2019 December and 2020 January

When we had shipped the vehicle off at the end of our Australian trip we had thought to spend a month in New Zealand, however we discovered that the alleged e-visa for New Zealand is in fact an e-application and that we would have to send passports to the Consulate and wait (90% probability) for 26 days to receive the physical visas. This was not going to work, so we brought forward the first flight we had booked to go home, and flew to Singapore, where we spent 3 days catching up with the city, eating good food, and enjoying staying in a part of the city in which we had not previously stayed, giving a chance to become familiar with this area.

We explored Mustafa’s shopping centre – an amazing 24 hour combination of supermarket, chemist, travel agency, exchange house, and department store, selling everything in vast quantities. We wandered through Bugis Market, Orchard Road, Little India, took advantage of several shopping centres, ate at Chinese, Indian, and Malay restaurants (including the amazing Swee Choon Tim Sum, complete with online menu and ordering via iPad), and enjoyed a comfortable and friendly hotel, which was a change from camping…

From Singapore we flew to Phnom Penh to explore Cambodia, after which we were heading for Laos, neither of which we knew, and so we were looking forward to visiting both of these. We found that they were quite different in character; we enjoyed both, however the experience was distinctive in each.

In Phnom Penh we spent our first day with Maradé in his tuk tuk), visting the National Museum, the Independence Memorial, and the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, which proved to be both appalling in terms of recording the dreadful history of this period in Cambodia’s history, and also less insightful than we had hoped. Later we visited the “Russian” Market, and then Wat Phnom. The following day we went out with Maradé again, visiting the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda, then further out of the city to Silk Island to see the silk factory, which was worth the visit.

Royal Palace, Phnom Penh

Lightly laden tuk tuk

The next day we headed for Battambang, which we head heard was a relaxing tropical gem. We hired a car with a driver (Da) and the journey took eight hours, with several stops, including Udong, Kampong Chhnang, and Pursat . Our exploration of Battambang took us to Ek Phnom temple, a rice paper workshop, the nearby fish market, a village with a population of fruit bats, and to Banan Temple. Battambang itself was less green and relaxing than we had expected, and although it did offer a number of places of interest, it was less rewarding than we had hoped.

Our next destination was Siem Reap, the principal attraction of which is its proximity to Angkor Wat. On the way we stopped for fuel at a station which was overlooked by a huge Buddha statue, not noted on the maps we had. The city is full of hotels for visitors to Angkor Wat, and we had chosen one which preoved friendly and comfortable, outside the hustle and bustle of the centre, while close enough to provide easy access to restaurants.

The following day we were fortunate to connect with Sokcheat in whose tuk tuk we explored the area over the next two days. We visited Angkor Wat, which is an extensive variety of temples and walled compounds: Prasat Bayon, Baphuon, Phineamakas, the Elephant Gate, the Victory Gate, Ta Keo, and Ta Prohm, after which we visited the North Gate of Ta Prohm, on the advice of Sokcheat’s brother, who works as a guide, and whose advice was excellent since we found the North Gate to be deserted, overgrown, and well worth the visit.

The next day Sokcheat took us to places which were further afield: Banteay Srey temple, Preah Khan temple, Ta Som temple, East Mebon temple), Pre Roup temple, and the Srah Srang pool . Our dinner that night was an outstanding experience: we were taken to a local Cambodian BBQ (Meng BBQ) by Sokcheat where we enjoyed great food in the company of Sokcheat and his wife Laihua.

The next day was a mixed bag: we wanted to investigate the bird life at the Tonle Sap Biosphere Reserve, and had booked a tour with Osmose, allegedly an eco-responsible tour organisation. The tour itself, in terms of seeing birds and getting some insight into the village life in the wetlands, was valuable. The organization was effective; however the interactions with the local people in Prek Toal was worrying. We were driven to the reserve by So, who was helpful and did a good job; we were taken into the reserve on a motorboat by Hien, and further into the reserve by San, both of whom were excellent – helpful, capable, and interested in showing us the wildlife. We were also rowed through the village by two young ladies who worked hard with no recognition for doing so by our “guide”, who exhibited almost no interest in helping us appreciate the environment. We learned that although the tour organisation claimed to be doing things to help the people of the village, the (high) cost of the tour did not result in financial benefit to those doing the hard work, and we found that there was a complete failure to recognise those who were actually contributing to make the enterprise a success. In addition, the absurdly noisy power boats didn't help make it an enjoyable day.

Our next destination was Si Phan Don, in Laos; the “4000 islands” on the Mekong River, where we were to spend Christmas Day. We had originally thought to make our way by public transport to the border and then on to Si Phan Don, however further investigation led to the realization that it would be a trip of 14 hours or so, with a border crossing which might extend this further. So, we looked into alternatives and ended up flying from Siem Reap to Pakse, then travelling onwards in a car arranged by the hotel in which we would spend the next couple of days. This worked well, and the road from Pakse to the “dock” at Nakasong proved to be more or less empty once we had left Pakse, strikingly different from the roads in Cambodia which were full of traffic and also slow as a result of roadworks in much of the routes we travelled. Another difference was that we were now travelling in mountainous country, whereas Cambodia had been (at least where we had been) flat and alluvial.

The “dock” at Nakasong was a muddy river bank with a few planks to provide semi-dry access to a small wooden boat, fully equipped for what was by then a night voyage on the Mekong, being equipped with a hand-held flashlight at the bow. Clearly the helmsperson was familiar with the river (or perhaps simply lucky) since we found our way through the black night to the riverbank hotel on Don Khon island, where we were welcomed and had a pleasant dinner overlooking the river.

