Ancient Angkor.

We spent three days around Angkor and this wasn't enough. The amount of temples and sheer beauty of them leaves you worn-out after a few hours ( the humidty does not help! ) We hired Krahn to drive us to and around the temples for a few days. A fantastic person and put simply, typical of all people we have met in Cambodia. Angkor is the ancient capital of the Khmer Empire and temples were built from the 9th Century to the 13th Century. Each temple reflects the period in which it was built and the King who was ruling. At this time Hinduism was the major religon, reflected in the bas-reliefs on the temple walls. Buddhism was later introduced. The Khmers are proud of Angkor and are pleased to see it gain so much international attention, instead of being a country known for its recent brutal history. Angkor is a remarkable achievement and it is breathtaking to walk around these temples and understand why the Khmers ( cambodian people ) are so justly proud.


Sunrise at Angkor Wat. The largest religious building in the world.


Entrance into Angkor Wat.


Angkor Wat is a large expression of religious symbolism. It is supposed to be a representation of the Hindu Universe and the towers you see in the picture above, represent the mountains which surround Mount Meru, home of the gods.




One of the many bas-reliefs in Angkor Wat.


Inscription on the wall at Angkor Wat, written in either Sanskrit or Khmer. I have no idea which!


Walking around Bayon. This is part of Angkor Thom, once one of the largest cities and thought to have been the capital until the 17th Century.




Faces of the gods.




A monk at the temple. Most men in Cambodia must serve at least two weeks as a monk. We have seen few older monks. This is possibly due to the mass murder inflicted on them during the brutal rule of Pol Pot between 1976-1979.


A nun at the temple. This woman made our day...look at that smile and it is easy to see why! She showed us how to pray to the Buddah and repeated 'Good Luck' in Khmer, which we can now say! An absolute delight and one of the many reasons why we love Cambodia.


A nun at a shrine.


Sitting beneath the roots of an old silk-cotton tree. These trees are slowly destroying the temples.


We witnessed a lot of restoration during our time at Angkor. This man is restoring the temple at Chao Say Tevoda. A lot of the restoration is supported by foreign groups. Angkor is not owned by the government but a Vietnamese business man who also owns a lot of the big hotels near to Angkor. This means that the Cambodian people do not own their own heritage.


A woman smiles for Stephen...she sold us some tasty bananas!


Profile of a lady who sold us tasty mango and pineapple!






Ta Prohm. This has deliberately been left in a (monitored) state of disrepair after the French 'discovered' Angkor in the late 19th Century. Despite Europeans believing it had remained undiscovered for hundreds of years, the Khmers always knew it was there. This temple has a mystery about it due to its state of apparent neglect.


Stephen stands beside the roots of a silk-cotton tree which is slowly swallowing the temple.


Cycling past a gateway into Angkor Thom. Many people live around Angkor and many travel around by bike.


Sunrise at Srah Srang. This small baray has retained its water for more than nine centuries.


Children at Srah Srang having a rare quiet moment. There are children everywhere selling a variety of things. They are very persistent. At times it can become tiring when trying to enjoying the serenity of the temples but we have to remember that these children are only doing what they can to support their families. Many of them do attend school and then work around these hours. This was taken at around 5am on a Sunday morning! School is not free and families must pay half the fees. As a result many families can not afford to give their children an education.


This little boy sold us water. A very persuasive salesman. How do you say no to that smile?


Rebecca, Krahn and Stephen. Krahn took us around the temples for three days and kept smiling despite the 4:30am starts for sunrise.

Siem Reap

Siem Reap is the gateway to Cambodia's biggest tourist attraction; Angkor Wat. As a result it has seen a big boom in recent years and there are hotels being built rapidly. The atmosphere here is very friendly interspersed with persistent Tuk- Tuk drivers. The poverty in Cambodia is clear here with many children and adults begging. Some children sell books and postcards and many of the landmine victims sell books too. This is a way for them to be self-sufficient as they receive no support from the government and due to being amputees are often refused jobs. Despite all this, the Cambodian people never fail to flash a winning smile. This place has definitely had a big impact on us both.


Street in Siem Reap


Eating at the local market. Not bad for 50p!


Market in Siem Reap


Cambodian silks, which are sold everywhere, blowing in the wind.


