We spent a couple weeks diving and relaxing in the South of Thailand but we decided to move on to Malaysia a little earlier than originally planned. Diving was fabulous but we felt the South Islands were entirely different from the Central and Northern areas of Thailand. Inauthentic food, masses of tourists, a few scams and littered beaches meant we were quick to move on... We cant love every place unfortunately!
Our journey through Malaysia would be one packed with ups and downs, excitement and turmoil, as well as some seriously good food!
First stop Langkawi, an island on the Northwest coast. The first two days were great, we hired a moped and explored the island inside out. This is by far the cheapest and easiest way to explore the island as filling up the bike cost around 70p. We went for an Indian meal on our second night, with the idea of trying something new. We ordered a curry with a 'roti tisu'; what we thought was a type of naan turned out to be a flatbread covered in sickly sweet condensed milk... That was put aside for pudding and a plain naan was swiftly ordered!
Unluckily our time in Langkawi took an abrupt turn for the worse. On our third morning we awoke at 4:30 am when our wardrobe fell over resulting in both of us being splashed by cold water. We both jumped out of bed into almost waist height water, turned on the light and found that the room had flooded with what looked like brown river water. We both went straight into action mode, save our stuff! This meant frantically searching for what ever we could pick up, passports and valuables being of the main concern. We then waded out of our room in search of the highest point possible, dump what we'd managed to save so far, regroup and attempt to salvage the rest of our belongings.
The rain didn't cease until gone 11 am, which meant that water levels in the room and around the hostel continued to rise. By the time it actually stopped, the water level was 1.5 meters in places and around 1 meter in our room.
Nevertheless, we survived and can tell the tale of the flood in Langkawi. A scary start to Malaysia, but don't worry guys it gets much better! The rest of Langkawi was good fun, we spent most of our time eating local food, drinking beer and relaxing. We also helped the owners of our flooded guesthouse clear up and recuperate. It was satisfying watching it come back to life eventually.
Six days later we left on a direct ferry to Penang where we would be staying in Georgetown. Along with us came Esme, a fellow flood survivor and therefore our Malaysian kin. We stayed in a hostel called Red Heritage Inn, which was fantastic. Clean, large beds and showers that had jets in the walls, luxury!
To call the food in Penang great is an understatement! We had our first experience of a Mamak shop on the night of our arrival. The food was incredible, tandoori chicken, naans, curry sauces and a claypot vegetable byriani for a pittance. Just writing about it now makes our mouths water and we think you could travel to Malaysia for these speciality restaurants alone. They will be sorely missed on our departure from this country. For us, a lot of the great moments in Malaysia involved its food, especially the street food which generally surpassed the quality of the average restaurant (Mamak shops not included!!!).
The most memorable day we had in Penang would have to be the short trek we made through the national park to turtle beach. The walk was an ideal morning getaway from the city of Georgetown. We hopped on the local bus and within an hour we were at the entrance to the park. After a quick bit of negotiating with the water taxi to pick us up, we had set off on a leisurely stroll into the jungle. We arranged for the water taxi to pick us up from the other side of the peninsula, which turned out to be a great idea as four other people jumped on the band wagon when we got to the beach.
The next stop three days later, was a four hour bus ride to the Cameron Highlands, a region full of fruit farms, including numerous strawberry and tomato farms, as well as huge tea plantations. We three flood amigos decided to do the Mossy Forrest tour, which included a guide who spoke impeccable English, a ride in an old Landrover Defender, a short trek through a forest that was truly 'mossy' and a visit to the Boh tea plantation.
We started the tour above one of Boh's tea plantations; standing in the sun, we looked over the vast mountainous landscape, where peaks were intertwined with plantations and pickers shanty towns for as far as the eye could see. Our guide then explained the rich history that Malaysia has with tea, that they drink the same black tea as the Brits and that it's become the national drink. He talked about the process from picking to the point where you drink it and the different grades of tea you get dependent on what part of the plant you pick. All interesting stuff!
Next we took a ride up the mountain, straight to the highest peak and close to where we would start our Mossy Forrest trek. Sadly on the journey up the clouds seemed to come from nowhere and cover the peak in a thick blanket of cold and wetness. Although we did see the funny side and climbed up the tower to see tremendous view that went for about fifty meters. We even took a photograph!
The trek was great, we learnt about the importance of the mossy ecosystem, the use of different plants and even got a bit of a viewpoint in as well (we had descended enough to be below the clouds!). The smell of being in a dense green and wet forest was a nice reminder of home. After our tour we went down to the Boh tea factory for a bit of lunch and some warm black tea. Even though it was full to the brim, it was a welcome relief from the colder air higher up the mountain.
After a beautiful change of scenery in Cameron highlands for two days we headed down towards the south to Melacca, which meant saying farewell to our flood buddy Esme. It's been an adventure, we've had a great time even though what brought us together wasn't ideal to say the least. Adios Esme, keep on enjoying yourself. For us, bring on the South of Malaysia!
Wednesday 7 August 2013
Saturday 3 August 2013
The final chapter of Burma
The ancient city of Bagan is truly a marvel that one could sit and admire no matter who you are or where your beliefs lie. Over two thousand Pagodas scatter the flat landscape around the Aye Yarwaddy River creating a truly epic sense of awe.
We stayed in a town called Nyang-U which is part of the Bagan region but is the newest town and where the main infrastructure can be found. It was full of great restaurants and market places; it even had a Weatherspoons, that did about the best burger you can find anywhere in Southeast Asia! A taste of home! The owner had lived in Bristol and had taken the recipe from a local pub near to a student house Lot's had lived in! Small world or what!
Our best day in Bagan was our second, which we spent touring the temples by horse and cart. Our lively horse was called "Rambo", who lived up to his name! The day started off with the guide taking us to a few of the less known Pagodas. These are looked after by people called "key holders", often ex-monks, who devote themselves to keeping up small Pagodas. They freely explain the rich history surrounding them which adds a more personal touch to the experience. They supplement this by selling small souvenirs, although travelling with backpacks makes it difficult to buy any!
After a tour of some of the smaller temples, we decided to grab some lunch. We found a vegetarian restaurant, which Nat was a bit sceptical about to begin with, although this was dumbfounded as it turned out to be an incredibly tasty meal. Unlike the Shan state, Bagan has similar inhabitants to the people of Yangon. There is less wealth per capita and traditionally eat more vegetarian food than meat. We ate a pumpkin curry and a spicy chickpea chapatti..scrumptious!
In the afternoon we visited some of the larger temples including the mighty Dhammayangyi temple just outside of Old Bagan. Even though they have not been preserved as well and you cannot go to the top of them due to structure instability, collectively they almost seem more impressive than the temples of Angkor Wat. The risk of a snake falling on your shoulder at any moment, the pigeons flying above your head and the monks praying silently gave the temples a rustic charm about them. More often than not, we were the only ones wandering around these magnificent structures. Seeing these temples with no other tourists around really allows you to appreciate the unique history surrounding the region of Bagan.
As we climbed the last temple of the day, the surrounding landscape started to open up before our eyes. From the top your view spread over miles and miles of flat land, and hundreds of temples next to one another. A perfect way to end the day and see the magnitude of beauty yet to be discovered by the outside world.
That night we had our first taste of Mongolian and Nepalese cuisine. Unlimited chapatti's and rice, along with flavoursome curries and pita breads filled with spicy vegetables made for an excellent end to our time in Bagan. Last stop, one day in Mandalay before we fly back to Thailand. We will miss Myanmar, and more so, it's people. The friendliest and most helpful we have met on our trip so far. We urge anybody who is coming to South East Asia to visit this country now, before the world fully discovers it!
We stayed in a town called Nyang-U which is part of the Bagan region but is the newest town and where the main infrastructure can be found. It was full of great restaurants and market places; it even had a Weatherspoons, that did about the best burger you can find anywhere in Southeast Asia! A taste of home! The owner had lived in Bristol and had taken the recipe from a local pub near to a student house Lot's had lived in! Small world or what!
Our best day in Bagan was our second, which we spent touring the temples by horse and cart. Our lively horse was called "Rambo", who lived up to his name! The day started off with the guide taking us to a few of the less known Pagodas. These are looked after by people called "key holders", often ex-monks, who devote themselves to keeping up small Pagodas. They freely explain the rich history surrounding them which adds a more personal touch to the experience. They supplement this by selling small souvenirs, although travelling with backpacks makes it difficult to buy any!
