Laos (Phonsavan) - The Plain of Jars

Phonsavan is the back of beyond, miles away from most major places but there lies the plain of jars, one of the top things I wish to see in our short 10 days through Laos. We arrived on a small half empty propeller plane from Vientiane on an air strip which flet like a old tarmac road with an airport terminal (if it can be called that) which resembled a scout hut. Not to say the plane wasn't pleasant as it was and a 30 minute flight is better than a 10hr bus especially when we don't have much time. We plan to spend two nights here before quickly moving on to Luang Prabang. The scout hut (terminal) was very busy with people coming and going and once you'd got your bag from the trolly and been through passport control, a man with a book writing down your name and passport number (by hand!), we jumped in a car to drop us off at our guesthouse, 'Nice Guesthouse'. The town was very quiet, the man driving us told us that in high season 30 tourists a day come and in low only 10. We checked in and scoped out the main strip, soon realising the main strip was a 500m long road where all the action is, not that there was much action. We both liked the town - it felt a bit like a place from an old western movie set, albeit no cowboys and pickup trucks instead of horse and cart. The area itself was the most bombed area in Laos and only 7 of the 50 jar sites have been cleared of UXO and opened to tousits. We wondered around and tried to book some sort of tour/visit to the jar sites only to find that of the 3 nearby sites only one was really available due to the wet season - the others being inaccessible by car most of the time. Site 1 is the biggest and best we have read so were not to bothered about not seeing the other two sites around town.

The first day we booked a tour, our mini bus away to Luang Prabang and wondered around. We visited the Military Advisory Group (MAG) to learn about the effects of the bombing and UXO's on the local people, shocking and emotional indeed, a travesty that it isn't more widely known about the abuse and problems faced. We tried to find something to do stumbling on a shop front with two snooker tables and a very rowdy drunk local, we asked to play snooker and he said okay. We got an hour of snooker and a few beers for £3 which was okay. The table was in a poor condition and with only 5 red balls, we were still both very bad at it and only managed about 1 1/2 games in the hour. That evening a lot of the bars put on short films and documentaries about the bombing and the modern history of Laos, we settled down to a film and a few beers. Two Australian blokes came in and we started to talk. Soon the Lao Lao was out (local rice whisky tasting like vodka and tequila mixed together - positively awful!) and we started to drink and chat. Damien was a Catholic military priest and the other guy was retired and lived in Thailand, both on holiday. We got chatting and had good conversion all night, moving to two other bars and finishing about 1am.

The next day we woke at 7am, not feeling to fresh, to ready ourselves for the trip to the jars. We had organized a tour to site 1 of the jars, the quarry where the jars where made, crater ally (a crater riddled valley where bombs where dropped) and a local village where they use the bombs and debris to build houses and other things. We first stop was the quarry, a huge mountain with a 1000 step walk to the top. The walk was great although steep and tough, the quarries consisted of half finished jars. The best thing about the climb was the views at the top, spectacular views of the surrounding countryside with mountains in the distance. The ground was wet and slippery which made for slow progress of our group of 6 people. It was definitely worth the climb and effort, again I iterate how breath taking the views and landscape of Laos is, the most beautiful we have seen on our trip. Lush green jungle and fields flow up and down the mountain scenary like something from a postcard. We headed for lunch at a local eatery and had traditional Lao lunchtime dish of noodle soup with fresh herbs, lettuce and runner beans which you put in the soup as you please. On the table was this chilli paste which our guide told us to put small amounts in and try before adding too much. Both me and izzi (and in fact the rest of the tour group!) were overly confident and by the end of the soup everyone was breaking a sweat from the heat of the soup, delicious it was though. The second stop was a Hung village, the village was interesting but we didn't see many locals which can sometimes be the best bit. They use bomb casings as stilts for the houses and to grow herbs and plants inside them. The downside is that the dirt path to the village was very bad and to make it worse my flipflop broke and got stuck in the mud, I ended up caked in mud by the end of the walk but thank god I had already walked up the mountain and my flipflop could be mended easily. The next stop before the jars was crater ally, again the craters were interesting but the views and landscape were what made the stop. A sweeping low lying valley with mountains and jungle in the distance, peppered with huge bomb craters. The final stop was the jars site, we headed into the site with instructions to keep to the main paths just incase of UXO. The jars were impressive, varying in size but with a common shape and look. Local mythology states they were drinking cups of giants or just used to brew Lao Lao for huge parties after wars between neighbouring areas. The archeology tells a different story with evidence of burials taking palce inside and around the jars. We walked around and admired the site and the scale as over 300 jars exist at this site alone. The site had an old and ancient feel, both of us agreeing it felt a bit like stone henge. On the way back to the start we were on top of a hill when torrential rain started, we took refugee under a few branches and eventually decided to walk down, the path now resembled a small stream which was good as it cleaned my feet, not sure how safe it was though. Next we have a minibus for 7 hours to Luang Prabang.

