many moon honeymoon

Beng Melea: Angkor’s Real Tomb Raider Temple

Andrew Newdigate — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 23:42:21 +0000

Lightbean inside Beng Melea

Beng Melea is a fascinating temple complex situated about 80km by road from Siem Reap ‐ about one-and-a-half hours by tuk-tuk. Unlike many of the popular temples at Angkor Wat, Beng Melea is largely unrestored ‐ in fact the site was only declared safe from landmines in 2007. Very little noticeable reconstruction and restoration work has been done and this gives you a real feel for what the temples of Angkor must have been like when they were originally rediscovered.

After two days of visiting the temples at Angkor, Kate elected to spend the day chilling at the pool at the Green Garden Home Villa hotel were we were staying. Early on our third-day in Siem Reap, I set off with our dependable and friendly tuk-tuk driver for one of Angkor's hidden treasures.

Reassuringly landmine free

The ride to the temple complex in the back of the tuk-tuk was long and wind-blown. At some point during the journey my Lonely Planet guidebook blew away never to be seen again and later my sunglasses blew off my head and were promptly run over by a passing car! Still, a few losses were definitely worth the experience of Beng Melea!

The first impression I had upon arriving was how peaceful and quiet the site was: other than a few staff there were no people there ‐ no tour buses, no crowds, no vendors. It felt like a forgotten paradise after the mayhem of Siem Reap. Over the rest of the day I didn't see more than a handful of other people there.

Walking towards the entrance from the parking lot, the next thing that stuck me was the state of the site. It resembled a city in the wake of a massive earthquake. Walls had crumbled, arches had collapsed and huge piles of sandstone blocks were piled high into the air. Accessing some parts of the temple was only possible by squeezing through tight gaps between the massive blocks &dash the staff will point the way through.

Unfortunately I didn't have a guide to show me the site but I would definitely recommend one if you get the chance.

Not a lot is known about Beng Melea but I spent a whole day exploring in, under and around this incredible and wonderous site. Without doubt, it was the top highlight of my time at Angkor Wat and Siem Reap. It's a lost temple that allows you to experience what it must have felt like for the first explorers to rediscover Angkor. Ta Prohm is known as the Tomb Raider temple, but if you truly want to feel like Indiana Jones or Lara Croft, this is the real place to do it.

The gallery wall around Beng Melea

Rubble around the gallery wall at Beng Melea

Beng Melea

The ruins of Beng Melea

Beng Melea

This courtyard is buried deep in rubble

Beng Melea

This little piggie went to market...

Jungle ruins

The best tuktuk driver in Siem Reap!

Siem Reap and the Temples of Angkor

Andrew Newdigate — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 16:26:06 +0000

Strangler Fig, Angkor

Arriving in Siem Reap was a bit of a shock to the system after six weeks of travelling through the wilder, less-explored parts of South-East Asia with limited tourist infrastructure. The town is a bustling tourist hub geared towards mass-tourism and caters for all types: from backpacking students to jet-setting pensioners.

Of course, the main reason that so many people come here is a valid one: to see the amazing temples of Angkor.

The Angkor Archaeological Park, a UNESCO World Heritiage site, covers about four-hundred square kilometres and was the home to several different capitals of the Khmer empire between ninth and fifteenth centuries. We spent three days exploring the park, hiring a tuktuk with a driver for the entire time to get around (we would recommend our tuk-tuk driver for anyone heading to Angkor; his Cambodian mobile phone number is 0976 666985 - unfortunately we've lost his name).

We used two different guides while we were there and although all guides go through a rigorous training programme, we found that our second guide, Nak, was significantly better than the first. We would definitely recommend this excellent, eager, knowledgeable, well-spoken guide if you're planning on visiting Angkor - his website is The Angkor Guide/. We stayed at the comfortable Green Garden Home Guesthouse.

Banteay Srei

Bayon and Angkor Thom

We started our first day at the Angkor Thom, which was the last capital of the Khmer empire. It was establish in the late 12th century by Buddhist King Jayavarman VII. The main temple, Bayon, is easily recognised by the huge number of stone faces that adorn the many towers. The temple was built as a Buddhist temple, but as we saw in many of the Angkor temples, later Hindu leaders made changes to remove any references to Buddha. On the walls surrounding the ground level, we saw amazing bas-relief which showed scenes from both everyday life and war battles on the outer wall, and hindu mythology on the inner wall. We spent time exploring all three levels, and enjoying the views from the top - where serene faces carved out of the stone watch you from every side.

Baphuon

Next we walked along to see Baphuon, although we could not go in due to restoration works. Baphuon was three tiered temple mountain (a temple built to represent Mount Meru, home to the Hindu gods). It was built in mid-11 century as part of the older capital Yasodharapura which overlaps with Angkor Thom. The restoration work has been extremely slow. Originally restoration work started in 1960 and completely dismantled the temple. Unfortunately this work was disrupted when the Khmer Rouge came in to power and all notes about how to re-assemble the stones were lost. Of course, this has severly hampered the second restoration attempt which began in 1995 and was still ongoing when we visited - you could see the dismantled stones lying in rows in front of the temple and can only imagine the complex jigsaw puzzle it must be to put it back together again!

Phimeanakas and Terrace of the Elephants

Just next door is the slightly older Phimeanakas, which is also a temple mountain built at the end of 10th century. It is not nearly as spectacular as the previous two temples, but the very steep climb up is still worthwhile. From here we walked to the Terrace of the Elephants, from which King Jayavarman VII would watch his army's victory parades.

Banyon

Ta Prohm (the "Tomb Raider Temple")

Next stop was Ta Prohm, also known as the Tomb Raider Temple after being used as the location for the Angelina Jolie movie. This temple was built as a monastery in the Bayan style by Jayavarman VII in the late twelfth century or early thirteenth centuries. Ta Prohm felt really different to any of the previous temples that we'd visited as it hasn't been fully cleared and restored. This makes it really magical with strangler figs wrapping themselves over collapsing walls and it really does feel like something out of a movie — which of course it is!

The entrance is quite far from the central temple and on the walk in we were witness to an exiting natural spectacle — a little frog hopped across the path in front of us with a small green snake hot on its heels. It had almost managed to escape, but at the last minute it hesitated and the snake grabbed it from right in front of us and slithered back into the bushes.

Banyon

Ta Som

After lunch, we stopped at some of the temples on the northern side of Angkor Thom. Ta Som is a small temple which was also built during the reign of Jayavarman VII. Smaller than Ta Prohm, it has also had little restoration work and has strangler figs growing over its delapidated walls.

Preah Khan

Preah Khan was built on the site of Jayavarman VII's victory over the invading Chams in 1191, possibly over the site of older royal palaces. Again, the restoration work has left many the strangler figs in place

Angkor Wat

We finished this long day with a visit to the most famous of all the temples, Angkor Wat. This enormous temple-complex —the largest religious building in the world — was built in the mid-twelfth century by King Suryavarman II as his state temple and capital city. What makes Angkor Wat different to every other temple that we saw, is that it has never abandoned been to the jungle and has been occupied as a monastery for most of its existence, so it is very well preserved, although restoration work is continually ongoing.

It is an amazing building, but after all of the other beautiful temples that we had seen — and because it was so crowded compared to the other monuments we'd visited—we actually found it a bit of an anti-climax. Having said that, it was still incredible to see first hand. It's decorated with highly detailed bas-reliefs depicting the epic of the Ramayana — the same legendary epic we're leant about in India. Another incredible feature of the temple complex is the moat: at about six kilometres in length and 190 metres wide and still filled with water, it must certainly be the largest moat we've ever seen. Lastly there were beautiful carvings of divine guardians or devetas on the walls of the galleries. Unfortunately we were not allowed to climb to the top level of the temple-mountain as this was closed when we were there.

On the second day, we kept the same tuktuk driver, but had a much more enthusiastic and interesting guide - Nak. We did not do nearly as much but enjoyed it and learned far more that we had on day 1.

Banteay Srei

We started the day at Banteay Srei, a 10th century temple which is about 25km north east of of Angkor Thom. Although smaller, and only on one level high, this temple is one of the most beautiful. It is made from red sandstone which is harder and more suited to carvings than the sandstone used for the other temples. And it is the carvings that really make this temple special - they are spectacular and still in very good condition, even though they are over 1000 years old. The temple is also known as the Lady Temple. No-one seemed sure exactly why it got this name, but one suggestion is that the carvings are so fine that they could only have been done by the hand of a lady.

Banteay Srei

Neak Pean

Neak Pean is quite different from any of the other temples that we saw. It was also built during the reign of Jayavarman VII as a hospital. It consists of four connected pools representing water, earth, fire and wind, which surround an island with a temple on it.

Phnom Bakheng

For our last stop of the day, we headed to Phnom Bankheng which is supposed to be a wonderful spot to enjoy the sunset. We wouldnt recommend heading there though as the huge number of people that flock here completely destroy the ambience. To get to the temple, you have the choice of walking up or riding on elephant. We chose the former, and, after a brief look around, found a comfortable spot to sit for sunset. The views are beautiful - you can see Angkor Wat as well as the massive lake Tonle Sap, but for us, the huge crowds really spoiled the moment.

On the third day, Kate felt "templed out" but Andrew headed to the magical Beng Mealea which will be the topic of our next post.

Buddhist Nun at Angkor Thom

Child at Angkor Wat

Kate and Andrew at Angkor Wat

Stonework at Angkor

Banteay Srei

Temples of Angkor

Why Travellers Should Be Aware of Firesheep

Andrew Newdigate — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 15:47:24 +0000

Firesheep is a new security exploit (“hacking”) tool that allows wanna-be hackers with very little expertise to gain access to the accounts of their victims on a range of websites, including facebook, flickr, and twitter, when using an unsecured wifi network.

It’s particularly bad news for travellers, who tend to use unsecured wifi networks from their laptops, netbooks and smartphones — in cafes, guesthouses, etc — much more than the broader public.

Although the technique that Firesheep uses is not new, it was previously moderately difficult to perform. The release of Firesheep means that someone with almost no technical knowledge can gain access to other peoples accounts when using the same unsecured wifi network.

You will potentially be at risk if:

You’re using an unsecured wifi network — one that isn’t protected by a password.
The accessing facebook, twitter or google via HTTP, rather than HTTPS (secure HTTP)

Luckily Firesheep does not allow the hacker to get hold of your password.

How to Protect Yourself

Here are a few things that you can do to prevent being hacked by Firesheep

Use a secure wifi network wherever possible.
If you are using Firefox, the EFF’s HTTP Everywhere extension will force your browser to use HTTPS when accessing the affected sites. Unfortunately, it seems that Safari, IE and Chrome’s extension architecture prevents a similar plugin being written for any of them, so for the moment, it’s only available for Firefox.
Even if you don’t use Firefox normally, it would be a good idea to use Firefox with the HTTP Everywhere extension whenever you’re accessing the internet via unsecured wifi. At least until the exploit is fixed.
If you have to use an unsecured wifi network, always log out of any websites that you’ve logged into during the session, even though you’re using your own computer. This will invalidate any website cookies which the hacker could use to pretend he is you.

More information:

Firesheep

How to protect against Firesheep attacks

A photographers guide to trekking

Andrew Newdigate — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 15:45:34 +0000

Dusty pass, very high up in the Bolivian Cordillera Real

During our round-the-world trip, we did a lot of treks. Mostly we did high-altitude treks in the Andes and the Himalayas, but also a few in the jungles of Laos, Cambodia and Thailand. During these treks, I always took my camera and a few lenses along in the hope of capture a few good photographs. Here are a few tips I learnt along the way. Hopefully they'll help you out!

Keeping Your Gear Powered

Unless you're planning on shooting with a film Leica (which doesn't need batteries) it's crucial to make sure you've got enough power for your camera. There's nothing worse than being in the most beautiful place in the world and having a dead camera.

Chances are, if you're trekking into the wilderness, you won't always have access to electricity, so make sure that you're not caught out with flat batteries.

If your camera uses AA batteries use rechargeable NiMH batteries rather than non-rechargeables. NiMH batteries will last up to four times longer on a single charge than an alkaline. The only exception to this is if you're expecting to use your camera in extremely cold weather, in which case you should use lithium batteries.
If you do take non-rechargeable batteries (alkaline or lithium), don't dispose of them during your trek. Keep them until you can recycle them properly.
Recharge your rechargeable batteries as close to the time of the trek as possible, as they'll run down on their own if left charged for a long time. For li-ion batteries, the discharge rate is only 1-3% per month, but with NiMHs this can be as high as 30%-50% per month.

