Archive | February, 2012

Phnom Penh

29 Feb

We explored villages and landscapes near The Choeund Ek Killing Fields on quad bikes.

It was an amazing experience as children would run up to the roads and wave, giving the biggest smiles.

Most of the roads we drove on were dirt roads throughout the villages. I found it a bit scary at one point as we had to drive on the main road, the traffic over here is crazy. Furthermore, it was the first time I have ever driven on a road with big lorries and million of scooters.

Afterwards we went to the Tuol Svay Museum, the S-21 prison; which was a high school that was taken over by Pol Pot’s security forces in 1975, making the class rooms into torture rooms. The Khmer Rouge leaders kept records of their barbarism, by photographing each prisoner, which were displayed there.  It was just awful to see. We also went to the Killing Fields, where most of the 17,000 detainees held at S-21 were executed. There were also many children killed there. We could see bones, teeth and clothing left from the victims. It was just horrifying!

Siem Reap

27 Feb

We arrived in Siem Reap in Cambodia after many hours of travelling. The main reason for us to travel to Siem Reap was because we wanted to see the amazing Temples of Angkor, where there are 72 major temples and remains of several hundred additional minor temple sites that are scattered throughout the landscape and beyond. We did not have time to see all of them, that would have taken days. Instead we rented a tuk tuk for the day which took us around 3 of the main temples. We got up at 5am so that we could see the sunrise over the famous Angkor Wot (picture above), which is the largest religious structure in the world. Seeing the sun-rise over the beautiful temple and the mirror image in the ponds was just incredible.

We jumped into our vintage tuk tuk and headed for another temple; The Bayon, which must be one of the weirdest temples that I have ever seen. There are 54 gothic towers decorated with 216 enormous smiling faces of Avalokiteshvara, who bore a resemblance to the King Jayavarman VII, who stood behind the building of the temple. The freakish huge faces staring down at us as we walked around have been described as a image of power and control from the King himself.

The next temple we visited was Angkor Thom (picture above), which is some 10sq km in size and had a population of perhaps 1 million at the time when London only had a population of 50,000! There are families living in areas around the temples, we saw a man trying to catch some fish in the pond, while his son was watching him. It was an heart-feeling image.

There were giant trees growing on top of temple buildings, and the roots had fully taken over some areas, this really emphasised how old the temples were. I enjoyed seeing the Temples of Angkor and loved Siam Reap.

Pattaya

24 Feb

Pattaya, Pattaya, Pattaya!!! Pattaya is a place where you can see anything and everything! You can have the best time or the worst time, I experienced the first. I have laughed so much throughout the 3 weeks we have been here on a great holiday with my brother, and had an amazing time. Pattaya is a real heaven for people who like to socialise and party, but it also offers something for everyone. You just have to be prepared to see some things that you most probably have not seen before and maybe never see again. I found most of it greatly entertaining, such as Walking Street (picture below) with beer bars, shops, Go Go bars, clubs and much more.

Furthermore, throughout my time here I have had some of the best Thai food I have tasted at PIC Kitchen followed by a great evening at the Jazz Pit. We have also been to some great rooftop bars, serving lovely cocktails and food. We also went to the cinema, and it was a real eyeopener of how nice cinemas could be (serving free food, popcorn and drinks and getting huge chairs to sit in). I think other countries should take a note of how it should be done.

I have improved my pool skills! However, the girls behind the beer bars still beat me at Connect 4 every time.

We went to Tiffany’s show, can you guess what kind of show it is?

Tiffany’s was established in 1974 and is Pattaya’s leading transvestite show, yes you hear right. It was an fabulous show of more sequins and satin I have ever seen! The costumes they were wearing were so sparkling and beautiful. We spent the whole show trying to see who was a man and who was a woman, they all looked just amazing.

Sadly it was time to say bye to Jens Georg as he made his way home and we made our way to our next stop.

Flight of the Gibbon

21 Feb

We went on a Zipline Canopy Adventure called ‘Flight of the Gibbon’  at the Chompoo Wildlife Sanctuary. We ziplined over 3km going on 24 platforms high up in the trees in the jungle rainforest. I have to admit that I was a little scared at first as we ziplined from very high up in the trees, and abseiling was even more scary. However, after I got used the to heights I started to enjoy it a lot! Ready…steady…goooo!

Afterwards, we went for a little walk at Khao Kheeo Open Safari, where we saw a lot animals running about wild and others just behind some small fences (I have never been that close to a Rhino before).

Ko Samet

14 Feb

We decided to take a trip to Ko Samet, an Island near Pattaya. Ko Samet is approximately 13.1 square kilometers in size and a national park. We stayed at Hat Sai Kaew beach which had the clearest water I have ever seen.

 

We stayed for 2 days, which was really relaxing. We spent the days sunbathing, drinking coconut, and swimming in the amazing water. In the evenings we sat at the restaurants, my favorite was Ploy restaurant, where we sat on pillows laid on the beach near small tables. After a lovely BBQ we were entertained by a fire show, it is the best fire show I have ever seen, they were juggling and throwing fire everywhere, very entertaining.

Pattaya Floating Market

12 Feb

We spent one day at the world’s largest floating market. There are many Thai style wooden houses on the fresh water swamp. We walked on the wooden bridges linking the market together, you could also rent a paddle boat for a few hours to take you around the market. It was the perfect place to pick up some souvenirs and other handicrafts.

We had Pad Thai Noodles for lunch for only 30 baht, which is 60 pence! It was very yummy.

Hat Jomtien

3 Feb

So we jumped on a plane and flew from Singapore back to Thailand, where we met Jens Georg (my big brother). I was so excited to see him again that I did not sleep at all the night before. We met in Bangkok Airport and then got a taxi to Jomtien, which is 5km south of Hat Pattaya. The resort we are staying at is really amazing.

We have spent most days relaxing by the pool, going to local markets, watching football in bars and eating out at the many restaurants that there are here. Last Thursday I even had Komla at a Norwegian restaurant (one of my favorite food dish from home).

We went to the local weekend night market, which was really good. We dared to try some food from the food stalls, which was very delicious.

Another favorite of mine is the banana pancake that they make by the street.