The journey to Luang Prabang started of well, we arrived at the bus station and prepared our packs for the trip, securing them up and wrapping them up with water proof covers ready to tie to the roof rack. We set off and soon realised the bus wasn't going to be smooth or spacious in any sense of the word. Every now and again the driver would pick up another person, stopping for 5-10 minutes to adjust the roof rack and add more stuff to it. By half way we were nearly full and then he stopped again, this time 4 more people got on with god knows how many bags of stuff added to the roof. Now the minibus was about as over loaded as it can get and we had 13 people on 10 seats, excluding the driver. The 8 hours actually passed quickly and the people were nice, all of them local which was good fun. However me, izzi and the two locals sharing 3 small seats at the back were cossy to say the least. At one point when we stopped I was the centre of the attention from the villagers, 'big nose' as they call white people, they acted like they'd never seen a tall, fairly stocky and generally large white man before. Before I knew it the camera was out and several people lined up next to me, most weren't  as tall as my shoulder, they were all very nice and smiling which made it fun not unpleasant. The drive was good until the final 20km, the driver seemed to be board and decided to the drive very fast. We bombed though a village and then bang and a massive jolt of the van. We looked behind and unfortunately saw a dog rolling around howling on the floor, obviously in great pain. The driver didn't even blink an eye, our only hope is that the dog will have been quickly put out of its miserly, probably eaten from what we know. It wasn't nice and broght things home about how unsafe the roads can be. We arrived in Luang Prabang eventually safe and well.

Laos (Vientiane)

We decided to fly from Phnom Penh to save time and on arrival paid a flat fee of $6 to the taxi to take us to our hotel. We booked only one night and thankfully only one. The room was big, hot water and a fridge but the hotel staff were unhelpful and the WiFi didn't work. I tried to explain the WiFi problem on several occasions but they didn't seem to care. We walked around that evening and scoped out a guesthouse which was in a better location, the staff were friendly, WiFi throughout and breakfast was only an extra 1$ each. We moved hotels and booked another two nights to give us time to explore and see the city and plan the next phase of our trip to Phonsavan. Breakfast was surprisingly good consisting of eggs, bread, tea, coffee and cake even though only an extra $1 each and the laundry we did came back smelling clean which was the first time for a few occasions. The guesthouse was $5 cheaper a night so altogether a good choice to move.

Vientiane had the feel of a small provincial town littered with newly built coffee shops and restaurants. It was more modern than we expected and some of the streets could be at home in any European city. It was however small and reasonably lifeless. The night market wasn't bad, we both got a new vest and a souvenir. Laos seems to have a big BBQ culture with small street stands peppered around selling fish and meat on burning coals, it seems to be a staple for the locals. One of the main attractions is the COPE Centre which details and documents the huge number of UXO (unexploded ordinance) and the thousands of people which have been killed and injured by them. What was new to us was the shear volume of bombs, Laos being the most heavily bombed country in the world. American and the CIA conducted huge covert bombing campaigns and during the Vietnamese war American planes would drop all their unused explosives on Laos before landing for safety. The figures were astonishing - a plane load of bombs dropped every 8 minutes for an entire decade. We read that you shouldn't stray from the well trodden paths due to UXO - the COPE centre really hit home why. There were photos and videos of entire families which had been killed/injured by the explosives - very emotional.

Walking round the city we went to a large temple full of Buddha's which izzi enjoyed and the National Museum. The museum was average at best and felt more like an old school, even the smell and decor felt like an old school building. It did give some insight in to Lao history both modern and historic but poor compared to some of the others we've seen. The Laotian people seem pleasant and friendly, there seems to be a lower level of English spoken than in other countries but smiling and pointing seems to go a long way which is good. Also the tuk tuks are different, more like 3 wheelers with caged benches on the back, not as comfy but the drivers don't pester you as much as in other places (they do still double the fare as your a white man but still that's easy to haggle with). The pace of life seems to exist at an extremely slow speed and the daily siesta could span anywhere from 11-3 which seems extreme. The food was underwhelming and tended to be rice or noodles with meat and veg or as a soup. We did find a great bakery serving tasty sandwiches which was a good find.