Cold temperature performance of batteries

At below freezing, a popular myth is that you should keep your batteries inside your sleeping-bag at night to prevent damage from the cold. For lithium-ion batteries, permanent damage will only occur from -40ºC. If it's that cold inside your tent, you've probably got bigger problems than your batteries being damaged! The only exception to this is if you expect to use your camera immediately after waking, in which case you'll want them to be warm.
As temperatures drop below zero, battery performance drops rapidly. In other words, the colder the battery, the less charge it will be able to supply at that time. Lithium batteries have (by far) the best performance in the cold, then Lithium-Ion, then alkaline batteries. NiMH batteries perform worst in cold weather.
When taking photos in very cold weather, keep your batteries warm by keeping them inside your jacket.

More detailed information is available here: http://www.climber.org/gear/batteries.html and http://batterydata.com/

Annapurna Base Camp at Dawn. Cold!

Keeping Your Gear Clean and Dry

One of the biggest problems you'll face while trekking is keeping your camera gear clean and dry. In deserts and at high altitude, the ever-present dust can be almost as fine as talcum powder and it will get into everything and especially onto your lenses and sensors. I've come to accept that I'll have some dust spots in my pictures, but these are easy (if not particularly fun) to clean up later in lightroom or photoshop. Here are a few tips to keeping your gear as clean as possible:

Avoid changing lenses if possible, but if you have to, do it in as wind-free and as dust-free an environment as you can find.
Turn off your camera while changing lenses. While your camera is on, the sensor is charged and will attract dust particles.
If you're sleeping in a tent, put your camera and lenses inside lightweight foldable drybags to prevent condensation collecting on your gear while you sleep.
Before you leave for your trek, collect some silica gels packets and keep these inside your camera bags and lens pouches to cut down condensation.
If you've yet to purchase a camera, choose one with a built-in sensor cleaning function. These work fairly well at getting less stubborn dust particles off your sensor.
Make sure you take a lens-cloth and/or a lens-pen to clean your lens.
This may seem obvious, but always protect your lens from dust with a UV filter. It's amazing how many people don't.

More information about sensor cleaning is available here: http://www.luminous-landscape.com/essays/sensor-cleaning.shtml

Machapuchare, Nepal

Protecting Your Gear

By protecting I mean from bumps and knocks, rather than anything to do with security. For our treks we've either used a porter to carry a backpack with our overnight gear or hired mules and a horseman for the moving our luggage . During the day, we carried smaller day packs with water, food, warm clothes and of course camera equipment.

If you're trekking with a DSLR, lenses and filters, you're probably considering using a camera backpack. I didn't — opting instead for a set of ThinkTank's modular lens pouches, a holster camera bag and a normal backpack. Each lens has it's own pouch, and I kept my camera in a ThinkTank Digital Holster 50. This has some big advantages over a camera backpack:

You can select a backpack which is specifically designed for trekking and is comfortable for all-day-long use. Most of the camera backpacks that I've tried wouldn't be very comfortable if you had to wear them all-day, every-day for 11+ days while hiking over high-altitude passes. Also, they lack many features which trekkers consider useful, like camel packs, good waist support, back airflow systems, etc.
Using lens pouches means you have the option of moving some of your lenses out of your day pack and into your main luggage. For example, if it's particularly cold and you need space in your daypack for an extra fleece, you can move some of your lenses into your main bag that's being transported by mule. Or, if you're expecting the day's hike to be particularly difficult and you want to lighten your load, you could do the same. If you're using a camera backpack, your lenses won't be in pouches when you move them into your main luggage and therefore won't be protected.
Fleeces, outer-shells, gloves, water, food all take up a lot of space and many camera backpacks don't have enough space for non-camera gear.

Additionally, the ThinkTank modular bags come with built-in rain-covers, which provide excellent protection in case it starts raining.

One more way of looking after your lenses: use a hood. Obviously the main reason to use a hood is to prevent lens-flare, but they're also great at protecting your lens from knocks. The hood on my main lens bears many scars from knocks which would otherwise connected with the lens itself.

Been trekking recently? Can you think of any other tips? Leave your comments below!

Machu Picchu. Beware of Condensation

Kampong Thom and the Temples at Sambor Prei Kuk

Andrew Newdigate — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 14:47:23 +0000

Strangler-Fig-Covered Temple at Sambor Prei Kuk

Most tourists know Kampong Thom only as the half-way stop-off point on the bus route between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. On the recommendation of friends, we hopped off the bus and spent the night here so that we could visit the pre-Angkorian temples of Sambor Prei Kuk.

The town is a fairly unremarkable sprawl of houses and markets. Most of the restaurants are big canteen-like affairs built to cater for the busloads of hungry tourists who stop-off for lunch on their journeys between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. The food and service reflects that fact than almost none of their clientele will ever pass though their premises again.

The temples are located sixty-kilometers out of Kampong Thom along a dirt road. Because of time constraints, we decided to travel there by car, but you can also hire scooters for the trip. Even though our car broke down a few times on the way, we were very glad not to have been on scooters as the roads were extremely dusty.

Temple at Sambor Prei Kuk

At the site, you'll find a few restaurants and some guides who're willing to show you around for a few dollars. Luckily, we had a very good guide with an excellent knowledge of the history of the area and a good command of English.

The temples of Sambor Prei Kuk are some of the oldest and best preserved pre-Angkorian temples in Cambodia. Originally known as Isanapura, construction started during the seventh century AD, but the site remained an important centre of learning during the Angkorian period. Although most of the buildings are constructed from brick, some sandstone has been used on some of the structures. Although the temples are less awe-inspiring than those at Angkor Wat, they do provide an interesting historical context to the development of the Angkor civilisation and we were glad we visited them. Except for a small group of French tourists, we saw no other visitors.

The site is set within a forested area and as we wandered through the trees we kept discovering new temples. Like at Angkor Wat, strangler figs have grown over some of the structures, giving them an ancient and haunted look. On the forest floor, there are some bomb-craters from US-bombings in support of Lon Nol's government before the Khmer Rouge took over.

Back in town that night, we wandered around trying to find a restaurant that had been recommended in our guide book. It had closed down, so we had to settle on eating at one of the big tourist joints, which was now almost empty. People in town seemed surprised that any tourists had remained overnight after the buses had left and they were very friendly towards us. We even got free servings of pineapple beer from some pineapple beer vendors. Their motorbikes have been specially modified with beer vats in which the pineapple juice brews while they ride around. Although it didn't smell good, it didn't actually taste bad — especially after a few glasses.

Strangler Figs at Sambor Prei Kuk

Mandatory cheesy tourist shot

Temple at Sambor Prei Kuk

Phnom Penh

Andrew Newdigate — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 11:08:56 +0000

Royal Palace, Phnom Penh

As we travelled South-East Asia, one city continually evoked more negative sentiments from fellow travellers than most. We heard how Phnom Penh was run down, how it was dangerous, and many other bad reports. So it was with a little trepidation that we set off from Banlung on a hard, bumpy, ten-hour bus ride, arriving in the capital of Cambodia in the late in the afternoon. The horror stories, as they turned out — as they always turn out — were baseless. Just like most of the horror stories you hear while travelling.

While Phnom Penh has a depressing period in its recent history, and certainly has more poverty than many other South-East Asia cities, it is an interesting city filled with friendly residents and we're glad we didn't skip it.

The city is located at the confluence of the Tonlé Sap and the mighty Mekong River. The Tonlé Sap is unusual for a river in that it seasonally reverses direction. From November to May, Cambodia's dry season, the Tonlé Sap drains into the Mekong River. However, when the year's heavy rains begin in June, the Tonlé Sap backs up to form an enormous lake.

Spirit House: Royal Palace, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Phnom Penh is associated with some of the worst atrocities of the Khmer Rouge regime. In April 1975, the Communist Khmer Rouge defeated the unpopular US-backed regime of Lon Nol. As KR troops marched into the city, the streets were filled with residents celebrating their arrival and Nol's defeat. But jubilation quickly turned to terror as within hours the troops had given orders for the entire city of 2 million to evacuate to the countryside. The evacuation was total and included the old and the infirm. Anyone who resisted was killed. Many thousands died leaving the city. The KR used the threat of US bombings as the reasoning for the evacuation, but the real motivation was their desire to turn Cambodia into a purely agrarian-based communist society. By the time the Vietnamese army defeated the KR in 1979, they had killed about one Cambodian in every five, making them the most lethal regime in the twentieth-century in terms of people killed as a proportion of the population.

It might have a sad history, but Phnom Penh is lively, energetic city. The Riverside bustles with people, day and night. You'll find Hindu and Buddhist worshippers going about their devotions, families enjoying a stroll together and large numbers of people group dancing to music blaring from portable stereo systems.

We stayed at the fantastic Frangipani Villas, a boutique hotel set in an immaculately restored 1960s style villa. We can't recommend it highly enough. The suites are spacious and as immaculately restored as the exterior of the building and the staff are friendly and helpful.

One of the best ways to get around the city is to hire a tuk-tuk with a driver for the day. Many drivers will also speak a little English and will be able to give you a little information about the places they're taking you to. Arrange the price and destinations beforehand. Our driver's first stop was the Royal Palace. This large beautiful palace was built during the nineteenth-century using French technology and Cambodian designs. Luckily it survived through the troubles of the twentieth-century intact. Nearby, you'll find the excellent National Museum, which contains a very good collection of Angkorian artworks, including lots of statues of hindu gods. There is a very good guided tour, which is worthwhile.

Torture Room, Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum

Grief Tourism

"This is a sad place, and nobody wants to work here." This is how our tour guide at Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum explained the shortage of guides, and by the end of our tour, we could understand why nobody would want to work in this place. The museum is housed within the building that was used as the KR's notorious S21 Security Prison. The building was originally built as a school. The KR turned it into a detention and interrogation centre after their invasion of the city. An estimated twenty-thousand people were imprisoned here where they were held and repeatedly tortured for an average period of two to three months, before being transported to the killing fields at Choeung Ek to be murdered. Only twelve people are known to have survived being imprisoned here. Many similar detention centres and killing fields are spread across Cambodia.

Surprisingly (to us at least) for such a chaotic and violent regime, the KR kept meticulous records of each prisoner interred, including a photograph taken upon their arrival at the facility. The museum is filled with these photographs, many of them woman, children and KR cadres and officers.

The way S21 operated was a depressingly familiar story: through repeated torture (using techniques that included water-boarding, just like some western democracies of today), prisoners were made to confess to whatever paranoid conspiracies the interrogators believed to be true. In doing so, the prisoners were made to implicate family, friends and coworkers. These people would then be brought in for interrogation and the cycle of violence would by perpetuated.

In a glum and subdued mood, we travelled from the prison to the Killing Fields at Choeung Ek, the best known of the many killing fields across Cambodia that the KR used for executions. More than 1.3 million Cambodians were killed in these places.

The site is dominated by a large stupa, build there as a memorial. It is filled with more than 5000 skulls excavated from the surrounding mass graves.

Victims were first made to dig themselves a grave before being killed. Having no trade with the outside world, the KR had little ammunition, so to save on bullets, victims were bayonetted or bludgeoned to death with pickaxes. Children and babies were killed by executioners holding them by their feet and beating them against a tree known as the killing tree. The bones of some of these victims still rest at the base of the tree.

After execution, chemicals were scattered over the bodies. These chemicals served two purposes: to hide the smell of the rotting bodies, which may have raised suspicions from villagers living nearby, and to ensure that any survivors were poisoned.

Khmer Rouge Victims

Eating and Drinking in Phnom Penh

Phnom Penh has an excellent selection of cafes and restaurants: The Foreign Correspondents Club is a popular with tourists but is still a great place to go for a stiff G 'n T or to act our your Vietnam War correspondent fantasies. Friends Restaurant is one of the best places to eat in the city. It's run by a not-for-profit organisation which looks after the needs of street children in Cambodia. They train students from impoverished backgrounds to work in the restaurant trade, and the Friends restaurant is the final step of the training and is run by supervisors and students, who staff all aspects of the restaurant from waiters to chefs. People trained by this charity are well respected and can be found working in all the best restaurants in Phnom Penh. Not only is Friends an incredible charity, but it's some of the best cuisine in South East Asia. At the other end of the price spectrum, we had some incredible food in the Russian Market. There are also loads of restaurants and cafes in the Khaosan-Road-like farang-enclave on the shores of the Boeng Kak lake, but this area lacks Phnom Penh's charm.

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum: mother and child inmates

Skulls at the Choeung Ek Killing Fields

Bones of infants under the killing tree, Choeung Ek Killing Fields

Spirit House at the Choeung Ek Killing Fields

Local kid outside the fence at Choeung Ek Killing Fields

Family on Motorbike, Phnom Penh

Food stall, The Russian Market, Phnom Penh

Group Dance, Riverside, Phnom Penh

Sunrise over the Mekong, Riverside, Phnom Penh

Releasing birds for positive karma

Feeding the birds, outside the Royal Palace, Phnom Penh

Fishing on Boeng Kak Lake, Phnom Penh

Dinner at Friends Restuarant, Phnom Penh

Review of Termas de Chillan aka Nevados de Chillan

Andrew Newdigate — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 02:29:29 +0000

Regular readers: please excuse this interruption to our regular round-the-world programming. If you're not planning on skiing or snowbarding in South America, please ignore this post. If you're looking for options for some Southern Hemisphere skiing, however, please read this warning about Nevados de Chillan aka Termas de Chillan!

