Siem Reap, Cambodia, 1st to 5th August 2011

Happy Birthday to me !!!

After getting up at 4.30am on my birthday we got another early morning train from Bangkok and headed towards the Thai Cambodian border crossing at Poipet.
Leanne had carefully wrapped presents for me in newspaper and we decided on opening one every hour until we got to Siem Reap which made the trip much more interesting! I ended up with a Liverpool shirt, headphones, face scrub, new boxers, nerds, refreshers and jammie dodgers!!! Not to mention lots of cards that had been sent over secretly from home which made me a little emotional.
We crossed the border relatively easily and headed on a free government bus to the nearest town, which was where the fun started. The people who where nice to us started quoting us stupid prices for a taxi to Siem Reap so we teamed up with a newly married English/American couple and split the 3 hour taxi ride which cost us US$7.50 each (bargain).
We eventually arrived at our guesthouse which was called Hak's House and it is a really great place and Hak helps you out without ripping you off and he even sorts Tuk Tuk's at set prices which saved us a few dollars. That night we went for a nice Cambodian/Indian curry to celebrate the big 30 and enjoyed a few Angkor beers.
The next day we chilled out and looked around Siem Reap which is an awesome little city and booked our Tuk Tuk to go around Angkor Wat the next morning. So we awoke again at 4.30am and headed to Angkor Wat to watch the sunrise, it is a truly magical place and it is hard to describe the scale of the place unless you've been - but it is basically a city that has been abandoned to the jungle after it was sacked by Siam. Despite the hoards of tourists it is still easy to find places where you can be totally alone. We then moved onto Angkor Thom (which is even bigger than Wat) and included Bayon (which is the temple of 4 faces), next on the list was Ta Keo which was nice and secluded and we enjoyed a walk through the ruins that are scattered about the jungle. The next big ruin worth mentioning is Ta Prom which is a massive temple complex that has been uprooted by huge trees and there giant roots and it is quite a surreal sight.
At the end of the day we where templed out and it was extremely hot!!! so we headed back for a few beers and to sample some fish Amok (traditional Cambodian fish dish) and it's pretty spectacular.
We spent the next day exploring the markets and enjoying some cake at the Blue Pumpkin which is an amazing bakery. We then booked our tickets for Phnom Penh and the following morning said goodbye and thanks to Hak and headed for the bus station.

Next stop Phnom Penh......

To see our pictures from Siem Reap please click on the link below;
https://picasaweb.google.com/112941139607408893724/SiemReapCambodia1stTo5thAugust2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCPiw_tfmiJuXJQ#

Kanchanaburi, Thailand - 30th-31st July 2011

Located around a 3 hour drive from Ayutthaya, Kanchanaburi was our next stop. We hopped on a mini bus and were there in no time!

We were originally dropped at a guesthouse we had pre-booked but they were buggering us about on price and room so we decided to have a wander. We found a little place with River Raft rooms (Floating raft rooms just out on the river) at just 300B per night we thought we would go for it. In hindsight you get what you pay for! But it did us for the night!

That afternoon we had a bit of a pamper session. I had my hair done (for a fiver, Colour and blow dry) and then we both invested a couple of quid into a lovely oil massage. I think Dave enjoyed this one much more than the other crazy Thai lady he had on him the previous week. This one was very gentle on him and i think he actually fell asleep. We had an early night as we had booked onto a tour for the next day.

We were picked up at 8am and headed straight out to Erawan National Park falls. It was absolutely chucking it down and we were a bit gutted but hoped that it would just increase the flow of the waterfalls and make them even more spectacular. The mini bus that we were all was unfortunately full of 'Mummy and Daddy are paying for my travel idiots' we immediately knew that it was not going to be a peaceful day!
We arrived at the falls and the rain was just not letting up. Luckily we had brought our rain coats, umbrellas and even added a poncho to the mix. There were hoards and hoards of people at the entrance but we hoped it wouldn't spoil the scenery.
The waterfall was 7 tiers high and with pouring rain and sweaty rain forest heat and humidity we only managed it to tier 6. We were dripping with sweat and everything was so damp so we decided to head back down through the hoards of people jumping off rocks into the pools and graffiti on tree's and sign posts. Unfortunately us humans do ruin beautiful spots.
I kinda wish we would have visited these before visiting Lichfield in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. Nothing has yet come close to those.

After lunch we then headed to the Death Railway. This was a construction that killed many a man whilst building. It looked unsteady from the platform and we could see the track winding along the edge of a very high cliff face. I suppose Adrenaline is good for you at least once a day! We boarded the rickety old wooden train with hoards of other Tourists and took a scenic ride along the track for about 4 stops before our guide met us.

