kampot until the bus pick up at 12.15 or so we thought...Went for a wander and breakfast at a Artists cafe they employ some deaf children and have something to do with the performing arts places across the road.
Waited for the bus pick up at the hotel, cut a long story short, it forgot us, managed to get the hotel guy to phone the company, get us taken down to the Taxi ranks on the back of Mopeds (moto's). We had $10 dollars back from the bus and for another $5 dollars we had our own taxi to Phom Penh, took 2.5 hours and got dropped of where we wanted not at a bus station miles out of the way.
We Headed for the Nordis Hotel on street 136 cos this is where Kevin and Theresa were staying and they knind of look for the same kind of thing as us, unfortunately it was full so round the corner got a room at the Paragon hotel on the river, we didn't go crazy and get a River view road but our room had windows on two sides towards the back and you can get out and sit on the communial balcony anyway..
Kevin and Theresa met us at happy hour, had left them a note, had a few beers then went to Huxley, English pub for dinner, Nic had her Shepherd pie with baked beans, delighted, I got crap Phad Thai.
me and kevin went round to Chivas for 50 cent beers, just thought we'd have a couple, ended up back at the guesthouse at 2.30 am oops!
Kev's new nickname is Fifty Cent (after the rapper!)
02/08/2009
Got up intending to go to the Royal Palace but we heard it was pretty rubbish and nothing like the Bangkok one so we blew it out. We decided to go for a long walk down to The Man Lou brewery pub for beer and Dim Sum breakfast. We tried all 4 of their beers (they have their own micro brewery) and opted for a a jug of the green one that is brewed from a flower from under the sea' well thats what they said any way... we got a few dims and salt chilli ribs like the old days at chef hong kong.
met the guys at Huxley, watched a bit of the test match and then went for lush Indian, curry sunday is back, tried to get them to do Garlic chilli Chicken, no luck but still lush
03/08/2009
Went to the killing fields and then to S21 torture prison in the city. To be honest we both didn't like it too much but we had to do it while we were here, there are alot of pictures and alot of skulls and bones unearthed from the mass graves at the killing fields, we are glad we did it to at least see it but not sure we would recommend it.
www.cekillingfield.com
It was a very sobering, moving place all made worse that it didn't happen that long ago, about the year I was born, plus the trial is still going on for one of the leaders called 'Dutch', Kev & Theresa went to watch some of the trial that was translated into English at the court house. Apparently this guy showed no remorse.....
On the back of seeing all the death we decided not to go and shoot AK47's at the range tomorrow.
Been trying to phone Biggy on St Davids day morning but the phone is still busy, where are you guys???
we are off out for khymer food tonight. This didn't happen as we met the guys, had a few buckets & JJ fell asleep in the bar!!! So takeaway pizza it was!
Funny things:
'Buy my book' kiddies every 5 mins would ask!
Ladies wearing pyjamas everywhere! Very funny!
'Precious menu's' no sooner have they given them toy uo but they want them back!
J's filters cost $6!!!! Needless to say he didn't buy them!
Saw a cool place called 'The viscious Cycle' which was a launderette & bicycle hire!
J found 3 more Mario Puzo books, result, so we can spend the rest of our trip reading Godfather books! He's reading 'Treasure Island' at the mo, big kid!
Donated spare t-shirts, toothbrushes & other bits to an orphanage.
In Kampot until the bus pick up at 12.15 or so we thought...Went for a wander and breakfast at a Artists cafe they employ some deaf children and have something to do with the performing arts places across the road.
Waited for the bus pick up at the hotel, cut a long story short, it forgot us, managed to get the hotel guy to phone the company, get us taken down to the Taxi ranks on the back of Mopeds (moto's). We had $10 dollars back from the bus and for another $5 dollars we had our own taxi to Phom Penh, took 2.5 hours and got dropped of where we wanted not at a bus station miles out of the way.
We Headed for the Nordis Hotel on street 136 cos this is where Kevin and Theresa were staying and they knind of look for the same kind of thing as us, unfortunately it was full so round the corner got a room at the Paragon hotel on the river, we didn't go crazy and get a River view road but our room had windows on two sides towards the back and you can get out and sit on the communial balcony anyway..