Normally we wouldn't be so outspoken about a resort, but our week in Nevados de Chillan was expensive and also disappointing. Although our hotel staff looked after us well and we enjoyed some good hikes, our intention had been to snowboard - something we did very little of in Nevados de Chillan. Hopefully this warning will persuade a few other winter-sports enthusiasts to go somewhere else and avoid losing as much money as we have.

Valle Nevado. Go here instead.

Nevados de Chillan, known as Termas de Chillan before 2010, is a ski resort in Southern Chile which should have a lot going for it. It has the longest run in South America, at 13km, as well as stunning scenery and great snow. This is what attracted us to the resort. Unfortunately we've discovered that disputes between two competing resort companies have left the town in a state of disarray and disorganisation.

Many Chilean skiers and snowboarders seem to be aware of the situation and are avoiding this resort this year, but few foreigners are aware of the resorts problems.

Ski-in, ski-out accommodation at the resort is astronomically expensive - prices are the same as Chile's other (already super expensive) resorts, for example Valle Nevado, even though very little of the resort is actually operating at the moment. This means that most tourists (including ourselves) stay about 10km down in valley in the muddy little town of Las Truncas.

UPDATE: From Las Truncas, there is a single bus to the slopes, taking passengers up once in the morning and down once in the afternoon. The other option is to hitch-hike (I'm told it's fairly easy) otherwise you'll need to budget about $25 per person per day for a taxi to the slopes.

You'll need to purchase your lift pass daily and the prices are astronomical. There are no weekly deals. Monday to Wednesday is $40 per person per day. Thursday through to Sunday cost $60 pppd. This is on-par with- or is more expensive than top-class European resorts like Val D'isere. To put this in perspective, Val D'isere has something like 95 lifts. Chillan has 10, although only 1 chair and 2 drag lifts on the baby slopes were operating when we were there.

No piste maps. I'm serious. The resort will not provide any trail maps for the piste. Someone did offer to sell us a piste map for $10, but they'd run out of stock. These are free and easy to obtain at every other resort I've ever been to. UPDATE: The resort has now updated it's website and has a piste map available online.

Food & drink prices are astronomical. At the base station - not even up on the slopes - expect to pay $20 for a Hamburger or similar junk food (the only options). We payed $6 each for two coffees and they were some of the worst coffees I've had. They were served as a polystyrene cup of hot water with a sachet of nescafe instant for us to mix in ourselves. No milk. This wasn't a nice cozy restaurant either. This was a freezing cold, draughty wooden box of a cafeteria with a small stove in the corner around which everyone was jostling for space for a little warmth. (It was the only restauarant option, however)

Terrible facilities. Take the toilets at the base station: they have no doors. None. Not outside and not on the cubicles. If you're unfortunate enough to need a -erm- number 2, you'll have to go about your business while you watch the world go by - and the world watches you go. Kate tells me that the woman's toilets had a door on the outside but also not on the cubicles.

The lifts are slooooooow. It's well known that the resort has some of the slowest lifts around. And the hard wooden slat benches of the chairlift get oh-so-cold while the chair inches its way up the mountain.

The lifts to shut down in any weather. Any snow, fog or wind and lifts will be shut down. On the days we tried to snowboard it was snowing, but the conditions didn't seem bad, yet only one chairlift and two drag-lifts were operating. Don't expect a discount on your lift pass, however. It'll still cost you $60. The operational chairlift takes about 10 minutes to get you to the top of a very easy blue run which takes about 4 minutes to ride. We feel that the management company was using the excuse of the weather to close the resort when there weren't enough skiers on the slopes to make it worth their while. Several local residents shared our feelings on this.

The resort is deliberately misleading skiers and snowboarders about their operational status. We telephoned in the morning to find out about conditions and were told that all lifts were running. $30 worth of taxis later, we discovered that only one was. Staff at our hotel told us that, on the phone, the resort always say that all lifts are operating, no matter whether they actually are or not. We've also been told that online status shows all lifts running when they're not. Worse: many of the attractions are currently not running at all during the 2010 season: for example, the snowpark, and some of the lifts are closed, including the lift which services the resorts primary attraction: the Tres Marias run (the longest run in South America - but only if you can manage to traverse the slope to it!)

Disputes between two companies are driving this ski resort into the ground. We were told that the reason the lifts are not operating is due to the disputes between two companies - Termas de Chillan and Nevados de Chillan. Termas de Chillan were operating the concession for the ski resort until this year when it was given to Nevados de Chillan. This changeover has left some of the lifts out of operation.

Some hotel staff told me that they're worried about the resort being around in a few years time, as they're not getting any repeat business. After all, who in their right mind would return to a resort with so many problems? We arrived at the beginning of high season and there were hardly any visitors (we were the only guests at our lodge)

All in all, our experience at Nevados de Chillan / Termas de Chillan has been one of the most expensive weeks of snowboarding we've had, yet it's also the one with the worst service, worst resort management and worst facilities. To be fair, things might have been better had the weather been better but the bad weather merely brought out the worst in the resort. Having said that, we've spent weeks in European resorts where we've had far worse weather but have had much more access to the slopes and a infinitely better experience overall.

After this experience, we decided to go to Valle Nevado instead. Our experience at this resort couldn't have been more different: Valle Nevado was professionally run and felt like a proper resort, and even though it was expensive, it was good value for money. If you're looking at heading to the southern hemisphere to ski, avoid Termas de Chillan.

Remote Ratanakiri

Andrew Newdigate — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 23:48:27 +0000

Banlung is situated in Ratanakiri Province in the remote north east corner of Cambodia. It feels very far from anywhere and in many ways it is: three-quarters of the population are illiterate and it is the one of the poorest regions of Cambodia. Nonetheless, it is an incredibly interesting region to visit as life for much of the population remains almost the same today as it has for hundred of years.

To get there, we caught the tourist bus from the 4000 Islands in southern Laos across the Cambodian border (after paying the minor bribe) to the town of Stung Treng, where we waited a few hours for the connecting "tourist" bus to Banlung. When the bus arrived it was definitely of the local –– not the tourist –– variety. It was packed! People were sitting in the aisle, atop heavy bags of supplies like rice. Others were standing in the stairway in the front.

Travelling up the Tonle San, Cambodia

We were astonished to find an empty bench with space for two right at the front of the bus. No doubt several people had been booted out for us as we'd paid tourist rates. Feeling quite bad (but also a little glad), we piled in with our big backpacks on our laps and crowds pressed up against us.

The ride took three-and-half-hours along the most dusty road we've ever seen –– the red dust was so fine that when another vehicle passed visibility went down to zero and we would have to stop and wait for it to settle.

Alarmingly, for most of journey from Stung Treng to Banlung, there were tragic signs of the stash-and-burn deforestation taking place. From the road, in both directions for as far as you could see, the forests were being burned down to make space for agricultural land. It was heart-wrenchingly sad to see first-hand.

Arriving in Banlung was surreal –– at the end of this long, bad and incredibly dusty road was a fairly normal town with paved roads and a reasonable selection of hotels, restaurants and shops.

The only sign of modern civilisation in Kachon: a banner advertising a mobile phone company

Treetops

We stayed at the fabulous Treetops Eco Lodge, run by a local legend, Mr T. Treetops is probably the best value for money accommodation that we have experienced on our whole trip. For US$10, we got our own beautifully decorated bungalow with a lovely inside/outside en-suite bathroom and a wrap-around balcony. Each bungalow is secluded and very private. The staff is friendly and there's a chilled out restaurant which serves good, reasonably priced food and has free wifi. We loved it and happily ended up staying far longer than we had originally planned.

Hiking though the Forest

The magic about Banlung is its isolation. Until about 10 years ago, when a government sponsored influx of Khmer people began, almost all of the population consisted of minority "hill tribes".

Many of these tribes still live in a traditional way without massive influence of other cultures. We went on a few excursions with a fantastic guide, Phe Bunlong ☎ (855) 012 872 466. We started with a visit to a few villages around Banlung where the people were a bit more westernised, although still living a very basic existence. In the villages, we saw the houses that young men and women built as part of their "right of passage" rituals.

We also went for a hike though the jungle. Sadly we saw many signs of illegal logging. Massive teak trees were being chopped down with only a small section being chopped out of the centre as this is all that the loggers could carry. Many locals blamed this illegal logging on the Cambodian military, under orders from generals and senior politicians. Unfortunately this sort of corruption seems very common in this beautiful country. As we walked further from the road, the logging diminished and we saw beautiful forests and swam in a refreshing mountain stream.

Statue of Deceased, Tampuan Cemetery

Visiting faraway tribes

For our second excursion, we visited three very different villages. To get to the first one, we rode a hired motorbike along the dusty roads for over an hour until we reached the town of Voen Sai on the Tonle San river. This river is apparently the inspiration for the river in the movie "Apocalypse Now" although it all seemed very peaceful to us.

At Voen Sai, we hired a longtail boat with a friendly boatman and rode upstream for about an hour to visit the village of Kachon where Tampuan people live. This place felt very remote, and people still largely lived as they had for hundreds of years. They did now wear western clothes, but apparently only started doing this a few years ago. They seemed very wary of us, and many of the younger children burst into tears when they saw us. Our guide, Phe, had brought along a few sweets to give them and they soon cheered them up, although the adults still kept a good distance away from us.

With the permission of the chief, we visited the village burial ground, where we were able to get an insight into the funeral ceremonies of the village. Husband and wife share a grave (even if they die years apart). The grave is covered with a basic shelter and covered with items from this world that would be useful in the next - food, kitchen implements and other everyday items. Each grave site is surrounded by a fence and watched over by wooden statues of the deceased - the husband on the left and the woman on the right. There were statues of army men, people with glasses and pregnant ladies.

We were told that after a death, the deceased could not be properly put to rest until a buffalo was slaughtered - if the family was poor and did not have one, then the ceremony would have to wait until they managed to save up enough.

After leaving the Tampuan village we headed back downstream to visit two more villages which stood side-by-side: an ethnic Chinese village and a ethnic Lao village. It was fascinating to see how the Chinese village had remained so completely Chinese, ever after being so isolated from the rest of the outside world since it had been established more than 200 years ago. The Laos village which was the same as the villages we had seen north of the border in Laos.

Statue of Deceased, Tampuan Cemetery

Banlung was an easy place to relax –– we spent time enjoying the sunshine at a crater lake just outside of town, cycling around. We also hooked up with the small group of Banlung expats (around 7 of them) who were mostly there doing charity or social work.

Overall, Banlung was a highlight of our time in Cambodia because of its remoteness and the incredibly interesting cultures of the various tribes, although we were both saddened by the many signs of corruption and pillaging of the natural environment.

Boat man on the Tonlé San River, Voen Sai

Statue of Deceased, Tampuan Cemetery

Travel Tips for Laos

Andrew Newdigate — Tue, 25 May 2010 23:00:41 +0000

Laos is a gem of a country and we loved almost every second we spent travelling north to south down the Mekong. Here are a few tips for things we would recommend and things to avoid while travelling through Laos.

Pak Ou Cave, Luang Prabang, Laos

Catch the Slow-Boat down the Mekong

We caught a slowboat from Houei Xai (on the opposite side of the Mekong from Chiang Khong in Thailand) to Luang Prabang. The journey took two days with a stopover in Pakbeng. It was one of our highlights of Laos. Sure, you could catch the fast-boat and be in Luang Prabang before sunset. But remember: not only is this journey extremely noisy and horrendously dangerous, but travelling at speed is also completely out-of-keeping with the laid-back slowboat spirit of the country.

You may have to sit on an uncomfortable upright wooden bench for two days if you catch the slow-boat, but you’ll get to enjoy the scenery, talk to other travellers and generally slow-down and enter “Laos mode”.

Despite what we were told, there was plenty of reasonable accommodation in Pakbeng even though we passed through at one of the busiest times of year (30 December 2009). When arriving in this dusty little town, don’t be surprised to see a kid boarding the boat and running off towards the town with your bag before you can stop them. Don’t worry, they’re not thieves, but rather overeagerly trying to act as your porter.

Poor Critters!

Luang Prabang

Some say that Luang Prabang is touristy, and they’re probably right. But we absolutely loved this wonderful little town nevertheless. It’s a boutique, refined touristy, not the crummy, bland and exploitative touristy you see all over South East Asia. Although it’s very expensive by Laos’ standards, it’s well worth a spending a few days enjoying the fabulous food, beautiful French architecture and wonderful cultural traditions here.