Next we go to Phonsavan to see the Plain of Jars, a 30 minute flight or a 10hr bus drive...we chose to fly! We turned up at the domestic airport terminal, consisting of extremely lax security measures and a single waiting room, this is however the biggest airport in Laos. We headed for our small propeller plane which was half empty but pleasant and clean and set off. The ride wasn't the smoothest as with every bit of turbulence the plane was thrown about and we were glad to land after the 30 minutes. Hopefully the jars will be as interesting as we expect.

Cambodia (Sihanoukville) - Otres Beach

Having already written this blog I feel my second attempt won't be as good so I will apologies now, my blood blogger app seems to have deleted it without publishing it!

We had heard a lot from fellow travellers about how bad and unpleasant Sihanoukville can be but decided we had goals pur own mind up and head to it anyway. We headed to Otres beach instead of going to the main beach and were pleasantly surprised by how good it was. We stayed in a mushroom, literally, which is made form bamboo with a grass roof. The place is basic and exposed to the heat but we luckily had a mosquito net. We didn’t do much other than chillout, read, swim in the big waves and wonder around the beach. The beach has a wonderful and very relaxed feel to it, made better by the numerous happy shakes and pizzas which can be purchased from most cafes and restaurants.

Cambodia (Kampot)

We headed from Siam Reap with a stop over in Phonm Penh to a small riverside town called Kampot on the south coast of Cambodia. We arrived on a swanky minivan after paying the extra $2 dollars we were presently surprised the van had free WiFi plus you got a bottle of water which was handy. We didn't book anywhere to stay as we had read about a small guesthouse which is good and also cheap which cannot be booked before hand however on arrival it was full. The good news is over the road was another guesthouse which turned out to be really good and even cheaper. The room was massive with a huge bed, fridge, hot water showers and was relatively clean and well kept, not bad for $13 a night. We didn't do much the first night other than go for some drinks and we ended up meeting three French people, one couple and a young man about our age. We got drinking and talking and ended up beating them at pool which was a miracle as we are both usually terrible but still good as we beat the French. We all headed out for food to a local restaurant, all of us getting the local Luk Lac beef with Kampot pepper, pepper is the main produce of Kampot and can be found on most menus used heavily. The meal and evening was good and we spoke mainly about differences in culture both gave several small lessons on speaking French and English, however as is most often the case they spoke great English and we spoken nearly no French. English is the language of travellers and is spoken by nearly all, we sometimes feel bad about our language skills and when speaking about it with other nationalities you realise that they are taught English a lot earlier and with more emphasis on it, unlike in England with usually an hour or two a week only for a second language for only a  few years. Kampot is like a lazy river town, life is slow and relaxed and people are friendly and smile, you can walk round the central town in about 20 minutes so its very small with no large developments which is good. We have always wanted to hire a motor bike but the other places were usually too busy for me to have the confidence but this place was so quiet and slow we decided to go for it.

The next day we awoke and headed next door to rent a scooter, $5 for 24hr and then you need a few litres of petrol and then your off. I have ridden bikes before in England but not for a long time so I was nervous at the start. Our destination was Bokor mountain, about 1.5hrs away. The mountain is part of  a national park where there is an old abandoned French settlement complete with church, houses and a governors house. The settlement was destroyed and abandoned quickly when the Khmer Rouge came to power and has been left ever since. We headed out on the bike which we must have looked comical on, for one the bike looks tiny with me on it and let alone with izzi on the back. The drive up was great fun, the views also breath taking and just generally good fun. The road to the top was in very good condition and even quieter than the town which made for an easy drive. En route we took a slight detour to see a small water fall and took refuge in a local eatery to escape the midday down pour where we got some lunch. At the top we suddenly hit a thick wall of fog/cloud which slowed us down and created a very eerie feel and spooky feel as we meandered up the roads. We nearly missed the church for the fog and occasionally stumbled to a small tour group which freaked us out until we realised what they were, visibility was down to 10-15m at one point. The drive down was also good, we stopped at several points for pictures and to soak up the views. The best part of Kampot was the bike ride and generally the feel and slow pace of life that exists. One expat referred to it as the last place in Cambodia with a true soul and one that has not been ruined by tourism and the corruption. Next we head to the coast to see the beach and islands that Cambodia has to offer.