Kevin and Theresa met us at happy hour, had left them a note, had a few beers then went to Huxley, English pub for dinner, Nic had her Shepherd pie with baked beans, delighted, I got crap Phad Thai.
me and kevin went round to Chivas for 50 cent beers, just thought we'd have a couple, ended up back at the guesthouse at 2.30 am oops!
Kev's new nickname is Fifty Cent (after the rapper!)
02/08/2009
Got up intending to go to the Royal Palace but we heard it was pretty rubbish and nothing like the Bangkok one so we blew it out. We decided to go for a long walk down to The Man Lou brewery pub for beer and Dim Sum breakfast. We tried all 4 of their beers (they have their own micro brewery) and opted for a a jug of the green one that is brewed from a flower from under the sea' well thats what they said any way... we got a few dims and salt chilli ribs like the old days at chef hong kong.
met the guys at Huxley, watched a bit of the test match and then went for lush Indian, curry sunday is back, tried to get them to do Garlic chilli Chicken, no luck but still lush
03/08/2009
Went to the killing fields and then to S21 torture prison in the city. To be honest we both didn't like it too much but we had to do it while we were here, there are alot of pictures and alot of skulls and bones unearthed from the mass graves at the killing fields, we are glad we did it to at least see it but not sure we would recommend it.
www.cekillingfield.com
It was a very sobering, moving place all made worse that it didn't happen that long ago, about the year I was born, plus the trial is still going on for one of the leaders called 'Dutch', Kev & Theresa went to watch some of the trial that was translated into English at the court house. Apparently this guy showed no remorse.....
On the back of seeing all the death we decided not to go and shoot AK47's at the range tomorrow.
Been trying to phone Biggy on St Davids day morning but the phone is still busy, where are you guys???
we are off out for khymer food tonight. This didn't happen as we met the guys, had a few buckets & JJ fell asleep in the bar!!! So takeaway pizza it was!
Funny things:
'Buy my book' kiddies every 5 mins would ask!
Ladies wearing pyjamas everywhere! Very funny!
'Precious menu's' no sooner have they given them toy uo but they want them back!
J's filters cost $6!!!! Needless to say he didn't buy them!
Saw a cool place called 'The viscious Cycle' which was a launderette & bicycle hire!
J found 3 more Mario Puzo books, result, so we can spend the rest of our trip reading Godfather books! He's reading 'Treasure Island' at the mo, big kid!
Donated spare t-shirts, toothbrushes & other bits to an orphanage.
31/07/2009 kampot and kep
had an oil leak on the mini-van so had to stop while they fixed that, met a teacher guy who gave us some good Kampot, Kep and also India info, he'd lived out there a couple of years and had done the stuff that we wanted to do, plus told us about a good beach place north of Goa.
We arrived in Kampot at about 10.30 got a tuk tuk with a very nice lad for a dollar to take us to look at a couple of places, ended up taking a room at the first place for $13 dollars, Kampot didn't look all that, very quiet again and not much other than the river to see, we arranged for tuk tuk man to come get us at 11.30 and take us down to Kep, see a few sites on the way down and then stop for lunch.
Kep speciality is fresh crab fried with Kampot Green pepper corn, its absolutely lush. We ordered the large plate with a large plate of fresh bar b q big shrimps cooked on bamboo sticks with a cracked black pepper & lime juice dipping sauce, you gotta try it!!! they boil the crab then crack it up, stir fry quick with green pepper, spring onions, couple of other bit, I don't normally eat the grey bit but that was all in there in the kind of sauce, was amazing. that little lot cost $22 dollars with 2 beers, how good is that. Stopped at an old French colonial building on the way back, saw the holes still in the walls from the vietnamese invasions, fishing village on the way back... got the bus tickets to leave the next day thru the tuk tuk driver, he gets a little knock back so thought that would be ok. He was really nice, spoke perfect English, was one of five children & he was the main breadwinner. He knew he had to think of the future & that being a Tuk Tuk driver was just a 'Hand to mouth' existence so he was looking into jobs on the tour buses. He said his younger brothers were spoilt being the youngest!
found the only kind of English pub later on back in kampot, had a few pints and then shared ribs.. yes the diet is going really well.