Around Luang Prabang

Tat Kuang Si: Definitely worth a visit – but only if you climb the steep and slippery stairs on the left hand side to swim in the amazing natural infinity pool above the waterfall! Hire one of the many jumbo tuk-tuks that offers trips to the waterfall from town.

Pak Ou Caves: We found this disappointing and wouldn’t recommend visiting. It feels like a bit of a tourist trip with lots of vendors hassling you and little to see – there are far more impressive caves around (e.g. those in Chiang Dao)

Highway 1E from Lak Xao

Vang Vieng

We had fun here, but don’t expect any Laos culture. This town is all about drunk or otherwise inebriated gap-year students, noisy (but empty) bars, American sitcom television and banana pancakes.

It definitely isn’t everybody’s cup of tea but we enjoyed “Tubing in the Vang Vieng”. The town is set in an incredibly beautiful area so perhaps if you explored the surrounding countryside you’d find some hidden gems. Unfortunately we didn’t get a chance to do this.

If you do decide to go here, be careful of where you stay as many places will be right next to bars playing loud music which pumps late into the night – whether or not the bar has any patrons. We stayed at Otherside Bungalows which were great – clean and comfortable bungalows with private bathrooms with hot shower. We paid LAK80,000 (USD10) for our bungalow, but it was peak season just after New Years, so it may be cheaper at other times. To find them, follow the bamboo bridge across the river from the tube rental spot.

Our ride out of Savannakhet

Vientiane

There isn’t a lot to do here, but it is a good place to catch up emails and buy essentials. We highly recommend Hotel Khomvongsa – it was an quite an upgrade on our other Laos accommodation, but for USD30 you can get a spacious and stylish double room with a great breakfast and free Wifi in the room.

If you see one sight in Vientiane, we’d recommend visiting COPE to see the moving exhibition on unexploded ordnances (UXOs). For a day trip outside of Vientiane, head to the bizarre Buddha Park (aka Xieng Khuan) which is about 25km away.

Life of a Slowboater, Mekong River, Laos

Vientiane to Thakhek by Motorcycle

Another highlight of our time in Laos. Read our blog post about it here.

If you’re comfortable on a motorbike, then we highly recommend travelling from Vientiane to Thakhek via Na Him on one. Jules Classic Company is the best and most organised motorcycle rental company we’ve used in South East Asia. Their bikes are in excellent condition and have been adapted for touring (lowered pillion footpegs, good luggage racks, etc). They’ll also do one-way rentals and will forward your luggage on to your destination for you.

In Na Him, we recommend staying at Sainamhai Resort where you can hire a clean, new bungalow for LAK100,000. It’s new and not in the guidebooks yet and a little bit difficult to find, so ask about once you arrive in Na Him.

Of course, don’t miss one of Laos’s natural wonders – the amazing Tham Kong Lo cave.

Finally, when travelling from Lak Xao to Thakhek, keep in mind that the very bad condition dirt road – Laos’ “Highway” 1E south from Lak Xao – improves after about 40km. We were worried it would be in a bad state for the full 120KM to Thakhek.

Elephant in a Shopfront, Luang Prabang, Laos

Savannakhet

Savannakhet is a sprawling town spread over a large area, making it difficult to explore on foot. There wasn’t much to do and the accommodation options were mediocre. We did enjoy a interesting day out in the forest with a local guide, which was organised by the local tourism office.

Pakse

Not to much to do in the town itself, but it is a good place to stock up on essentials for the 4000 Islands or northern Cambodia. We’d recommend hiring a motor bike and heading up to the Bolaven Plateau. The bike that we hired from Lankham Hotel was almost new and in good condition, but did not have any luggage rack or any other touring modifications.

We also spoke to a few people who really enjoyed the longer version of our trip called the Southern Loop, which is apparently detailed in the Laos Lonely Planet.

When arriving in Pakse, try to get a bus that arrives during the day as the bus station is far out of town and the tuktuk drivers take full advantage of the fact that they are the only transfer option available
to you. Read more about it here.

If you stay at the Pakse Hotel (which we would recommend), be sure to ask for a room with a window, as some of the rooms only look out onto the corridor.

4000 Islands (Si Phan Don) and Don Det

Although more expensive than many places on the island, we highly recommend Don Det Bungalows which is on the sunrise side of the island. It’s new and clean with ensuite bathrooms, hot water & 24 hour electricity. It’s very well run and the staff are friendly too. Apparently wifi & credit card payments are on the way.

Don’t read too much into the guidebook designations of Don Det being the “party island” and Don Khone being the “grown-up island”. In truth, there’s not much difference between them and we found Don Khon to be more crowded and more expensive.

We saw almost no whitewater or rapids on the whitewater rafting journey we undertook from Don Det, but the trip was very worthwhile as we got to see the very rare, but fairly easy to spot Irrawaddy Dolphins of the Mekong. We also had a delicious and rather illegal lunch on the other side of the river in Cambodia.

We really enjoyed hiring bicycles and cycling around Don Khon seeing some of the villages and visiting the beaches on the way.

Grilled Fish, Luang Prabang, Laos

Monks, Luang Prabang, Laos

Don Det and the 4000 Islands, Laos

kate — Tue, 25 May 2010 11:00:32 +0000

Sunset over the 4000 Islands

The 4000 Islands or Si Phan Don are a collection of islands in the Mekong River, in the far south of Laos. They're a wonderfully chilled out place to and relax but they're no destination for thrill-seekers.

The boat trip from the mainland into the 4000 Islands was the most eventful thing that happened during our stay. We had an inexperienced boatman; he took a different route to the other boats and we spend much of the journey floating downstream sideways. Some of the local passengers shouted angrily at him, probably regarding his incompetent skippering. After a few rather grinding grates along the bottom, the boat lurched wildly from side to side before getting firmly stuck on a rock. Bear in mind that there were quite a few of us on board including a family with young children and we had all of our belongings (including laptops and cameras) with us - not great if we had capsized! As it turned out the river was not particularly deep at this point, although the water was fast flowing, so all the boys got out of the boat into the waist-deep water and lifted it off the rocks for us to continue our journey unscathed.

On the journey, we started to get an idea of why this place might be called 4000 islands - there are tiny (and I mean tiny!) little islands everywhere - most only big enough for one tree or a some reeds to grow on! In the dry season, there are literally thousands, but I can imagine that all but the biggest submerge in rainy season at the waters of the Mekong rise.

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Sunset over the 4000 Islands

Accommodation

Based on what we’d read on the Lonely Planet, we planned to find accommodation on Don Khon, which was supposed to be quieter and less of a party town. As was customary, I looked after the bags while Andrew went looking for somewhere to stay, but everywhere was completely full. We were starting to get worried - people were arriving all the time so more and more people were wandering around looking for somewhere to stay. Quick thinking Andrew hired a bicycle and cycled over the old railway bridge to Don Det where, after a long, hot and sweaty ride across the island in the sweltering heat, he found the fabulous Don Det Bungalows on the sunrise side of the island. He arrived back, dripping with sweat, on boat to collect me and our bags and take us across to Don Det. Don Det Bungalows is very new and is more expensive than most other places on Don Det at LAK 180,000 per night. However, for this you got a lovely clean fan bungalow with attached bathroom with hot water and breakfast. The lady who managed the place was brilliant - completely on the ball, she was working hard to make her establishment the best on Don Det. Wifi and credit card facilities should be available there as soon as the phone company link them up.

One thing worth mentioning is that we felt that Lonely Planet got it wrong when describing the differences between Don Det and Don Khon. Don Det wasn’t a major "party island" at all - the whole island was extremely chilled out with lots of bars and restaurants where you could spend the day doing nothing. We thought that Don Khon felt a lot more crowded. All the accommodation was based around one town where it was really busy and a little cramped. If we went back, we’d definitely head for Don Det again.

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Sunset over the 4000 Islands

Brothers, Don Det

Activities on the 4000 Islands

Once we’d got there and found accommodation, we realised just how relaxed the islands are - if we’d thought that Laos was laid back in general, the 4000 Islands took chilled out to a whole new level! The Big Lebowski would have approved. Many people we met spent days at a time chilling out chatting in the same restaurant, not really leaving except to sleep at night! We did manage a few activities though. One of these was the kayak trip to the Cambodian border. Although this was billed as white-water rafting, there was no white water to speak of and it was pretty much like kayaking on a lake. We might have considered the trip a little boring if we hadn’t seen the extremely rare Irrawaddy dolphins and also illegally visiting Cambodia for lunch!

Seeing the dolphins was pretty special as they are very endangered. With less than one hundred left, you’d expect that seeing them would be a very rare event. But it turns out that they congregate in an quite part of the river on the border of Cambodia and Laos so if you head there, there is a good chance of seeing them. They are nothing like the sea dolphins that we know and aren’t at all inquisitive about humans (probably a good self-preservation technique!) but you see and hear them swimming through the water in the distance. For lunch, we were taken to a restaurant on the Cambodian shore, half-expecting it to be a trick where immigration officers would jump out and demand payment, but luckily there was nothing of the sort!

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Idyllic little house on Don Det

End of the Day in the 4000 Islands, Laos

Another activity that we’d recommend is hiring bicycles and exploring around Don Khon - there are dirt tracks that criss-cross the island and we enjoyed going all the way round, finding interesting little villages and beaches on the way.

A Monks Funeral

We were lucky enough to be taken to a preparations for a festival on a nearby island. One of the top monks had died some weeks before and his body had been left in state since. He was to be cremated on a pyre the following day and the festival was to commemorate this event.

Starting that night, the festival would run continuously for two days and night. Two stages had been set up - one for opera and one for dancing. Pity we went before the festivities had started as it would have been quite an experience to see!

After about a week of serious chilling, we left the 4000 Islands and headed to Cambodia as our 30 day Laos visa came to an end.

Dolphin spotting on the Mekong

Cows and waterbuffalo having a terrorial dispute over a dust patch

Sunrise on Don Det

Pakse and the Bolaven Plateu

Andrew Newdigate — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 14:33:19 +0000

Tat Suong waterfall, near Tat Lo, Laos

Our bus to Pakse arrived after midnight. We’d taken the non-airconditioned, non-tourist bus and it was a long, bone-rattling journey, involving frequent stops - sometimes 50 metres apart! The Pakse bus station is miles out of town - so far out of town that it's three times further from the city centre than the local airport - a scam that could only have been dreamt up by local tuktuk drivers, who’ll gladly take you into town for a fee.

By the time we had arrived, the last remaining tuktuk driver at the bus station took full advantage of the scarcity of rides into town and overloaded and overcharged enormously to the point where some luggage (not ours) fell off the tuktuk on the way into town and was damaged on the road.

We stayed at the Pakse Hotel where, as we’d seen a few times on our trip so far, our room did not have any outside-facing windows, but lucky we were moved to a much nicer room for our second night. We found Pakse to be more interesting than Savannakhet with more happening and a real centre.

We hired a brand new Honda XR250 from the Lankham Hotel. Be warned that we've heard some stories of unscrupulous motorbike hire companies in Pakse who'll do all sorts of nasty things to get some extra cash off of you (including stealing the bike from you while you're responsible for it). From everything we've heard, the staff at Lankham Hotel are honest and trustworthy. Unfortunately the bike didn’t have the touring alterations our previous bike from Jules Classic Hire but it was in great condition. As our Laos visa was fast running out, we only had one day and we wanted to see the Bolevan Plateau as we’d been advised to visit by other travellers

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Se Don river, Pakse

Tat Lo

Our Bolaven mini-tour started with a ride to Tat Lo, a village situated close to some well known waterfalls. Tat Lo seems a lovely place - all geared up for backpackers with lots of places to stay and eat, just not many tourists. While we were having lunch here, a man who must have been in his sixties came and asked if he could ask us some questions about the English that he was studying. He was a real character and we were happy to help, and we also got some insight into how difficult it must be to learn English. In the same way that we really struggle to hear the difference between words in tonal languages such as Lao and Thai, he just could not hear any difference between “bless” and “blessed”.

After lunch, we headed off to see the biggest waterfall in the area Tat Suong. We scrambled down a rough path and arrived at the top of a massive cliff over which the water was running. There wasn’t much water in the river, but it offered a spectacular view of the surrounding area.

Tat Fan

After visiting Tat Suong, we decided to try and do a mini-loop, allowing us to head up onto the Bolavan Plateau and visit Tat Fan. The road from Tat Lo to Paksong is in the process of being tarred, so we spent much of the time on the tracks along the edge of it - it was very dusty, but a good ride.

At Tat Fan, we found some nice looking bungalows, but the waterfall was a bit far away and we couldn’t get anywhere near it without doing a big walk. As it was getting late, we then headed back to Pakse for the night and got ready to head to the 4000 islands (Phon Si Don) the following morning.