Cambodia (Siam Reap) - Angkor Wat

Siam Reap the Magaluf of north Cambodia except no beach, thousand year old temples and less topless women. Upon arrival from Battambang we jumped straight on a tuk tuk to a guesthouse a friend back home had recommended. We arrived at the guesthouse and our tuk tuk driver got a phone call from someone who claimed they were supposed to pick us up for free, what we had forgotten was we had arranged two days earlier that our guide around Battambang had a friend who he had arranged pick up and then he would pitch to us his tour of Angkor Wat. Well the guy didn't sound too happy and shouted at the other tuk tuk for stealing his fee, understandable I suppose not that we meant any harm by it. The guesthouse was pretty poor compared to our "flashpacker" past and seemed to cater to lone travellers who want to stay in dorms. Our first impression of the room seemed okay, away from the bar so quiet, a/c and a fan, big and with hot water shower however we soon realised things weren't as we first expected. Firstly the a/c didn't work other than making a noise, the room was for some reason always hotter than outside which is unbelievable and the shower wasn't hot. Also as we soon realised the bathroom sink pipe had completly come off and when you turned the tap on the waste went straight on to the floor. Later that day we mentioned it and someone attempted to fix it however after leaving what they had actually done was fix the pipe but now water constantly dripped and was highly irritating. The next day I complained and they moved us to another room. The room was smaller but everything was working even if it was unclean and ditty.

Day one came and went and we just explored and ate some food. The best thing about the guesthouse was the roof top bar, always busy with other travellers with music and a pool table with cheap $0.50 beer all day everyday. We arranged the next morning for a tuk tuk to pick us up at 4:30am to see the sunrise over Angkor Wat. That night we went out and had a few drinks and some food then coming back to the guesthouse bar and meet some really pretentious pillocks, we soon left after an hour or two as there's only so much you can take, they didn't once ask us anything about ourselves.

We woke at 4am got ready however izzi was ill, she had eaten something bad and hence we had to cancel, I didn't enjoy going to meet the tuk tuk driver and let him down and try to rearrange but he was fine and understood which was good. That day we didn't do much and izzi rested. The next day we woke again and headed out for sunrise, we saw several groups of people still up partying from the night before en route to the temple!

Angkor Wat is spectacular, the sunrise wasn't the best, we got better pictures at other points during the day to be honest, however it was still good to see the sunrise and tick it off the list. We headed on what is referred to as the small circuit, even if it took us nearly 9hrs to complete, a lot of temples are involved. There are too many to really talk about in great detail bit some of our highlights were Angkor Thom and walking through the abonded and jungle temples with no other tourists around. The place is big on a scale we havent seen yet, it cover tens of square kilometers and many parts have not be cleared or restored which we thought is the best way. One temple nicknamed the 'Tomb Raider' temple as it was used in several scenes in the films was also one of our favourites. The temple has been left to the encroaching and engulfing jungle and the trees grow interwoven into the temple walls giving it an ancient and mystical feel. Inside the main Angkor Wat temple you can scale the several layers of the temple and once at the top the views over the jungle and ancient city are breath taking. In general it was very good and very interesting. As you travel around the temples at most major junctions and stops you are hounded by children selling souvenirs, bracelets, drinks etc which can get annoying. We bought a book to help us walk around but in hindsight we probably could have had a proper guide all day which may have been easier and meant I didn't have to stop and look up what stuff was all the time.

The next day we headed out shopping around the market and izzi got a new bag and we got a small souvenir, the market wasn't the best we've seem but not bad. It was very tourist driven with stall owners pleading with you buy something as its low season and not that busy. We had arranged to meet some friends that night, the couple from Ireland who we meet in Mekong Delta in Vietnam and Francesco from Italy who we meet in China. It was really good to see them all as we had being trying to meet with Francesco for weeks but always missed him as our plans didn't cross paths. The eel I had for dinner however was like eating a bowl of bones so I didn't manage much. We went out with Nicola and Kieran after for drinks and even ended up having a few shots, the next day I didn't feel so fresh.

The guesthouse did good burgers and had sausage and mash on the menu so we ate there. The bar was two stories up and looked out over the town which was great and the way they brought food up and down was ingenious. They had a simple but effect contraption made from steal wire, various cables and old tyre wheel. The food glided up and down effortlessly and was a prety neat invention, however we noticed they often got food wrong and took it to the wrong table but I guess that's the problem of eating far away from where the orders where taken. Izzi got 'English Sausage' mash which turned out to be more like a fish sausgae with herbs and smash potato, she was disappointed to say the least.