We then went to The Hellfire Pass Memorial Museum where we took an Audio Tour around the cliffs and into the pass. For those of you who don't know (i didn't until Dave told me) this pass was made through a sheer cliff face by mans bear hands to make a train track. POW's in Thailand during the Japanese occupation were forced to build a railway day and night linking Burma with Thailand for importation of goods during the war. Many of the men (pow) were Australian and all of them were subjected to the unimaginable. The were rationed to 2 spoons of rice per day and were forced to work in the blazing sun with Malaria, Cholera and Dysentery. The only thing that would prevent you from being forced to work was death. It was horrific to see some of the photos and listen to the real life accounts of old Aussies who survived the ordeal. Thousands of men died during this time and the museum is well set up as a memorial to all of those who suffered. It was an interesting walk down into the pass.

Finally we arrived at the 'Bridge over the River Kwai' This was what Dave had been waiting for. It has been reconstructed lots overtime and still actively has trains running across it. A bit of a metal monstrosity however. We had a walk across it and took some photos.

We were returned to town and we only had around an hour before our bus back to Bangkok. 3 hours later we arrived and absolutely knackered we checked into out favorite little cafe/guesthouse which we had loved when we were in Bangkok before.

We have to be up at 4.30 am to Catch our train to Cambodia....its never ending!

To see our pictures from Kanchanaburi please click on the link below;
https://picasaweb.google.com/112941139607408893724/KanchanaburiThailand30thTo31stJuly2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCJncoKCOnMXboQE#

Ayutthaya, Thailand - 29th - 30th July 2011

After all we had heard about obtaining a visa into China we expected a complicated lengthy process. But it was simple 4 days after submitting our application our passports were sorted. It was even cheaper than we expected too so that was a bonus.

That evening we got yet another night train to Ayutthaya (ay-a- thaya) (said with kind of a lisp)
It is a little town which was a little off the tourist trail around 2 hours from Bangkok. We had heard and read that there was some stunning temples and Burmese ruins there so decided to check it out.

We arrived at 6am. Not the best of times to be checking into accommodation but in our experience definitely the best time of day to be lugging our bags around! Midday is unforgiving!

After checking into our Bungalow which was very unique, we ventured out in the early morning for breakfast. We were soon picked up (as always in Thailand) by a Tuk Tuk driver who offered us a great rate for going around all the temples. He even dropped us at a gorgeous little guesthouse restaurant for breakfast where i have to say i had the best Poached eggs i have had in Asia! Dave was elated to also see hash browns on the Menu!

So after filling our boots it was time to get out and about. We let 'Anan' our driver take us to where he thought as locals generally know which is best.

The first ruin we went to was just stunning. Wat Chai Watthanaram (1630). I never thought piles of old rubbled areas could intrigue me so much! The Camera was out and ready for action. Amongst these ruins there were hundreds of stone figures of Buddha which had been beheaded! Eerie but beautiful at the same time. The entire inside walls were lined with them.

The second place we visited was a 12meter sleeping Buddha. Built in the 1300's it was still in amazingly good shape considering the harsh Thai sun and monsoonal rains! We were approached by a Buddhist lady who gave us some lit incense and some flowers and told us to present them to Buddha. We did it but could help 1: feeling pressured (as afterwards she asked for money) and 2: feeling cheeky as we are not Buddhist (imagine a person tapping the cross on themselves and not believing in God) I'm all for the up keep of temples and pagodas and helping towards the monks but we did feel that 'The woman from the lemonade stall' was not worthy of our charity and felt we had been targeted, almost singled out as a quick buck.

The third temple was in complete contrast to the 1st it was an old white, almost Pyramid looking Burmese built structure. We climbed the VERY steep steps to the top and were lucky enough to see a beautiful rainbow form right over the peak. Great photos right there! It was getting really hot now and our driver then took us to the Royal Palace which was a giant Bronze Buddha. He was huge and i imagine he weighed a bit more than a ton! The building was very impressive and we managed to bag a cool drink as the midday sun was getting a little to much.

We then finally hit the last Ruin. Wat Phra Mahathat. This was impressive. One of the defining items was the Buddha's head surrounded by a tree roots. No body knows if it is just a lone head taken from a beheaded Buddha and stashed in the tree roots or if the body is buried deep beneath. The was eerie to look at though and i imagine if it wasn't signposted you wouldn't see it!

We were shattered after our morning and decided to escape the midday heat and had a well deserved power nap.

We met a German couple who that evening we went for some local grub with!

Just a short stop here and we are off to Kanchanaburi tomorrow....

To see our pictures from Ayutthaya click on the link below;
https://picasaweb.google.com/112941139607408893724/AyutthayaThailand29thTo30thJuly2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCOmEvKfGpYbJDg#