Bali, Singapore and Cambodia

Cambodia

We had wanted to go to Peninsular Malaysia after Singapore. However, as we had only planned to have a week there, we realised that a week was no way near enough time to get everything done, so we decided to add a week on to Cambodia and we will have to visit Malaysia on another trip!

We flew into Phnom Penh from Kuala Lumpar. Our first impressions were that that the roads were dirty and full of crazy drivers. There were also even more motorbikes and traffic than in Bali. Over the next two weeks, we frequently saw people trying to squeeze as much as possible on to a motorbike, without helmets, weaving in and out of the traffic. On our first day we went to Choeung Ek (The Killing Fields), about 20km from Phnom Penh. We got a tour guide who talked us through all the tragic events that happened in Cambodia. It was very upsetting and disturbing but worthwhile doing to try and appreciate what the Cambodians have been through. We also went to the Teoul Slueung Museum, where a lot of the torturing and interrogation occurred by the Khmer Rouge before people were taken away to places such as the Killing Fields.

The next day we got a private taxi to Koh Kong, on the boarder with Thailand. We could have got a shared taxi, but this would have involved 5 people sitting in the back with all their luggage on their laps, and 2 people in the front (not including the driver), and of course, no seat belts. We quickly decided to pass on that option! The cars do actually possess seatbelts, but the drivers hide them underneath the chairs so they give the passengers a more comfortable ride! The journey involved 4 river ferry crossings, but of course we were told that they were finished. These crossings involved the cars going on not much more than planks of wood strapped together and moving from one side to the other by the most pathetic engine. At night, the only light came from the car headlights and we saw some lorries get stuck as the ramp was too steep for them to drive up! On one of the crossings we had to wait for 1 1/2 hours for the ferry to come over (it was only 50m away - no idea!) The journey took 7 1/2 hours and was not much fun.

Koh Kong itself is not that great, the reason we went there was to go to the beautiful deserted island that is yet to be corrupted by tourism called Koh Kong Krau. As the island is in the Gulf of Thailand, it was lovely and the sea was clear and warm. To get to the island should be fairly straightforward and inexpensive, however, the Cambodians / Thai's living in the area were not that helpful. The price of the speedboat was more than we anticipated and unfortunately Koh Kong is bereft of many necessities including ATM's! We were left with a dilemma. Had we endured such a difficult journey for nothing, or was there any chance we could get some money; without either of us selling our bodies?!

We discovered that the nearest ATM was in fact in Thailand, which border's Cambodia to the west. We were told by a friendly part-time policeman, part-time hotel receptionist (who also let our room go the previous day) that he could give Dave a lift on his moto to the border - a mere 20 minute journey. Dave asked the obvious questions - how would he get into Thailand without his passport being stamped to leave Cambodia; thus preventing him from returning? "Not a problem" was the reply, "The ATM is this side of the Thai boarder". Dave was a little suspicious as he was told that he would still need his passport!

Desperate times forces one to do things that any rational person wouldn't dream of doing. Dave found himself speeding (no helmets in Cambodia) to the Thai border with the 'friendly policeman' (about 16 years old). On the way, literally 20 minutes into the journey, Dave was told to follow a few instructions that he would need for a successful transaction to take place. Dave responded "you said that the ATM was this side of the border"! When he arrived, the policeman left him in the hands of a very shady looking Cambodian who led him to the Cambodian immigration police. They were told that he just wanted to pop into Thailand to withdraw some money, but wanted to return with no new stamps in his passport. The Cambodian police found this amusing and strongly suggested that three bottles of 'green tea' would be required for this to take place. He reluctantly agreed and walked past them with his new shady friend. Then the friend explained that he could no longer go any further with Dave, and that he would need to follow his instructions carefully to continue. The Cambodian pointed to another crossing where there were several windows which contained unfriendly Thai immigration officials. Dave was instructed to go there, give them his passport (which they would apparently look after and not stamp) and say 'ATM'. Dave went over these instructions several times, before he strolled up to the window, past several Thai army officials doing routines with guns (not too scary really) and handed over his passport. The immigration official pointed in some vague manner to an invisible ATM nearby a very hectic market. Dave eventually found it and had to work out how to withdraw money from a machine where the instructions were entirely in Thai and the location was surrounded by hundreds of dodgy looking locals. Dave then had to calculate how much 1 Thai Baht was (never used them before) and then ask for a receipt. Fortunately both money and a receipt ejected out of the machine. He then had to barter with the locals for 3 bottles of 'green tea' from the Thai market, using US dollars. He needed the Thai Baht for the boat trip, Koh Kong uses three currencies, Thai Baht, Cambodian Reil and US Dollars. Basically, they choose the currency and screw you over with the exchange rate. Dave thought that Thai Baht would be the best negotiation currency for the forthcoming trip. He successfully haggled for the 'green tea' and then had the daunting task of returning to Cambodia without a passport. He walked up to the window where he had originally given his passport, only to find it closed! He went to the next one and just stood there looking at this angry Thai official. He pulled out about twenty passports, flicked through them all and produced mine; I guess there aren't many white Thai's in that area! Dave said 'thank you', which the angry man ignored, and proceeded to walk past the Thai army guards and back into the middle ground where the shady Cambodian waited. We walked together back to the Cambodian border police and presented them with their 'green tea', which apparently was very funny again. He walked onto Cambodian soil, took a deep breath of relief. Within a couple of seconds, Dave heard this noise 'tip', 'tip' in his ear. Surprise, surprise the shady man wanted some money. Dave gave him 1 US dollar which the Cambodian wasn't happy with, got on the friendly policeman's bike and headed back to Lins. When he arrived, the friendly policeman also wanted a 'tip'. He got less than the petrol it took to get him there and back and a firm 'no more' expression on Dave's face. Needless to say Lins was happy to see Dave again. All part of the experience they say - never again!

From Koh Kong, we got a ferry to Sianoukville. The ferry took 4 hours and had the usual one price for locals and another price for tourists (about 30 times cheaper!). On arrival we were hassled no-end by tuk-tuk and taxi drivers. Sianoukville was the only place since travelling that we have not booked our accommodation in advance as we were told that there were so many hotels there.....big mistake! We spent an hour driving and walking around in the scorching heat looking for somewhere to stay. We found one eventually and it turned out to be cheap but great and a 5 minute walk to Ochheuteal Beach.

We had a few days here to chill out. We went to Ochheuteal Beach for a day, but it was quite crowded and there was rubbish everywhere. It is such a shame, Cambodia is a lovely country in many parts but they have no idea of how to dispose of rubbish. Practically every road in Cambodia has litter all along the sides. The next day we went to Otres Beach, which was much nicer and quieter. We also did a snorkelling trip to three islands: Koh Kteah, Koh Russei and Koh Preus (Bamboo Island). We had a great time, although the snorkelling was pretty poor and we had some very drunk and annoying Russians on the trip who ruined it for everyone.

We also hired a tuk tuk for an evening and went to other places in Sianoukville: Sokha Beach, Serendipity Beach, Independence Beach, Victory Beach, the port, Weather Hill Station on Victory Hill, Sianoukville mountain, the downtown area and Wat Chotynieng where we saw the sunset over the town and learnt from our driver about how their used to be tigers roaming around not so long ago (before the Khmer Rouge).

We left Sianoukville to return to Phnom Penh by private taxi (which surprisingly was only a few more dollars than the bus and as usual we couldn't get a straight answer about how long the bus would take).

We met Lins' parents again in Phnom Penh and we all stayed at the famous FCC. We had 10 days with them in Cambodia and the south of Vietnam and they treated us to lots of things! It was very nice, although we got kept awake by the staff making bread all night (throwing it against the surfaces, making a very loud thudding noise)! Dave had to complain numerous times. We visited the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda (very nice), Wat Phonm, Wat Onnalun, the Russian and Central Markets and the Independence Monument.

