Asia
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Street Art & Tech Art In Singapore
For a fee which is eminently reasonable we are able to delay checkout till 6pm, hugely useful when it’s an overnight flight home. One last ride on the MRT and a couple of stops on the Skytrain and we’re wandering into a crowded Changi Airport, still far too early for our flight but happy to kill time with a beer and a sandwich. Until, that is, the lady at the check-in desk suggests we stay land-side and head to the Jewel. Has anyone seen the Jewel at Changi in the last few years? At night? Just when we think we’ve seen all of the wonders which Singapore has to offer,…
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Last Days Of The Trip: Ending On A High, Literally
“Good morning Sir, will you be paying cash or card?”, she asks before we’ve even got past the gate. “I don’t know yet. Probably card”. “That’s one hundred dollars then, Sir, please”, she says, picking up the card machine. “But I haven’t bought anything yet”. “No, Sir, it’s fifty dollars per person minimum spend here”. I grin, most probably an inane grin, thinking she’s joking. I look at her more closely. She definitely isn’t joking. She means it. This is a beach bar, it’s 11 o’clock in the morning, and they want a minimum of 100 dollars regardless of what we want to eat/drink/buy. We’re both speechless – well, speechless…
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Singapore: On To The Little Red Dot
Such a difference. After ten weeks in Asia, ten weeks of looking away from the heaps of discarded plastic of terra firma and the floating garbage on the water, avoiding inhaling the stench of drains and sewers and steadfastly ignoring any rats which cross our path, and instead concentrating on the many very good bits, we find ourselves suddenly on the pristine streets of Singapore. Singapore, where the sidewalks look permanently swept and the tiniest sweet wrapper has been dutifully binned, where chewing gum is illegal and cigarettes are only smoked on designated street corners, where the posters on the metro carry more instructions and guidance on how to be…
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People, Food And Funny Words: Last Day In Cambodia
“Hi”, he says, his whole face illuminated by his broad smile, “how long you been in Cambodia”. “Four weeks now, we leave on Tuesday”, says Michaela, and adds in response to his next question, “Siem Reap, Tonle Sap, Battambang, Phnom Penh, Kampot and Kep”. He beams. “Thank you so much for visiting my country, I hope you like it” When we tell him just how much we have loved it, his smile nearly bursts out of his cheeks. He can’t say thank you enough times. Big smiles, friendly manner, gracious attitude….and there you have our experience of the people of Cambodia summed up in one brief exchange. Honestly, we haven’t…
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From Kampot to Kep: Discovering A Seafood Heaven
The South East Asia Games are underway. This regional, Olympics-style event is being held in Cambodia for the first time in its history, with Phnom Penh the host city. The last night of our time in Phnom Penh coincided with the Games’ opening ceremony, a spectacular event encapsulating typical scenes from Cambodian history and everyday Cambodian life all delivered with the wonderfully choreographed routines that characterise these opening ceremonies. Packed with commentaries on the country’s bright future and full of pride and patriotism, the whole thing felt like another powerful statement, another big step, on Cambodia’s road to a new era. The enthusiasm of the crowd simply watching on the…
- Asia, Cambodia, Independent travel, Outdoor Activities, Photography, Transport, Travel Blog, World food
Kampot: A Different Kind Of Town
The train is almost definitely not our best option for getting to Kampot, given that there’s only one train per day which leaves Phnom Penh at 7am and takes four hours to do just 150km, but my love of rail travel wins and so we skip breakfast and make our way to the station early enough to beat the traffic jams which create the daily morning gridlock. An ambling train journey through drier and more agricultural terrain eventually delivers us to the little town of Kampot nestling on the banks of the Sangke River, just a few miles from the coast. The smiley little guy introduces himself as Pat as…
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From Province To Capital: Phnom Penh
Preamble: We thought long and hard about this post. It contains some horrific detail but also contains some light hearted humour. Can we really put those two things in the same post? We reached a decision. Please read on, we will warn you before you reach the more brutal words… It was on our first night in Battambang, just as we were drifting off to sleep, when we first heard it, and we both laughed out loud. Something outside, some strange, semi-mechanical disembodied voice seemed to shout “f*ck it” five times, in a kind of rhythmic chant. Surely we don’t have a neighbour who has taught his parrot to swear in English?…
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Caves, Carts & A Cartoon Character: Our Time In Battambang
Considering its status as Cambodia’s third largest city, Battambang is a modest and quiet place, feeling more like a provincial town than how a bustling Asian city normally feels. The Sangker River flows lazily between its steep banks, in dry season anyway, while the traffic moves slowly through its docile streets which are noticeably free of beggars and hawkers, tuk-tuk drivers wait to be stirred rather than tout for business, and incredibly a car will sometimes even stop at a red traffic light. Battambang’s modest collection of restaurants is dotted around the city rather than centred on one area, there is nothing to compare to Siem Reap’s Pub Street here,…
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- Asia, Cambodia, Independent travel, Outdoor Activities, Photography, Transport, Travel Blog, Wildlife, World food
Tonle Sap: Going Off Limits & Sleeping With Toads
This next part of our South East Asia trip is one which we’ve been looking forward to with such anticipation, not just recently but before the original curtailed trip three years ago. Why? Because we do love pushing the boundaries of the comfort zone, and this short adventure will surely do that. It starts when Var, our guide and companion for the next two days, collects us from Siem Reap and we climb into the nicely air conditioned 4×4. And when we say “companion” we mean it – Var will be sleeping in the same room as us tonight. “I will explain all we are going to do” he says,…
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Seven Sultry Days In Siem Reap
It’s already getting warm long before first light as we head back towards Angkor Wat, the clock ticking towards 4.45am and the darkness heavy with sultry heat even before the birds are singing. Michaela’s trusty weather app says today will be 39C but will “feel like” 45C and it’s clear that the mercury’s journey up the thermometer has already started. We’re up at this hour for the classic sight of the sun rising behind the temple’s five towers, a must-do experience for all visitors to Siem Reap. As we leave the tuk-tuk and start the long walk through the grounds, a silent pilgrimage of other early risers makes its way towards…
