AD's travel blog

Final day in Bangkok.

Sat, 23 Jan 2010 21:34:12 -0800

I'm flying out today and a thunderstorm has just blown in. Good timing or what?

A couple of photos taken this morning.

Jan 24, 2010 photos: 13 – 709 KB

Snake farm, Bangkok

Sat, 23 Jan 2010 06:55:16 -0800

Today I visited a snake farm. Unlike the farm I visited in the Mekong delta this one is in the heart of Bangkok. It was quite interesting. Tonight I visited a couple of night markets. There's a lot going on and a lot of people around.. all the time.

http://picasaweb.google.com/alan.drummond/20100123?authkey=Gv1sRgCNa3lKKR38_tOQ&pli=1#

Permalink | Leave a comment »

Chinatown, Bangkok

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 02:20:15 -0800

Today I headed to Chinatown for a wander around. Once there I caught a tuk-tuk and visited a couple of temples. It's an interesting place.

Jan 22, 2010 photos: 58 – 3 MB

AD
Sent from Thung Maha Mek, Bangkok, Thailand

Permalink | Leave a comment »

Bangkok

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 07:47:21 -0800

We'd stumbled upon a kickboxing match, held each Wednesday evening, having forgotten it was on. We watched one fight. It was pretty lively.

Jan 20, 2010 photos: 13 – 793 KB

Permalink | Leave a comment »

Bangkok

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 03:34:31 -0800

Jan 19, 2010 photos: 10 – 730 KB

Permalink | Leave a comment »

Bangkok, Thailand

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 06:58:12 -0800

Had a bit of a look around today. Not much to say or show or it.

Jan 18, 2010 photos: 7 – 376 KB

Permalink | Leave a comment »

Photos from the last day in Siem Reap

Sun, 17 Jan 2010 07:32:40 -0800

A few photos taken on the last full day in Siem Reap yesterday. Today we caught a bus back to Phnom Penh and a flight to Bangkok.

Jan 16, 2010 photos: 7 – 470 KB

Permalink | Leave a comment »

Siem Reap, Cambodia

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 03:26:27 -0800

Final day (we bought a pass to allow access to 3 days within a 7 day period) doing the rounds of the temples. There is nothing planned for tomorrow (Saturday). Sunday we catch the bus back to Phnom Penh where we will fly to Bangkok late in the afternoon.

The final photo again today is a sequence that once again will take a bit longer to load.

Jan 15, 2010 photos: 25 – 2 MB

Permalink | Leave a comment »

Siem Reap, Cambodia

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 05:07:35 -0800

The final image in today's bunch is a sequence of photos and may take longer to load.

Jan 14, 2010 photos: 10 – 1013 KB

Permalink | Leave a comment »

Siem Reap, Cambodia

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 09:23:01 -0800

Today I visited the Ankor National Museum. I thought it was well worth US $2; unfortunately it cost US $12. Next it was off to a crocodile farm. It was simply pens of crocodiles, nothing written to explain what the place was even about. They did have a good line in crocodile skin wallets and belts though. On the walk back to the hotel I got followed by a guy. That was a bit weird. I wasn't worried at all and it was just weird.

Today's photos are just a couple of crocodile pics.

Jan 13, 2010 photos: 9 – 582 KB

Permalink | Leave a comment »

Siem Reap, Cambodia

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 05:56:40 -0800

We visited a number of ruined temple complexes and structures around Siem Reap today. These included:

The Terrace of the Elephants, part of the walled city of Angkor Thom.

The Terrace of the Leper King

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayon

and others. It was hot, dusty and the hawkers were out at every stop but they didn't detract from the magnificent ruins.

Tomorrow we'll do Ankor Wat first and then tuk-tuk off to more distant temples. We'll also probably visit the Cambodian landmine museum.

Jan 11, 2010 photos: 21 – 1 MB

Permalink | Leave a comment »

Siem Reap, Cambodia

Sun, 10 Jan 2010 15:45:57 -0800

A quick post to show some photographs taken yesterday.

Jan 10, 2010 photos: 48 – 3 MB

Permalink | Leave a comment »

Siem Reap, Cambodia

Sat, 09 Jan 2010 08:04:05 -0800

We've arrived in Siem Reap from Phnom Penh by bus today. Tomorrow afternoon we plan to visit the war museum and view the sunset from a temple.

Here are a couple of photos taken on the journey to Siem Reap today.

Jan 9, 2010 photos: 7 – 524 KB

Permalink | Leave a comment »

Back in Phnom Penh

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 21:43:07 -0800

We arrived back in Phnom Penh yesterday by bus from Sihanoukville. Tomorrow we leave for Siem Reap where we'll be visiting Angkor Wat.

Jan 7, 2010 photos: 17 – 2 MB

Permalink | Leave a comment »

Sihanoukville, Krong Preah Sihanouk, Cambodia

Wed, 06 Jan 2010 03:27:32 -0800

We're currently in the south of Cambodia on the Gulf of Thailand. We're about 185km from Phnom Penh. After leaving PP we spent a couple of nights in Kampot, famous for its pepper. It's also near Bokor national park where, if you've seen the movie City of Ghosts, is where the final scenes were filmed. I thought it was a great movie. Anyway, it was very hot there. Too hot for me to consider hiking through jungle up the mountain as unfortunately the road is closed.

Next we spent a night right on the beach.