We hired a private van to take us from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap. It only took 5 1/2 hours but then we had to spend 45 minutes looking for the guesthouse; the driver didn't have a clue and hardly any of the roads have names and / or signs in Cambodia. Our guesthouse was lovely, with really friendly Cambodian staff. We had a private driver and tour guide for the duration of our time in Siem Reap. On the first evening we headed straight out to buy our three day temple passes and then to Angkor Wat for the sunset. This turned out to be quite frustrating as we did not know where to stand for photos to get the best sunset! We then enjoyed a complimentary Khmer dinner. Our guesthouse did a brilliant 'lots of luxury' package, so all the temples and routes etc were planned out for us....no hassle for a few days at last!

On our first day, our guide and driver took us to Angkor Wat. We walked round the incredible monument for a few hours and gained an insight into the Khmer Empire. Following Angkor Wat we went to the ancient city of Angkor Thom. We explored temples including the famous Bayon, Phimeanakas, Royal Palace, Kleangs, Preah Pithu Group, and heard about the stories of the Terrace of the Leper King and Elephant Terrace. The next day had an early start to see the sunrise at Angkor Wat, much better than the sunset. We then headed off to Ta Prohm (where Tomb Raider, starring Lara Croft was filmed). It was a really beautiful temple, with lots of huge trees and roots everywhere. We then went back to The Villa before going out for a day of temple explorations, visiting Preah Khan - Temple of the sacred sword, Ta Som, Banteay Kdei and Banteay Samre.

Trips around Siem Reap to the temples took us past rice paddies, buffaloes and local villages. We also headed out of Angkor Park to some of the outlying temples. We visited Banteay Srei, the most intricately carved temple in all of Angkor with many faces. Following Banteay Srei we journeyed on to Kbal Spean. We walked through the jungle, to the river that has a temple. Carved into the river bed are a number of sights. This was really disappointing to say the least; especially as we were all so hot and the road there was so bumpy!

On our last day of temple touring we did a trip out to the Rolous Group temples, which are some of the earliest temple sites. The temple of Bakong also houses a pagoda where many people lost their lives at the hands of the Khmer Rouge. We then visited a stilted village on the Tonle Sap River and took a relaxing trip out to the lake on a small boat. This was an adventure in itself.....a few minutes before our boat left, a bigger boat nicked our battery! This meant that half way through our journey, the engine simply stopped and we just sat there in the middle of the lake, waiting for a tow! As we were stuck for a few minutes, we had a few more than usual little kids hopping onto our boats from their family business boat of selling fruit and drinks to tourists.

That night we went out to see a traditional Khmer dance and have some Khmer food. During the week, we also visited the Siem Reap market, which was quite nice, and went out for some drinks with our old friend from Fiji and NZ. In our package from the guesthouse, we also got a massage (where they were insistent on clicking our fingers and toes) and pool passes at a nearby 5* hotel.

Lins' parents treated us to a helicopter ride over Angkor Wat, which was amazing. We really got a sense of how huge it is, although we all still chose other temples as our favourites. We left Cambodia for Saigon (south of Vietnam) by plane. It took off half an hour early, we couldn't belive it! Apparently this is quiet common in Asia and one of our good friends actually missed his flight as it left early.

Singapore

We flew from Bali to Singapore on January 1st, and stayed at the Summer Tavern hostel in Clarke Quay for four nights. Our hostel was in a great location, we were minutes away from the bars and MRT etc, but we had a quiet room. Singapore was fairly expensive in parts, but also quite a nice city with very friendly people. We had an exhausting but rewarding three days.

On the first day we did a river sight seeing cruise seeing Clarke and Boat Quay, the Merlion, Robertson Quay, and various nice hotels. We also looked round the Asian Civilisation Museum, which was very interesting, and walked around the town to see the Esplanade Theatre on the Bay, some churches and cathedrals, and the Kuan Im Temple. That night we got all dressed up and went for a Singapore Sling at the Raffles hotel (yum yum), and to some bars at Clarke Quay.

