As I had so much time left to play with and staying in the city was expensive I decided I would do another long distance hiking trail, this time the Maclehose Trail. I planned it so that if I left on Sunday morning, I would return on the Wednesday ready for the England v Croatia game. At 100km in length the Maclehose Trail was described as taking in 8 different country parks with landscapes including rugged peaks, remote valleys, and ocean Coastlines. The trail started in a place called Pak Tam Chung, which was served by buses only on Sundays. Like with the Lantau Trail, there were marker posts every 500m, and the trail was split into 10 sections. I arrived into Pak Tam Chung about 11am, and after looking round the visitor centre I set off.
I soon entered the Sai Kung East Country Park where I followed this road along the edge of the High Island Reservoir. There were some great views along the way of the reservoir with the backdrop of the hills, as well as occasional views of the many harbours and coastline the other side. I eventually reached the East Dam which was home to some rather impressive geological features including this huge wall of reddish hexagonal rock columns, a legacy of volcanic activities 140 million years ago. Part of the cliff even showed the effects of earthquakes with the rock columns noticeably bent! There was also a sea cave and a large stack near the dam too.
I then headed up and over this hill to Long Ke, getting a great birds eye view of the cove as of descended down to the beach. I stopped there for lunch. I then had my biggest climb of the day to the 314m lookout of Sai Wan Shan which presented me with more brilliant coastal views and also some views of the reservoir from above. I then dropped into Sai Wan which is often referred to as ‘the back garden of Hong Kong’, due to its turquoise waters and pearly white sands although I instead had a massive downpour upon arrival so it more like black clouds and empty beach. It did clear eventually and I pressed on towards to this stream which had these waterfalls you could jump off. It was very busy there though so I continued onto Ham Tin where I had a nice swim in the sea to cool off there instead. I also set up camp there with the beach permitting freedom camping, although I did have several dogs and cows for company!
The next morning I set off relatively early, soon arriving in Pak Tam Au. En route I got more great views of the coastline, although when passing through this abandoned village I got stuck behind this group of cows which were walking single file down the narrow path. From Pak Tam Au I began some more serious climbing, heading up and over 4 mountains around about 400m high. There were brilliant views looking out towards some of Hong Kong's more remote islands. I did have a slight mishap on one of the descents though, taking quite a nasty fall whereby I fell forward on this rocky decline and hit my head on one of the rocks. Luckily I survived with just bump on the head and a few scratches, but it certainly could have ended a lot worse!
I eventually decended into Kei Ling Ha for lunch. I had a little scare shortly after lunch however, nearly treading on a snake. I'm glad that woke me though as not long after I came across another much larger snake which I soon found out was a cobra, something you definitely do not mess with. Unfortunately I had to mess with it as it was blocking the path, and after making my presence known it eventually went into the bushes, although I don't think it was very happy as it was hunting this frog so I probably interrupted it's lunch. After those small mishaps I continued climbing up the eastern face of Ma On Shan, where the views were absolutely stunning when reaching the saddle. I followed the ridgeline from the saddle, where the views just kept on coming and coming in all directions. I made it to my campsite late in the afternoon in the end so it was quite long day, although not long after arriving it started pouring with rain so I was stuck in my tent all evening.
It pretty much rained all night but luckily by the morning it had stopped somewhat, although it was still pretty overcast. I set off early once again with a big day planned, snaking my way along this ridgeline via Tates Cairn and Temple Hill. There was however a massive downpour which I got caught out in, although luckily by the time I later reached the 495m peak of Lion Rock it cleared and I got great views looking over the city, the closest the trail reaches proper urban Hong Kong. I continued along the ridgeline via Beacon Hill, the city skyline visible for large parts, before decending down towards this reservoir.
The following section just followed this road along this reservoir, before leaving the road and heading over to the Shing Mun Reservoir. I saw lots of monkeys along the way, as well several war relics including these old tunnels which were all named after streets in London. I stopped for lunch at the reservoir, and also to dry my tent out as by that point the sun was well and truly out. After lunch I began climbing again up to the 534m summit of Needle Hill which was incredibly steep, before decending down to this road which I then followed up to the 647m summit of Grassy Hill. It was a really draining couple of climbs as the humidity was really bad so it took a lot out of me.
From Grassy Hill I decended down to the Lead Mines Valley. The 957m summit of Tai Mo Shan which was my next climb looked very daunting as I decended, which was the highest mountain in Hong Kong. Tai Mo Shan is meant to be wettest and coldest part of Hong Kong, although I was lucky enough to have completely blue skies. The climb was actually pretty gradual which was nice, and the views up top were absolutely stunning. I'm pretty sure you could see the entirety of Hong Kong, and you could also just about see the skylines of Macau, and the cities of Shenzen and Zhuhai in China. I then decended down the other side to my campsite, and I had the luxury of a stream to swim in unlike the previous night which was definitely much needed! I was pretty spent upon arrival though, although on reflection I covered a pretty considerable distance and did a lot of height gain in what was very intense heat and humidity.
I left not long after sunrise the following morning, and much of walk was relatively flat through nice and shaded woodland which meant I barely broke a sweat. As it was so shaded there wasn't really much to see, but later on in the walk I got some great views of the Tai Lam Chung Reservoir before finally following this water catchment path above the town of Tuen Mun. I eventually dropped into the town and that marked the end of the trail, finishing just in time for lunch. After lunch I caught the metro back into the city where I just relaxed for the rest of the day, heading out to watch the England v Croatia game later that evening.
As the England game was one of them 2am kick offs again and it went to extra time it was another particularly late night, and I didn't really feel like doing much the following day. My legs were actually quite stiff as well after the hike so it was nice just to relax. On Friday the weather was awful so I couldn't really go very far, and the following day it was still a little iffy but I decided I would just go out and face it as it was my last day, catching the ferry over to Hong Kong Island where I looked round the Causeway Bay area as well as exploring some of the areas I visited before. There were constant showers all day though which prevented me from going back up Victoria Peak again to see the skyline at night which was a shame, although I did treat myself to a nice meal in the evening instead.
On Sunday morning I started my journey back to London to surprise everyone which I managed to keep a relatively well guarded secret. I informed most people I was going to Manila which was true, but from there I connected to another flight bound to London. The weather in Hong Kong was still horrendous though when leaving but it was a pretty smooth flight and when landing in Manila I transferred without any major problems, although they did scan my luggage a further two times so security was pretty tight! The flight to London was actually really comfortable with on flight entertainment and nice food by plane standards, getting 3 meals during the flight to add to the 1 meal in the previous flight. I also ended up watching 4 films by the end!
When arriving into London at about 8pm there was basically no security so I just walked straight into the country. I forced myself to stay awake on the entirety of the flight which meant by the time I managed to get some sleep it was during UK night time despite my body clock thinking it was Hong Kong morning time, hence minimising the effects of jet lag. It wasn't the most comfortable of nights though! I booked a cheap bus from Heathrow to Victoria Coach Station a few weeks prior and headed there not long after sunrise. When arriving at Victoria I had a little wander round London before waiting my prebooked train from Victoria to Lancing up in wetherspoons. Typically it was cancelled although luckily I managed to get on the one before without anyone questioning me, arriving home by the afternoon to surprise everyone!
Wednesday, 18 July 2018
Wednesday, 11 July 2018
Hong Kong (part 2)
As I had so much time to play with in Hong Kong I decided I would attempt one of the long distance hiking trails. With 4 to choose from I decided to do the Lantau Trail over on Lantau Island, which is the largest island in Hong Kong. Lantau Island is linked to the mainland by several road and public transport links though and is home to some of Hong Kong main attractions including the Disneyland Resort and the Ngong Ping Cable Car. The hike itself was split in 12 stages officially starting and finishing in the small village of Mui Wo, although I decided to start in Tung Chung and walk to the village of Tai O at stage 7, and finish in Tung Chung by leaving the trail at Ngong Ping at the end of stage 4. This effectively meant I was missing out on stages 5 and 6.
I didn't start hiking until after lunch, catching the metro from Tsim Sha Tsui to Tung Chung, before following this path called the Tung O Ancient Trail to Tai O. It took a while to negotiate my way out of Tung Chung which was full of bridges and subways, but when I reached this old fort it wasn't long until I left the high rise behind and started following the coastline. I passed several small temples and little villages, and on the adjacent island was the airport so I often got great views of the planes taking off. I also got some great views of this bridge they're constructing to link Macau to Hong Kong by road. It's actually quite a feat of engineering, whereby they've created two artifical islands in the sea linked by bridges to Macau and Hong Kong, and then tunnelled between the two artifical islands! When you think the two places are over 40 miles apart it's actually quite impressive what they're doing.
Eventually I reached the village of Tai O, the path into the village a particularly picturesque stretch of coastline as I'd well and truly left behind the city and airport by then. Tai O was a sleepy fishing village which the locals affectionately compared to Venice as many of the houses were built on stilts by the river. It was a lot poorer than the city, with many of the locals selling things like dried fish. I explored for a couple of hours before finally joining the Lantau Trail, soon reaching my campsite for the night which was actually a really well maintained site. There was even this small stream with a waterfall where there was a pool just deep enough to cool myself off in.
The following day I left early bright and early, soon arriving in the small farming village of Yi O. Upon arrival it said the path ahead was closed but I just went with the flow and I got through no problems, heading through this valley to the village of Fan Lau. Apparently there was a short detour to an old fort there although I couldn't find the path to get there, and after coming across a snake I thought I better just stick to the main path! The next section followed the coastline on an undulating path way above the water before eventually heading inland to the Shek Pik reservoir. I got my first glimpse of the cloud covered Lantau Peak and the Tian Tan Buddha Statue from there which I hoped to reach later in the hike.
I then headed back towards the coastline getting some more great views, before dropping down to Lo Kei Wan which was this really nice secluded beach and campsite, accessible only by foot. I stopped there for lunch and a swim to cool down as it was an incredibly humid day. After lunch I headed back up again via the village of Shui Hau before eventually reaching this concrete path adjacent to this water catchment system. The subsequent section was nice and flat, following the concrete path which had views of the beaches and villages below one side, and the mountains, all be it cloud covered mountains, on the other. After a good couple of hours following the water catchment I dropped down into the village of Pui O which seemed very popular with locals visiting the beach for the day. I had a rest there before continuing on a short way to my campsite which was another streamside campsite in the woods, just the right size to go for a nice and refreshing dip!
The next morning I set off bright and early again with the aim of the day to get to Ngong Ping via the mountains. I decided the previous night that I would take a shortcut which essentially saved me from decending to the village of Mui Wo just to climb back up again. When arriving at Nam Shan I began to start climbing more seriously towards the 869m summit of Sunset Peak. The path reminded me of the Inca Trail a bit with it being long stone staircase which seemed to go on forever. When I got out of the treeline I got my first views of the Southern Lantau Coastline, although they didn't last long as I soon went above the cloudline and there wasn't really much to see at all from there. When reaching the summit I didn't stay long, although I did enjoy the breeze up top on what was another very humid day. I had a somewhat steep and gruelling descent from the summit to Pak Kung Au nestled in this valley, which is where I stopped for lunch.
After lunch there was a massive thunderstorm, although I luckily found shelter before pressing on up to the 934m summit of Lantau Peak. It was a lot steeper climb than Sunset Peak, initially getting views of the surrounding area before heading back into the cloudline again. When reaching the summit there really wasn't much to see although there was a small stone shelter where I was able to shelter from the rain. The descent into Ngong Ping was again steep and also slippery, and when arriving in the village I found a nice cafe to shelter in. The rain eventually did clear and I had a look round the visitor centre, although I decided to save exploring Ngong Ping properly until the following day as it was still very overcast, heading the short distance to my campsite.
On Tuesday I had a more relaxing start to day as I wanted to visit the main attractions in Ngong Ping and they didn't open until 10am. One of the most popular tourist attractions in Hong Kong is the Ngong Ping Cable Car which goes from Tung Chung where I started hiking from up over the mountains into Ngong Ping which sits about 500m above sea level. On a clear day the views from Ngong Ping are meant to be stunning, although as with the previous day is was a very overcast day so there wasn't really much to see. I firstly checked out the Wisdom Path which was these 38 wooden poles laid out like an infinity sign symbolising something to do with Buddhism; I didn't really understand what though. I then went up to the Tian Tan Buddha Statue, which was literally only visible from within a few metres! It's meant to be the largest sitting Buddha Statue in the world and you were able to go inside which was cool.
Shortly after decending from the Buddha Statue there was a thunderstorm, although luckily I managed to get shelter whilst it passed over. I then visited the Po Lin Monastery. The complex had a series of temples and some of the interiors were very ornate, you weren't allowed to take pictures though. I then had a look round Ngong Ping Village which they described a cultural village experience but it was incredibly tourist orientated. Some of the shops were quite interesting to look round though. I then finally made it to the cable car, although I followed this path called the Ngong Ping Rescue Trail back down to Tung Chung. It was actually a really undulating path but the further I descended the less cloud cover there was and there were actually some really nice views as I went down. It was very slippery going down though!
When making it back to Tung Chung I had lunch, before catching the metro back to Tsim Sha Tsui where I planned to base myself again for the following few days. I had a chilled out rest of the day, although I did go out and watch the England game where I managed to find a pub with a really lively atmosphere. I didn't get to sleep until about 6am though, and I didn't really get much sleep as some idiot in my dorm kept snoozing his alarm clock from about 9am for ages which is always something which really frustrates me. I didn't do much during the day, heading out to West Kowloon to check out the views of the harbour from there, as well as stumbling across this really interesting museum about South East Asian architecture and culture which I was really able to relate to as I recognised several of the places. Come evening I crashed out pretty early as I was absolutely exhausted.
On Thursday I went and checked out a few of the temples, catching the metro to Diamond Hill and then walking back to Tsim Sha Tsui via some temples which seemed worth seeing. First stop was the Chai Lin Nunnery which housed these beautiful gardens full of rockeries and Chinese pavilions. I then went to to the Wong Tai Sin Temple which was apparently the most visited complex by locals in Hong Kong. It was certainly very busy and the complex had some fascinating statues and more nice gardens to explore. After that I grabbed some lunch before heading to the Kowloon Walled City Park which historically was an old fort but nowadays a Chinese Garden full of these pavilions. There was still evidence of the old fort though. I then headed back to Tsim Sha Tsui via Mongkok and relaxed for the rest of the day. The following day was a horrendous day in terms of weather so I couldn't really do much other than look round the shops which was frustrating.
On Saturday it was still a little overcast but I decided I would go to the town of Sha Tin for the day which was home to the Hong Kong Heritage Museum which was very interesting. The town itself was situated by a river and I followed that for a bit, visiting the Che Kung Temple. What I mainly came to visit though was the 10000 Buddha's Monastery which was probably the best temple I visited so far in Hong Kong. A long staircase flanked with these golden statues lead you up the complex, including the 10000 Buddha's Monastery itself which had 10000 mini figures on display on the walls. There were several other statues at the top, and some great views looking back down on Sha Tin. When back down at the bottom I found a massive IKEA store where I had lunch, before heading down to the shopping centre where I managed to buy a few new clothes in the sales they had on. Come evening I went out and watched the England v Sweden game which was a 10pm kick off so a lot nicer than the 2am kick offs have been having! It was a great atmosphere and result too!
I didn't start hiking until after lunch, catching the metro from Tsim Sha Tsui to Tung Chung, before following this path called the Tung O Ancient Trail to Tai O. It took a while to negotiate my way out of Tung Chung which was full of bridges and subways, but when I reached this old fort it wasn't long until I left the high rise behind and started following the coastline. I passed several small temples and little villages, and on the adjacent island was the airport so I often got great views of the planes taking off. I also got some great views of this bridge they're constructing to link Macau to Hong Kong by road. It's actually quite a feat of engineering, whereby they've created two artifical islands in the sea linked by bridges to Macau and Hong Kong, and then tunnelled between the two artifical islands! When you think the two places are over 40 miles apart it's actually quite impressive what they're doing.
Eventually I reached the village of Tai O, the path into the village a particularly picturesque stretch of coastline as I'd well and truly left behind the city and airport by then. Tai O was a sleepy fishing village which the locals affectionately compared to Venice as many of the houses were built on stilts by the river. It was a lot poorer than the city, with many of the locals selling things like dried fish. I explored for a couple of hours before finally joining the Lantau Trail, soon reaching my campsite for the night which was actually a really well maintained site. There was even this small stream with a waterfall where there was a pool just deep enough to cool myself off in.
The following day I left early bright and early, soon arriving in the small farming village of Yi O. Upon arrival it said the path ahead was closed but I just went with the flow and I got through no problems, heading through this valley to the village of Fan Lau. Apparently there was a short detour to an old fort there although I couldn't find the path to get there, and after coming across a snake I thought I better just stick to the main path! The next section followed the coastline on an undulating path way above the water before eventually heading inland to the Shek Pik reservoir. I got my first glimpse of the cloud covered Lantau Peak and the Tian Tan Buddha Statue from there which I hoped to reach later in the hike.