Fisherman, Pakse

Tat Suong waterfall, near Tat Lo, Laos

Thakhek and Savannakhet

Andrew Newdigate — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 10:41:51 +0000

Khoun Kong Leng

After having completed our alternative Thakhek loop we had an extra day before we needed to return our rental Honda XR250 Baja. We decided to use the time to explore around Thakhek and after asking around, found out about the incredible Khoun Kong Leng, or Evening Gong Lake, near the tiny village of Ban Na Kheu. Getting there was an adventure: it involved riding on progressively worse- and worse condition roads until the track was barely a sandy path. We thought the road impassable without a beefy dirtbike, but were put to shame when we passed some locals tackling the road on a clapped-out old Honda scooter! After about an hour of riding we reached the village of Ban Na Kheu. We knew that not many foreigners came this far as the reaction from the local kids was a mixture of fascination and pure terror, instead of the usual smiling and waving - or maybe it was just the slight of me soaked in sweat that scared them!

The lake is spectacular – it is incredibly deep – it’s reputed to be over 70m – and the water was a crystal clear turquoise blue – you could see the roots of the tree going deep down into the water and big fish swimming in the depths. Unfortunately swimming was forbidden. As we were about to leave, a group of young boys armed with spear guns arrived. Obviously they weren’t supposed to be fishing and they sat around nervously avoiding eye contact while they waited for us to leave.

After returning back to Thakhek, Andrew picked up a bad stomach bug, so instead of leaving Thakhek the following day as planned, we stayed for two nights more before catching the bus to Savannakhet.

Savannakhet is a sprawling town, spread out over a large area with little in the way of sights. We found it to be quite boring so only ended up staying there for one night. We did sign up to a one day ‘trek’ through the jungle, so booked the bus for the following evening. The trek was very easy and took us from a salt mine, where we did a tour, through the forest to a village and finally on to a wat (temple).

The highlight of the trek was the local guide, who was fantastic. He didn’t speak English, but was so enthusiastic that he came round and introduced himself to everyone. Throughout the trek he addressed us directly, telling us about life in the forest and enthusiastically explained how the local people utilize the plants. It was wonderfully engaging, even though we didn’t understand a word he was saying. Unfortunately much of what he said was lost in translation as our “English-speaking” translator who didn’t speak much English!

Khoun Kong Leng

Selling Fish at the Market, Thakhek, Laos

Thakhek Market

Lowly Men at Work

Worker, Evaporation Pans at Salt Mine, Savannakhet

Worker at Salt Mine, Savannakhet

Salt Mine, near Savanakhet, Laos

Family at Salt Mine, near Savanakhet, Laos

Local Guide, Savannakhet

Mobile Internet Settings for South East Asia

Andrew Newdigate — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 08:28:33 +0000

Monks with Camera phones, Luang Prabang, Laos

Throughout South East Asia, we've been purchasing local SIM cards to use in our iPhones. Obviously using data roaming on our UK mobile contract is out of the question due to the prohibitive cost. If you've got an unlocked phone, using Pay-As-You-Go Mobile Internet is one of the cheapest and easiest ways of getting online.

Another great reason to use it is security. Some of the internet cafes you’ll use have got the dodgiest computers imaginable, full of viruses, key-loggers and who-knows-what-else. Every time you type your email, banking or Facebook login details into one of these PCs you’re opening yourself up to attack.

We’ve found that purchasing and activating SIM cards very easy to do. International airports will always have excellent choice for buying a SIM as will border towns. Unfortunately language barriers and the relative newness of 3G in some countries means that getting all the details you need to get online can sometimes be difficult.

For that reason, we’ve compiled a list of all the mobile service providers we’ve used and (nearly) all the details you need to connect, in that hope that other people may find them useful.

Thailand

Service Provider: True Mobile

Cost of Sim Card: THB49

Cost per day: THB39 will allow you to use GPRS/Edge/3G (where available). Must be activated daily and runs from the time of activation until midnight.

Activation

Initial Activation:

I am not sure if we had to do anything specific to activate GPRS/Edge for True before following the daily activation steps below . If so, then the lady at the True counter at Bangkok airport did it for us.

To activate daily subscription:

Note that there is not longer a monthly subscription package! For this reason, we really don’t recommend using True in Thailand.

Dial *9000 (yes include the * or it does not work)
Select 9 for English
Select 1 for Add Package
Select 2 for Daily Package
Select 1 for Edge/GPRS daily package at THB39 per day
Select 1 to confirm (Note that you have to wait until she has finished talking before clicking 1 here)

Sim Settings for your iPhone

These settings usually load up automatically when you insert the sim card, but once or twice they have disappeared for us:

Go to: Settings -> General -> Network -> Cellular Data Network
Fill in the following under Cellular Data:

APN: internet
Username: true
Password: true

Coverage:

Data coverage is not fantastic. We had coverage in all big towns, but nothing at all (not even phone coverage) on the small islands or out of the way places. 3G in Bangkok and central Chiang Mai, otherwise Edge or GPRS. Often we only had a GPRS connection.

To Check Balance:

Dial #123#

To Check own Number:

Dial *933#

To Top Up:

Dial *123*#

To change to English:

Dial 9304 and follow instructions

Summary

The True Move packages have not worked at all well with our iPhones as there does not seem to be anyway to automate a daily subscription. As the subscription ends at midnight, money often seems to get used up overnight even though we’ve turned off all push notifications & automated mail fetches.

We definitely wouldn’t recommend True Mobile’s Pay-As-You-Go Mobile Internet. DTAC seems to be a good alternative, but we haven’t tried them ourselves.

Laos

Service Provider: Lao Telecom

Sim Card Type: Ah Lo 3G

Cost of Sim: LAK10,000 (but this included LAK10,000 worth top up credit)

Cost of data: We are struggling a bit to remember the exact figure here, but we think it was LAK1000(USD0.10) per Mb. Regardless, it was very cheap – we used LAK70,000 over 20 days.

Activation:

The Lao Telecom Service Centre in Vientiane where they were very helpful and set it up for us. I believe that you have to call the call centre on 101 to get it initially activated, but not sure how easy it is to get English service.

Sim Settings for your iPhone

Go to: Settings -> General -> Network -> Cellular Data Network
Fill in the following under Cellular Data:

APN: ltcnet
Username:
Password:

Coverage: We had some form data coverage just about everywhere we went – 3G in Vientiane, Edge or GPRS elsewhere.

Check Balance

Dial 122. Push 2 for English

To Check Own Number:

Not sure

Customer Service Number:

Call 101

Problems Encountered

None – only one that I could imagine is if you couldn’t go to the service center to set it up initially.

Summary

We were generally very impressed with the data service in Laos. It was much cheaper and more reliable than what we had in Thailand. We had coverage in most places that we went and the cost was low.

Cambodia

Service Provider: Metfone

Cost of Sim Card: $3 (including $2 of top up credit)

Cost per day: USD0.70 which is automatically deducted as long as you have enough credit.

Subscription Activation:

Send the following text to 111: On3
Send the following reply to 111: Yes

Sim Settings for your iPhone

I am a little unsure of the exact settings that we used in Cambodia. The password was definitely 1111. Either the APN or the Username or both were metfone – I seem to remember that it was both. Try the various combinations until it works!

Go to: Settings -> General -> Network -> Cellular Data Network
Fill in the following under Cellular Data:

APN: metfone or (see note above)
Username: metfone or (see note above)
Password: 1111

Coverage:

Coverage was truly amazing! We went to tiny villages in the middle of nowhere and had still had data (GPRS) coverage. Note that when we were there, Metfone only supported Edge or GPRS, so no 3G.

To Check Balance:

Dial *097#

To check own number:

Dial: *99#

Customer Service Number:

1777 (if this didnt work, then try 1770). We found it very easy to find an english speaking support person.

Problems Encountered

The only slight hassle that we encountered was getting APN/username settings correct in the beginning. This took a few calls to the customer service centre to get correct.
One strange service problem that we encountered was that no Twitter client worked during the week (it did work on weekends). Odd!

Summary

Highly recommended. Brilliant and cheap. Excellent coverage. The only slight hassle was getting the APN/username right, but once we had this, it worked perfectly.

Vietnam

Service Provider: Vinaphone

Cost of Sim Card: VND150,000 including VND60,000 top up credit.

Cost per day: VND5000 per day which is automatically deducted as long as you have enough credit.

Subscription Activation:

Text the following to 333 for a daily subscription: GPRS on

Sim Settings for your iPhone

I am a little unsure of the exact settings that we used in Vietnam. The password was definitely 1111. Either the APN or the Username or both were m3-world – I seem to remember that APN was m3-world and username was blank. Try the various combinations until it works! We found this out by searching on Google.

Go to: Settings -> General -> Network -> Cellular Data Network
Fill in the following under Cellular Data:

APN: m3-world or (see note above)
Username: m3-world or (see note above)
Password: 1111

Coverage:

Coverage was generally good, but we had significant problems in HCMC where there was none at all for hours at a time (not sure if there was a local problem at the time). Edge or GPRS everywhere except for HCMC where 3G was very unreliable.

To Check Balance:

Not sure

To check own number:

Not sure

Customer Service Number:

Dial 900. Not sure whether it is possible to find an English speaker as we asked the lady at the Vinaphone counter at Hanoi airport to call for us.

Problems

Everything worked perfectly until we got to HCMC where we’d lose any data service for hours at a time. It seemed to work better if we turned 3G off, but still not very reliable. Possibly just a problem that they were having at the time, but we were there long enough to find out.

Also, when we ran out of credit (so the automated debit did not come off), it seemed to revert to charging by usage rather than a daily charge. I think that we needed to re-apply the daily package as described above again.

Summary

Despite the issues in HCMC, we were happy with Vinaphone.

The Thakhek Loop, Unlooped

kate — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 09:46:24 +0000

Our ride: A Honda XR250 Baja

From Vientiane, our next destination was Thakhek, a town in central Laos. Thakhek is fairly well known for "The Loop". This is a motorcycle trip which takes people anywhere from two days to a week, exploring some of the wonderful back roads of central Laos and usually starting and ending in Thakhek. Instead of catching a bus to Thakhek and then doing the loop from there, we decided to kick off our own "Unloop" from Vientiane and ending in Thakhek, while still taking in most of the same sights. This adventure turned out to be one of the highlights of our time in Laos and we would highly recommend it to anyone travelling from Vientiane to Thakhek who's considering doing the Loop.

We hired a Honda Baja XR250 from Jules Classic Company which was definitely the best motorcycle rental outfit that we’ve come across in South East Asia so far. The bike came with full insurance and good quality, new helmets. Owner Thierry has even had the pillion foot pegs on his bikes lowered to make the ride more comfortable for passengers. We arranged with Jules Classic to have our luggage shipped to Thakhek for a small fee and agreed to drop the bikes off with their agent when we arrived in Thakhek.

For the first day was a long day’s riding at around 280km and took us to Na Hin. We rode as much as we could off Highway 13, using a good condition dirt road which runs alongside the Mekong for some of the way. Head for Buddha Park and continue straight along this dirt road. Eventually this joins back onto Highway 13, a fairly boring ride until you reach Highway 8. Riding eastwards on Highway 8 was spectacular. We wound up and down steep mountain passes on an excellent quality road, passing amazing mountain views and strange karst limestone clusters.

Once we reached Na Hin, the guesthouse that we planned to stay at was full and they directed us to the excellent Sainamhai Resort where we stayed in a very nice new bungalow. The resort is very new, and is not yet in any of the guidebooks, but we highly recommend staying here. Free coffee, excellent food with fabulous portions and very friendly staff made for a perfect rest stop. Ask a local in Na Hin for directions to Sainamhai, as it’s fairly tricky to find.

Continues below...

Getting ready to travel through Tham Kong Lo

Stalactites in Tham Kong Lo Cave

The following day, we headed off to one of Laos’ hidden wonders of nature – Tham Kong Lo – a cave which runs 7km through a mountain and has a river running through it, linking two villages. The road to the cave was only built a few years ago, so it is still very unknown, but we reckon it will become a major tourist attraction in Laos over the next few years. For now it remains very low key – just a few tourists and local villagers.

To explore it, we hired two guides and a long-tail boat. It is pitch black inside, but using a torchlight you get a glimpse of the massive proportions of the cave. Every now and then, we had to get out the boat and wade through shallow water as the guides carried the boat up mini rapids. Halfway through, we stopped; one of the guides flicked a switch and lit up amazing stalactites and stalagmites. The lights have been put in by a French organisation and are very well done. We then continued through the cave for about an hour until we emerged to a village on the other side of the mountain where we had a drink before heading back. Definitely worth a visit if you are in the area.

The following day, we continued on “The Loop”, but found ourselves at our next planned stop over Lak Xao at 11:30am. The town looked pretty awful after the magic of Na Hin, so we consulted the map and decided that we could easily make it all of the remaining 160km to Thakhek before it got dark. From Lak Xao, we headed south on Route 1E. Shortly after leaving Lak Xao the road deteriorated. We slowed down dramatically as we navigated a very badly maintained dirt road – after about 2 hours we’d only gone about 40km and we started to get worried – at the current pace, we wouldn’t make Thakhek until well after dark. And then all of sudden, the road turned into a fantastic road – still dirt, but in excellent condition. This was a relief as we could speed up and get back on track again.

