Well, I hope you've all returned safely to work (which you obviously have if you're reading this) after what I gather has been a pretty good bank holiday weekend. So what better way to start a shortened working week than by reading all about what we've been up to in the last couple of weeks. So I'll cut straight to the chase.
Last time we wrote, we were in Bangkok waiting for our Vietnamese visas to be processed, so to protect our wallets from the continued pounding they were taking in the shopping malls and markets we went on a couple of 2-day trips:
Khao Yai National Park - Gibbons, a cave containing 2 million bats (literally!), hornbills, iguanas, scorpions, deer, lots of very big trees, "The Waterfall" from "The Beach" and other National Park type stuff kept us amused for a couple of days. (Devil's Bridge crew: bad news, the bottom of the waterfall was closed in preparation for the visit of the Thai Royal Family in the following week - so no jumping action!).
Kanchanaburi - Most famous for the Bridge on the River Kwai - a portion of the so-called "Death Railway" between Thailand and Burma (looked a bit like Hungerford bridge before the renovation but smaller). Also visited Erawan National Park, famous for its 7-stepped waterfall, and a tiger sancturay where we got the opportunity to stroke a real live 2m long / 200kg tiger and also play with 4 baby tigers aged between 6 weeks and 4 months!
Then it was back to Bangkok and on to Cambodia
The journey there was pretty special. Up till the border, all was going fine, well as fine as it can do when you're on the back seat of an "air conditioned" minibus with no "air conditioning". The border was as typically hectic as ever but we managed to get through and, with passports and wallet in tact, board another "air conditioned" minibus for the 120km journey to Siem Reap. Now, 120km isn't really that far so you may not believe us when we tell you it took us 7 hours! Yep, 7 hours ... and we didn't even break down!
Basically, you would not believe the state of the "main" road from the border to Siem Reap - it is just astonishingly bad - and the experience was a bit like sliding down the stairs on your bum only it lasted for 7 hours!
Siem Reap - the only reason people stop there is because it is the closest town to the Khmer temples of Angkor. We got a 3-day pass (US$40 each!) and literally "did" temples for three days solidly. For those that have been there you'll know, but for those that haven't, we're not going to say too much because if you ever do go, it's best that we don't spoil the surprise but they are ... quite simply .. amazing! Good enough to keep us interested for 3 days and get us up at 5am two mornings in a row anyway!
Other than the temples, there wasn't much to do but we did have a crocodile infested pond outside our bedroom window - cool!
Phnom Penh - the capital of Cambodia and another 8 hour stair bouncing journey from Siem Reap. Infamous for the attrocities of the Khmer Rouge under the leadership of Pol Pot between 1975 and 1979, it was an interesting place. We went to the S-21 prison camp (formerly a school) and the killing fields (essentially just a load of holes in the gound - but chilling when you thought about what went on there) but on a lighter note visited the Royal Palace (another one! - same, same but different), played a lot of pool and went to a dodgy nightclub (Martinis for those that know) to watch one of Cambodia's most thriving industries in action!
Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) - from Phnom Penh it was another 9hrs of stair bouncing enjoyment - this time in the rain for a bit of variation - to the Vietnamese border and on (more placidly, thank God) to Saigon. We've just got back from a 2-day visit to the Mekong Delta and have also increased our previously zero knowledge of the Vietnam War(s) by going to the War Remnants Museum, Reunification Palace and the Cu Chi tunnel complexes that were used by the Viet Cong. All fairly harrowing. However, the city itself is nice and the people really friendly.
Tomorrow, we start our journey North for beaches (to top up our fading tans), pagodas (for a change), hill tribes, paddy fields (for a change) and tailors.
Hope all is well with all of you and keep those emails coming!
One more thing, this afternoon I've been quite bored (and it's been raining) so I've set up a little web page to enable you to check out all the back issues of our travel logs (woohoo!) and, more importantly to loook at our photos via our online photo albums. The address is
http://www.geocities.com/julesandtessa/index.html
Enjoy!
Love Jules & Tessa xxx
P.S.
Will - Happy birthday!
Sarah & Jim - How many rugby tickets did you get - do we need to get our own?
Mike & Kate - sorted out your online photo album yet? (www.shutterfly.com)
Brian & Lorraine - you following us?
Tom & Debs - Congratulations!
Weener - good luck with the results!
Tory - not neglecting your absent friends to spend time with your boyfriend are you?!
Steve & Abby - how's home? ha ha!