Aparently Kampot green pepper is really famous, especially in Paris... we didn't know that...
We arrived in Kampot at about 10.30 got a tuk tuk with a very nice lad for a dollar to take us to look at a couple of places, ended up taking a room at the first place for $13 dollars, Kampot didn't look all that, very quiet again and not much other than the river to see, we arranged for tuk tuk man to come get us at 11.30 and take us down to Kep, see a few sites on the way down and then stop for lunch.
Kep speciality is fresh crab fried with Kampot Green pepper corn, its absolutely lush. We ordered the large plate with a large plate of fresh bar b q big shrimps cooked on bamboo sticks with a cracked black pepper & lime juice dipping sauce, you gotta try it!!! they boil the crab then crack it up, stir fry quick with green pepper, spring onions, couple of other bit, I don't normally eat the grey bit but that was all in there in the kind of sauce, was amazing. that little lot cost $22 dollars with 2 beers, how good is that. Stopped at an old French colonial building on the way back, saw the holes still in the walls from the vietnamese invasions, fishing village on the way back... got the bus tickets to leave the next day thru the tuk tuk driver, he gets a little knock back so thought that would be ok. He was really nice, spoke perfect English, was one of five children & he was the main breadwinner. He knew he had to think of the future & that being a Tuk Tuk driver was just a 'Hand to mouth' existence so he was looking into jobs on the tour buses. He said his younger brothers were spoilt being the youngest!
found the only kind of English pub later on back in kampot, had a few pints and then shared ribs.. yes the diet is going really well.
Aparently Kampot green pepper is really famous, especially in Paris... we didn't know that...
28/07/2009 to 30/07/2009 Sihanouk Ville
28/07/2009
We arrived on the worst over night for a while. When we booked the tickets we thought the bus might be like the picture on the poster, well wouldn't you? we expected a kind of sleeper seat bus but it turned out that it was just an express bus, we did get the water that they said but we never saw the pillow and blanket... nic was not happy, luckily super ginge had packed an extra T-shirt and she could wear that, I hardly got any sleep but it wasn't really that bad. They played the same film that we had on another bus, its about some kind of south american tribe where a village gets slaughtered and people taken away as slaves, directed by Mel Gibson. straight after that they put on another horror film, all good.
The ride was really bumpy and to be honest pretty scarey, at least in the day you can see out the window at whats coming up.
We arrived in the midle of town at about 7 am, managed to get a Tuk-tuk and went down to mainish street near Serenpidy Beach where we'd seen a couple of places in the book that sounded ok, we booked into Orchidee, knocked them down a couple of dollars to $22, the place has a pool and breakfast so will be a nice treat.
Got showered and although tired went staight out on a tuk tuk to explore the area, victory beach and stuff, when we arrived it seemed really quiet so we wanted to make sure we weren't going to be wasting time staying for too long...
On the way out we got the driver to take us via the Vietnam embassy, we thought we'd find out how long it would take, would save us time in Phom Penh, result, we were unbelievably in and out within about 5 mins, $40 each job done. We went round towards Victory hill, stopped at Hawaii beach and in a bit of a circuit then back to the Hotel. The weather didn't help much but there really isn't all that much to see.
We went for a walk along the beach road and up to the gold lions round about, then jumped in another tuk tuk up to the main town, they had a Irish pub (Emerald), we thought that would be a good start, don't bother if you ever visit it was rubbish, we had a quick toasty and went. We walked down to the main drag, popped into another place for a quick beer, full of blokes, Nic got a kind of come on on the way to the toilet, there was some really psycho looking bloke sitting on the next table, any way we had one beer and went... nothing else about really so we got a tuk tuk back, popped into the Shipwreck pub, result init was happy hour, a couple in there there, a couple in the Moon Shack 3 then back to base pretty early with a bottle of vodka for baked beans in front of the telly... I was aparently asleep by 8.30
29/07/2009
the suns out yippee, had the breakfast, good buffet type thing with even Brown bread, eggs, ham, bacon, cheddar cheese, yum.