Shortly after this, we rounded a corner and were confronted by an incredibly eerie sight – black water, perfectly still, spread in front of us, and out of it were hundreds of dead trees – all black, like the water. It turned out that the Nam Theun Dam had been built a few years before and what we were seeing were the forests that were flooded when the dam went in. Of course, this is also why the road was being so well maintained.

The rest of the trip was uneventful and we arrived in Thakhek well before sunset, but what an amazing adventure it was!

Formations in Tham Kong Lo Cave

Going up a rapid, Tham Kong Lo

Our guide, emerging from the other side of Tham Kong Lo cave

Route 1E, Laos

On Route 1E, Laos

Mandatory Headshot

On our way to Khoun Kong Leng.

View The Loop, "Unlooped" in a larger map

Buddha Park: It’s concrete and it’s wierd.

Andrew Newdigate — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 15:43:35 +0000

Buddha Park, or Xieng Khuan, is located about 25km outside of Vientiane, the capital city (or town, really) of Laos. To get there, we hired a tuk-tuk from the centre of town. The journey took about 45 minutes or so.

The park was built in 1958 by Luang Pu Bunleua Sulilat, a priest-shaman who attempted to integrate Hinduism and Buddhism into a single religion. After the communist revolution he fled to Thailand where he built another sculpture park in Nong Khai.

To put it mildly, Xieng Khuan is one of the most bizarre collections of statues we've ever encountered. Amongst the reclining Buddhas and three headed elephants you'll find all sorts of crazy monsters, some with multiple heads, some multiple tails. Others with abducted maidens in their hands. Everything is made from concrete. Unfortunately we didn't have a guide; it would probably make much more sense if you did. As it was, we didn't have a clue about what it was that we were looking at. It was puzzling but still extremely interesting to visit, and we would highly recommend visiting it.

Buddha Park, Vientiane, Laos

Reclining Buddha at Buddha Park, Vientiane, Laos

Three Headed Elephant at Buddha Park, Vientiane, Laos

Buddha Park, Vientiane, Laos

Statues, Buddha Park, Vientiane, Laos

View of Buddha Park, Vientiane, Laos

WTF?

Statue at Buddha Park, Vientiane, Laos

Statues at Buddha Park, Vientiane, Laos

Kate at Buddha Park, Vientiane, Laos

Want to see more photos or want to see bigger versions of them? Visit our Vientiane Photoset on Flickr, or view a Slideshow.

Vientiane, capital of Laos

Andrew Newdigate — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:57:36 +0000

Vientiane must be one of the most laid back capital cities in the world — like the rest of Laos everything seems to happen slowly there. We spent four nights in Vientiane where we treated ourselves to a fabulous guesthouse called Hotel Khamvongsa. The fast internet connection allowed us to spend some time catching up with the rest of the world and planning the next steps of our trip.

Vientiane does not have a huge number of sights to see, but it does have some great restaurants and the laid back atmosphere makes it a good place to chill out for a few days. One of the highlights for us was a visit to COPE which is an excellent and very moving exhibition on unexploded ordinances (UXOs) - definitely worth a visit if you are passing through. There are two rather strange sights to see around Vientiane. The first is the oriental Arc de Triomphe known as Patuxay (Victory Gate) which was built using cement donated by the Americans to be used to build a new airport. Not quite as impressive as the original, it is still worth a walk up to see the city views. The second is Buddha Park (aka Xieng Khuan) which is about 25km outside of Vientiane. The park was built in 1958 by a priest/shaman who wanted to integrate Hindu and Buddhism and contains of a collection of rather bizarre concrete Hindu and Buddhist statues.

We hired bicycles to get around, which was very easy as it is pretty flat and the traffic is minimal and slow. On these, we could venture a bit further a field to Pha That Luang, a massive golden Buddhist stupa of great importance to the Laos people, which was unfortunately closed, but from what we could see was quite spectacular.

One of the highlights of Vientiane was definitely the food — we had a lot of excellent international food (French and Italian), but also some great Lao food at the stalls along the Mekong. Great for visiting at sunset, these stalls sell a huge variety of food and walking along them you can see all sorts waiting to be eaten - live frogs and fish in buckets and all manner of vegetables.

VW Beetle, Vientiane, Laos

Tuk-tuk, Vientiane, Laos

Market Vendors, Vientiane, Laos

Vientiane Night Market, Vientiane, Laos

Lao-style Deep Fried Fish

Beerlao

Street Food, Vientiane, Laos

Buddha Statues at Wat Si Saket, Vientiane, Laos

Buddha Statue at Wat Si Saket, Vientiane, Laos

Damaged Buddha Statues at Wat Si Saket, Vientiane, Laos

Wat Si Saket, Vientiane, Laos

Tourist Monks

Buddhist Monks with camera phones, Vientiane, Laos

Patuxay, Vientiane, Laos

Pha That Luang, Vientiane, Laos

Want to see more photos or want to see bigger versions of them? Visit our Vientiane Photoset on Flickr, or view a Slideshow.

Vang Vieng

Andrew Newdigate — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 08:05:06 +0000

Last Tubers of the Day, Vang Vieng

We arrived in Vang Vieng after a rather hairy seven hour minibus taxi ride from Luang Prabang. The trip was advertised as four hours, but our busted up transport was definitely past it’s sell by date. It was old, cramped and very slow.

If the bus was old and tired, the driver was even more so. Never before has there been such a perfect match. If it hadn’t been for Anne, who was sitting up front talking to him in Northern Thai, he would certainly have fallen asleep. As it was, his eyes would shut for moments until Anne politely prompted him with a question or comment and he would wake up. At least it wasn’t possible to go fast in the old banger, which allowed us to enjoy the spectacular views from the numerous mountain passes.

Set on the Nam Song River amongst a series of grand karst limestone peaks which dominate the landscape, Vang Vieng is a dusty collection of concrete guest-houses, woven bamboo bungalows, bars, restaurants and backpacker amenities: internet cafes, travel agents and the like. Bamboo bridges, which are rebuilt seasonally after the rains, crisscross the river.

We found some nice accommodation at the Other Side Bungalows, across a rickety bamboo bridge from the main drag.

In the evening, the whole town feels like a festival. The muddy streets are lined with dozens of bars, each trying to outdo its neighbours with the number of blinking lights on display and the volume of the music blasting out – no matter how few customers they have. At our bungalow, the lights would flicker, seemingly in time to the distant beats rolling across the river from the louder bars. Its as if the towns electricity supply (available most of the time) has been overloaded by the bar sound systems, causing the synchronicity between our pulsing lights and the music.

Occasionally you’ll bump into stumbling, laughing, crazy-eyed gap-year students falling around the streets: they’ve had a bit too much from the “happy” menu available at the bars.

Set further back from the river you’ll find lots of restaurants with TVs prominently displayed, most playing the US TV series Friends day and night. A few play Family Guy. Its bizarre in the extreme: in Laos, in this incredibly beautiful setting, people are spending their time watching crap American TV.

Tubing in the Vang Vieng

Vang Vieng’s main attraction is the tubing. This involves hiring a large tractor tyre inner-tube and traveling by tuk-tuk to a point several kilometres upstream of Vang Vieng on the Nam Song from where you can float back to the town.

If you think it sounds like a serene, relaxing way to spend an afternoon you couldn’t be more wrong. The river is lined with dozens of bars, each with a pumping sound-system, a zip-line, swing or water-slide for the amusement of drunken patrons and possibly also a dance floor full of people cutting rug in their costumes. Most of the bars also offer free shots of Lao-lao, a brutally strong moonshine and also have the ubiquitous happy menu.

Within minutes of floating out onto the river, Richie had nearly had a drunk Japanese guy fall out of the sky on him – he fell from a swing and landed inches from where Richie had serenely been floating along. Some of the swings actually cross paths, so if you or the other swinger (er? I’m guessing that’s not the best name for someone using a swing?) are not paying attention, you could easily have a nasty mid-air collision.

In fact, the whole place is a bit like a scene from one of those silly Health & Safety training videos. You can almost imagine the scene on video with a voiceover in 1950′s BBC-english saying something like: “As you can see, several major health & safety violations are occurring. Can you spot them?”

Very soon you’ve had too much to drink for someone who’s supposed to be swimming 4km down a river (even if you have got a floatation aid).

As the afternoon rolled on, we began to realise that we hadn’t made very much progress back to town. There is a late-fee if you return the tube later than 6pm and in four of so hours we had only made it about one-third of the way. In the ensuing rush, I managed to loose a pair of Oakleys. Kate also managed to loose my shirt. We only made it back into Vang Vieng with minutes to spare and with the sun long gone. Top tip: if you’re planning on going tubing, make sure you keep track of the time!

Other than the wonderful disregard for any health & safety, there is nothing about this town that has any of the laid-back character of Laos. The town has sold its soul for a quick buck, which is such a pity because it could be so much more than it is, although if I was 12 years younger and closer to the average age of the visitors here, I would probably absolutely love it.

The Nam Song River, Vang Vieng

Riding a scooter across bamboo bridge, Vang Vieng

Vang Vieng by Night

Getting my ducks in a row, Vang Vieng

Eating a Sandwich with Chopsticks

Harvesting Clovers, Vang Vieng

Happy Menu, Vang Vieng

Anne & Richie, Vang Vieng

Luang Prabang

Andrew Newdigate — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 05:03:48 +0000

We arrived in the former capital of Laos on the day before New Year’s Eve. The town was absolutely packed for upcoming festivities and it was apparent that the few remaining guesthouses that still had any rooms available had hiked their prices substantially for the influx of people. Luckily we managed to find a reasonable guesthouse close to the centre of town, but many people who arrived the next day really struggled to find accommodation.

Luang Prabang is jam-packed with boutique hotels, cozy cafes and gourmet restaurants. Its like a town straight out of a Mr & Mrs Smith catalog (oddly enough, they don’t actually have a guide from Luang Prabang).

New Years Eve was spent at Hive, a local bar/club, and most of New Year’s Day was spent nursing a horrible hangover; a result of Lao-lao, the local moonshine, and too much Beerlao, although I think the Lao-lao was more to blame. Lao-lao, by the way, is one of the most horrible spirits known to man. In my hazy recollection, it tastes pretty much the same as surgical spirits.

One morning, I got up early and gave alms to the monks. Every morning at day-break, hundreds of monks and novices stream out of the many wats and receive alms from the residents (and tourists) of Luang Prabang. I hadn’t planned to participate in the ceremony, only to watch, but a crafty local entrepreneur quickly seized upon me, jammed a basket of sticky rice in my hands and commanded me to kneel down and wait for the monks to pass. Of course, she demanded payment for the rice. It was exorbitant, but surely it would be wrong to haggle over the price of alms for Buddhist monks? Before the rational part of my brain could respond the sucker part of my brain had handed over the cash.

We also visited the amazing Tat Kuang Si waterfalls, about 30 km outside of town. The water the most incredible turquoise colour, caused by the large amounts of calcium in the water. This calcium deposits itself on everything along the river, and the edge of the waterfall is constantly being built outwards by it, creating wonderfully overhung pools above each waterfall.

On the same trip to the waterfalls, we also visited Pak Ou caves, but were less impressed by the caves than by the waterfall: they were definitely more of a tourist trap and a bit overpriced for what they were.

All-in-all, we absolutely loved Luang Prabang. No doubt, it’s expensive by Lao standards and very touristy, but its UNESCO World Heritage status has protected it from much of the crumbiness that tourism attracts, and the town manages to retain it’s wonderfully laid-back-yet-sophisticated charm.

Photoset on Flickr / Slideshow

Down the Mekong by Slowboat

kate — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 05:11:02 +0000

Slowboats, Pakbeng, Laos

After one last night in Chiang Mai, we headed to Laos with Richie and Anne. We booked a package transfer which would take us all the way to Luang Prabang over three days. We set off on the first leg at midday in a comfortable minivan — luckily we were picked up first, so had a pick of the best seats. The drive was pretty long (around 6-7 hours) and took us to the border town of Chiang Khong where we spent the night at a basic, but clean guest house. We were given supper and breakfast there as part of the package as well as a packed lunch for the next day, and they also took our passports and got them stamped at the Thai border for us and started the process on the Laos side.

The next morning we started the second part of our journey — a two day slow boat down the Mekong, ending in Luang Prabang. We headed of at around 9am to cross the border into Laos – transport across the river was a powered canoe as there is no bridge. The town on the Laos side is called Huang Xai. The visa process was pretty disorganised as Laos immigration had all our passports and would randomly hold them up one at a time for people to come forward to pay. It took quite a long time for the everyone to get through and Richie was the last out.