A range of fresh produce sold at the market. You can also buy all sorts of fried bugs if you fancy!


A Tuk-tuk driver sleeping mid-afternoon. It is very hot and humid here. The storms which often occur in the afternoon bring a little relief.

Bangkok to Cambodia-How much to cross a border?

We arrived in South East Asia on the 21st of May and were thrown into the chaos and pollution of Bangkok. Bit of a shock after the slow pace of the Outback and wasn't quite the same as we had remembered it when we were here seven years ago, ie we liked it then! We stayed two nights ( one in a nicer hotel to ease us into the next stage of our travels) and prepared ourselves for the Thailand-Cambodian border. Up very early next morning we managed to find a taxi driver who didn't want to take us to the airport or keep the meter running from the last person and headed to the train station. The train journey which lasted almost six hours cost us £1 and was cleaner than British Rail. Before the train left I searched for a toilet ( these are the necessities when travelling!) and on not finding one, we drank little for the whole journey. On leaving the train I spotted a toliet...spotless too...damn! The train journey was an interesting affair with people boarding the train and selling drinks to dried fish. Taking a deep breath we felt ready to face the onslaught.



Grabbed a tuk-tuk which first picked up a random man trying to sell us a ticket to Siem Reap, getting rid of him, the driver then stopped at a 'visa' point six Km from the border-don't think so! We told him to keep going. He finally dropped us off at another 'visa' point where lots of men tried to convince us to buy their visa! We ended up walking the last little bit and very slowly all the foreigners attracted each other and we stuck together in a group. Finally getting to the right immigration office, we were told that we would have to pay $20 plus 1000 baht. Interestingly enough there is a big sign which states that foreign visas cost $20. He told us this sign was "out of date" . On refusing to pay him extra money we were told the visa could take three days so I stupidly told him I would sleep here. Bizarrly he left us alone and we got our visas in fifteen minutes. We had actually survived the corrupt border officials! Sadly for Cambodia this is what many travellers first experience unless you are flying. This leads to the next part of the story. We then had to try and get a taxi that was going to take us to the right place and not extort too much money from us( again! ) We ended up sharing with a thai lady and her chinese partner who was not allowed across the border and was having to head back to Siem Reap to fly to Bangkok. The road to Siem Reap is approximately 150Km from the border but it took four hours! This was due to the excessive dust, potholes, cows, big trucks...and water. Rainy season starts in May and the Mekong River expands filling into the Tonle Sap, the largest lake in SE Asia. This then floods across this part of Cambodia which look like a floodland. This is great for Cambodians as it means more freshwater fish but not for the roads. Exhausted yet? We were and finally we arrived in Siem Reap. There are no photos for your enjoyment...are you surprised?

Hong Kong

A very brief stopover (two nights) took us to Hong Kong and a nice comfy hotel treat. We were greeted with an amber monsoon warning on landing and it stayed that way. We hadn't seen that much rain since Tahiti! The city is frantic to say the least. We met up with a friend, Mandy who we met in Argentina for coffee and a catch up. On our last night we went to the harbour to watch the nightly light show over all the skyscrapers in the city.


A typical Hong Kong street


Wind and Rain!


Lots of rain


Signs in Chinese and English - the handover was ten years ago this summer


Bruce Lee finally meets his match!


Lights over Hong Kong Island

Tokyo again

We travelled back to Tokyo overnight by bus. It was a fraction of the price of the bullet train and also saved us a night's accomodation. Annoyingly, I managed to forget my watch on the bus, but fortunately we were in Japan and it was returned to me later in the day via a string of people! How about that for honest human nature. On our last night we met up with Kiyoshi for a final meal and some more excellent Japanese beer.


Another good night out with Kiyoshi

Exploring more of Kyoto

We explored Kyoto further, but 4 days just isn't enough to see everything the city has to offer. It was fun to travel by bike on the last day there. Rules don't apply for peddle power - you can go on the pavement or road, in any direction you like!


The Golden Pavillion, which is one of Kyoto's highlights.




Exploring the city by bike (yes, it is too small)


A zen garden looking from inside the temple


Temple of Bamboo in the Bamboo Forest


A night out at a yakitori restaurant


Fields and mountains on the outskirts of Kyoto


The amazing Fushimiinari-taisha Shrine, with 4kms of walkways covered in red gates!


They go on and on...