I then headed back towards the coastline getting some more great views, before dropping down to Lo Kei Wan which was this really nice secluded beach and campsite, accessible only by foot. I stopped there for lunch and a swim to cool down as it was an incredibly humid day. After lunch I headed back up again via the village of Shui Hau before eventually reaching this concrete path adjacent to this water catchment system. The subsequent section was nice and flat, following the concrete path which had views of the beaches and villages below one side, and the mountains, all be it cloud covered mountains, on the other. After a good couple of hours following the water catchment I dropped down into the village of Pui O which seemed very popular with locals visiting the beach for the day. I had a rest there before continuing on a short way to my campsite which was another streamside campsite in the woods, just the right size to go for a nice and refreshing dip!
The next morning I set off bright and early again with the aim of the day to get to Ngong Ping via the mountains. I decided the previous night that I would take a shortcut which essentially saved me from decending to the village of Mui Wo just to climb back up again. When arriving at Nam Shan I began to start climbing more seriously towards the 869m summit of Sunset Peak. The path reminded me of the Inca Trail a bit with it being long stone staircase which seemed to go on forever. When I got out of the treeline I got my first views of the Southern Lantau Coastline, although they didn't last long as I soon went above the cloudline and there wasn't really much to see at all from there. When reaching the summit I didn't stay long, although I did enjoy the breeze up top on what was another very humid day. I had a somewhat steep and gruelling descent from the summit to Pak Kung Au nestled in this valley, which is where I stopped for lunch.
After lunch there was a massive thunderstorm, although I luckily found shelter before pressing on up to the 934m summit of Lantau Peak. It was a lot steeper climb than Sunset Peak, initially getting views of the surrounding area before heading back into the cloudline again. When reaching the summit there really wasn't much to see although there was a small stone shelter where I was able to shelter from the rain. The descent into Ngong Ping was again steep and also slippery, and when arriving in the village I found a nice cafe to shelter in. The rain eventually did clear and I had a look round the visitor centre, although I decided to save exploring Ngong Ping properly until the following day as it was still very overcast, heading the short distance to my campsite.
On Tuesday I had a more relaxing start to day as I wanted to visit the main attractions in Ngong Ping and they didn't open until 10am. One of the most popular tourist attractions in Hong Kong is the Ngong Ping Cable Car which goes from Tung Chung where I started hiking from up over the mountains into Ngong Ping which sits about 500m above sea level. On a clear day the views from Ngong Ping are meant to be stunning, although as with the previous day is was a very overcast day so there wasn't really much to see. I firstly checked out the Wisdom Path which was these 38 wooden poles laid out like an infinity sign symbolising something to do with Buddhism; I didn't really understand what though. I then went up to the Tian Tan Buddha Statue, which was literally only visible from within a few metres! It's meant to be the largest sitting Buddha Statue in the world and you were able to go inside which was cool.
Shortly after decending from the Buddha Statue there was a thunderstorm, although luckily I managed to get shelter whilst it passed over. I then visited the Po Lin Monastery. The complex had a series of temples and some of the interiors were very ornate, you weren't allowed to take pictures though. I then had a look round Ngong Ping Village which they described a cultural village experience but it was incredibly tourist orientated. Some of the shops were quite interesting to look round though. I then finally made it to the cable car, although I followed this path called the Ngong Ping Rescue Trail back down to Tung Chung. It was actually a really undulating path but the further I descended the less cloud cover there was and there were actually some really nice views as I went down. It was very slippery going down though!
When making it back to Tung Chung I had lunch, before catching the metro back to Tsim Sha Tsui where I planned to base myself again for the following few days. I had a chilled out rest of the day, although I did go out and watch the England game where I managed to find a pub with a really lively atmosphere. I didn't get to sleep until about 6am though, and I didn't really get much sleep as some idiot in my dorm kept snoozing his alarm clock from about 9am for ages which is always something which really frustrates me. I didn't do much during the day, heading out to West Kowloon to check out the views of the harbour from there, as well as stumbling across this really interesting museum about South East Asian architecture and culture which I was really able to relate to as I recognised several of the places. Come evening I crashed out pretty early as I was absolutely exhausted.
On Thursday I went and checked out a few of the temples, catching the metro to Diamond Hill and then walking back to Tsim Sha Tsui via some temples which seemed worth seeing. First stop was the Chai Lin Nunnery which housed these beautiful gardens full of rockeries and Chinese pavilions. I then went to to the Wong Tai Sin Temple which was apparently the most visited complex by locals in Hong Kong. It was certainly very busy and the complex had some fascinating statues and more nice gardens to explore. After that I grabbed some lunch before heading to the Kowloon Walled City Park which historically was an old fort but nowadays a Chinese Garden full of these pavilions. There was still evidence of the old fort though. I then headed back to Tsim Sha Tsui via Mongkok and relaxed for the rest of the day. The following day was a horrendous day in terms of weather so I couldn't really do much other than look round the shops which was frustrating.
On Saturday it was still a little overcast but I decided I would go to the town of Sha Tin for the day which was home to the Hong Kong Heritage Museum which was very interesting. The town itself was situated by a river and I followed that for a bit, visiting the Che Kung Temple. What I mainly came to visit though was the 10000 Buddha's Monastery which was probably the best temple I visited so far in Hong Kong. A long staircase flanked with these golden statues lead you up the complex, including the 10000 Buddha's Monastery itself which had 10000 mini figures on display on the walls. There were several other statues at the top, and some great views looking back down on Sha Tin. When back down at the bottom I found a massive IKEA store where I had lunch, before heading down to the shopping centre where I managed to buy a few new clothes in the sales they had on. Come evening I went out and watched the England v Sweden game which was a 10pm kick off so a lot nicer than the 2am kick offs have been having! It was a great atmosphere and result too!
Tuesday, 3 July 2018
Hong Kong (part 1)
I left Hanoi Monday morning to catch a flight to Hong Kong. My original plan was to fly to Hong Kong on the 9th July and then fly onto Manila on the 15th July, but due to my issues with my Vietnam visa I had to change my plans. I managed to change my flight from Hanoi to Hong Kong, but was unable to change my flight from Hong Kong to Manila so I decided to leave it on the 15th July. This basically gave me 3 weeks in Hong Kong instead of my planned 1 week. Getting to Hanoi airport was fun and games as my bus dropped me off at the domestic terminal and not the international terminal, and the taxi drivers were trying to rip me off instead of helping me locate the international terminal which was only actually a 5 minute walk away. Once I was at the correct terminal it was easy, getting through check in and security with ease. I got through in such good time I was able to watch the full re run of the Colombia v Poland game whilst waiting for my flight.
The flight itself ran nice and smoothly although when landing it was a little bumpy, arriving in the pouring rain. I got through passport control without any problems, a nice change from my previous crossings. I stayed at the airport for lunch and to get my bearings, before catching a bus into the centre. Hong Kong is probably the most country like country which isn't a country in the world. To put it simple China 'leased' Hong Kong to the British Empire for 99 years in 1898 and for them 99 years and was under British rule. When that lease expired in 1997 Hong Kong was returned to Chinese rule, although China gave Hong Kong a new lease until 2047 whereby they maintained their separate government, currency, and border controls amongst other things. China describes it as "one country, two systems", although it will be interesting to see if they maintain that arrangement come 2047. Despite all that Hong Kong is arguably one of the most multicultural places in the world, housing an array of unique history, traditions, and modernity.
Hong Kong comprises of the Kowloon peninsula which is linked to the Chinese mainland, as well as over 250 outlying islands including Hong Kong Island lieing on the southern side of Victoria Harbour, which is where the main CBD is located. I decided to stay my first few nights in the Tsim Sha Tsui district which was on the opposite side of Victoria Harbour, but a great base to explore the city with frequent bus, metro, and ferry connections to just about anywhere. My hostel was located in a place called the Chungking Mansions, which felt like a completely separate city crammed into this skyscraper. The building itself was actually quite a tourist attraction in its own right with the many foreign residents living there offering budget accomodation as well as selling their local cuisines amongst other things from their home countries. It was a very multicultural place but certainly the most affordable place to stay in Hong Kong, with a great location to add.
The following day I went out and explored the Tsim Sha Tsui area, heading down to the harbours edge first thing where I got great views of the main city skyline the opposite side. I then followed the harbours edge, which was characterized by quite a large arts scene, to the Garden of the Stars which celebrated people in the Asian film industry. The Avenue of the Stars nearby was closed for renovation (Hong Kongs version of the Hollywood Walk of Fame), but the Garden of the Stars housed all the handprints of the film stars there instead. I'd never heard of anyone but it was interesting. I then checked out a couple of the museums which definitely seemed like something worth saving for a rainy day, before having a look round a few of the shops, something Tsim Sha Tsui had in abundance.
After lunch I went to Kowloon Park which was a nice and peaceful retreat from the busy skyscraper filled streets surrounding it. Within the park was the Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Centre which was dedicated to Hong Kongs history and present day sites, as well as future developments which was all very interesting. I also particularly enjoyed this temporary exhibition dedicated to places to visit in China. Come evening I went down to the harbours edge to watch the Symphony of Lights, a light show produced by the skyscrapers the opposite side of the harbour. It was very impressive, although I think I needed to go down slightly earlier to get a better spot as it was very busy. I'm sure I'll get chance to see it again though!
On Wednesday I caught the ferry across to Hong Kong Island to explore the main CBD. Apparently when the British colonised the island it was just a few small fishing villages, now the entire northern shoreline is skyscrapers housing over 1.2 million people. After disembarking the ferry I followed the harbours edge to a few of the historic shopping streets, which included real weird things like dried turtles, deer fetuses, and birds nests. I then went down Hollywood Street which was famous for its antiques, the street also housing the Man Mo Temple, the oldest temple in Hong Kong. Inside was fascinating as it had these cages hanging from the ceiling full of burning incense sticks, which made the interior all smoky.
I then continued through to the Soho district which housed many of the high end restaurants, before heading up the mid level escalators, the longest escalator system in the world. Much of the city by the harbour is built on reclaimed land, and the buildings behind that are built on the hills edge which means the roads are incredibly steep. Once at the top of the escalator I continued climbing to Victoria Peak which gave great views over the city skyline. There was even a shopping mall and several entertainment facilities up there, serviced by a tramline. Whilst up there I did a short loop walk which gave further brilliant views, although you couldn't reach the true summit though.
After heading back down I continued exploring the city, which was just a maze of high rise buildings full of high end shopping and restaurants, and a lot of business people. I particularly liked these double decker trams which went through the city affectionately called 'ding ding trams' by the locals. I eventually made it back to the harbours edge where I passed this big observation wheel and got to the see what the skyline of Tsim Sha Tsui looked like. I caught the ferry back across later that afternoon. Come evening I went out and explored the Temple Night Market. Based down Temple Street it seemed to go on forever, and it seemed the further from Tsim Sha Tsui I got the cheaper it got too. By the time I reached the end I ended up in some area full a tarot readers, which is when I decided best to head back!
On Thursday I decided to go out hiking for the day, attempting a hike known as the Dragons Back which many people online seemed to recommend. Situated on Hong Kong Island, I caught the metro from the mainland to Chai Wan at the end of the island line. Within about half an hour of leaving the station I left all the skyscrapers behind and headed up into the Shek O Country Park. The walk headed along the ridge line of the hilltop with brilliant views of the coastline. I saw several snakes though so I had to be on the ball. It felt a world away from the city despite being so close! I eventually dropped down to sea level and stopped in the village of Shek O for lunch which had a nice and sandy beach.
From Shek O I followed the coastline as far as Big Wave Bay, before climbing back into the hills again, via this historic rock carving. There were more brilliant views of the coastline, and when reaching Pottinger Peak I got views over Victoria Harbour and the city. I then dropped back down into Chai Wan, emerging at this absolutely massive cemetery built into the hillside. On my way back to Tsim Sha Tsui, I had a quick look round the Wan Chai area of the island, before catching the ferry back across to the mainland. In the evening I went out and watched the Symphony of Lights again, although I still haven't worked out where the best spot to stand is! I then stayed up to watch the England game which was a 2am kick off.
On Friday I had a far more relaxing day as I didn't get to bed until gone 4am in the end. I decided I would go and visit some of the markets, focusing on the ones round the Mongkok area north of Tsim Sha Tsui. First stop was the Jade Market, although it was a nightmare looking round as the sales people were ridiculously pushy in their sales techniques, some even getting physical when trying to sell me their products. I gave up looking in the end, so headed to the Ladies Market which was more like a traditional British market selling just about anything. Nearby there was also this Clothes Market which sold all your standard fake designer clothing.
I then made it to the Goldfish Market which was basically this street full of fish shops, many selling the fish inside these bags hanging from their shop windows. My favourite market the day though was the Bird Market which had all these cages hanging up with all kinds of birds for sale. I finished off at the Flower Market, before having a look round some of the shops round the Mongkok area, which seemed to be home to primarily outlet stores. When getting back to the hostel I just relaxed for the rest of the day, having a nice and early night.
The flight itself ran nice and smoothly although when landing it was a little bumpy, arriving in the pouring rain. I got through passport control without any problems, a nice change from my previous crossings. I stayed at the airport for lunch and to get my bearings, before catching a bus into the centre. Hong Kong is probably the most country like country which isn't a country in the world. To put it simple China 'leased' Hong Kong to the British Empire for 99 years in 1898 and for them 99 years and was under British rule. When that lease expired in 1997 Hong Kong was returned to Chinese rule, although China gave Hong Kong a new lease until 2047 whereby they maintained their separate government, currency, and border controls amongst other things. China describes it as "one country, two systems", although it will be interesting to see if they maintain that arrangement come 2047. Despite all that Hong Kong is arguably one of the most multicultural places in the world, housing an array of unique history, traditions, and modernity.
Hong Kong comprises of the Kowloon peninsula which is linked to the Chinese mainland, as well as over 250 outlying islands including Hong Kong Island lieing on the southern side of Victoria Harbour, which is where the main CBD is located. I decided to stay my first few nights in the Tsim Sha Tsui district which was on the opposite side of Victoria Harbour, but a great base to explore the city with frequent bus, metro, and ferry connections to just about anywhere. My hostel was located in a place called the Chungking Mansions, which felt like a completely separate city crammed into this skyscraper. The building itself was actually quite a tourist attraction in its own right with the many foreign residents living there offering budget accomodation as well as selling their local cuisines amongst other things from their home countries. It was a very multicultural place but certainly the most affordable place to stay in Hong Kong, with a great location to add.
The following day I went out and explored the Tsim Sha Tsui area, heading down to the harbours edge first thing where I got great views of the main city skyline the opposite side. I then followed the harbours edge, which was characterized by quite a large arts scene, to the Garden of the Stars which celebrated people in the Asian film industry. The Avenue of the Stars nearby was closed for renovation (Hong Kongs version of the Hollywood Walk of Fame), but the Garden of the Stars housed all the handprints of the film stars there instead. I'd never heard of anyone but it was interesting. I then checked out a couple of the museums which definitely seemed like something worth saving for a rainy day, before having a look round a few of the shops, something Tsim Sha Tsui had in abundance.
After lunch I went to Kowloon Park which was a nice and peaceful retreat from the busy skyscraper filled streets surrounding it. Within the park was the Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Centre which was dedicated to Hong Kongs history and present day sites, as well as future developments which was all very interesting. I also particularly enjoyed this temporary exhibition dedicated to places to visit in China. Come evening I went down to the harbours edge to watch the Symphony of Lights, a light show produced by the skyscrapers the opposite side of the harbour. It was very impressive, although I think I needed to go down slightly earlier to get a better spot as it was very busy. I'm sure I'll get chance to see it again though!
On Wednesday I caught the ferry across to Hong Kong Island to explore the main CBD. Apparently when the British colonised the island it was just a few small fishing villages, now the entire northern shoreline is skyscrapers housing over 1.2 million people. After disembarking the ferry I followed the harbours edge to a few of the historic shopping streets, which included real weird things like dried turtles, deer fetuses, and birds nests. I then went down Hollywood Street which was famous for its antiques, the street also housing the Man Mo Temple, the oldest temple in Hong Kong. Inside was fascinating as it had these cages hanging from the ceiling full of burning incense sticks, which made the interior all smoky.
I then continued through to the Soho district which housed many of the high end restaurants, before heading up the mid level escalators, the longest escalator system in the world. Much of the city by the harbour is built on reclaimed land, and the buildings behind that are built on the hills edge which means the roads are incredibly steep. Once at the top of the escalator I continued climbing to Victoria Peak which gave great views over the city skyline. There was even a shopping mall and several entertainment facilities up there, serviced by a tramline. Whilst up there I did a short loop walk which gave further brilliant views, although you couldn't reach the true summit though.
After heading back down I continued exploring the city, which was just a maze of high rise buildings full of high end shopping and restaurants, and a lot of business people. I particularly liked these double decker trams which went through the city affectionately called 'ding ding trams' by the locals. I eventually made it back to the harbours edge where I passed this big observation wheel and got to the see what the skyline of Tsim Sha Tsui looked like. I caught the ferry back across later that afternoon. Come evening I went out and explored the Temple Night Market. Based down Temple Street it seemed to go on forever, and it seemed the further from Tsim Sha Tsui I got the cheaper it got too. By the time I reached the end I ended up in some area full a tarot readers, which is when I decided best to head back!