This is where the organisation that we’d seen so far as part of the packaged transfer ended. Once leaving the border post on the Laos side, there seemed to be random ‘guides’ waiting to collect a group big enough to take in a tuk-tuk – in no way related to the transfer company. Once it was full, we were driven to another port on the river where scare tactics were used to entice us into pre-booking a hotel at the overnight stop (Pakbeng) with stories of full hotels, dirty rooms and cold showers. It turned out that this was actually the best thing to do as we ended up in a decent place which was reasonably priced.

Once the selling was done, we were taken to our slow boat. If you haven’t seen one before, these are long, thin rectangular wooden boats that are packed with uncomfortable wooden benches. Our boat, as it turned out, was already pretty full and as we were getting on rowdy people started chanting “Full! Full! Full!” – it wasn’t the warmest welcome! We struggled to find two benches together, but some kind people moved around for us and so we could all sit together. Luckily we ended up towards the back as it turned out that the rowdy people at the front were ready to party the whole way. By the time we departed (at around noon) they had already finished at least one bottle of whiskey between about four of them and were tucking into the second one, and getting louder in the process. Fine in certain circumstances, but definitely not the people that you want to be seating next to for six uncomfortable hours. I was also really glad that we’d spent the THB40 on cushions as the wooden benches would have felt very hard by the end of the trip without them!

Despite the party happening at the front of the boat, as soon as the we set off, time slowed down. It was incredible peaceful sitting on the boat looking at the beautiful scenery go by and getting a glimpse of the villages as we passed them by. Reading a bit, chatting a bit and just watching the world go by — definitely a great way to relax and get into Lao time. The scenery was mostly green rolling hills with little villages dotted here and there, and canoes and boats docked on the shores. Every now and then we pass a slowboat heading up the river — almost completely empty with its passengers enjoying loads of spaces and waving at us gleefully when they saw our packed boat – if we did it again, we’d definitely do it in reverse!

The first day took just over 6 hours and we arrived in Pakbeng just after sunset. Getting off the boat was a bit of a trauma as there did not seem to be any organisation for how to get your bags off — they were randomly passed off the boat, often picked up by one of the children from the village who would start walking off with them. I don’t think that they meant any harm, as they were just trying to earn some money by carrying the bags, not steal them, but it is pretty concerning when it’s getting dark and people are walking off with bags that may be yours! Eventually we got our bags and headed into Pakbeng. While it once must have been like all the other villages that we passed, this town now revolves completely around the boat loads of tourists that stop off on their Mekong trip. It had a good selection of restaurants and numerous hotels/guesthouses available. Our place was at the top of the hill and was clean and comfortable, although the hot water did not work at all.

The following morning we were told to be at the peer by 9am. Again, it seemed very disorganised as no one was quite sure which boat was going, but we eventually made it on to one and set off for Luang Prabang. The second day passed much as the first, although the party people from the day before were somewhat subdued and looked very tired! We arrived in Luang Prabang at just after sunset (as Richie said — it doesn’t matter what time you depart, you end up arriving just after sunset) where we planned to spend New Year’s Eve.

Slowboat on the Mekong

On the Mekong

Slowboats, Pakbeng, Laos

Slowboats on the Mekong, Laos

Slowboat Family, Pakbeng, Laos

Photoset on Flickr / Slideshow

Christmas in Chiang Dao

Andrew Newdigate — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 05:20:48 +0000

After spending a very relaxing week of chilling out in the sun in Koh Lanta, we packed our bags and flew back to Bangkok for our journey up to Chiang Mai, where we would be meeting our friends Richie and Anne for Christmas.

Once in Bangkok, we headed from Suvarnabhumi International, across town to Hualamphong train station by bus in some of the worst traffic we seen yet. Luckily we had allowed loads of time for the journey, so we didn’t miss our train.

The Bangkok-Chiang Mai Sleeper Train

Onboard the Chiang Mai sleeper coach

The overnight sleeper train was clean and modern and a real pleasure. We arrived in Chiang Mai in the morning after a comfortable overnight journey.

Chiang Mai was our first chance on our trip to restock on supplies and we spent most of our first day in Chiang Mai in big, modern shopping mall replenishing supplies and buying some Christmas presents.

I also got a haircut. The hairdresser looked like a very camp Thai boy-band pop-star and, through his hairdressing, tried his best to make me look like one too. “Your face too big, I fix with nice fringe.” he told me. Whenever I suggested a change to his “masterpiece” he shrieked in indignation and eventually I gave up and accepted I would look a bit silly until it grew out a bit.

On Christmas Day we headed up to Chiang Dao, about 70 km north of Chiang Mai where we stayed at the fabulous Chiang Dao Nest and were joined by Hinch and Moi, some friends of Richie & Anne. Chiang Dao Nest is owned and run by a British-Thai couple, Stuart and Wicha, who’ve moved back to Thailand after living in the UK.

At the Nest, we had an amazing Christmas Dinner including the works: good wine, turkey, stuffing, fantastic roast potatoes, even sprouts (skipped, of course)!. Not what you would expect this deep in jungles of South East Asia! After dinner, local dancers entertained the crowds with traditional Thai dance, and after that everyone settled around bonfires for marshmallows and gallons of red wine until the early hours of the morning.

Christmas Dinner at Chiang Dao Nest

Traditional Thai Dancers

Chiang Dao is located at the foot of the 2186 m Doi Chaing Dao Mountain, and it’s possible to do a two-day trek up to the peak. Being Christmas, we decided to take it easy instead, visiting the Chiang Dao cave, and the stunning Wat Tham Pha Plong. In the cave, we hired a guide who told us “I speak English”. Unfortunately, that sentence was the limit of his English skills. Anne became our translator while all the (rather imaginative) formations where pointed our to us, including the Dead Elephant, Elephants Lungs, Widows Tits and Angels Wings.

After three fantastic days, we headed back to Chaing Mai to prepare for our trip to Laos with Richie and Anne.

Roasting Marshmallows

Christmas Fireworks

Around the Fire after Christmas

Roasting Chestnuts

Frogs outside Chiang Dao Cave

Chiang Dao Cave

The Elephants Lungs

Shrine inside Chiang Dao Cave

Chiang Dao Cave

Wat Tham Pha Plong

Krabi Night Market

Andrew Newdigate — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 17:24:18 +0000

Photoset on Flickr / Slideshow

Krabi Town is the provincial capital of Krabi province in southern Thailand and has a good modern airport served by numerous domestic flights and some international flights too. If you’re planning on flying to Koh Lanta, you’ll most likely pass through here.

The guidebooks are quite unkind about Krabi, but we appreciated it’s laid back attitude, even though we were only staying for a short while. The night market was a great place to pick up a cheap but very tasty dinner and I got to take a few photos before and after.

Making pancakes in Krabi night market.

Grumpy Chef; Tasty Pastry

Supper

Night Market, Krabi, Thailand

Watermelons

At the market, Krabi, Thailand

Night market

Relax Bay, Koh Lanta

Andrew Newdigate — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 03:24:17 +0000

Photoset on Flickr / Slideshow

After Nepal and India, we decided to take a bit of a break from travelling and do a bit of chilling! Koh Lanta is an island south of Phuket on the Andaman coast of Thailand and it’s where I proposed to Kate two years ago when we were last in Thailand. It’s a perfect place to just chill out on a beautiful tropical beach, work on your tan and read a good book, and that’s exactly what we did for about 10 days, except for a spot of snorkelling at Koh Rok and scuba diving at Koh Bida.

Laterns at the Restuarant at Relax Bay

Suppertime!

Playing the fool at the bar at Relax Bay

Koh Rok, a beautiful island south of Koh Lanta where I proposed to Kate

Chilling on a speed-boat

Fire jugglers practicing at sunset on Koh Lanta

Sawadee Krup!

It doesn’t look very dark or stormy in this shot, but actually there was a fairly large thunderstorm underway off the coast. Unfortunately I didn’t manage to capture any of the lighting bolts, but this long exposure just about captured some of the sheet lightning lighting up the sky.

The glowing lights behind the horizon are fishing boats which use large lights to attract fish at night.

The Monsoon Palace

Andrew Newdigate — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 03:00:28 +0000

The Monsoon Palace is a beautiful structure that sits high above the city of Udaipur in Rajastan, India. It was used as a set in James Bond movie Octopussy in 1983. Unfortunately, while the palace is pretty from far, in reality, it’s far from pretty. Years of neglect show, and while repairs are now finally underway, the palace still offers little to the visitor other than stunning views across Udaipur.

Crash!

Andrew Newdigate — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 12:26:37 +0000

The Before

“Chuffed as chips”

The After

“Not such a hardcore biker now, are we?”

Actually it was a small crash. Luckily Kate and I were both okay: it was more of a shock than anything else.

That morning I had hired a Royal Enfield Bullet 350cc motorcycle in Udaipur, India. These bikes are true dinosaurs: the design is over 50 years old. It is the oldest production run bike in the world! I had to ride one!

Thing is, in 1955 when the Bullet was designed, motorcycles were very different to the modern day bike: the front drum brake is very weak compared to disk brakes; the gears work in the opposite direction to modern bikes and the rear brake and gear selectors are on opposite sides to what we ride today.

Added together, these differences make for a very different ride.

I took the bike out in the Udaipur traffic by myself and once I was satisfied that I could ride it, went back to the hotel and picked Kate up. We visited the Monsoon Palace, nearby Udaipur, then decided to head up into the hills behind the city.

We travelled up a beautiful mountain pass, past an amazing shrine and saw some stunning views on the other side. It was our first glimpse at the Indian countryside and I was surprised at how sparsely populated it was, considering it’s the second most populous nation on the planet.

As we approached one hairpin bend, I realised that we were going to hit a patch of gravel and oil left behind after some construction work. I reflexively hit went for the front brake. It managed to slow the bike to about running pace by the time we hit the oil, but when we hit the slick, the front wheel locked-up and the bike – and ourselves – went sprawling across the tarmac in a sort of slow-motion lowside.

We hopped about and cursed and yelped and checked that we were both okay – which, thank goodness, we were – and then I picked the bike out of the road. After a minute, two Indians on another bike stopped to check on us. Other than some minor bumps and bruises we were both fine, although Kate was extremely lightheaded afterwards and we needed to stop every two minutes for fear of her fainting until we found a shop in a tiny village at the bottom of the pass.

The Indians had patiently escorted us down. I brought some fizzy drinks and we drank them in the shade of a tree. What seemed like half the village had soon assembled around us and was asking us the questions Indians always ask couples: “Where are you from?”, ”Are you married?”, “Do you have children?”. Our escorters interpreted for us.

We rode (slowly!) back to Udaipur, I dropped the bike off at the rental shop and it was given a once-over by the owner, who was obviously suspicious as to why I wanted to drop the bike off several hours early and with half-a-tank of petrol remaining. Luckily there was no visible damage.

I thanked him for the use of the old thumper, and walked off, doing my best not to show my limp.

Udaipur

Andrew Newdigate — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 05:03:14 +0000

Udaipur was definitely the highlight of our trip to India. It was the smallest city we visited in the country, but definitely our favourite.

We spend three nights in Udaipur. We arrived on the overnight sleeper train from Jaipur at six in the morning and checked into our Hotel, the Mewar Haveli. Almost immediately I noticed a big difference from the other Indian cities we had visited to date: people were much friendly, helpful and not necessarily trying to sell you something.

Udaipur Photoset on Flickr / Slideshow

Udaipur is set on the Pichola Lake. Two palaces, Jagniwas Palace and the Lake Palace are built on islands on the lake. Surrounding the lake, numerous other palaces have been built, and in the distance, the Monsoon Palace is perched above the city. Octopussy, the Bond movie, was mainly set in this city, and if you need proof, numerous bars around town show the movie every night at 7pm sharp.

The Lake Palace Hotel resembles a giant wedding cake and it’s used as the ultimate wedding venue for the very rich. Several nights during our stay there were weddings at the venue with amazing fireworks displays to add to the amazing scenery.

We managed to see the surrounding countryside by hiring an old Royal Enfield motorcycle (more about that in a future post), and visited the Monsoon Palace and Ubeshwarji, a Shiva shrine, in the hills high above the city. The Monsoon Palace is definitely pretty from far, but far from pretty – it’s derelict, but the views are excellent, and riding out into the countryside and up the pass to visit Ubeshwarji was definitely a highlight of the trip.

We also explored some hills and villages surrounding the city on horse, which made a great day out and I would highly recommend it – we went with Krishna Ranch and it cost us INR950 for a 4 hour trip, with lunch included.

Jaipur

Andrew Newdigate — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 04:48:46 +0000

We spent two days in Jaipur and stayed at the Pearl Palace Hotel. This is definitely one of the best budget hotels I’ve ever stayed in. If you’re ever in Jaipur, I would highly recommend staying at the Pearl Palace.