The last two nights we've been in Sihanoukville, the place of the last official battle in the Vietnam war, even though it's not actually in Vietnam.

Internet is dead slow which is why the photos are smaller in this post.

Jan 6, 2010 photos: 15 – 928 KB

Permalink | Leave a comment »

Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre

Thu, 31 Dec 2009 05:09:00 -0800

Today we visited Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre. There are a lot of animals there including a baby elephant with a prosthetic leg. We had to get to the Lazy Gecko cafe at 9:45am to leave at 10am (Betel nut tours). We left the hotel at 9:30am and the tuk tuk driver promptly got lost. He had to stop and ask another tuk tuk driver who then pointed in the direction we'd come. At 9:45am we were back near where we'd departed and at 10:01am we finally arrived. Luckily for us we were the only ones on the tour so it hadn't left. It was a great day out. As part of this tour we got to do things that other tourists couldn't. We wandered into the Cambodian jungle to meet the elephants which get to wander amongst it for 2 hours every day. We also got to see the tigers at feeding time. Close up they're huge. Their roar shakes the ground. Once again way too many photographs but hey... It'd be great to get an email from those of you that read this blog but with whom I haven't spoken with since I left NZ. Yeah, I'm talking to you, maybe.

Happy new year.

Dec 31, 2009 photos: 66 – 7 MB

Permalink | Leave a comment »

S-21

Wed, 30 Dec 2009 18:02:27 -0800

Yesterday we visited S-21, also known as Tuol Sleng where it is now a genocide museum.

The site is a former high school which was used as the notorious Security Prison 21 (S-21) by the Khmer Rouge regime from its rise to power in 1975 to its fall in 1979.

The stories of peoples' lives that adorn the walls of S-21 are pretty horrific.

Next we visited Choeung Ek

Choeung Ek, the site of a former orchard and Chinese graveyard about 17 km south of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, is the best-known of the sites known as The Killing Fields, where the Khmer Rouge regime executed about 17,000 people between 1975 and 1979. Mass graves containing 8,895 bodies were discovered at Choeung Ek after the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime. Many of the dead were former inmates in the Tuol Sleng prison.

Every time it rains more clothing appears on the surface. A lot of the skeletons found there had blindfolds and their arms were tied.

Dec 30, 2009 photos: 40 – 4 MB

Permalink | Leave a comment »

Photos from Phnom Penh

Tue, 29 Dec 2009 04:33:03 -0800

Dec 29, 2009 photos: 18 – 2 MB

Permalink | Leave a comment »

Phnom Penh

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 20:24:32 -0800

Yesterday we took a fast boat up the Mekong river into Cambodia. We stopped twice, firstly at the Vietnamese border post, which was pretty quick and next at the Cambodia border post, which was also pretty efficient. The boat seated about 30 people. What was worrying was when a person sitting on the left side of the boat got up and went to the toilet which was situated on the right. The boat would lean quite a bit and both staff member and driver would look around with worried looks on their faces. This also happened when people would walk down the back to sit outside and both sit together on the opposite side that they'd been sitting in inside. This combined with the fact we were doing a very good speed was a bit of a concern. More than once the staff member hurried down the back to reposition those outside. The Mekong river is huge and wide. Overall it was a nice way of crossing in to Cambodia.

It's very hot here, around the mid-30's. We did a bit of walking around yesterday and then also caught a couple of tuk tuks. Today we'll probably visit a museum and chill out this afternoon. It's tiring being on the move every day. We've been on the move every day but one in the last 10 and that day I was crook.

Dec 28, 2009 photos: 8 – 961 KB

Permalink | Leave a comment »

The Mekong Delta (Vietnamese: đồng bằng sông Cửu Long “Nine Dragon river delta”)

Sun, 27 Dec 2009 06:57:20 -0800

Dec 26th we got up early and headed down the river in a small boat. We entered a small channel and had breakfast amongst the trees. We had fresh honey made by the property owner. It tasted great. Next we headed back down the channel, out on to the river and down another small channel. This time we stopped at a coconut candy factory. We bought some and it's very good. We had one of the cheapest lunch on the road. Two plates of vegetarian food plus one soup and two bottles of soda cost at total of NZ 1.60. The service was very good too. Lisa asked for a coca cola but they had none. Next minute one guy is on a pushbike with a basket and is back a couple of minutes later with her bottle of drink.
Dec 26, 2009 photos: 20 – 2 MB

Dec 27th is our final day with our guides. We got up even earlier and headed down the river. It's quite sad seeing how people live. Many live on their boats, it's all they have and they're neither big nor flash. It's sad seeing the kids working too at a very young age. It is Sunday today but the market is a daily even and I wonder if they go to school. One family we met a few days back had 9 kids but could only afford to send 1 to school. Large families aren't encouraged. Our guide has two girls and would like a boy. His wife works for the government and if she has a 3rd child she would lose her job.

After the floating market we headed off and visited a family that makes rice paper. There were pigs and dogs in the vicinity but what doesn't kill you...

Back on land we headed around the onshore markets. There's a lot of variety of foods. It's all pretty fresh but by fresh I mean alive and only barely at times. I haven't been very hungry since seeing some of the things I saw.

We farewelled our guides and are now in Châu Đốc near the Cambodian border. Tomorrow we take a fast boat up the Mekong river to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The boat will take us around 5 hours including around an hour at both border checkpoints (hopefully).

Dec 27, 2009 photos: 75 – 8 MB

Permalink | Leave a comment »