Layed by the pool, lush, well worth the extra couple of dollars...
They have loads of bar b q places on our street so we wandered down and looked at a couple, ended up round round at the Moon Shack 3, still 50 cent draught beer, $1 vodka and cokes, $1.5 cocktails all good.. we bother went for the $5 whole red snapper with loads of home made coleslaw and baked potatoe, awesome fish, great evening.
30/07/2009
Another day of no rain so stayed by the pool after a bit of internetting.
went for a couple of early beers in the cheeky monkey, in what we thought would be the busier area, not alot going on anywhere but the lads behind the bar were funny.
ended up back at the same bar b place and had chicken and beef with a side plate full of fresh prawns..
31/07/2009
Got mini van to kampot
We arrived on the worst over night for a while. When we booked the tickets we thought the bus might be like the picture on the poster, well wouldn't you? we expected a kind of sleeper seat bus but it turned out that it was just an express bus, we did get the water that they said but we never saw the pillow and blanket... nic was not happy, luckily super ginge had packed an extra T-shirt and she could wear that, I hardly got any sleep but it wasn't really that bad. They played the same film that we had on another bus, its about some kind of south american tribe where a village gets slaughtered and people taken away as slaves, directed by Mel Gibson. straight after that they put on another horror film, all good.
The ride was really bumpy and to be honest pretty scarey, at least in the day you can see out the window at whats coming up.
We arrived in the midle of town at about 7 am, managed to get a Tuk-tuk and went down to mainish street near Serenpidy Beach where we'd seen a couple of places in the book that sounded ok, we booked into Orchidee, knocked them down a couple of dollars to $22, the place has a pool and breakfast so will be a nice treat.
Got showered and although tired went staight out on a tuk tuk to explore the area, victory beach and stuff, when we arrived it seemed really quiet so we wanted to make sure we weren't going to be wasting time staying for too long...
On the way out we got the driver to take us via the Vietnam embassy, we thought we'd find out how long it would take, would save us time in Phom Penh, result, we were unbelievably in and out within about 5 mins, $40 each job done. We went round towards Victory hill, stopped at Hawaii beach and in a bit of a circuit then back to the Hotel. The weather didn't help much but there really isn't all that much to see.
We went for a walk along the beach road and up to the gold lions round about, then jumped in another tuk tuk up to the main town, they had a Irish pub (Emerald), we thought that would be a good start, don't bother if you ever visit it was rubbish, we had a quick toasty and went. We walked down to the main drag, popped into another place for a quick beer, full of blokes, Nic got a kind of come on on the way to the toilet, there was some really psycho looking bloke sitting on the next table, any way we had one beer and went... nothing else about really so we got a tuk tuk back, popped into the Shipwreck pub, result init was happy hour, a couple in there there, a couple in the Moon Shack 3 then back to base pretty early with a bottle of vodka for baked beans in front of the telly... I was aparently asleep by 8.30
29/07/2009
the suns out yippee, had the breakfast, good buffet type thing with even Brown bread, eggs, ham, bacon, cheddar cheese, yum.
Layed by the pool, lush, well worth the extra couple of dollars...
They have loads of bar b q places on our street so we wandered down and looked at a couple, ended up round round at the Moon Shack 3, still 50 cent draught beer, $1 vodka and cokes, $1.5 cocktails all good.. we bother went for the $5 whole red snapper with loads of home made coleslaw and baked potatoe, awesome fish, great evening.
30/07/2009
Another day of no rain so stayed by the pool after a bit of internetting.
went for a couple of early beers in the cheeky monkey, in what we thought would be the busier area, not alot going on anywhere but the lads behind the bar were funny.
ended up back at the same bar b place and had chicken and beef with a side plate full of fresh prawns..
31/07/2009
Got mini van to kampot
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