Photoset on Flickr

Delhi and Agra

Andrew Newdigate — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 08:09:54 +0000

Although we’re travelling for almost a year, we somehow managed to end up in the position where we could only spend 10 days in the vast, varied country of India. We could have easily spent 6 months exploring the country!

The brevity of our visit meant that we could only spend one day in Delhi and one day in Agra.

Photoset on Flickr

Delhi

In Delhi we hired a driver and taxi for the day (for INR1000) so that we could see as much of the city in a short a time as possible. With our driver, we visited Humayun's tomb, the Lotus Temple (below), Dilli Haart for lunch, Rajpath and the president’s house and ended up in one of the swanky bars in Connaught Place for drinks and then dinner afterwards.

Agra

We caught the train from Delhi to Agra. It was much better than I had expected. We were told by many of travellers to expect the worst, but in reality the station was fairly orderly, the train clean and even on time.

We arrived in Agra and met an Indian work colleague from the UK for a great lunch in a revolving restaurant above Agra. Afterwards we headed off for the Red Fort. After fighting our way through the masses of touts that stand outside every attraction in Agra (and most other places too) we were completely amazed by this incredible building. I’ve not seen anything like it anywhere in the world! Our only regret was that we didn’t have a guide, so we may have missed some interesting bits.

That night we tried to find a good restaurant or bar, but found little other than the ones in hotels. Agra seems to have very little to offer away from it’s incredible architectural wonders.

Next morning we visited the Taj Mahal. I got up early (6am) to avoid the crowds and get the best sunrise photos. Kate arrived later, but was unable to gain entry as she didn’t have any cash and none of the ATMs in town were working. Eventually she managed to pursued one of guards to let me out to give her cash, then readmit me.

The Taj is easily the most incredible piece of architecture I’ve ever seen. The symmetry and precision and attention to detail have to be seen to be believed. What makes it all the more amazing is the fact that everything was done by hand before the invention of laser cutters, GPS and all the other tools which would be essential in building such a building today.

The Rest of Nepal

Andrew Newdigate — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 06:35:30 +0000

Aside from the Annapurna Base Camp trek, we also spent a few days in Kathmandu and Pokhara.

Unfortunately most of the time we had set aside was taken up trying to get my luggage sent to Kathmandu, after Virgin Atlantic failed to load it onto my flight, then repeatedly failed to send it when they said they would.

Photoset on Flickr

Kathmandu

Kathmandu is a bustling city. We stayed at the Ganesh Himal Hotel, just outside of the Thamel tourist district.

Fewa Tal

Fewa Tal is a beautiful lake along which the town of Pokhara has grown up. This shot was taken in the morning, after we had visited the World Peace Pagoda for sunrise, high up on the hill above the town.

Annapurna Base Camp Trek

Andrew Newdigate — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 17:29:44 +0000

These photographs were all taken on the 9-day Annapurna Base Camp (aka Annapurna Sanctuary) trek that Kate and I did in Nepal.

Photoset on Flickr

Although the trek was advertised as an 11-day trek, we easily did it in 9 days. Our route was as follows:

Day 1: Nayapool (1060m) to Tikhe Dhunga (1577m)

Easy starting day: we walked from the trailhead at Nayapool to Tikhe Dhunga, about 6 hours walk. Tikhe Dhunga has some nice waterfalls and you can walk down to the river near the town.

Day 2: Tikha Dhunga to Ghorepani (2850m)

Day two was a fairly tough hike – almost consistently uphill.

Day 3: Early start to visit Poon Hill (3200m), then to Chuile (2150m), via Tadapani (2630m)

We set off for Poon Hill at about 5am to catch the sunrise. Many people were up and everyone hiked silently to the top of the hill in the dark, using their headlamps for light. I was worried about breaking into a sweat on the climb, as once we got to the top we would no longer be active and it was below freezing. Luckily, it’s not possible to walk very fast due as everyone walks in single file and the pace is determined by the crowd and isn’t very fast.

We arrived a little before sunrise and I setup my camera equipment. My plan was to make a timelapse movie of the sun rising over the Annapurna Massif. Unfortunately the constantly changing light conditions make this technically more difficult than I was expecting and it hasn’t come out very well.

The sunrise was easily one of the most beautiful natural scenes we’ve ever laid our eyes on. In a sweeping panorama spanning almost 270 degrees, some of the highest peaks in the world begin to light with bright yellow sunlight.

After sunrise we headed down to Ghorepani for breakfast, then headed up to Tadapani and finally to Chuile where we stopped for the day at about 4pm and watched the local kids playing hide-and-go-seek in garden of the tea-house.

Day 4: Chuile to Dovan (2286m), via Chhomgrong (2040m)

From Chuile we descended down a steep valley and up the other side of the valley to Chhomrong, then down and up another very steep valley on the other side of the town (someone told me there are 2000 step descending down the valley). We had lunch in Sinuwa and got to Bamboo at about 4pm. We were getting tired, but decided to head on for Dovan, the next town along where we were going to meet up with Mats, a Swede who was walking the same route as us.

Between Bamboo and Dovan, we bumbed into someone we know from London! It was completely unexpected and quite a shock to see them. We hadn’t seen them in about 3 years, but it was nice to catch up quickly as we passed on another in different directions.

Day 5: Dovan to Machapuchare Base Camp/MBC (3703m)

Another hard day, but we got to MBC by about 2pm and it was nice to sit around enjoying the epic scenery for the afternoon. Mid afternoon a thick fog rolled in and we went indoors and chatted to the other trekkers. Just before sunset the sky cleared and we had some amazing views of Machapuchare illuminated by the last rays of the day. Real magic!

Day 6: MBC to Annapurna Base Camp/ABC (4130m) for sunrise, then down to Sinuwa (2340m)

Another morning of waking up at 4:45am. By 5am we were walking up to ABC in the dark. Kate’s headlamp failed, so I gave her mine and then stumbled up in the near darkness. As sunrise approached, the mountains became illuminated in the most beautiful way – they almost looked luminous. In the cold I managed a few hand-held snaps.

We got to ABC just before the sun light Annapurna I. We took photographs and enjoyed the amazing show nature was putting on for us, then had some breakfast at ABC. Although we were at a very high altitude, we didn’t feel any signs of altitude sickness – we didn’t struggle to sleep to much and we both still had healthy appetites.

From ABC we did a long hike down to Sinuwa. By the time we got there we had been hiking for 11 hours and were very tired.

Day 7: Sinuwa to Jhinu (1760m)

I awoke with a horribly sore knee. This was probably from all the downhill the day before. When I awoke, I struggled to bend it and was quite worried about hiking at all that day. After taking some anti-inflammatories the pain went away, and luckily it didn’t come back.

Jhinu is only three hours walk from Sinuwa and we spent the afternoon at the hot springs near Jhinu. It was great to chill a little.

Day 8: Jhinu to Syauli Bazar (1190m)

Another very short day – only 3 hours hiking once again. Our guide pulled a rat out of the kitchen of the tea-house we were staying. He was holding it in a pair on tongs, showing it to Kate and I, when it wriggled around and bit him. He threw it in the bushes and it ran away. Kate was very worried about rats after that. I meant to have a word with the guide and tell him it’s probably better not to show girls rats you’ve pulled from the kitchen.

Day 9: Syauli Bazar to Nayapool (1060m)

Only about 2 or 3 hours walk to the end of the trail. Nayapool is a busy market town and it’s quite dirty and busy after the natural beauty of the trek – a bit of a shock to the system. From there, we caught a taxi back to Pokhara for some well deserved rest and relaxation.

Round the World Travel Gear, version 1.0

Andrew Newdigate — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 10:56:06 +0000

Round the World Travel Gear, version 1.0, originally uploaded by Andrew Newdigate.

In preparation for our round-the-world trip, I’ve been putting together a list of photography equipment that I plan to take along.

The main bits are:
* Canon 5D Mark II
* Apple Macbook Pro 13″
* Canon 24-70 F2.8L lens
* Canon 70-200 F4L lens
* Canon 50mm F1.4 lens
* Panasonic Lumix FX33
* Slik Sprint Mini II tripod

.. and various covers, cables, connectors, chargers and batteries.

The Eclipse is Coming

Andrew Newdigate — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 15:54:21 +0000

The Eclipse is Coming, originally uploaded by Andrew Newdigate.

Soulipse, Turkey, March 2006.

I took this photograph at the Soulclipse Festival near Antalya in Turkey, minutes before a total solar eclipse turned day into night. You can’t really notice it in the photograph, but it was getting pretty dark by this point.

End of a Long Day at Freedom Festival 2009

Andrew Newdigate — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 12:18:05 +0000

End of a Long Day at Freedom Festival 2009, originally uploaded by Andrew Newdigate.

I saw this couple sitting on the edge of the alternative stage at Freedom Festival 2009, watching the sun go down over the hills. The body language seems to indicate some tension, but I think they were just tired after a long day of partying in the heat and dust.

Seven Really Useful iPhone Apps for Round-the-World Travel

Andrew Newdigate — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 18:53:16 +0000

An iPhone isn’t an immediately obvious choice as the phone to take with you when backpacking your way around the world: it’s limited battery life, fragility and the fact that it will attract unwanted attention all work against it. However, the fact that it is so much more versatile than a normal phone more than makes up for this.

Taking an iPhone can save you having to take an ipod, GPS, Guidebooks, language guides, maps, printed itineraries and it even works pretty well as a phone!

If you do decide to take your iPhone along with you, here are a few applications which I’ve found to be pretty useful:

Offmaps by Felix Lamouroux

Offmaps is an offline map viewer for the iphone. Unlike the Apple Maps app, Offmaps will cache the map tiles so that you can view maps when a data connection is unavailable (or indeed, to expensive to use!). Offmaps also claims to allow access to WikiTravel articles from within the application, but I’ve found that this only works when in online mode.

Unlike the Apple mapping app, which uses Google Maps, Offmaps uses OpenStreetMap.org, a sort of wikipedia for maps.

Download Offmaps from

ICOON Global Picture Dictionary by Amberpress

Amberpress are the producers of the popular ICOON “wordless universal phrase book”, that is: a book of pictures which you can point at when you’re trying to communicate with someone who shares no common language with you. ICOON have now also brought out an iPhone app containing the same content as the book. On opening the application, you’re presented with a number of categories, for example: Health, Money, Accommodation, etc. Each of these categories contains set of easily understood images, which can be viewed in landscape or portrait mode.

Download ICOON Global Picture Dictionary from

World Facts by Fuzzy Peach LLC

World Facts is an offline iPhone version of the CIA World Fact Book. It contains all sorts of information about every country in the world. It also contains useful high-level maps. While this app would not be useful for everyone, anyone who’s a bit of an anorak will love it.

Download World Facts from

PayBack by Andrew Cunningham

You’ll find this app incredibly useful if you ever travel in a group – especially when there’s more that two of you. PayBack allows you to keep track of all the expenses incurred on your trip, who paid the expense, and who was involved. This means that not everyone shares each expense. PayBack will also work out the minimum number of transactions needed to settle all debts. As the author says: “If you have friends and you go on trips, and you want to keep your friends, then you need PayBack”.

Download PayBack from

Trails by Felix Lamouroux

Trails is a great application for recording your route, whether you’re hiking, skiing, cycling or doing any number of other activities. It provides statistics such as distance, average speed, ascent, descent and many more. It also allows you to publish your route via email, everytrail or trailrunner. You can even view your routes in Google Earth by importing the GPX file.

Download Trails from

TripIt by TripIt Inc.

I use the TripIt website to help plan my travels. It’s especially useful for the “bigger”, scheduled bits, like airline or railway travel. The TripIt app will synchronize with the website and keep a copy of your itinerary on your phone, which will then be available offline.

Once synchronized, you’ll have access to directions, maps, booking confirmation numbers and most of the other information you’ve got on the TripIt website.

Download TripIt from

1Password by Agile Web Solutions

I use 1Password on my Mac and find it incredibly useful for saving passwords and other sensitive information in a secure way. The makers of 1Password have also brought out an iPhone application, which lets me store credit card numbers, account numbers and login information for all the websites I use in a single, password protected application. Having this information is invaluable: you never know when you may need to call you bank and cancel a card.

Download 1Password from

Glade Festival: Booka Shade

Andrew Newdigate — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 10:31:26 +0000

The German Electronic Act, Booka Shade, playing on the Glade Stage at the Glade Festival, 17 July 2009.

Friday Night at the Glade Stage

Andrew Newdigate — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 07:50:46 +0000

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Wakeboarding at Princes

Andrew Newdigate — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 08:55:00 +0000

This is a test of wordpress plus the Modularity theme. So far so good. Let’s see how it handles a bit of text content mixed in.

Greenwich at Sunset

Andrew Newdigate — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 08:04:06 +0000

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The Millennium Bridge

Andrew Newdigate — Tue, 12 May 2009 07:59:19 +0000