Next morning we got up bright and early to go to Chinatown. It was quite hectic as expected, with lots of tacky souvenir shops. We visited the Chinatown Heritage Centre, which was also really interesting, the Sri Mariamman Temple and the Thian Hock Keng Temple. We then went to the Singapore Zoo for the afternoon and the Night Safari in the evening. At both, the animals seemed happy enough (apart from the Jaguars, Polar Bears and some flying creatures) and the zoo is well maintained and tidy. The night safari was brilliant - we got driven around the zoo in a long tram and saw all the animals walking around. We particularly liked the mouse deer (little, fat deer with match stick legs!). Our last day was spent calling Cambodia in the morning (nightmare - no English!!!) and visiting the shops along Orchard Road. In the afternoon we headed to Little India, seeing various temples, which were really disappointing to say the least.

To get to Cambodia we got up nice and early at 4.30AM to get a taxi to Johor (in the south of Malaysia) to pick up a much cheaper flight to Cambodia via Kuala Lumpar.

Bali

To get to Bali from NZ, we had to fly via Melbourne. Both flights were pretty awful, full of extremely loud people! The first thing we noticed when we left Denpasar airport was the humidity and the number of motorbikes. They were everywhere and seemed to have a special driving law all to themselves. We were told that there are more motorbikes than people in Bali. During our two weeks there, it was not uncommon to see 5 adults crammed on to one motorbike! The driving was also horrendous at times, with everyone pulling out in front each other the whole time and continuously bibbing the horn to let people know they are around.

We met Lins' parents and sister at the villa they had hired for Christmas and New Year; they had come out to spend the festive season with us. We stayed in a luxury villa in Jimbarin Bay (the south of Bali), with great views over the Bay, Java and the airport. Plane spotting became a daily frequented activity, and turned out to be surprisingly quite fun with the binoculars!!! The garden was immaculate, with a refreshing pool, sun loungers and outside eating and sitting areas. We all had en-suite bathrooms and rooms decorated in traditional Balinese style. We had a private driver whenever we needed him and two ladies that cooked the most incredible food! We ate so well and pretty healthily. For Dave and I it was really nice to have a comfy bed and decent sleep. However, Lins' parents were not so lucky; for the first 7 nights they had to get out of bed in the middle of the night and remove the extremely noisy frogs from the pond outside their room and put them elsewhere in the garden!

Weather-wise, we had a good first day, and then 6 days of very heavy monsoon rain. We got the outskirts of the cyclone in Java that killed so many people. There were really relentless downpours, quite fun to watch at times from the safety of our villa. We had great weather for the last 5 days; when the sun came out it was extremely hot.

As our villa was in Jimbarin Bay, we had to drive through the town of Kuta to get anywhere. This was an absolute nightmare, the traffic was worse than the M25 at times. Hence after a few day trips we could all not face being in the car!

We did a river rafting day trip, down 16km of river amongst really beautiful scenery. We had a crazy guide and it was a good laugh. There were some safety procedures in place, although very brief! We saw a traditional Barong Dance, which involved dancers telling the story of an old legend to do with monkey's, tiger's, goodies and baddies. On our other day trips we went to the Kintanmani Volcano and Lake, Elephant Caves (Goa Gajah), Te Galang (with views of rice terraces), Gunung Kawi Holy Spring Temple and Celuk for some silver shopping. We also had a great day at Ubud and Mas, where you can buy all sorts of arts and crafts at the markets.

On Christmas Eve we had a gorgeous six course dinner at The Intercontinental Hotel not far from our villa. The service was impeccable and we watched another Barong Dance. On NYE we had another lovely meal at The Ritz Carlton Hotel and saw some more dances. At both hotels, the security was very tight.

Unfortunately we both arrived in Bali with an awful cold and couldn't shake it for the whole two weeks. We were just grateful that we got ill when we were relaxing and not rushing around everywhere. We said our good-byes to Lins' parents and sister at the villa; they were off to Borneo and we were off to Cambodia.