On the Road

Its been several weeks since the blog was updated because we went on the road to catch up with friends, revisit old sites and explore some new ones. It has been nice to have my long term travelling partner (?) here with me for four weeks and we managed to see lots, she managed to shop lots and I even managed to do some work. Not much emphasis on the work but when you are travelling around Cambodia and Laos, just looking at the passing countryside can be spun as renewable energy site development, though listening to 'Husky" (that new great Australian indie group) might not qualify.
So where did we go:

• after a hot few days in Phnom Penh and an introduction to the joys of bicycle riding we went to Kampot by bus, a comfortable 5 hour journey with lots of loo stops en route.
• Kampot itself is a rather busy town, not too big, not too clean and not too many tourists. Bicycles are available! And just several kilometres away, on the coastal estuary is the tranquil paradise of Les Manguires (the Mango Trees). We had been there before, they remembered us well, they looked after us brilliantly, we almost didn't leave. This place is a guest house, more village, where you can stay in the old house, a range of Khmer wooden bungalows on stilts or the upmarket on-river house. We did all three and ate every night in the riverside huts where the staff prepare the best food, that is categorised as light meal or heavy meal. We always did the light meal (with seconds). We hired a motorcycle and visited Bokor mountain and had lunch at the casino, went to Kepp for Kampot Crab and then had a disaster. Food poisoning struck badly (not me, I was fine) and we had the local Khmer doctor (??), saline drips, visits to the local pharmacies, phone calls to friends for medical advice and some sleepless nights. After four days there was life again, Dr Mike seemed to have rescued another health tragedy. I had managed to fit in the odd village excursion, kayaking expedition down and up the estuary, motorcycle journey and  finished reading William Boyds latest novel (excellent, by the way). We stayed a few days longer than intended before heading back to Phnom Penh where I thought it good to put in an appearance at the university. Not too long though, we left by bus several days later for Battambong.
• Battambong is in the north west of Cambodia near Tonle Sap ( a very big lake in summer, an even bigger lake in the rainy season). We met up with my colleagues, Tony who works for EWB there and Megan from Phnom Penh. What a delightful town, reasonably clean, no high rise buildings, lots of cafes, french style architecture and 'the bamboo train'.  A death defying ride through the rice fields on several planks of wood for ten kilometres at about 30 kph. Not really that bad but its a single rail line that used to be the only means of transporting goods and people in and out of Battambong (one of the last outposts of the Khymer Rouge until the 1990's!). When another train comes towards you everyone stops and the outward train is lifted off the rails to allow the inward train to pass. That is what passengers are for?? One of the highlights of our visit was the chinese bun restaurant for breakfast...just delicious. I am searching all towns for bun shops now!
• We left Battambong after two days and bussed to Siem Reap to visit our favourite accomodation: The Victory Guest House. Its always a pleasure to stay there with Moy and family, $12 a night with a great breakfast makes it even better. We hired bicycles and went to the Wats in the heat, drank many bottles of water, looked at Angkor Wat and Angkor Tom again and still marvelled at the history of it all. It is amazing even after the third time. We also did the market, ate good food and cycled everywhere. We had decided to go to Laos. Everyone I spoke to said it was a great place (even though it turns out that most have never been there!). They have missed out on something really nice.
• We flew from Siem Reap to Leung Prebang in Laos....its in the Northern mountainous country, on the mighty Mekong River and subject to very stormy weather and rain. One of their worst storms in recent months arrived as our propeller driven plane threaded its way through the mountains for an extremely bumpy arrival and rather awesome landing. Not for the faint hearted! Leung Prebang is a World Heritage town in which all the colonial French buildings have been restored, the streets are spotless, there is a Wat (temple) on every corner and the people are gentle and shy. We loved it! The night market sprang to life on the high street at 5pm evey day and was a shopping/ handicraft mecca. Lovely silk and cotton everything (of which I bought none, but between us the locals did well). We went to one of the elephant refuge villages so that we could ride elephants down the river (on our own, the mahout was busy taking photos elsewhere), wash them, feed them and generally appreciate their wellbeing. They are great animals and it is so good to see them being well cared for: Laos which was once ' the land of a million elephants' now has about 1500. 
• In Leung Prebang we ate great Laos food, had a massage that defied the word strong, travelled up the Mekong to the buddha caves and.....rode bicycles around town. We needed a route back to Phnom Penh and needed to go via Vientiene. Twenty four hours by bus (at best) was not part of the holiday plan so I went to the better travel agent in town and bought two plane tickets from Vientiene to Phnom Penh. Then I went to the ATM to get some cash and had my card 'captured' by the machine....I did get the cash so I then went and bought two VIP bus tickets to Vientiene. Still with me???
• The bus from Lueng Prebajng to Vientiene takes about 11 hours along mostly mountain roads that are not in great condition. The VIP bus was quite comfortable (lunch included) and we prepared to suffer the long journey. Not so, it was great! The Northern part of Laos is breathtakingly beautiful, scenic mountains, craggy outcrops where the gods live at the peak (apparently) and lush green jungle. All a bit of a bonus and the lunch was good too!
• We arrived in Vientiene at night fall, struggled with the local taxi and tuk tuk drivers and finally made it to our hotel. On the riverfront (the mighty Mekong still flowing), shabby and dusty and decorated as if we were in a David Lean movie (A Passage to India sprung to mind). Great location, weird hotel but the air conditioner worked and we negotiated a better room, had great breakfasts and......hired bicycles to ride around town!
• Vientiene is very layed back and if you can ignore the elderly european sex tourists and sexpats, its a great place. More colonial french architecture though there are many high rise buildings springing up (most belong to Chinese investors). Another great night market, more good food, some quirky tourist spots like the Triumphal Arch (think Arc de Triomphe with Nargas and Buddhas), long boulevards and golden stuppas. And, there is a Wat (temple) on every corner! I visited several renewable energy companies to try and generate some links for a project development idea I have for Kampot. More on this another day.
• Whilst at the hotel we phoned that bank (with the help of the friendly receptionists), of the captured card ATM in Lueng Prebang, and asked for my card back. Yes we really did that, and they phoned the bank branch in Lueng Prebang, they rescued the card from the ATM, they flew the card to Vientiene, and they gave me back the card at the banks head office at 8am, two days later when we were en route to the airport!!!! That is service that should make the largest banking companies in the world feel nothing but shame. And the staff smiled and were lovely. 
• Then we returned to hot Phnom Penh and here I am in town, on my own again and its hot. The rainy season has arrived. At about 3pm it rains for ten minutes.
• Back to the piano, back to work...no wait up. Back to the blog and sort out the thousand photos that I still haven't managed to load onto this blogsite. Ideas in a bottle please.
• Next stops will all have to start with 'B'. Burma (M really), Bhutan, Britain.............Laos. Hope you are well and happily saving, to avoid the Greek default and to visit Cambodia. See you soon!