The next day we booked on to a bus down to Phnom Penh, the bus was advertised as 5hrs but as all buses are local buses the driver tends to stop to let people on and off all day to make an extra dollar or two so actually took us 8hrs. We arrived back in the guesthouse we stayed in last time as we know it was nice and booked a bus to Kampot.

Cambodia (Battambang) - bat city

Battambang is the second largest city in Cambodia but to our surprise on arrival we found it more akin to a small French riverside town. Most buildings are no bigger than 3 stories and the streets lack street lights after dark. The locals are friendly and you don't get harassed by tuk tuk drivers or children street sellers which was nice coming from Phnom Penh. We plan to stay 3 nights and spend a day wondering around the town and another with a tuk tuk seeing the temples and caves around town.

Day 1 we meet a Kiwi couple and got a tuk tuk for the day. The main attractions include the ancient and ruined 'Banan Temple', the killing cave and temple, an old bamboo train and a bat cave. The first place we visted after coasting through some old villages and a fishing village was the bamboo railway. Its a 5km train track that still uses bamboo trains which can be dismantled and removed when needed. It was good fun going down the old, rickety tracks and more fun when we needed to dismantle it as there was a on coming train. Some of the down sides is that the train is extremely bumpy and when you hit a bad piece of track it feels like someone has kick you in the ass and you certainly know it. Also the train is completely open which is nice however what is not pleasurable are the swarms of large bugs and insects which hit you as you hurtle down the track, in hindsight a scarf to wrap around you head and mouth would be better unless you fancy a dinner of fresh live bugs.

Next was a visit to Banan Temple which included a 350 step steep climb to the hill on which the temple sits. What we didn't realised is how flat Cambodia seems, its like one massive flood plain with the odd hill which usually has a temple or pagoda on top of it. Banan temple was really good, a little bit like what we expext Angkor Wat to be like but smaller and thankfully hardly any other tourists which won't be the case in Siem Reap. The views from at the top were exceptional and the weather was ideal for it, bar the 35℃ heat.

Next we took a very precarious trip to the killing cave down a sand/mud road and with 4 people in the back I thought we wouldn't make it a few times. The cave is where thousands had been massacred by the Khmer Rouge, often injured and simply thrown to death down into the cave. At the bottom of the cave sits a laying Buddha and glass boxes full of bones and skulls. As with most places upon arrival you tend to atract a young boy who tries to lead you around and inevitably demands money at the end, he eventually got the message and cleared off but he was one of the most persistent hawkers we've had yet. After a further climb we reached the hill temple which was precariously built into and hanging over the mountain cliff. I personally didn't feel safe at some points, the temples was basically stuck overhanging the cliff and caves in some parts with what looked like questionable building work and shit loads of concrete. At the top a troop of monkeys roams freely hoping to score a free lunch from any visiter not holding on to there belongs tightly. As well a group of monks and men sat around doing not much who looked like they did a lot of that all day kept watch, occasionally throwing or shouting at the monkeys they probably know very well.

At dusk we moved to our next location, referred to as the bat cave to watch millions of bats leave for the evening before returning at sunrise. Watching the bats flow out like water from a tap, we stayed for around 25 minutes and the stream was none stop, we were told it takes about 40 minutes in total and as we headed back to town you see the bats break off in to several packs and appear as grey liquid like clouds floating and ever changing in the distance. Not a bad day out and it cost us only $10 for the driver all day which was good.

Day two we woke and as usual when we have a fridge cereal is on the menu for breakfast however after opening the box an army of ants had started to fest on it, we got rid of most and told our self we needed the extra protein but izzi didn't eat much of hers which is understandable. We headed out to explore the city and went to see some of the sights, often taking refuge from the sun and heat with periodic coffee stops. Izzi now is a true coffee lover which I didn't expect, getting a coffee at most opportunities and even liking the iced ones, next she'll be drink tea, a real drink. The actual city didn't offer us much other than a nice quiet and relaxed leisurely stroll and some good coffee. We booked on to our next destination of Siam Reap and prepared for another 5hr journey.

Overall we both really enjoyed our two full days even if we didn't do much on the last day. Battambang as a place was good and the temples and bats were interesting, a nice break from the hussle and bussel of many of the cities we have visited.