On Thursday I decided to go out hiking for the day, attempting a hike known as the Dragons Back which many people online seemed to recommend. Situated on Hong Kong Island, I caught the metro from the mainland to Chai Wan at the end of the island line. Within about half an hour of leaving the station I left all the skyscrapers behind and headed up into the Shek O Country Park. The walk headed along the ridge line of the hilltop with brilliant views of the coastline. I saw several snakes though so I had to be on the ball. It felt a world away from the city despite being so close! I eventually dropped down to sea level and stopped in the village of Shek O for lunch which had a nice and sandy beach.
From Shek O I followed the coastline as far as Big Wave Bay, before climbing back into the hills again, via this historic rock carving. There were more brilliant views of the coastline, and when reaching Pottinger Peak I got views over Victoria Harbour and the city. I then dropped back down into Chai Wan, emerging at this absolutely massive cemetery built into the hillside. On my way back to Tsim Sha Tsui, I had a quick look round the Wan Chai area of the island, before catching the ferry back across to the mainland. In the evening I went out and watched the Symphony of Lights again, although I still haven't worked out where the best spot to stand is! I then stayed up to watch the England game which was a 2am kick off.
On Friday I had a far more relaxing day as I didn't get to bed until gone 4am in the end. I decided I would go and visit some of the markets, focusing on the ones round the Mongkok area north of Tsim Sha Tsui. First stop was the Jade Market, although it was a nightmare looking round as the sales people were ridiculously pushy in their sales techniques, some even getting physical when trying to sell me their products. I gave up looking in the end, so headed to the Ladies Market which was more like a traditional British market selling just about anything. Nearby there was also this Clothes Market which sold all your standard fake designer clothing.
I then made it to the Goldfish Market which was basically this street full of fish shops, many selling the fish inside these bags hanging from their shop windows. My favourite market the day though was the Bird Market which had all these cages hanging up with all kinds of birds for sale. I finished off at the Flower Market, before having a look round some of the shops round the Mongkok area, which seemed to be home to primarily outlet stores. When getting back to the hostel I just relaxed for the rest of the day, having a nice and early night.
Thursday, 28 June 2018
Hanoi
Despite my bus from Hue to Hanoi being by far the longest of my 3 night buses north, I actually got a fair amount of sleep and it went really quickly. Unfortunately I couldn't check into my hostel early as it was fully booked, so I dropped my stuff off and went straight out exploring. I firstly went and found a nice cafe though just to sit down and recover a bit after my bus journey, and to work out my plan of action for the day from there. Hanoi is the capital city of Vietnam and from what I understand Northern Vietnam where it lies has a completely different climate to rest of South East Asia whereby they don't have a monsoon season. It was still incredibly humid though.
I decided to focus my day round the cities Old Quarter, heading first to the Hoan Kiem Lake nearby. Upon arrival however I was approached by some young Vietnamese kids who were learning English, and I ended up agreeing to teach them English for a while. It went from me asking them simple questions to playing duck duck goose where they kept picking on me. It was quite a laugh though. The lake itself was pretty picturesque, legend saying a future emperor received a sword from a magic turtle on the lakes edge which he used to drive the Chinese out of Vietnam. There was a small pagoda sat in the middle of the lake, and a red wooden bridge leading to the Ngoc Son Temple on this small island at the northern end of the lake.
I then headed into the Old Quarter which was where I was staying, and home to much of the shopping and eating opportunities in Hanoi. Apparently centuries ago each street specialised in the production and sale of one kind of handicraft, with each street named after what it produced. This included streets dedicated to silk, medicine, and tin amongst many others which was still evident as I explored the narrow maze of streets. Within the streets were several pagodas which like in Ho Chi Minh were engulfed by the modern age, but still fascinating to explore. I particularly liked the smells of the food with some real interesting looking things on offer. Other highlights included the Hanoi Cathedral. I was glad when I was able to check into my hostel and lie down though, later going out to watch the Brazil v Costa Rica and Nigeria v Iceland games which were both good games.
On Saturday I went and explored some of the historical buildings and museums, heading first to the Imperial Citadel. The walled area which included these 8 gates and 3 forts round the perimeter was now primarily a museum. The site displayed several archaeological sites and relics on display from throughout Vietnams early history. The buildings that remained however were from the French colonial era, and many of them were used during the Vietnam War, with a couple of underground bunkers you were even able to explore. It was a very interesting museum with so many parts of Vietnams history taking place there.
I then headed to the West Lake where I checked out a couple of pagodas, before heading to the Ho Chi Minhs Mausoleum. Apparently his body lies preserved inside, although you weren't allowed inside the Mausoleum and the nearby museum with them both being closed because it was the weekend. You were still able to explore the surrounding gardens which housed his old house and this one pillared pagoda. Next door was the Presidential Palace and Botanic Gardens, although there was a high military presence there so you weren't allowed there either!
Next stop was the Lotte Tower, the tallest building in Hanoi where I went for lunch. I would have gone to the top but it was really expensive. From there I visited the Temple of Literature which was another interesting museum dating back to the 11th century. I particularly liked this handicraft village on site. Come evening I went out to the Water Puppet Theatre, which celebrated the old Vietnamese tradition whereby the rice farmers used to perform puppet shows in the rice fields during monsoon season. Operating the puppets behind this black curtain, they used bamboo sticks under the water so that the puppets performed on the waters surface. It was actually really good despite everything being performed in Vietnamese.
The following day I went and checked this mosaic mural situated on the side of the motorway, which was apparently the longest continous mosaic in the world. It certainly went on for a while as I joined it somewhere in the middle and followed it for a good hour and didn't make it to the end. I went to the Lotte Tower again for lunch, before heading to the so called railway street in the afternoon. The railway line basically ran through the middle of this narrow street which people lived along, and I soon found out it was a working line after having to dive into someone's house when a train passed. Come evening I went out and watched the England v Panama game.
I decided to focus my day round the cities Old Quarter, heading first to the Hoan Kiem Lake nearby. Upon arrival however I was approached by some young Vietnamese kids who were learning English, and I ended up agreeing to teach them English for a while. It went from me asking them simple questions to playing duck duck goose where they kept picking on me. It was quite a laugh though. The lake itself was pretty picturesque, legend saying a future emperor received a sword from a magic turtle on the lakes edge which he used to drive the Chinese out of Vietnam. There was a small pagoda sat in the middle of the lake, and a red wooden bridge leading to the Ngoc Son Temple on this small island at the northern end of the lake.
I then headed into the Old Quarter which was where I was staying, and home to much of the shopping and eating opportunities in Hanoi. Apparently centuries ago each street specialised in the production and sale of one kind of handicraft, with each street named after what it produced. This included streets dedicated to silk, medicine, and tin amongst many others which was still evident as I explored the narrow maze of streets. Within the streets were several pagodas which like in Ho Chi Minh were engulfed by the modern age, but still fascinating to explore. I particularly liked the smells of the food with some real interesting looking things on offer. Other highlights included the Hanoi Cathedral. I was glad when I was able to check into my hostel and lie down though, later going out to watch the Brazil v Costa Rica and Nigeria v Iceland games which were both good games.
On Saturday I went and explored some of the historical buildings and museums, heading first to the Imperial Citadel. The walled area which included these 8 gates and 3 forts round the perimeter was now primarily a museum. The site displayed several archaeological sites and relics on display from throughout Vietnams early history. The buildings that remained however were from the French colonial era, and many of them were used during the Vietnam War, with a couple of underground bunkers you were even able to explore. It was a very interesting museum with so many parts of Vietnams history taking place there.
I then headed to the West Lake where I checked out a couple of pagodas, before heading to the Ho Chi Minhs Mausoleum. Apparently his body lies preserved inside, although you weren't allowed inside the Mausoleum and the nearby museum with them both being closed because it was the weekend. You were still able to explore the surrounding gardens which housed his old house and this one pillared pagoda. Next door was the Presidential Palace and Botanic Gardens, although there was a high military presence there so you weren't allowed there either!
Next stop was the Lotte Tower, the tallest building in Hanoi where I went for lunch. I would have gone to the top but it was really expensive. From there I visited the Temple of Literature which was another interesting museum dating back to the 11th century. I particularly liked this handicraft village on site. Come evening I went out to the Water Puppet Theatre, which celebrated the old Vietnamese tradition whereby the rice farmers used to perform puppet shows in the rice fields during monsoon season. Operating the puppets behind this black curtain, they used bamboo sticks under the water so that the puppets performed on the waters surface. It was actually really good despite everything being performed in Vietnamese.
The following day I went and checked this mosaic mural situated on the side of the motorway, which was apparently the longest continous mosaic in the world. It certainly went on for a while as I joined it somewhere in the middle and followed it for a good hour and didn't make it to the end. I went to the Lotte Tower again for lunch, before heading to the so called railway street in the afternoon. The railway line basically ran through the middle of this narrow street which people lived along, and I soon found out it was a working line after having to dive into someone's house when a train passed. Come evening I went out and watched the England v Panama game.
Monday, 25 June 2018
Hue
I left Hoi An on Tuesday morning to head the short distance north to my next stop Hue. I was a little tired because the England game was a 1am kick off the previous night but the bus despite travelling during the day was a sleeper style bus so it was really comfortable. I didn't quite nod off though because the scenery was pretty stunning outside, although the journey did take a lot longer than expected as it went straight through the middle of Danang which was really busy with traffic, and then along winding roads the rest of the way to Hue. Upon arrival the bus dropped us off just outside the city although the bus company offered free bus shuttles to their office in the centre. I had a pretty chilled out afternoon, having a look round the shops before watching the Japan v Colombia game in the evening.
The following day I went out and explored Hue for the day. Hue sits on the Perfume River and was the capital of Vietnam up until 1945. The city is rich with history being the former house of emperors during the Nguyen Dynasty. Large parts of Hue were destroyed during the Vietnam War however, but despite this there has been extensive restoration efforts and there's still lots to see. I decided the best way to explore was to go with a local on his motorbike which I'm often reluctant to do because you never know whether you can trust them, but I went with it and to be fair the price we agreed was the price I paid at the end of the day. I just told him the places I wanted to visit prior and he recommended a couple of other places and then took me to them places.
The main attractions in Hue are the tombs of former emperors Minh Mang, Khai Dinh, and Tu Doc, and the Citadel, with each of those four attractions having entrance fees. I decided I would only visit one of the tombs as they were all meant to be pretty similar, and the Citadel, although my driver also recommend this cemetery I should visit housing some of less important people from Hues history which is where I visited first. Located in the woods, it was centred round this old temple by a small lake and was actually really picturesque, many of the graves despite being a little in ruin having remains of these mosaics on. I then went to tomb of Tu Doc, which was actually a really large complex centred round this lake, surrounded with gardens and some real beautiful architecture. Apparently the emperors designed their tombs themselves during their lifetimes which meant they were very meticulously designed.
I then went to this abandoned waterpark I had read about online, which was literally in the middle of nowhere. Built in 2004, the waterpark lasted merely a couple of years before being left for ruin. Perhaps the most impressive part was this old aquarium sitting in the middle of this lake, which was basically a massive dragon. It was very eerie inside and you could tell it used to be an aquarium. You could even go inside the mouth of the dragon. Nearby were the remains of some of the old waterslides, and further round the lake was this old stadium where they apparently used to present shows with crocodiles. My driver said that there were still crocodiles in the lake until as recently as last year, but they got removed on safety grounds as more and more people starting visiting the waterpark.
Next stop was the Thien Mu Pagoda which was situated on this hill overlooking the river. At 7 storeys high it was apparently the tallest religious building in Vietnam. My final stop of the day was the Citadel, this walled fortress and palace which used to be the home of Vietnam’s emperors. The palace grounds were surrounded by an impressive moat filled with waterlilies. Many of the structures within the walls were damaged during the war but there was extensive restoration work taking place and there was still an abundance of mosaics and carvings, seeming to primarily revolve around dragons. You probably could have spent all day exploring if you were keen on the Nguyen Dynasty as there were several museums you could visit inside but I just went and checked out the main buildings which in itself still took me a good couple of hours.
Just before leaving the Citadel there was this handicraft area with locals making all sorts of things including conical hats, lanterns and kites. It was very interesting seeing how they were made and could even make your own personalised ones. It's a shame I can't buy souvenirs as they were actually really nice. When my driver came to pick me up we went out for a couple of beers which was nice, before eventually making it back to my hostel. I went out in the evening to watch the Portugal v Morocco game, managing to find this big screen showing the game in this car park!
On Thursday I had a more relaxed day as I had pretty much blitzed all the main sights of Hue the previous day. I did go for a stroll along the Perfume River though and I particularly liked these dragon boats which were in abundance along the rivers edge. I eventually made it to the market as I needed to buy some new sandals, using my haggling skills to great effect to grab an absolute bargain. After lunch I just headed back to my hostel as it was ridiculously hot outside, catching a night bus north to Hanoi later that afternoon.
The following day I went out and explored Hue for the day. Hue sits on the Perfume River and was the capital of Vietnam up until 1945. The city is rich with history being the former house of emperors during the Nguyen Dynasty. Large parts of Hue were destroyed during the Vietnam War however, but despite this there has been extensive restoration efforts and there's still lots to see. I decided the best way to explore was to go with a local on his motorbike which I'm often reluctant to do because you never know whether you can trust them, but I went with it and to be fair the price we agreed was the price I paid at the end of the day. I just told him the places I wanted to visit prior and he recommended a couple of other places and then took me to them places.
The main attractions in Hue are the tombs of former emperors Minh Mang, Khai Dinh, and Tu Doc, and the Citadel, with each of those four attractions having entrance fees. I decided I would only visit one of the tombs as they were all meant to be pretty similar, and the Citadel, although my driver also recommend this cemetery I should visit housing some of less important people from Hues history which is where I visited first. Located in the woods, it was centred round this old temple by a small lake and was actually really picturesque, many of the graves despite being a little in ruin having remains of these mosaics on. I then went to tomb of Tu Doc, which was actually a really large complex centred round this lake, surrounded with gardens and some real beautiful architecture. Apparently the emperors designed their tombs themselves during their lifetimes which meant they were very meticulously designed.
I then went to this abandoned waterpark I had read about online, which was literally in the middle of nowhere. Built in 2004, the waterpark lasted merely a couple of years before being left for ruin. Perhaps the most impressive part was this old aquarium sitting in the middle of this lake, which was basically a massive dragon. It was very eerie inside and you could tell it used to be an aquarium. You could even go inside the mouth of the dragon. Nearby were the remains of some of the old waterslides, and further round the lake was this old stadium where they apparently used to present shows with crocodiles. My driver said that there were still crocodiles in the lake until as recently as last year, but they got removed on safety grounds as more and more people starting visiting the waterpark.
Next stop was the Thien Mu Pagoda which was situated on this hill overlooking the river. At 7 storeys high it was apparently the tallest religious building in Vietnam. My final stop of the day was the Citadel, this walled fortress and palace which used to be the home of Vietnam’s emperors. The palace grounds were surrounded by an impressive moat filled with waterlilies. Many of the structures within the walls were damaged during the war but there was extensive restoration work taking place and there was still an abundance of mosaics and carvings, seeming to primarily revolve around dragons. You probably could have spent all day exploring if you were keen on the Nguyen Dynasty as there were several museums you could visit inside but I just went and checked out the main buildings which in itself still took me a good couple of hours.
Just before leaving the Citadel there was this handicraft area with locals making all sorts of things including conical hats, lanterns and kites. It was very interesting seeing how they were made and could even make your own personalised ones. It's a shame I can't buy souvenirs as they were actually really nice. When my driver came to pick me up we went out for a couple of beers which was nice, before eventually making it back to my hostel. I went out in the evening to watch the Portugal v Morocco game, managing to find this big screen showing the game in this car park!
On Thursday I had a more relaxed day as I had pretty much blitzed all the main sights of Hue the previous day. I did go for a stroll along the Perfume River though and I particularly liked these dragon boats which were in abundance along the rivers edge. I eventually made it to the market as I needed to buy some new sandals, using my haggling skills to great effect to grab an absolute bargain. After lunch I just headed back to my hostel as it was ridiculously hot outside, catching a night bus north to Hanoi later that afternoon.
Friday, 22 June 2018
Hoi An
My night bus from Nha Trang to Hoi An ran nice and smoothly, and I even managed to get a bit of sleep. When arriving I was allowed to check into my hostel early and get a couple of hours proper sleep once again before heading to explore for the day. It appears I've been upgraded to a premium member on booking.com as apparently I'm one of their best customers which has given me an array of perks including early check ins where possible. Hoi An lies on Thu Bon River and is historically an important trading port dating back to the 2nd century. Over the years the town has been occupied by the Chinese, Japanese, and French and their influence is scattered round the town. Nowadays the town is a maze of small streets and alleys housing an array of small shophouses, cafes, temples, and museums, being awarded UNESCO World Heritage status in 1999.
Upon arrival to the actual ancient town they were trying to sell you tickets, and by my understanding there were around 30 buildings within the town that required a ticket to enter. Each ticket gave you entry to 5 places of your choice so if you wanted to visit each of them buildings you'd need to buy an entrance ticket 6 times. As the actual ancient town was pretty compact I decided to just wander round the streets and see what there was to see before buying tickets. I soon realised that it was predominantly the museums and temples which required tickets, and I was pretty content just taking in the atmosphere of the town, looking round the shops which sold things like ceramics, art, and silks, as well zigzagging my way down the narrow streets and alleys which were all very picturesque.