Christmas Day was spent initially on rented bicycles exploring the stony and bumpy tracks on the island to visit Khane Paksy Waterfall (and the Khonepasoi ex-bridge). We tired of the bumpy ride and switched to a tuk tuk to see Tad Somphamit Falls and Li Phi Falls, after which we relaxed by the pool, later going on a “Sunset Cruise” on what seemed to be a converted cement mixer before returning for Christmas dinner.

The following day started with a tuk tuk to the northern dock, where the French had built a ramp to permit the building of a railway across the island, and where we took a boat downriver to look for Mekong Dolphins. There were signs at the dock noting that the dolphins might well be in Cambodian waters, and outlined the requirements which must be met to acquire a permit to enter said waters to see them, if this were the case. Either the dolphins chose to stay in Laotian waters, or the day visa requirement was not seen as sufficiently important for this requirement to be enforced. Either way we did see some dolphins.

After checking out, we made our way back to the Nakasong dock, this time in daylight, although wading back to shore was still required, and then headed to the Khone Phapheng Falls. These are the widest falls in the world, and we hadn't even heard of them a couple of weeks previously. They extend for about 10 Km down the river’s course, and there are several viewpoints connected by a riverbank walk, which we enjoyed. We then headed back to Pakse, where we stayed in a 4 star riverbank hotel for USD 33/night at today’s FX (more or less the average price for a campsite in Australia).

In (near) Pakse we visited Ban Saphay Traditional Weaving Crafts and then several temples – the impressive Wat Phu, south of the city on the west bank of the river, and then Wat Muang and Wat Muang Saen on our way back.

The following day we explored Pakse, including the markets and the old colonial Pakse Hotel, whose Panorama Restaurant provides a good place for a sunset drink, looking out over the Mekong to the west.

The next day we flew from Pakse to Luang Prabang, arriving in mountainous scenery similar to some of Colombia, and made our way to our hotel, and then visited the night market, which was full of visitors, restaurants, and bars. Luang Prabang is a popular destination, with interesting temples and museums, as well as being in an attractive setting, although as can be imagined, this results in its being much busier than Southern Laos.

Subsequently we visited Ock Pop Tok Living Craft Centre, which was well organized for visitors to learn about traditional and more recently adopted weaving techniques and products, has a good café, and offers attractive crafts.

We also visited Ma Té Sai and Kinthong Lao Silk as well as a number of craft shops in the centre. The Royal Palace National Museum was worth a visit as was TAEC, with an exhibition of traditional clothing. At subset we took the back way to ascend Phou Si where it was possible to appreciate the sunset despite the crowds.

At night, in addition to the mandatory visit to the night market, we returned to Wat Siphoutthabat Thippharam where a traditional chant provided a rich mystical ambiance.

On New Year’s Day we visited three Wats (Wat Aham, Wat Visoun, and Wat Mai Suwannaphumaham) before heading to the airport. Once again, we had thought to make our way to Vientiane by road, however learned that this would be a long slow journey and elected to take Lao Airlines’ flight instead. Vientiane proved to be a busy capital, with associated traffic, although not as busy as other capitals in the region. The extensive night market on the Mekong riverside was clearly selling day to day items rather than tourist souvenirs.

The next day we visited the excellent Lao Textile Museum where we found that an indigo tie-dye workshop was starting and so joined this, learning the techniques involved. A visit to COPE followed; illustrating the appalling history of bombing by USA forces during the 1955-1975 Vietnam war. The USA dropped 270 million bombs on Laos between 1964 and 1973, even though the two countries were never officially at war. There was a bombing mission, on average, every eight minutes, every day, for nine years; the unexploded ordnance is still killing Laotians today.

Further exploration took us to Wat Si Muang, Sisaket, Ho Phra Keo Museum, Phra That Luang stupa temples, and That Dam Stupa. Vientiane retains some vestiges of colonial rule, and also has some modern shopping centres and hotels. The overall feel is of a relatively quiet large town rather than a big city, and it was enjoyable to wander the streets and try a variety of Laotian dishes. The people were friendly and “laid back” in general. We’ll return to explore the northeast at some point.

We then returned to Singapore and bought silk, walked through Kampong Glam, and went to enjoy Die Walküre at the Concert Hall, presented by the Orchestra of Music Makers. We walked the Bayfront, looked at innovative products at Red Dot, visited the entertaining “Future World” at the ArtScience Museum, and had gins & tonics at the Courtyard in Raffles Hotel (which had been in renovation the last time we had stayed in Singapore). When we had left Singapore for Phnom Penh our interest had been piqued by the newly opened Jewel, advertised as a fantastic attraction to be visited at Changi airport. So we left our hotel early enough to visit this attraction prior to departing to LHR; it proved to be nothing more than a shopping centre, admittedly with attractive greenery and water features, but did not live up to the expectations created.

On our way home from Singapore we spent a week in the UK, visiting family in Norwich, where we walked Salhouse Broad and enjoyed a Norfolk winter, and visiting friends in Marlow, with whom we visited the V&A, where we saw the “Wonderful Things” exhibition, lunched at Daquise, and visited the Natural History Museum to see the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition. After the mandatory visits to Burger’s and the Marlow Bookshop we left the UK and returned home.

Abrazos

Alan and Marce

Photos may be used for non-commercial purposes with credit to alanymarce@gmail.com