After a good look round the town I cycled out to Thanh Ha village which was famed for its terracotta pottery. It was very interesting watching the locals make their products, although they were pretty pushy in terms of trying to sell it to you! I headed back into Hoi An for lunch, finding a nice place to sit by the river. It was the evening when the town really became magical with these colourful lanterns lighting up the streets. The night market was a particular highlight with the vendors selling those lanterns in all different shapes and colours. What I found most surreal though was the river which was packed with small boats taking people out each lit with a single lantern, as well as these lotus flowers with candles in which were being dropped into the river. People say it feels like a fairytale and to be fair it absolutely did. I even managed to watch the France v Australia, and Argentina v Iceland games in the process too.
The following day I went to the nearby city of Danang for the day, cycling along the coast to get there. En route I stopped at the Marble Mountains which were these 5 limestone peaks housing a series of caves and temples. Some of the caves were fascinating housing these massive statues and enscriptions in the rock. There was even one cave where you came out of a hole in the ceiling presenting great views of the surrounding area. Surrounding the mountains were all these shops selling these marble sculptures, and it was interesting seeing how the locals made them literally straight from large blocks of marble. A short ride from the mountains I made it to Danang Beach which was another nice and clean sandy beach. There was even some kind of festival taking place on the beach with lots of artwork on show. I stopped on the beach for lunch.
I then continued round to the Son Tra Peninsula, home to the White Lady Buddha statue which looked over Danang Bay. I would have continued to the summit of the peninsula which was nicknamed Monkey Mountain for obvious reasons, but my bike wasn't good enough to cope with inclines. I therefore headed into Danang City, which during the Vietnam War was basically flattened. In recent years though the city has had a bit of a revival and now houses an array of modern infrastructure including this bridge shaped like a dragon. I was going to stay in Danang to watch this fire show on the dragon bridge but it took place at lot later than I expected. I still stayed put to see the city at night though which I'd read was worth seeing. I cycled back to Hoi An afterwards which was a little sketchy in the dark as I had no lights but I luckily made it back in one piece.
On Monday I was originally planning to visit the ruins of My Son, although I decided not to visit them in the end in favour of exploring some of the outlying villages around Hoi An. I was particularly intrigued by the village of Cam Thanh which was home to these bowl like boats which the locals called coconut boats. It was very interesting walking round the village, although the locals were a little pushy in terms of trying to get me to ride on their boats. I was quite content just wandering round the dirt tracks and palm plantations which surrounded the network of waterways in the village.
From Cam Thanh I headed through the rice plantations to Cua Dai Beach where I had lunch. It was incredibly hot by this point though so I found a nice place in the shade under these palm trees for a while, before continuing along the coast to the nearby An Bang Beach which was packed full of tourists. I didn't stay long there, heading back to the hostel where I chilled out for the rest of the afternoon. I headed into Hoi An in the evening for dinner and managed to watch the South Korea v Sweden game. I headed back to the hostel afterwards, although by the time I went out to watch the England game which was a 1am kick off I had to watch it round someone's house as it appeared the pubs had a midnight curfew. They made me very welcome though and the locals I was with absolutely loved having an English guy to watch the game with!
Upon arrival to the actual ancient town they were trying to sell you tickets, and by my understanding there were around 30 buildings within the town that required a ticket to enter. Each ticket gave you entry to 5 places of your choice so if you wanted to visit each of them buildings you'd need to buy an entrance ticket 6 times. As the actual ancient town was pretty compact I decided to just wander round the streets and see what there was to see before buying tickets. I soon realised that it was predominantly the museums and temples which required tickets, and I was pretty content just taking in the atmosphere of the town, looking round the shops which sold things like ceramics, art, and silks, as well zigzagging my way down the narrow streets and alleys which were all very picturesque.
After a good look round the town I cycled out to Thanh Ha village which was famed for its terracotta pottery. It was very interesting watching the locals make their products, although they were pretty pushy in terms of trying to sell it to you! I headed back into Hoi An for lunch, finding a nice place to sit by the river. It was the evening when the town really became magical with these colourful lanterns lighting up the streets. The night market was a particular highlight with the vendors selling those lanterns in all different shapes and colours. What I found most surreal though was the river which was packed with small boats taking people out each lit with a single lantern, as well as these lotus flowers with candles in which were being dropped into the river. People say it feels like a fairytale and to be fair it absolutely did. I even managed to watch the France v Australia, and Argentina v Iceland games in the process too.
The following day I went to the nearby city of Danang for the day, cycling along the coast to get there. En route I stopped at the Marble Mountains which were these 5 limestone peaks housing a series of caves and temples. Some of the caves were fascinating housing these massive statues and enscriptions in the rock. There was even one cave where you came out of a hole in the ceiling presenting great views of the surrounding area. Surrounding the mountains were all these shops selling these marble sculptures, and it was interesting seeing how the locals made them literally straight from large blocks of marble. A short ride from the mountains I made it to Danang Beach which was another nice and clean sandy beach. There was even some kind of festival taking place on the beach with lots of artwork on show. I stopped on the beach for lunch.
I then continued round to the Son Tra Peninsula, home to the White Lady Buddha statue which looked over Danang Bay. I would have continued to the summit of the peninsula which was nicknamed Monkey Mountain for obvious reasons, but my bike wasn't good enough to cope with inclines. I therefore headed into Danang City, which during the Vietnam War was basically flattened. In recent years though the city has had a bit of a revival and now houses an array of modern infrastructure including this bridge shaped like a dragon. I was going to stay in Danang to watch this fire show on the dragon bridge but it took place at lot later than I expected. I still stayed put to see the city at night though which I'd read was worth seeing. I cycled back to Hoi An afterwards which was a little sketchy in the dark as I had no lights but I luckily made it back in one piece.
On Monday I was originally planning to visit the ruins of My Son, although I decided not to visit them in the end in favour of exploring some of the outlying villages around Hoi An. I was particularly intrigued by the village of Cam Thanh which was home to these bowl like boats which the locals called coconut boats. It was very interesting walking round the village, although the locals were a little pushy in terms of trying to get me to ride on their boats. I was quite content just wandering round the dirt tracks and palm plantations which surrounded the network of waterways in the village.
From Cam Thanh I headed through the rice plantations to Cua Dai Beach where I had lunch. It was incredibly hot by this point though so I found a nice place in the shade under these palm trees for a while, before continuing along the coast to the nearby An Bang Beach which was packed full of tourists. I didn't stay long there, heading back to the hostel where I chilled out for the rest of the afternoon. I headed into Hoi An in the evening for dinner and managed to watch the South Korea v Sweden game. I headed back to the hostel afterwards, although by the time I went out to watch the England game which was a 1am kick off I had to watch it round someone's house as it appeared the pubs had a midnight curfew. They made me very welcome though and the locals I was with absolutely loved having an English guy to watch the game with!
Wednesday, 20 June 2018
Nha Trang
I left Ho Chi Minh City on Wednesday evening, catching a night bus north to the coastal city of Nha Trang. What many of the bus companies offered were open bus tickets to Hanoi as you couldn't get there in one go. All you had to do was declare your intended stops en route to Hanoi. My original plan for the 30 day visa was to do Ho Chi Minh - Mui Ne - Dalat - Nha Trang - Hoi An - Hue - Hanoi, and then once in Hanoi do a couple of side trips to Sapa and Halong Bay. I didn't have time on a 15 day visa to do all that, so I decided I would instead do Ho Chi Minh - Nha Trang - Hoi An - Hue - Hanoi, and give my planned side trips from Hanoi a miss. What I essentially did was remove the four rural destinations I planned to visit and set my focus on the visiting the five urban areas I planned to visit as in terms of getting to Hanoi you had to change buses in Nha Trang, Hoi An, and Hue irregardless. I basically ensured I had the minimum possible bus time, which was still around 1700km!
The bus ride was actually really comfortable, as I paid a little bit extra to take VIP buses instead of local buses north. The main reason I did that is because Vietnam is meant to be a little dodgy for muggings on night buses, and taking a VIP bus meant that risk was reduced. It also meant instead of trying to sleep in a seat, I got my own bed on board and there was even free WiFi! I arrived into Nha Trang at 4.30am in the end which was a lot earlier than the 6am arrival advertised. I therefore went down to the beach to watch the sunrise, and it was surprisingly really busy with people doing things like aerobics classes both on the beach and in the sea. It was a really nice sunrise, and shortly after I went to my hostel where the owner kindly let me check in early, which allowed me a couple of hours of proper sleep before going out to explore the city.
I was originally only planning to spend about a half a day in Nha Trang, being one of the cities you have to change buses in to catch your next bus north towards Hanoi. As I didn't have the opportunity to visit Mui Ne and Dalat prior and arrived there directly from Ho Chi Minh instead that plan would have given me two consecutive night buses which was very unappealing. That's why I decided to spend the night in Nha Trang effectively giving me two days to explore before catching another night bus north the following day. I went for a walk along the beach first thing which was incredibly clean by Asian standards, Nha Trang city basically lieing on a 7km long strip of sand. I followed the beach all the way to Hon Chong which were these rocks you climb on, giving you great views over Nha Trang Bay and some of the outlying islands.
I then headed to the Ponagar Temple, which were some ancient ruins sitting on a hilltop by the Cai River. It basically consisted of 4 towers all of which you could access, as well as a few outlying relics. The view over the river looking towards Nha Trang was nice from the top too. After crossing the river I visited the Dam Market although it was little disappointing, so I therefore went to the Long Son Pagoda which was this Chinese temple sitting beneath a large white Buddha statue, which again had great views from the top. By this point it was incredibly hot, so I went to the shopping mall for lunch and the air con, before heading back to the hostel via this gothic style Cathedral.
Come evening I went and checked out what was going on the beach, which was very busy with street entertainers and a particularly lively nightlife scene. I found it particularly interesting throughout the day the amount of Russian tourists in Nha Trang, and there was no exception in the evening with their opening world cup game on. From what I understand during the Cold War they built a military base nearby which still operates today, and because of that Russians like to come to Nha Trang on their holidays. I would have watched the football as many of the pubs I passed whilst out were bouncing with rowdy Russian's, although I was absolutely exhausted by that point!
The following day I just had a beach day as that's essentially what Nha Trang is all about. The beach had several bars hiring out deck chairs and stuff, although before relaxing I took a walk south towards the port and this lighthouse. Unfortunately when getting to the lighthouse the road up was closed which was a shame, but it was still a nice walk. I spent the afternoon at this place called Happy Beach which had things like old cars and bicycles on the beach. I found myself a nice hammock and stayed there for a few hours. Later that afternoon I had a look round some of markets and shops before catching my next night bus north to Hoi An that evening.
The bus ride was actually really comfortable, as I paid a little bit extra to take VIP buses instead of local buses north. The main reason I did that is because Vietnam is meant to be a little dodgy for muggings on night buses, and taking a VIP bus meant that risk was reduced. It also meant instead of trying to sleep in a seat, I got my own bed on board and there was even free WiFi! I arrived into Nha Trang at 4.30am in the end which was a lot earlier than the 6am arrival advertised. I therefore went down to the beach to watch the sunrise, and it was surprisingly really busy with people doing things like aerobics classes both on the beach and in the sea. It was a really nice sunrise, and shortly after I went to my hostel where the owner kindly let me check in early, which allowed me a couple of hours of proper sleep before going out to explore the city.
I was originally only planning to spend about a half a day in Nha Trang, being one of the cities you have to change buses in to catch your next bus north towards Hanoi. As I didn't have the opportunity to visit Mui Ne and Dalat prior and arrived there directly from Ho Chi Minh instead that plan would have given me two consecutive night buses which was very unappealing. That's why I decided to spend the night in Nha Trang effectively giving me two days to explore before catching another night bus north the following day. I went for a walk along the beach first thing which was incredibly clean by Asian standards, Nha Trang city basically lieing on a 7km long strip of sand. I followed the beach all the way to Hon Chong which were these rocks you climb on, giving you great views over Nha Trang Bay and some of the outlying islands.
I then headed to the Ponagar Temple, which were some ancient ruins sitting on a hilltop by the Cai River. It basically consisted of 4 towers all of which you could access, as well as a few outlying relics. The view over the river looking towards Nha Trang was nice from the top too. After crossing the river I visited the Dam Market although it was little disappointing, so I therefore went to the Long Son Pagoda which was this Chinese temple sitting beneath a large white Buddha statue, which again had great views from the top. By this point it was incredibly hot, so I went to the shopping mall for lunch and the air con, before heading back to the hostel via this gothic style Cathedral.
Come evening I went and checked out what was going on the beach, which was very busy with street entertainers and a particularly lively nightlife scene. I found it particularly interesting throughout the day the amount of Russian tourists in Nha Trang, and there was no exception in the evening with their opening world cup game on. From what I understand during the Cold War they built a military base nearby which still operates today, and because of that Russians like to come to Nha Trang on their holidays. I would have watched the football as many of the pubs I passed whilst out were bouncing with rowdy Russian's, although I was absolutely exhausted by that point!
The following day I just had a beach day as that's essentially what Nha Trang is all about. The beach had several bars hiring out deck chairs and stuff, although before relaxing I took a walk south towards the port and this lighthouse. Unfortunately when getting to the lighthouse the road up was closed which was a shame, but it was still a nice walk. I spent the afternoon at this place called Happy Beach which had things like old cars and bicycles on the beach. I found myself a nice hammock and stayed there for a few hours. Later that afternoon I had a look round some of markets and shops before catching my next night bus north to Hoi An that evening.
Monday, 18 June 2018
Ho Chi Minh City
I left Sihanoukville on Sunday morning with the aim of the day to cross the border into Vietnam. I had several options in terms of where to cross the border, and in the end I decided I would cross the Moc Bai border where most people cross to get to Ho Chi Minh City, the largest city in Vietnam. To get there I had to catch a bus to Phnom Penh, arriving about lunchtime, before catching another bus to Ho Chi Minh City.
Prior to arriving at the border the bus driver took every passengers passport, and whilst we stopped at this small cafe he got us all stamped out of Cambodia. We then got back on the bus to Vietnam side, where he did a similar process handing over every passengers passport to get stamped in. When he returned our passports on the bus however I was only stamped in for a 15 day period, when I had in fact been granted a 30 day visa a couple of weeks prior. When I questioned this to the bus driver he was more interested in getting to Ho Chi Minh City, so I couldn't really do much about it until the following day. We didn't arrive into Ho Chi Minh City until darkness, and I was very glad when I finally got to lie down as it was a very long day!
On Monday I went out and explored Ho Chi Minh City for the day, although I firstly wanted to try and resolve my visa issue. I googled where the immigration office was and it happened to be near the Jade Emerald Pagoda, so I went there en route. Unlike many of the other temples I visited it felt almost swallowed up by the city, Ho Chi Minh housing over 10 million people (which is over double the population of the entire of Laos) and a lot of high rise buildings. Despite not being very photogenic it was a very interesting place. I then went to the immigration office who weren't any help whatsoever, seeming more interested in selling me an alternative visa. That left me completely unsure what to do.
Instead of worrying about my visa I just went out and explored the city, using this walking tour I downloaded online which took me to some the historically significant buildings including the Notre Dame Cathedral, Opera House, and City Hall. The city was incredibly busy and chaotic, and every time I crossed a road I felt as if I was putting my life on the line with motorcycles left, right, and centre! There was an array of shopping options around the city, as well as street food vendors selling some very suspect things. Later on in the day I visited the Zoo and Botanic Gardens, which was a little run down but housed things like Tigers, Giraffes, and Elephants. I particularly liked the bears though which were very active.
When returning to the hostel the owner helped me with my visa issue, and she told me that the stamp in my passport was a 15 day visa, and that my evisa document was simply a letter of approval and not an official visa. She gave me the address of the government immigration office and told me to speak to them for more advice. It appeared I hadn't gone to the official immigration office earlier in the day and instead went to a travel agency type place which focused on selling you visas.
The following morning I went to the office, and they confirmed that I had only been granted a 15 day visa, and told me my evisa could no longer be granted now that I was in the country, and that I should have questioned it at the border. They said the only way to use my evisa was to return to the border, exit Vietnam, cross back into Cambodia, and then re enter Vietnam, but there were no guarantees I would be allowed back into both Cambodia and Vietnam due to using two visas in a short space of time. They said my only other option was to apply for a visa extension with them, but I would have to leave my passport with them and they said that process takes up to a week with again no guarantee of it being granted. In the end I decided I would have to only stay 15 days which was absolutely gutting as I'd envisaged seeing Vietnam in 30 days as basically impossible, so to be restricted to just 15 days was very frustrating, but there wasn't really much I could do about it.
After leaving the immigration office I headed out to the Cu Chi Tunnels for the day. The Cu Chi Tunnels are a massive network of underground tunnels and chambers in the Cu Chi district of Ho Chi Minh City, about 90km outside the city centre. They were originally part of a much larger network of tunnels that ran as far as Ho Chi Minh City and even the Cambodian border during the Vietnam war. The tunnels were dug with simple tools and bare hands during the French occupation in the 1940s, and further expanded during the Vietnam War in the 1960s to provide refuge and a defensive advantage over the American soldiers. Despite all the bombings in their town, the Cu Chi people were able to continue their lives beneath the soil, where they slept, ate, planned attacks, healed their sick, and taught their young. Some even wed and gave birth underground, but over 10,000 lost their lives here.
I caught local buses out there which was surprisingly straightforward despite having to change buses along the way. Prior to arriving at the tunnels, there was a nice little walkway along the rivers edge, taking you via this temple which had these fascinating mosaics which I think depicted the Vietnam War. There were also many rusting war relics including bombs, guns, and vehicles outside the entrance to the tunnels. As part of my entrance fee I got a guide who was actually really good at putting everything in context. Along the way we passed several relics and scenes recreating the war, and we watched a very interactive video explaining the history of the war.
We then got to explore several of the tunnels and bunkers, which were a little chlostrophobic in places but I still managed to fit just about. Later in the tour we got to experience a typical Vietnamese War lunch which consisted a water and cassava, as well as passing through several interactive workshop areas including a brilliant recreation of some of the traps they used to capture food and stop the opposition during the war. The tour took over 3 hours in the end but our guide was brilliant as keeping us engaged and I really enjoyed it. When arriving back in the city I relaxed at my hostel for a bit, before heading back to where the city hall was, which had a long walking street with street entertainers surrounded by some of the cities modern high rise.
On Wednesday I went out first thing to sort out my bus ticket north, walking there via the Tan Dinh Cathedral which had a striking pink facade. Unlike everywhere else I've visited in Asia there were actually quite a lot of Catholic buildings which is a change from all the temples! It wasn't a very nice day and it kept raining, so I was considering visiting the War Remnants museum and Reunification Palace which were both museums to do with the Vietnam war. In the end I opted against that and decided to go to the cinema to watch the new Jurassic World film which was really good. After the film I looked round a couple of the shopping malls as it was just pouring with rain, eventually making it back to my hostel to collect my stuff. Before catching my night bus north to Nha Trang I had a look round the Ben Thanh market, before heading to this street food market for dinner. The food in Ho Chi Minh was definitely some of the best I've had in Asia.
Prior to arriving at the border the bus driver took every passengers passport, and whilst we stopped at this small cafe he got us all stamped out of Cambodia. We then got back on the bus to Vietnam side, where he did a similar process handing over every passengers passport to get stamped in. When he returned our passports on the bus however I was only stamped in for a 15 day period, when I had in fact been granted a 30 day visa a couple of weeks prior. When I questioned this to the bus driver he was more interested in getting to Ho Chi Minh City, so I couldn't really do much about it until the following day. We didn't arrive into Ho Chi Minh City until darkness, and I was very glad when I finally got to lie down as it was a very long day!
On Monday I went out and explored Ho Chi Minh City for the day, although I firstly wanted to try and resolve my visa issue. I googled where the immigration office was and it happened to be near the Jade Emerald Pagoda, so I went there en route. Unlike many of the other temples I visited it felt almost swallowed up by the city, Ho Chi Minh housing over 10 million people (which is over double the population of the entire of Laos) and a lot of high rise buildings. Despite not being very photogenic it was a very interesting place. I then went to the immigration office who weren't any help whatsoever, seeming more interested in selling me an alternative visa. That left me completely unsure what to do.
Instead of worrying about my visa I just went out and explored the city, using this walking tour I downloaded online which took me to some the historically significant buildings including the Notre Dame Cathedral, Opera House, and City Hall. The city was incredibly busy and chaotic, and every time I crossed a road I felt as if I was putting my life on the line with motorcycles left, right, and centre! There was an array of shopping options around the city, as well as street food vendors selling some very suspect things. Later on in the day I visited the Zoo and Botanic Gardens, which was a little run down but housed things like Tigers, Giraffes, and Elephants. I particularly liked the bears though which were very active.
When returning to the hostel the owner helped me with my visa issue, and she told me that the stamp in my passport was a 15 day visa, and that my evisa document was simply a letter of approval and not an official visa. She gave me the address of the government immigration office and told me to speak to them for more advice. It appeared I hadn't gone to the official immigration office earlier in the day and instead went to a travel agency type place which focused on selling you visas.
The following morning I went to the office, and they confirmed that I had only been granted a 15 day visa, and told me my evisa could no longer be granted now that I was in the country, and that I should have questioned it at the border. They said the only way to use my evisa was to return to the border, exit Vietnam, cross back into Cambodia, and then re enter Vietnam, but there were no guarantees I would be allowed back into both Cambodia and Vietnam due to using two visas in a short space of time. They said my only other option was to apply for a visa extension with them, but I would have to leave my passport with them and they said that process takes up to a week with again no guarantee of it being granted. In the end I decided I would have to only stay 15 days which was absolutely gutting as I'd envisaged seeing Vietnam in 30 days as basically impossible, so to be restricted to just 15 days was very frustrating, but there wasn't really much I could do about it.
After leaving the immigration office I headed out to the Cu Chi Tunnels for the day. The Cu Chi Tunnels are a massive network of underground tunnels and chambers in the Cu Chi district of Ho Chi Minh City, about 90km outside the city centre. They were originally part of a much larger network of tunnels that ran as far as Ho Chi Minh City and even the Cambodian border during the Vietnam war. The tunnels were dug with simple tools and bare hands during the French occupation in the 1940s, and further expanded during the Vietnam War in the 1960s to provide refuge and a defensive advantage over the American soldiers. Despite all the bombings in their town, the Cu Chi people were able to continue their lives beneath the soil, where they slept, ate, planned attacks, healed their sick, and taught their young. Some even wed and gave birth underground, but over 10,000 lost their lives here.
I caught local buses out there which was surprisingly straightforward despite having to change buses along the way. Prior to arriving at the tunnels, there was a nice little walkway along the rivers edge, taking you via this temple which had these fascinating mosaics which I think depicted the Vietnam War. There were also many rusting war relics including bombs, guns, and vehicles outside the entrance to the tunnels. As part of my entrance fee I got a guide who was actually really good at putting everything in context. Along the way we passed several relics and scenes recreating the war, and we watched a very interactive video explaining the history of the war.
We then got to explore several of the tunnels and bunkers, which were a little chlostrophobic in places but I still managed to fit just about. Later in the tour we got to experience a typical Vietnamese War lunch which consisted a water and cassava, as well as passing through several interactive workshop areas including a brilliant recreation of some of the traps they used to capture food and stop the opposition during the war. The tour took over 3 hours in the end but our guide was brilliant as keeping us engaged and I really enjoyed it. When arriving back in the city I relaxed at my hostel for a bit, before heading back to where the city hall was, which had a long walking street with street entertainers surrounded by some of the cities modern high rise.
On Wednesday I went out first thing to sort out my bus ticket north, walking there via the Tan Dinh Cathedral which had a striking pink facade. Unlike everywhere else I've visited in Asia there were actually quite a lot of Catholic buildings which is a change from all the temples! It wasn't a very nice day and it kept raining, so I was considering visiting the War Remnants museum and Reunification Palace which were both museums to do with the Vietnam war. In the end I opted against that and decided to go to the cinema to watch the new Jurassic World film which was really good. After the film I looked round a couple of the shopping malls as it was just pouring with rain, eventually making it back to my hostel to collect my stuff. Before catching my night bus north to Nha Trang I had a look round the Ben Thanh market, before heading to this street food market for dinner. The food in Ho Chi Minh was definitely some of the best I've had in Asia.
Monday, 11 June 2018
Southern Cambodia
I left Battambang on Friday morning, aiming to get to Kampot or Sihanoukville in the south of Cambodia. Getting there however required catching a bus to Phnom Penh and then trying to catch another bus south. The bus from Battambang dragged a bit and I didn't arrive into Phnom Penh until late afternoon. Phnom Penh doesn't have a centralised bus station, with the countless bus operators instead operating services from their offices. The company I went with didn't have any services heading south until the morning, so I decided instead of faffing about trying to find another bus company I'd stay the night in Phnom Penh. Doing that resulted in me in being able to purchase an sd card reader for my tablet so it actually worked out quite well.
Come morning I left Phnom Penh bright and early, opting to head to the town of Kampot, arriving later that morning. Kampot is located about 25km from the town of Kep which I also wanted to visit, with many of the areas attractions lieing between the two towns. I managed to find a really nice place in the small fishing village of Tuek Chhou about 6km outside of Kampot which offered free bike hire and my own room with a double bed, and in a great location in terms of exploring the two towns and surrounding areas. After settling in I headed into Kampot for lunch and to explore the town a bit.
Kampot sits along the east side of the Kampong Bay River near the base of the Elephant Mountains. The town is particularly popular due its quiet lanes and colonial architecture housing an array of cafes and restaurants. After picking up a tourist map I cycled round the slightly worn yet quaint streets, the highlights including this old bridge across the river which had been partially bombed during the Khmer Rouge, and these statues situated on many of the towns roundabouts. It wasn't a very nice day though in terms of weather so I kept having to dive in for shelter, but I still managed to get a good feel for the place before heading back to Tuek Chhou.
The following day I went out on a bike for the day to explore some of the countryside. First stop was Phnom Kbal Romeas, an impressive cave system which was easy to explore to the due to that fact it was almost like a cavern and there were several holes in the ceiling flooding light inside. I explored for a fair while and it almost felt as if I could climb out the top in places, although I couldn't! I then went to Phnom Chhngok Cave Temple which was another cave system, although this one also housed a small Angkorian temple dating back to the 9th century, as well as this large rock which supposedly resembled an elephant. I had to climb a staircase to reach the cave and apparently you could exit at the bottom the by decending through the caves, although I wasn't confident enough to do that without a proper torch.
After leaving the caves I went to the Brateak Krola Lake, more commonly referred to as the Secret Lake. I think they've had a lot rain in the south of Cambodia as the dirt tracks I was cycling on was basically a mud bath. I stopped for lunch there as there were several nice restaurants sitting on the lakes edge with these little huts you could sit in. Apparently you could even swim in the lake but it wasn't that appealing in the rain!
A short ride from the lake was La Plantation, a pepper farm which offered free guided tours and tastings. Pepper farming was brought to Cambodia by the French, but after they left and the Khmer Rouge took place the farms were abandoned. It's not until recently that there has been a revival and nowadays there several pepper farms in the area. The guided tour took me around the plantation where I learnt about all the different types of pepper and the processes used to make them. It was very interesting, and I particularly enjoyed the tasting session at the end. I never knew there were so many different types of pepper! They also made things like turmeric, jam, and rum which you could try. I headed back after the tour and chilled out for the rest of the day as it was a very overcast day and it kept raining.
On Monday I went to the nearby town of Kep for the day, cycling there along a nice tarmac road which was a nice change after the muddy dirt tracks the previous day. Kep is a popular destination with Cambodian holiday makers, and is particularly famous for its crab shacks. With quiet beaches flanked with jungled mountains the place just had a chilled out tropical vibe. When arriving I went and explored the Kep National Park which formed the backdrop of the town. I followed this trail which went around the hills edge, getting occasional viewpoints of the coastline along the way. It started raining before long however so stepped it out a bit, heading into Kep Town for lunch and shelter.
Luckily the rain eventually cleared somewhat and I followed the coast getting great views of some of the outlying islands. I passed several statues along the way too including this crab literally in the sea. Before long I reached Kep Beach which was home to nice and sandy beach. Before having some beach time however I headed back into Kep National Park to visit Sunset Rock, passing an abandoned temple en route. The view from Sunset Rock was a little lacklustre however, and I soon headed back down to the beach which had several bamboo shelters with hammocks in. After chilling out for a bit I continued along the coast to the crab market, which was fascinating. The locals had these cages in the sea full of freshly caught crabs which they were selling straight from the sea, as well several shacks selling freshly made meals. I cycled back to Tuek Chhou after the market, getting back just in time before the rain got heavy again.
I had a far more chilled out day the following day after all my cycling, heading into Kampot town around lunchtime where I found a nice place by the river. It was actually a really nice day and I was tempted to go and explore the mangroves and salt flats which lie on the coast outside of Kampot, although I opted against that. In dry season they produce large quantities of salt in Kampot by literally flooding the fields with sea water in the morning and allowing it to evaporate throughout the day, collecting the salt left behind later in the day. It isn't possible during wet season however.
On Wednesday I went for a day trip into the Preah Monivong National Park to visit the old ghost town of Bokor up in the heart of the Elephant Mountains. En route we stopped at this viewpoint looking out towards Kampot, Kep, and the coast. It was interesting seeing the expansive salt fields from above and my guide even had a drone which he flew out over the hills, to see a birds eye view through its camera! We then stopped at the Black Palace which until the 1970s was a Royal Residence. It was now basically just a set of derelict buildings, and I actually thought this street artist who had put graffiti on it was more exciting than the building itself. There were more great views from there though, including some from this giant statue of Yeay Mao.
As we continued climbing the weather unfortunately turned and by the time we reached Bokor it was torrential rain and very poor visibility. Situated at over 1000m, Bokor was a small holiday resort town built by the French in the 1920s mainly for its cooler climate being at altitude. It was abandoned many years ago however and people come today to see the eerie buildings accompanied by stunning views. We stopped at the old temple which was situated on the cliffs edge, before passing buildings such as an old casino, hotel, and police station. The visibility was very poor however, but it was nice to hear our guides detailed insight into the area. We did get out and stop at this old Catholic Church, but we didn't stay very long.
From Bokor we descended down to the Popovkil Waterfall, with the heavy rain prior creating quite a torrent. We had lunch there before heading back to Kampot, where it was much nicer weather. I had a couple of hours in the afternoon to relax before heading over to the river for this sunset river cruise. There wasn't any sun for a sunset, although I still really enjoyed it as we went through the mangroves and as it began to get dark the reflection of the hills and clouds in the river was very pretty. We even saw loads of fireflys on the way back to Kampot when it was dark. The only sketchy thing though was going under the bridges, as where I was sitting on the roof you literally had to lie down to fit underneath!
I left Kampot Thursday morning and headed a couple of hours along the coast to the city of Sihanoukville, Cambodias most popular beach destination. Sihanoukville is also home to an array of nightlife, casinos, and duty free shopping, and is also the main gateway to some of the outlying tropical islands in the Gulf of Thailand. I planned to spend couple of days on the beaches on the mainland though; if the weather wasn't so unpredictable I would have gone to the islands. I instead thought staying in Sihanoukville was a more sensible option as the islands were apparently very basic, with things like power limited to just the evenings. The weather when arriving in Sihanoukville was awful, and it rained all day so I didn't make it much further than looking round a few of the shops near my hostel.
The following day I went out and explored Sihanoukville, firstly heading up to Wat Leu which was on top of a hill overlooking the city. In recent years Sihanoukville has recieved heavy investment from China and this was evident from the viewpoint at the top by all the building work taking place below, with the Chinese building high rise hotels on the several beaches around the city. Such is the rapid development in the city, that Google maps which I was using to navigate didn't have an up to date map, with several roads I tried to follow leading to building sites! I eventually made it to Victory Beach via the port where I stopped for lunch on the beach, with great views looking out to the islands.
From Victory Beach I headed via the Independence Monument to Wat Krom, another temple which in the surrounding courtyard had all these interesting sculptures. I nearly get bitten by a snake though after accidentally treading on it. I then headed to Independence Beach which was basically a building site, although it did have these nice umbrellas you could sit under. On my way to the next beach, Sokha Beach the weather turned however. It set in for the rest of the day and by the time I got back to Serendipity Beach where I was staying I was absolutely drenched. The rain just persisted for the rest of the day.
Come morning it was still pretty grotty and certainly far from being beach weather. As I was planning to attempt to cross into Vietnam the following day I was tempted to head to Phnom Penh to break the journey up a bit, but I'd already paid for the night in the Sihanoukville so I stayed put. It was very frustrating I couldn't do barely anything I planned to do in Sihanoukville, but I suppose it was nice to relax a bit.
Come morning I left Phnom Penh bright and early, opting to head to the town of Kampot, arriving later that morning. Kampot is located about 25km from the town of Kep which I also wanted to visit, with many of the areas attractions lieing between the two towns. I managed to find a really nice place in the small fishing village of Tuek Chhou about 6km outside of Kampot which offered free bike hire and my own room with a double bed, and in a great location in terms of exploring the two towns and surrounding areas. After settling in I headed into Kampot for lunch and to explore the town a bit.
Kampot sits along the east side of the Kampong Bay River near the base of the Elephant Mountains. The town is particularly popular due its quiet lanes and colonial architecture housing an array of cafes and restaurants. After picking up a tourist map I cycled round the slightly worn yet quaint streets, the highlights including this old bridge across the river which had been partially bombed during the Khmer Rouge, and these statues situated on many of the towns roundabouts. It wasn't a very nice day though in terms of weather so I kept having to dive in for shelter, but I still managed to get a good feel for the place before heading back to Tuek Chhou.
The following day I went out on a bike for the day to explore some of the countryside. First stop was Phnom Kbal Romeas, an impressive cave system which was easy to explore to the due to that fact it was almost like a cavern and there were several holes in the ceiling flooding light inside. I explored for a fair while and it almost felt as if I could climb out the top in places, although I couldn't! I then went to Phnom Chhngok Cave Temple which was another cave system, although this one also housed a small Angkorian temple dating back to the 9th century, as well as this large rock which supposedly resembled an elephant. I had to climb a staircase to reach the cave and apparently you could exit at the bottom the by decending through the caves, although I wasn't confident enough to do that without a proper torch.
After leaving the caves I went to the Brateak Krola Lake, more commonly referred to as the Secret Lake. I think they've had a lot rain in the south of Cambodia as the dirt tracks I was cycling on was basically a mud bath. I stopped for lunch there as there were several nice restaurants sitting on the lakes edge with these little huts you could sit in. Apparently you could even swim in the lake but it wasn't that appealing in the rain!
A short ride from the lake was La Plantation, a pepper farm which offered free guided tours and tastings. Pepper farming was brought to Cambodia by the French, but after they left and the Khmer Rouge took place the farms were abandoned. It's not until recently that there has been a revival and nowadays there several pepper farms in the area. The guided tour took me around the plantation where I learnt about all the different types of pepper and the processes used to make them. It was very interesting, and I particularly enjoyed the tasting session at the end. I never knew there were so many different types of pepper! They also made things like turmeric, jam, and rum which you could try. I headed back after the tour and chilled out for the rest of the day as it was a very overcast day and it kept raining.
On Monday I went to the nearby town of Kep for the day, cycling there along a nice tarmac road which was a nice change after the muddy dirt tracks the previous day. Kep is a popular destination with Cambodian holiday makers, and is particularly famous for its crab shacks. With quiet beaches flanked with jungled mountains the place just had a chilled out tropical vibe. When arriving I went and explored the Kep National Park which formed the backdrop of the town. I followed this trail which went around the hills edge, getting occasional viewpoints of the coastline along the way. It started raining before long however so stepped it out a bit, heading into Kep Town for lunch and shelter.
Luckily the rain eventually cleared somewhat and I followed the coast getting great views of some of the outlying islands. I passed several statues along the way too including this crab literally in the sea. Before long I reached Kep Beach which was home to nice and sandy beach. Before having some beach time however I headed back into Kep National Park to visit Sunset Rock, passing an abandoned temple en route. The view from Sunset Rock was a little lacklustre however, and I soon headed back down to the beach which had several bamboo shelters with hammocks in. After chilling out for a bit I continued along the coast to the crab market, which was fascinating. The locals had these cages in the sea full of freshly caught crabs which they were selling straight from the sea, as well several shacks selling freshly made meals. I cycled back to Tuek Chhou after the market, getting back just in time before the rain got heavy again.
I had a far more chilled out day the following day after all my cycling, heading into Kampot town around lunchtime where I found a nice place by the river. It was actually a really nice day and I was tempted to go and explore the mangroves and salt flats which lie on the coast outside of Kampot, although I opted against that. In dry season they produce large quantities of salt in Kampot by literally flooding the fields with sea water in the morning and allowing it to evaporate throughout the day, collecting the salt left behind later in the day. It isn't possible during wet season however.
On Wednesday I went for a day trip into the Preah Monivong National Park to visit the old ghost town of Bokor up in the heart of the Elephant Mountains. En route we stopped at this viewpoint looking out towards Kampot, Kep, and the coast. It was interesting seeing the expansive salt fields from above and my guide even had a drone which he flew out over the hills, to see a birds eye view through its camera! We then stopped at the Black Palace which until the 1970s was a Royal Residence. It was now basically just a set of derelict buildings, and I actually thought this street artist who had put graffiti on it was more exciting than the building itself. There were more great views from there though, including some from this giant statue of Yeay Mao.
As we continued climbing the weather unfortunately turned and by the time we reached Bokor it was torrential rain and very poor visibility. Situated at over 1000m, Bokor was a small holiday resort town built by the French in the 1920s mainly for its cooler climate being at altitude. It was abandoned many years ago however and people come today to see the eerie buildings accompanied by stunning views. We stopped at the old temple which was situated on the cliffs edge, before passing buildings such as an old casino, hotel, and police station. The visibility was very poor however, but it was nice to hear our guides detailed insight into the area. We did get out and stop at this old Catholic Church, but we didn't stay very long.
From Bokor we descended down to the Popovkil Waterfall, with the heavy rain prior creating quite a torrent. We had lunch there before heading back to Kampot, where it was much nicer weather. I had a couple of hours in the afternoon to relax before heading over to the river for this sunset river cruise. There wasn't any sun for a sunset, although I still really enjoyed it as we went through the mangroves and as it began to get dark the reflection of the hills and clouds in the river was very pretty. We even saw loads of fireflys on the way back to Kampot when it was dark. The only sketchy thing though was going under the bridges, as where I was sitting on the roof you literally had to lie down to fit underneath!
I left Kampot Thursday morning and headed a couple of hours along the coast to the city of Sihanoukville, Cambodias most popular beach destination. Sihanoukville is also home to an array of nightlife, casinos, and duty free shopping, and is also the main gateway to some of the outlying tropical islands in the Gulf of Thailand. I planned to spend couple of days on the beaches on the mainland though; if the weather wasn't so unpredictable I would have gone to the islands. I instead thought staying in Sihanoukville was a more sensible option as the islands were apparently very basic, with things like power limited to just the evenings. The weather when arriving in Sihanoukville was awful, and it rained all day so I didn't make it much further than looking round a few of the shops near my hostel.
The following day I went out and explored Sihanoukville, firstly heading up to Wat Leu which was on top of a hill overlooking the city. In recent years Sihanoukville has recieved heavy investment from China and this was evident from the viewpoint at the top by all the building work taking place below, with the Chinese building high rise hotels on the several beaches around the city. Such is the rapid development in the city, that Google maps which I was using to navigate didn't have an up to date map, with several roads I tried to follow leading to building sites! I eventually made it to Victory Beach via the port where I stopped for lunch on the beach, with great views looking out to the islands.
From Victory Beach I headed via the Independence Monument to Wat Krom, another temple which in the surrounding courtyard had all these interesting sculptures. I nearly get bitten by a snake though after accidentally treading on it. I then headed to Independence Beach which was basically a building site, although it did have these nice umbrellas you could sit under. On my way to the next beach, Sokha Beach the weather turned however. It set in for the rest of the day and by the time I got back to Serendipity Beach where I was staying I was absolutely drenched. The rain just persisted for the rest of the day.
Come morning it was still pretty grotty and certainly far from being beach weather. As I was planning to attempt to cross into Vietnam the following day I was tempted to head to Phnom Penh to break the journey up a bit, but I'd already paid for the night in the Sihanoukville so I stayed put. It was very frustrating I couldn't do barely anything I planned to do in Sihanoukville, but I suppose it was nice to relax a bit.
Thursday, 7 June 2018
Battambang
I left Siem Riep Tuesday morning and headed the short distance to the small city of Battambang. It still took much of morning to get there as the bus kept stopping to let locals on trying to sell you stuff, although I still had much of the afternoon free to explore. I decided to focus on the city itself, following this tour I downloaded online. Battambang is the second most populated city in Cambodia, and houses several old pagodas and French colonial era buildings. The centre was housed with narrow streets home to several small cafes and shophouses, whilst further afield I passed buildings such as the Royal Residence and a couple of interesting statues.
The following day I hired a bike, with the nearby countryside home to several old pagodas, Angkorian era ruins, caves, and limestone outcrops. First stop of the day was this local winery, en route passing several villages and endless fields of rice paddies. The vineyard was essentially just greenhouses but it was still pretty and I did the wine tasting whilst I was there. I then continued onto Banan Village which was home to Phnom Banan, a small hilltop temple up a 358 step climb. The temple was made up of 5 towers and had several fascinating carvings, with the views of the surrounding countryside pretty impressive too.
I stayed in Banan for lunch as the village was very picturesque situated by this small lake, as well as housing some pretty gardens with these sculptures of animals in. From Banan I was hoping to visit this fruit farm which was highlighted on my map although I couldn't find it so next stop was Phnom Sampeau, a limestone outcrop home to several caves and viewpoints. First stop was the bat caves which you couldn't access as they were these large caverns half way up the cliff face, but you could see loads of bats inside from below. Apparently at dusk they come out and do an impressive display.
I then headed up to the Killing Caves, used during the Khmer Rouge to dispose of bodies. It was a very eerie place, with this glass memorial housing skulls of the victims, and these cages full of bone fragments. I was able to go inside the caves itself, and you could see how they disposed of the bodies through these holes in the ceiling into the cavern below. On the summit of Sampeau were several viewpoints looking out over the countryside, as well as a large complex of temples including some more caves used for religious purposes. There was also this deep canyon you could access through this massive natural arch which was again very eerie. When getting back to the base of the mountain I was tempted to stay and watch the bat display but I could sense a thunderstorm coming and I got back to Battambang just in time before it set in!
On Thursday I continued exploring the surrounding villages and countryside surrounding Battambang, heading out to the Angkorian ruins of Ek Phnom first thing. The ruins was basically a single temple, although there was this massive Buddha statue nearby surrounded by these smaller Buddha's. Nearby Ek Phnom I visited a local village which specialised in making rice paper, which is what they use to make spring rolls. It was interesting seeing the locals make the rice paper which were hung up on the side of the road presumably to dry out. There was even a small cafe where I was able to try some of their spring rolls.
I then headed to Wat Somrong Knong which was a temple used during the Khmer Rouge. The now disused temple lay their in ruin, and there were several other buildings which were used for torture and other purposes. There was also this well they used to drown their victims. Nearby the temple was a memorial stupa with some of the victims skills. I headed back into Battambang for lunch.
After lunch I headed out to the Bamboo Railway. Unfortunately it was no longer operating but there were relics of its existence remaining. During the Khmer Rouge the railways in Cambodia were abandoned but when it ended the locals made use of the rail tracks by building these carts out of bamboo to transport themselves and their goods from city to countryside. Over the years it became a bit of a tourist attraction but over the last few years Cambodia have made extensive efforts to restore the railway from Phnom Penh into Thailand which passes through Battambang, and with the railway set to open to regular train services next month the locals can no longer operate this system. I spent the afternoon relaxing at my hostel which had hammocks and pool, heading out to the night market in evening.
The following day I hired a bike, with the nearby countryside home to several old pagodas, Angkorian era ruins, caves, and limestone outcrops. First stop of the day was this local winery, en route passing several villages and endless fields of rice paddies. The vineyard was essentially just greenhouses but it was still pretty and I did the wine tasting whilst I was there. I then continued onto Banan Village which was home to Phnom Banan, a small hilltop temple up a 358 step climb. The temple was made up of 5 towers and had several fascinating carvings, with the views of the surrounding countryside pretty impressive too.
I stayed in Banan for lunch as the village was very picturesque situated by this small lake, as well as housing some pretty gardens with these sculptures of animals in. From Banan I was hoping to visit this fruit farm which was highlighted on my map although I couldn't find it so next stop was Phnom Sampeau, a limestone outcrop home to several caves and viewpoints. First stop was the bat caves which you couldn't access as they were these large caverns half way up the cliff face, but you could see loads of bats inside from below. Apparently at dusk they come out and do an impressive display.
I then headed up to the Killing Caves, used during the Khmer Rouge to dispose of bodies. It was a very eerie place, with this glass memorial housing skulls of the victims, and these cages full of bone fragments. I was able to go inside the caves itself, and you could see how they disposed of the bodies through these holes in the ceiling into the cavern below. On the summit of Sampeau were several viewpoints looking out over the countryside, as well as a large complex of temples including some more caves used for religious purposes. There was also this deep canyon you could access through this massive natural arch which was again very eerie. When getting back to the base of the mountain I was tempted to stay and watch the bat display but I could sense a thunderstorm coming and I got back to Battambang just in time before it set in!
On Thursday I continued exploring the surrounding villages and countryside surrounding Battambang, heading out to the Angkorian ruins of Ek Phnom first thing. The ruins was basically a single temple, although there was this massive Buddha statue nearby surrounded by these smaller Buddha's. Nearby Ek Phnom I visited a local village which specialised in making rice paper, which is what they use to make spring rolls. It was interesting seeing the locals make the rice paper which were hung up on the side of the road presumably to dry out. There was even a small cafe where I was able to try some of their spring rolls.
I then headed to Wat Somrong Knong which was a temple used during the Khmer Rouge. The now disused temple lay their in ruin, and there were several other buildings which were used for torture and other purposes. There was also this well they used to drown their victims. Nearby the temple was a memorial stupa with some of the victims skills. I headed back into Battambang for lunch.
After lunch I headed out to the Bamboo Railway. Unfortunately it was no longer operating but there were relics of its existence remaining. During the Khmer Rouge the railways in Cambodia were abandoned but when it ended the locals made use of the rail tracks by building these carts out of bamboo to transport themselves and their goods from city to countryside. Over the years it became a bit of a tourist attraction but over the last few years Cambodia have made extensive efforts to restore the railway from Phnom Penh into Thailand which passes through Battambang, and with the railway set to open to regular train services next month the locals can no longer operate this system. I spent the afternoon relaxing at my hostel which had hammocks and pool, heading out to the night market in evening.
Thursday, 31 May 2018
Siem Riep
On Wednesday morning I left Phnom Penh and headed to Siem Riep. It was a relatively long bus journey and with the bus station in Siem Riep a little way out of town I didn't end up arriving to my hostel until late afternoon. Siem Riep is traditionally the gateway to visit the nearby temples of Angkor, although it's become a bit of a destination in its own right in recent years housing a lively nightlife scene, and an array of food and shopping options. It's certainly a place well equipped for tourists!
The following day I just had a relaxing day, mainly so I could get idea of which temples I wanted to see during my time in Siem Riep. I believe there are over 4000 buildings and temples associated with the Angkor era you can visit spread over a massive area so it's nigh on impossible to see everything, so you need to have a vague idea of where you want to go beforehand. I pretty much spent the day down the pub street which had by far the cheapest beer I've found in Asia so far. I headed back to the hostel later that afternoon which had an on site pool and bar, being a former luxury villa which they've just converted into a hostel.
I was going to go and explore the temples on Friday, although I accidentally had a little too much to drink the previous day so I wasn't really feeling that. I therefore had another relaxing day, mainly by the pool at the hostel. I did go and sort my ticket out though as I was planning to go and watch the sunrise at Angkor Wat the following morning. It was proper official with them printing a ticket with my face printed on it, with security on the complex apparently very strong. It wasn't cheap though, let's just say I could have bought 74 pints with what they charged me! I had the option to watch the sunset as they don't check tickets after 5pm, although I thought I'd save my energy for the following day.
Saturday morning I was up bright and early to watch the sunrise at Angkor Wat, arriving at the vehicle ticket checkpoint just outside Siem Riep for when they opened the gates at 5am. I was one of the first through, although as I still had a good 5km to cycle coaches and minibuses bombed past me so when I reached the ticket checkpoint to get into Angkor Wat itself there was a massive queue to get in. In the end I missed the best part of the sunrise at the temple itself which was frustrating. It was incredibly busy with literally everyone wanting to see the same thing. I decided after sunrise to return to Angkor Wat later in the day to explore properly when it was a little less busy.
The first complex I explored was Angkor Thom, the largest group of temples I planned to explore that day. Surrounded by a square moat 12km all the way round with 8m high walls, the complex was centred around the temple of Bayon. This temple housed these mysterious structures with these faces on and there were several fascinating passageways you could explore. There were several smaller temples surrounding Bayon which I explored, and I found some of the sculptures and carvings particularly interesting including this area called the Terrace of the Elephants. Another temple I particularly liked was Baphoun where I was able to climb up this incredibly steep staircase to the top of it. I was glad I explored Angkor Thom first whilst it was quieter because by the time I left a few hours later a lot of the tour groups were there.
From Angkor Thom I headed out further afield towards Ta Prohm, stopping at a few of the lesser visited smaller temples en route. Ta Prohm was one of my favourite temples of the day as it had been largely untouched by archaeologists. Many of the walls and structures were almost swallowed up by the jungle, with entire roots and trees growing throughout the temple. Nearby Ta Prohm was the temple of Banteay Kdei, which like Ta Prohm has never been restored. It starting raining when I got here, although large parts of the temple was inside with lots of little small rooms you could explore.
Once the rain calmed down a bit I headed to Pre Rup and East Mebon, two temples often called the twin temples. I cycled there via this large lake called Sras Srang. The temples were both pretty similar almost resembling pyramids, both of which you were able to climb. I then headed to Ta Som, another temple which had some more particularly interesting carvings. The next temple was Neak Pean which was accessed by a bridge over to this island. The temple itself was only small basically being this small chapel on a pond, but the surrounding lake which it lay on was very surreal with all these island looking things dotted all over it.
After lunch I headed to Preah Khan which was a bit like Ta Prohm except there had been extensive restoration projects taken out on Preah Khan. The temple itself was massive with all these small little rooms leading to these courtyards and other fascinating areas. It was the kind of place you could get lost because everything was very symmetrical so if you lost your bearings you could easily forget which entrance you arrived from! I then headed to Phnom Bakheng, which was this temple on top of a hill. There were extensive restoration works going on there though but it was more the views I wanted to see though which were stunning.
I then finally made it back Angkor Wat, and luckily managed to explore the complex before the rain set in again. I was even able to climb to the top of the temple. The temple itself seemed to be the place where most people were praying and giving their offerings. I headed back to Siem Riep after a good look round, as I was a little templed out for the day! I definitely made the most of the day though, being out for over 12 hours in the end. Come evening I headed down to the pub street again to watch the play off final and champions league final, and I didn't get back until daylight so it was a very long day!
I spent my last couple of days in Siem Riep just relaxing. I would have loved to explored some of the temples further afield although everything was just so far flung from each other and realistically cycling wasn't an option to make it worthwhile. I was quite happy just chilling by the pool though, and I did have a good look round some of the more modern temples including the Royal Residence in Siem Riep itself. I also explored some of the many night markets which were very tourist orientated, making the most of selling things like spiders, scorpions, and frogs to the tourists!
The following day I just had a relaxing day, mainly so I could get idea of which temples I wanted to see during my time in Siem Riep. I believe there are over 4000 buildings and temples associated with the Angkor era you can visit spread over a massive area so it's nigh on impossible to see everything, so you need to have a vague idea of where you want to go beforehand. I pretty much spent the day down the pub street which had by far the cheapest beer I've found in Asia so far. I headed back to the hostel later that afternoon which had an on site pool and bar, being a former luxury villa which they've just converted into a hostel.
I was going to go and explore the temples on Friday, although I accidentally had a little too much to drink the previous day so I wasn't really feeling that. I therefore had another relaxing day, mainly by the pool at the hostel. I did go and sort my ticket out though as I was planning to go and watch the sunrise at Angkor Wat the following morning. It was proper official with them printing a ticket with my face printed on it, with security on the complex apparently very strong. It wasn't cheap though, let's just say I could have bought 74 pints with what they charged me! I had the option to watch the sunset as they don't check tickets after 5pm, although I thought I'd save my energy for the following day.
Saturday morning I was up bright and early to watch the sunrise at Angkor Wat, arriving at the vehicle ticket checkpoint just outside Siem Riep for when they opened the gates at 5am. I was one of the first through, although as I still had a good 5km to cycle coaches and minibuses bombed past me so when I reached the ticket checkpoint to get into Angkor Wat itself there was a massive queue to get in. In the end I missed the best part of the sunrise at the temple itself which was frustrating. It was incredibly busy with literally everyone wanting to see the same thing. I decided after sunrise to return to Angkor Wat later in the day to explore properly when it was a little less busy.
The first complex I explored was Angkor Thom, the largest group of temples I planned to explore that day. Surrounded by a square moat 12km all the way round with 8m high walls, the complex was centred around the temple of Bayon. This temple housed these mysterious structures with these faces on and there were several fascinating passageways you could explore. There were several smaller temples surrounding Bayon which I explored, and I found some of the sculptures and carvings particularly interesting including this area called the Terrace of the Elephants. Another temple I particularly liked was Baphoun where I was able to climb up this incredibly steep staircase to the top of it. I was glad I explored Angkor Thom first whilst it was quieter because by the time I left a few hours later a lot of the tour groups were there.
From Angkor Thom I headed out further afield towards Ta Prohm, stopping at a few of the lesser visited smaller temples en route. Ta Prohm was one of my favourite temples of the day as it had been largely untouched by archaeologists. Many of the walls and structures were almost swallowed up by the jungle, with entire roots and trees growing throughout the temple. Nearby Ta Prohm was the temple of Banteay Kdei, which like Ta Prohm has never been restored. It starting raining when I got here, although large parts of the temple was inside with lots of little small rooms you could explore.
Once the rain calmed down a bit I headed to Pre Rup and East Mebon, two temples often called the twin temples. I cycled there via this large lake called Sras Srang. The temples were both pretty similar almost resembling pyramids, both of which you were able to climb. I then headed to Ta Som, another temple which had some more particularly interesting carvings. The next temple was Neak Pean which was accessed by a bridge over to this island. The temple itself was only small basically being this small chapel on a pond, but the surrounding lake which it lay on was very surreal with all these island looking things dotted all over it.
After lunch I headed to Preah Khan which was a bit like Ta Prohm except there had been extensive restoration projects taken out on Preah Khan. The temple itself was massive with all these small little rooms leading to these courtyards and other fascinating areas. It was the kind of place you could get lost because everything was very symmetrical so if you lost your bearings you could easily forget which entrance you arrived from! I then headed to Phnom Bakheng, which was this temple on top of a hill. There were extensive restoration works going on there though but it was more the views I wanted to see though which were stunning.
I then finally made it back Angkor Wat, and luckily managed to explore the complex before the rain set in again. I was even able to climb to the top of the temple. The temple itself seemed to be the place where most people were praying and giving their offerings. I headed back to Siem Riep after a good look round, as I was a little templed out for the day! I definitely made the most of the day though, being out for over 12 hours in the end. Come evening I headed down to the pub street again to watch the play off final and champions league final, and I didn't get back until daylight so it was a very long day!
I spent my last couple of days in Siem Riep just relaxing. I would have loved to explored some of the temples further afield although everything was just so far flung from each other and realistically cycling wasn't an option to make it worthwhile. I was quite happy just chilling by the pool though, and I did have a good look round some of the more modern temples including the Royal Residence in Siem Riep itself. I also explored some of the many night markets which were very tourist orientated, making the most of selling things like spiders, scorpions, and frogs to the tourists!
Saturday, 26 May 2018
Phnom Penh
On Sunday my aim was to cross the border from Laos into Cambodia, something I really wasn't looking forward to as I'd read it was a pretty corrupt border crossing. I got there a lot earlier than expected as a local farmer kindly gave me a lift there after I left the waterfall. In Vientiane I exchanged a large amount of NZ Dollars into Laos Kip for the crossing, although I later read that apparently you can't exchange Laos Kip outside of Laos so I exchanged that into US Dollars to confuse matters even more. The crossing actually went really smoothly although I definitely paid a lot more than I should have done, with random additional fees being implemented as I progressed through. I just paid up though instead of arguing as I knew it was corrupt so it wasn't really worth wasting my time for the sake of a few dollars here and there.
The border itself was literally in the middle of nowhere, so my next aim was getting to the nearest town of Stung Treng about 45km away. Luckily one of the locals crossing the border gave me a lift and I was in Stung Treng in really good time. As I'd done so well I was debating between pressing on to either Phnom Penh or Siem Riep. In the end my only option leaving that day was going to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, arriving in just as it was getting dark. It was a very long day in the end, and I arrived at my hostel just in time before there was another massive thunderstorm!
The following day I went out and explored Phnom Penh, although my first job was to sort some money out which is slightly confusing in Cambodia. They basically use the US Dollar and Cambodian Riel together. The majority of places quote their prices in US Dollars, although you can pay in either currency. Where it gets confusing though is that if you pay in US Dollars, they give you change in a combination of the two currencies, and vice versa. I definitely think I'm going to need to be on the ball because I think you could quite easily be scammed if you're not careful. My hostel was located right next to the Central Market so I had a good look round there after breakfast.
As it was the Cambodian Day of Remembrance, some of the major attractions like the Royal Palace, Silver Pagoda, and National Museum were all closed for the day. I still managed to get a glimpse of the palace from outside though at the Royal Palace Park, heading there via the Independence Monument. There were a lot of locals there laying flowers to remember those who died during the Khmer Rouge. I then followed the river along Sisowith Quay which is where all the bars and restaurants were based, before reaching Wat Phnom. By this point is was extremely hot outside, so I went and checked out some of the shopping malls which were very modern. I spent the rest of the afternoon at the hostel just relaxing, heading out to the night market and Sisowith Quay for dinner in the evening.
On Tuesday I visited S21 and the Killing Fields, which were a couple of museums showcasing some of the horrific things which occurred during the Khmer Rouge. Between 1975 and 1979 Cambodia was ruled by communist leader Pal Pot, who believed Cambodia should become a completely agricultural country. He therefore emptied the cities and sent everyone to work in the countryside on labour camps. People were forced to work extra long hours and were given insufficient food, causing many people to die of exhaustion and malnutrition. He also banned things like religion, and anyone caught exercising their religion were sent to be executed. He also executed all intellectuals, and anyone who was deemed lazy or complained were also executed. During his reign, of the 8 million people living in Cambodia an estimated 3 million died.
The first museum I visited was the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, also known as S21. The former high school was converted into a notorious prison by the Khmer Rouge and over 17,000 prisoners were tortured there and then sent to the Killing Fields close by. The Khmer Rouge kept detailed records of each prisoner and these were on show at the museum, including displays of black and white photographs of the men, women and children who passed through and the instruments used in their torture. Some of the torture methods used were absolutely disgusting which I won't go into. S21 was just one of many prisons around Cambodia used during the Khmer Rouge.
I then visited the Choeung Ek Genocide Centre, also known as the Killing Fields located just outside the city. Those who were tortured at S21 were sent here to what they thought was a quiet farming district to work. Yet the thousands of innocent Cambodians were in fact sent here to be executed by some absolutely horrendous methods. Perhaps the most horrifying method was this tree they used to kill the children, where they grabbed their legs and repeatedly smashed their heads against it before chucking them in the mass grave beside it. Many of the original buildings where the atrocities occurred have since been destroyed but some of the mass graves have since been unearthed, where they have built a memorial stupa housing over 8000 skulls of the victims. This was just one of many killing fields around the country.
It's sad to think those atrocities were occurring less than 40 years ago, but it was definitely worth visiting to understand Cambodias recent history. I spent the afternoon just relaxing at the hostel as it was raining, although it cleared by the evening. I therefore headed back to the Independence Monument and surrounding boulevard which had this light show on the side of one of the buildings. Like in Vientiane, it was funny watching the locals doing their aerobics classes! I then went for dinner down Sisowith Quay again.
The border itself was literally in the middle of nowhere, so my next aim was getting to the nearest town of Stung Treng about 45km away. Luckily one of the locals crossing the border gave me a lift and I was in Stung Treng in really good time. As I'd done so well I was debating between pressing on to either Phnom Penh or Siem Riep. In the end my only option leaving that day was going to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, arriving in just as it was getting dark. It was a very long day in the end, and I arrived at my hostel just in time before there was another massive thunderstorm!
The following day I went out and explored Phnom Penh, although my first job was to sort some money out which is slightly confusing in Cambodia. They basically use the US Dollar and Cambodian Riel together. The majority of places quote their prices in US Dollars, although you can pay in either currency. Where it gets confusing though is that if you pay in US Dollars, they give you change in a combination of the two currencies, and vice versa. I definitely think I'm going to need to be on the ball because I think you could quite easily be scammed if you're not careful. My hostel was located right next to the Central Market so I had a good look round there after breakfast.
As it was the Cambodian Day of Remembrance, some of the major attractions like the Royal Palace, Silver Pagoda, and National Museum were all closed for the day. I still managed to get a glimpse of the palace from outside though at the Royal Palace Park, heading there via the Independence Monument. There were a lot of locals there laying flowers to remember those who died during the Khmer Rouge. I then followed the river along Sisowith Quay which is where all the bars and restaurants were based, before reaching Wat Phnom. By this point is was extremely hot outside, so I went and checked out some of the shopping malls which were very modern. I spent the rest of the afternoon at the hostel just relaxing, heading out to the night market and Sisowith Quay for dinner in the evening.
On Tuesday I visited S21 and the Killing Fields, which were a couple of museums showcasing some of the horrific things which occurred during the Khmer Rouge. Between 1975 and 1979 Cambodia was ruled by communist leader Pal Pot, who believed Cambodia should become a completely agricultural country. He therefore emptied the cities and sent everyone to work in the countryside on labour camps. People were forced to work extra long hours and were given insufficient food, causing many people to die of exhaustion and malnutrition. He also banned things like religion, and anyone caught exercising their religion were sent to be executed. He also executed all intellectuals, and anyone who was deemed lazy or complained were also executed. During his reign, of the 8 million people living in Cambodia an estimated 3 million died.
The first museum I visited was the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, also known as S21. The former high school was converted into a notorious prison by the Khmer Rouge and over 17,000 prisoners were tortured there and then sent to the Killing Fields close by. The Khmer Rouge kept detailed records of each prisoner and these were on show at the museum, including displays of black and white photographs of the men, women and children who passed through and the instruments used in their torture. Some of the torture methods used were absolutely disgusting which I won't go into. S21 was just one of many prisons around Cambodia used during the Khmer Rouge.
I then visited the Choeung Ek Genocide Centre, also known as the Killing Fields located just outside the city. Those who were tortured at S21 were sent here to what they thought was a quiet farming district to work. Yet the thousands of innocent Cambodians were in fact sent here to be executed by some absolutely horrendous methods. Perhaps the most horrifying method was this tree they used to kill the children, where they grabbed their legs and repeatedly smashed their heads against it before chucking them in the mass grave beside it. Many of the original buildings where the atrocities occurred have since been destroyed but some of the mass graves have since been unearthed, where they have built a memorial stupa housing over 8000 skulls of the victims. This was just one of many killing fields around the country.
It's sad to think those atrocities were occurring less than 40 years ago, but it was definitely worth visiting to understand Cambodias recent history. I spent the afternoon just relaxing at the hostel as it was raining, although it cleared by the evening. I therefore headed back to the Independence Monument and surrounding boulevard which had this light show on the side of one of the buildings. Like in Vientiane, it was funny watching the locals doing their aerobics classes! I then went for dinner down Sisowith Quay again.
Tuesday, 22 May 2018
Si Phan Don (4000 Islands)
From Pakse I was looking into another trip out for a couple of days to the nearby Bolaven Plateau, although I couldn't find a safe and affordable way of doing it. The Bolaven Plateau is a large area home to waterfalls, ethnic minority villages, and coffee plantations, most popularly explored by motorcycle. With everything very spread out and parts of it reaching up to 1300m altitude cycling was out of the question. It was possible to use public buses although they ran pretty randomly, and I did consider hitchhiking, but in the end I decided to give it a miss. To be fair as I've said before its currently the worst time of the year to see waterfalls with them at there driest.
I therefore headed south to Si Phan Don, which translates literally as the 4000 Islands. Si Phan Don is where the Mekong stretches up to 14km in width, and becomes unnavigable due to series of rapids and waterfalls which run between the countless islands in the section of the river. Whether there is 4000 islands or not is a different matter, but there certainly is a lot. There were several different islands it was possible to visit and I decided to stay on Don Det which seemed like the most popular island with backpackers. The bus ride down to Nakasong, home of the boat landing was nice and straight forward. From there it was then a short boat ride out to Don Det, arriving by lunchtime.
Don Det was only a small island, probably about the same size as Brownsea, and I soon checked into my accommodation where I literally had my own wooden bungalow with a double bed! The infrastructure on the island was pretty basic though, although it had a very hippyesque vibe. I spent the afternoon just relaxing, with my bungalow having a hammock on my balcony. What I most enjoyed though was having a double bed, although there was a massive thunderstorm in the night which created a racket on my corrugated roof!
On Friday I explored Don Det. There wasn't really much to see because it's the kind of place equipped for relaxation, but I did a lap of the island which took me a good couple of hours and got some good views of the Mekong and some of the outlying islands. After lunch I explored the middle of the island which was dominated with paddy fields, as well as the remains of an old railway line and port which was very interesting to read about despite little physical evidence of its existence. I spent much of the rest of the afternoon in the town section at the northern end of the island which had the bulk of the bars and restaurants, finding a nice place to chill and before watching the sunset later on. It was just nice to relax.
On Saturday I went and visited the neighbouring island of Don Khon, which was connected to Don Det by a bridge which used to be part of the old railway line. The railway line was built by the French in the late 19th century who had back then gained a particular stronghold on places like Vietnam and Cambodia which lie on the Mekong. The Frenches ambition was to continue their dominance northwards into China, using the Mekong as a way of increasing trade. The one thing stopping them was the rapids and waterfalls in Si Phan Don, so they decided to build a railway line across Don Khon, bridge across to Don Det, and continue across Don Det with a port either end to transport boats across, hence bypassing the waterfalls. It worked on the short term, although trade wasn't as big as they envisaged and by the 1930s the railway was abandoned.
First stop of the day was Li Phi Waterfall, which was situated on the western side of Don Khon. The sheer amount of water cascading down was very impressive, and there even a small beach area where you could sunbathe and go for a swim. After checking out another beach area nearby, I followed the old railway line to Ban Hang Khone village at the southern extremity of the island. There were great views south here looking down into Cambodia, although I wasn't lucky enough so see the incredibly rare Irrawaddy Dolphin which are occasionally seen south of the waterfalls.
Next stop was the Khone Pa Soi Waterfall, which I accessed via this track through the jungle. There were some relics from the railway line here with some of the old rail tracks used as these incredibly sketchy bridges. The waterfall itself was accessed across an equally sketchy set of suspension bridges, where there were several vantage points to see the rapids and waterfalls. I then headed back to the bridge connecting Don Khon to Don Det, walking along the street with the bulk of Don Khons restaurants and accommodation, as well as checking out the remains of an old locomotive. I got back to Don Det by early afternoon, where I just chilled out before catching a ferry back over the mainland to prepare myself for the border crossing into Cambodia the following day.
One of the reasons I stayed the night on the mainland instead of Don Det was so that I could visit the Khone Phapeng Waterfall before reaching the border, and also before the ticket office at the falls opened. The border was about 15km from Nakasong where I was staying, and the waterfall was about half way between there and the border. I therefore walked, and it was another pretty impressive waterfall, apparently the largest by volume in South East Asia. The boards at the waterfall even claim it is the largest in the world by width, which is strictly true if you account the width of the Mekong and all the waterfalls in that section of river, but that's a pretty audacious claim. It was definitely worth the early morning visit before facing the border crossing as I knew it was likely to be a long day!
I therefore headed south to Si Phan Don, which translates literally as the 4000 Islands. Si Phan Don is where the Mekong stretches up to 14km in width, and becomes unnavigable due to series of rapids and waterfalls which run between the countless islands in the section of the river. Whether there is 4000 islands or not is a different matter, but there certainly is a lot. There were several different islands it was possible to visit and I decided to stay on Don Det which seemed like the most popular island with backpackers. The bus ride down to Nakasong, home of the boat landing was nice and straight forward. From there it was then a short boat ride out to Don Det, arriving by lunchtime.
Don Det was only a small island, probably about the same size as Brownsea, and I soon checked into my accommodation where I literally had my own wooden bungalow with a double bed! The infrastructure on the island was pretty basic though, although it had a very hippyesque vibe. I spent the afternoon just relaxing, with my bungalow having a hammock on my balcony. What I most enjoyed though was having a double bed, although there was a massive thunderstorm in the night which created a racket on my corrugated roof!
On Friday I explored Don Det. There wasn't really much to see because it's the kind of place equipped for relaxation, but I did a lap of the island which took me a good couple of hours and got some good views of the Mekong and some of the outlying islands. After lunch I explored the middle of the island which was dominated with paddy fields, as well as the remains of an old railway line and port which was very interesting to read about despite little physical evidence of its existence. I spent much of the rest of the afternoon in the town section at the northern end of the island which had the bulk of the bars and restaurants, finding a nice place to chill and before watching the sunset later on. It was just nice to relax.
On Saturday I went and visited the neighbouring island of Don Khon, which was connected to Don Det by a bridge which used to be part of the old railway line. The railway line was built by the French in the late 19th century who had back then gained a particular stronghold on places like Vietnam and Cambodia which lie on the Mekong. The Frenches ambition was to continue their dominance northwards into China, using the Mekong as a way of increasing trade. The one thing stopping them was the rapids and waterfalls in Si Phan Don, so they decided to build a railway line across Don Khon, bridge across to Don Det, and continue across Don Det with a port either end to transport boats across, hence bypassing the waterfalls. It worked on the short term, although trade wasn't as big as they envisaged and by the 1930s the railway was abandoned.
First stop of the day was Li Phi Waterfall, which was situated on the western side of Don Khon. The sheer amount of water cascading down was very impressive, and there even a small beach area where you could sunbathe and go for a swim. After checking out another beach area nearby, I followed the old railway line to Ban Hang Khone village at the southern extremity of the island. There were great views south here looking down into Cambodia, although I wasn't lucky enough so see the incredibly rare Irrawaddy Dolphin which are occasionally seen south of the waterfalls.
Next stop was the Khone Pa Soi Waterfall, which I accessed via this track through the jungle. There were some relics from the railway line here with some of the old rail tracks used as these incredibly sketchy bridges. The waterfall itself was accessed across an equally sketchy set of suspension bridges, where there were several vantage points to see the rapids and waterfalls. I then headed back to the bridge connecting Don Khon to Don Det, walking along the street with the bulk of Don Khons restaurants and accommodation, as well as checking out the remains of an old locomotive. I got back to Don Det by early afternoon, where I just chilled out before catching a ferry back over the mainland to prepare myself for the border crossing into Cambodia the following day.
One of the reasons I stayed the night on the mainland instead of Don Det was so that I could visit the Khone Phapeng Waterfall before reaching the border, and also before the ticket office at the falls opened. The border was about 15km from Nakasong where I was staying, and the waterfall was about half way between there and the border. I therefore walked, and it was another pretty impressive waterfall, apparently the largest by volume in South East Asia. The boards at the waterfall even claim it is the largest in the world by width, which is strictly true if you account the width of the Mekong and all the waterfalls in that section of river, but that's a pretty audacious claim. It was definitely worth the early morning visit before facing the border crossing as I knew it was likely to be a long day!
Sunday, 20 May 2018
Pakse and Champasak
With little else to do in Vientiane I left on Saturday, heading south towards the small city of Pakse. I knew I wanted to visit Cambodia, Vietnam, and possibly Myanmar, so I decided to head south towards the Cambodia border instead of north towards the Vietnam border on the basis that I could in theory easily get a visa upon arrival in Cambodia, and not in Vietnam. I'd heard southern Laos was meant to be really nice too. When arriving at the bus station there was a bus heading south leaving within 5 minutes, although I did have to change buses in Thakek. One thing with buses in Laos is that they maximise all space available, pretty much acting as a delivery service amongst other things. The bus from Thakek to Pakse was no exception with the aisle literally stacked with sacks of vegetables you had to climb over to sit down!
As I'd caught a bus with such ease from Vientiane, I arrived into Pakse at like 2am which was a lot earlier than anticipated. It was still a very long journey though taking about 14 hours as it stopped in practically every village where the locals would get on trying to sell you food, which was actually a good thing on my behalf as I didn't buy anything before leaving Vientiane. I hadn't booked any accommodation in Pakse for the night so I slept at the bus station until morning. Pakse itself like some of the towns I passed en route was just a sleepy riverside settlement on the Mekong, at the confluence with the Xe Don river. I chose to stop in Pakse because it was a good base to explore some of the sights in the Champasak region which it lied in.
On Sunday I had a pretty laid back day, exploring Pakse. There wasn't really much to see other than a few temples and markets, but it was still worth a look. First stop was Wat Luang, probably the largest complex in Pakse, before heading to this Chinese temple located right at the confluence of the two rivers. It was interesting seeing where the rivers met, the Mekong noticeably a lot browner than the Xe Don. I passed another couple of Chinese temples as I continued exploring, before heading across the Mekong to this Golden Buddha. It's amazing how wide the river has become compared to when I first started following it at the Golden Triangle. There were great views up top and the complex was pretty large too, the highlight these countless smaller Buddha statues all lined up almost like an army.
I headed back to the hostel by the afternoon, via the Dao Heuang market which was absolutely massive. It was nice to lie down after such little sleep, although I resisted having a nap, instead researching the logistics of getting to some of the places I wanted to visit in the coming days. Come evening I headed back up to the Golden Buddha to watch the sunset, although whilst watching it there was an incoming thunderstorm. I risked it and stayed and it was absolutely worth it, the sky just changing colour and reflecting into the river. On the way back to the hostel I was bitten by a dog which wasn't ideal, but other than getting it cleaned I couldn't really do much until the morning. I listened to the football later in the evening.
The following day I was planning to visit the town of Champasak for a couple of days, although I wanted get to try and get my dog bite checked out so I went to the hospital as soon as it opened. The communication barrier proved too challenging though and I couldn't get to them understand what I was saying. To be fair the bite didn't look too bad and I got it thoroughly cleaned by someone at the hostel pretty swiftly after it happened. I certainly think I'll avoid getting a scar unlike my attack in Bolivia. In terms of getting it checked out properly I realistically needed to head to back into Thailand, but I decided in the end to risk it and hope I'll be fine because at the end of the day if the dog did have rabies I'm dead.
By the time I got back Pakse it was lunchtime and I decided to just chill out and head to Champasak later that afternoon when it was a bit cooler. Champasak lies on the other side of the Mekong and until 2014 was only accessible by ferry. Lieing 31km south of Pakse, with its main attraction Wat Phu a further 10km away, I hired a bike and cycled to Champasak to base myself there for a couple of nights to avoid basically cycling over 80km in a day. It was a nice flat bike ride, passing through the countryside and several villages en route. When arriving in Champasak there wasn't really much going on, the town basically just one long street, although I found myself a nice little restaurant by the river for dinner.
On Tuesday I headed out to Wat Phu for the day, which were some ruins dating back to the 5th century, although the complex which remains today dates back to about the 11th century and is linked to the Angkorian period. Located at the base of the Phou Kao mountain, the temple was part of a large ancient city stretching right from mountain to river, and was historically linked by road to Angkor Wat in Cambodia, somewhere I hope to later visit. When arriving at the entrance, which was dominated by these two large reservoirs, I attempted a walk to the nearby ruins of Oub Moung which supposedly took you via this cave and waterfall with ancient inscriptions. The signposting was non existent though and I was unable to correspond things to my map as the walk went through open rice fields and forest with paths all over the place.
I therefore headed back to Wat Phu where I explored the main temple complex. The walk to the temple took me along this long cobbled driveway flanked either side by these sandstone posts, before reaching these two almost identical buildings. I was able to explore both the buildings as well as the surrounding area which was littered in broken pieces of stonework, some even with detailed carvings on. I then began a steep climb up this narrow staircase, passing several terraces and pieces of ruins before eventually reaching the main temple at the top. There were great views looking back over the Mekong floodplain. The main temple aside, the top was also home to this natural spring which the locals believe is sacred, as well as a rock with an elephant carved on it.
After a good look round Wat Phu, I headed out to the nearby ruins of Hong Nang Sida which were basically this massive pile of blocks. Like Wat Phu though there was plenty of information available to visualise what it once was. I then headed to the ruins of Thao Tao, which were a little more challenging to locate. There was literally no signposting and it was a fair walk through forest and rice fields. Luckily some locals helped me find it in the end, although it does make you wonder why the two walks advertised within the Wat Phu complex have next to no signposting, are also the two walks they're trying to get to you to hire a guide for at the entrance. I think the guides may have been tampering with the signposts. There was also an old quarry with stone carvings nearby, although as my map was basically useless I decided to give that a miss.
After lunch I left Wat Phu and attempted another walk which took you round parts of the ancient city. Despite little physical evidence, there were several information boards to help you visualise what once was, the area now dominated with rice fields. That particular walk which was one not offered by the guides and had perfect signposting, so I defiantly think they've gone and removed the signs from the walks in Wat Phu to stop you doing them self guided. I finished the day by heading a short way down the Mekong past these villages to see the locals making handicrafts out of things like bamboo. There were also a couple of interesting buildings including this Catholic Church and Wat Mueang Kang which both had colonial influences attached to their designs. I arrived back into Champasak later that afternoon, definitely pleased with my decision not to cycle to Wat Phu from Pakse as a day trip!
On Wednesday morning I got up bright and early to watch the Buddhist Monks Alms Giving Ceremony, a Lao tradition I haven't yet woken up early enough to witness. This is where the monks walk down the road and collect offerings from locals to feed both themselves and the poor. It was quite a sight although I had to keep a distance out of respect. Soon after the ceremony to avoid the full heat of the sun I did this walk advertised as the rice fields loop. It was very pretty taking you along dirt roads through the countryside, as well as taking you down the full length of Champasak Town where there were a few interesting temples and colonial era buildings. I cycled back to Pakse after the walk, although by that point it was very hot. I just chilled out in Pakse for the rest of the day.
As I'd caught a bus with such ease from Vientiane, I arrived into Pakse at like 2am which was a lot earlier than anticipated. It was still a very long journey though taking about 14 hours as it stopped in practically every village where the locals would get on trying to sell you food, which was actually a good thing on my behalf as I didn't buy anything before leaving Vientiane. I hadn't booked any accommodation in Pakse for the night so I slept at the bus station until morning. Pakse itself like some of the towns I passed en route was just a sleepy riverside settlement on the Mekong, at the confluence with the Xe Don river. I chose to stop in Pakse because it was a good base to explore some of the sights in the Champasak region which it lied in.
On Sunday I had a pretty laid back day, exploring Pakse. There wasn't really much to see other than a few temples and markets, but it was still worth a look. First stop was Wat Luang, probably the largest complex in Pakse, before heading to this Chinese temple located right at the confluence of the two rivers. It was interesting seeing where the rivers met, the Mekong noticeably a lot browner than the Xe Don. I passed another couple of Chinese temples as I continued exploring, before heading across the Mekong to this Golden Buddha. It's amazing how wide the river has become compared to when I first started following it at the Golden Triangle. There were great views up top and the complex was pretty large too, the highlight these countless smaller Buddha statues all lined up almost like an army.
I headed back to the hostel by the afternoon, via the Dao Heuang market which was absolutely massive. It was nice to lie down after such little sleep, although I resisted having a nap, instead researching the logistics of getting to some of the places I wanted to visit in the coming days. Come evening I headed back up to the Golden Buddha to watch the sunset, although whilst watching it there was an incoming thunderstorm. I risked it and stayed and it was absolutely worth it, the sky just changing colour and reflecting into the river. On the way back to the hostel I was bitten by a dog which wasn't ideal, but other than getting it cleaned I couldn't really do much until the morning. I listened to the football later in the evening.
The following day I was planning to visit the town of Champasak for a couple of days, although I wanted get to try and get my dog bite checked out so I went to the hospital as soon as it opened. The communication barrier proved too challenging though and I couldn't get to them understand what I was saying. To be fair the bite didn't look too bad and I got it thoroughly cleaned by someone at the hostel pretty swiftly after it happened. I certainly think I'll avoid getting a scar unlike my attack in Bolivia. In terms of getting it checked out properly I realistically needed to head to back into Thailand, but I decided in the end to risk it and hope I'll be fine because at the end of the day if the dog did have rabies I'm dead.
By the time I got back Pakse it was lunchtime and I decided to just chill out and head to Champasak later that afternoon when it was a bit cooler. Champasak lies on the other side of the Mekong and until 2014 was only accessible by ferry. Lieing 31km south of Pakse, with its main attraction Wat Phu a further 10km away, I hired a bike and cycled to Champasak to base myself there for a couple of nights to avoid basically cycling over 80km in a day. It was a nice flat bike ride, passing through the countryside and several villages en route. When arriving in Champasak there wasn't really much going on, the town basically just one long street, although I found myself a nice little restaurant by the river for dinner.
On Tuesday I headed out to Wat Phu for the day, which were some ruins dating back to the 5th century, although the complex which remains today dates back to about the 11th century and is linked to the Angkorian period. Located at the base of the Phou Kao mountain, the temple was part of a large ancient city stretching right from mountain to river, and was historically linked by road to Angkor Wat in Cambodia, somewhere I hope to later visit. When arriving at the entrance, which was dominated by these two large reservoirs, I attempted a walk to the nearby ruins of Oub Moung which supposedly took you via this cave and waterfall with ancient inscriptions. The signposting was non existent though and I was unable to correspond things to my map as the walk went through open rice fields and forest with paths all over the place.
I therefore headed back to Wat Phu where I explored the main temple complex. The walk to the temple took me along this long cobbled driveway flanked either side by these sandstone posts, before reaching these two almost identical buildings. I was able to explore both the buildings as well as the surrounding area which was littered in broken pieces of stonework, some even with detailed carvings on. I then began a steep climb up this narrow staircase, passing several terraces and pieces of ruins before eventually reaching the main temple at the top. There were great views looking back over the Mekong floodplain. The main temple aside, the top was also home to this natural spring which the locals believe is sacred, as well as a rock with an elephant carved on it.
After a good look round Wat Phu, I headed out to the nearby ruins of Hong Nang Sida which were basically this massive pile of blocks. Like Wat Phu though there was plenty of information available to visualise what it once was. I then headed to the ruins of Thao Tao, which were a little more challenging to locate. There was literally no signposting and it was a fair walk through forest and rice fields. Luckily some locals helped me find it in the end, although it does make you wonder why the two walks advertised within the Wat Phu complex have next to no signposting, are also the two walks they're trying to get to you to hire a guide for at the entrance. I think the guides may have been tampering with the signposts. There was also an old quarry with stone carvings nearby, although as my map was basically useless I decided to give that a miss.
After lunch I left Wat Phu and attempted another walk which took you round parts of the ancient city. Despite little physical evidence, there were several information boards to help you visualise what once was, the area now dominated with rice fields. That particular walk which was one not offered by the guides and had perfect signposting, so I defiantly think they've gone and removed the signs from the walks in Wat Phu to stop you doing them self guided. I finished the day by heading a short way down the Mekong past these villages to see the locals making handicrafts out of things like bamboo. There were also a couple of interesting buildings including this Catholic Church and Wat Mueang Kang which both had colonial influences attached to their designs. I arrived back into Champasak later that afternoon, definitely pleased with my decision not to cycle to Wat Phu from Pakse as a day trip!
On Wednesday morning I got up bright and early to watch the Buddhist Monks Alms Giving Ceremony, a Lao tradition I haven't yet woken up early enough to witness. This is where the monks walk down the road and collect offerings from locals to feed both themselves and the poor. It was quite a sight although I had to keep a distance out of respect. Soon after the ceremony to avoid the full heat of the sun I did this walk advertised as the rice fields loop. It was very pretty taking you along dirt roads through the countryside, as well as taking you down the full length of Champasak Town where there were a few interesting temples and colonial era buildings. I cycled back to Pakse after the walk, although by that point it was very hot. I just chilled out in Pakse for the rest of the day.
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