After a tour of some of the smaller temples, we decided to grab some lunch. We found a vegetarian restaurant, which Nat was a bit sceptical about to begin with, although this was dumbfounded as it turned out to be an incredibly tasty meal. Unlike the Shan state, Bagan has similar inhabitants to the people of Yangon. There is less wealth per capita and traditionally eat more vegetarian food than meat. We ate a pumpkin curry and a spicy chickpea chapatti..scrumptious!
In the afternoon we visited some of the larger temples including the mighty Dhammayangyi temple just outside of Old Bagan. Even though they have not been preserved as well and you cannot go to the top of them due to structure instability, collectively they almost seem more impressive than the temples of Angkor Wat. The risk of a snake falling on your shoulder at any moment, the pigeons flying above your head and the monks praying silently gave the temples a rustic charm about them. More often than not, we were the only ones wandering around these magnificent structures. Seeing these temples with no other tourists around really allows you to appreciate the unique history surrounding the region of Bagan.
As we climbed the last temple of the day, the surrounding landscape started to open up before our eyes. From the top your view spread over miles and miles of flat land, and hundreds of temples next to one another. A perfect way to end the day and see the magnitude of beauty yet to be discovered by the outside world.
That night we had our first taste of Mongolian and Nepalese cuisine. Unlimited chapatti's and rice, along with flavoursome curries and pita breads filled with spicy vegetables made for an excellent end to our time in Bagan. Last stop, one day in Mandalay before we fly back to Thailand. We will miss Myanmar, and more so, it's people. The friendliest and most helpful we have met on our trip so far. We urge anybody who is coming to South East Asia to visit this country now, before the world fully discovers it!
Saturday 13 July 2013
Inle Lake
Our second of four stops in Burma was Inle Lake, which can be found in the Shan District, Eastern Burma. We arrived around 4 am on a night bus in Nyaungshwe the main town just above the lake and found ourselves wandering the quiet streets for our guesthouse. We found our way to their locked front gate after about half an hour and had to wake the poor guys up! Unluckily the room wasn't ready until about 10 o'clock, which meant we slept outside in the chairs before eating an absolute triumph of a breakfast. Fresh coffee, fruit plates, an amaretto biscuit to rival any other, eggs on toast and pancakes which helped make up the wait for the room!
After the room was finally ours, we left Aquarius Guesthouse, hired a push bike each and hit the road. We ended up at a monastery just outside town, where we grabbed some street food of samosas, a chapati and a couple of local style doughnuts. The doughnuts are made with sweetened sticky rice, deep fried until crispy and golden brown on the outside and then to top it off, covered in sugar. Not the healthiest of snacks, but not half tasty! We enjoyed our feast leaning up against a tree, where we could gaze out across the rice-paddy fields with the surrounding mountains as a backdrop.
We met up with our friends around lunchtime and decided to go on an adventure, attempting to cycle as far around the lake as possible. When we say it was hot, at one point we must have started to melt! The start of the ride was fairly easy going, nice and flat, but the views were still phenomenal. Our plan was to reach the hot springs and use that as our first goal, unluckily we got completely lost! We cycled past a group of about ten monks, asked for directions and then misinterpreted what they said. This ended up with us cycling up a dirt track into a small village, where we had our first casualty of the day. Kerry was attempting to cycle up a small hill with a small ledge on a bike that was stuck on its highest gear. When her legs could no longer propel her up the slope, she fell sideways over the ledge, it was impossible for her to put her legs down. Luckily she wasn't hurt and could laugh it off as it looked like something from a sitcom.
After hours and hours and kilometre after kilometre of cycling in the gruelling heat we finally had to say no more. We rode into a local village on the lake that was beautiful. The houses were on stilts and where intertwined with small canals. The only mode of transport there was by boat and we quickly snapped up the services of a local and his long tail boat. With five people and four bikes, we set off, through the maze of man-made canals, flying past huge floating vegetable plots and shops. In this moment we knew that the trip to Myanmar was worth every penny and would be remembered for the rest of our lives.
The next day we arranged a tour of the lake on another long tail boat, we were told this was a must do and it didn't disappoint. We left fairly early and had an hour or so zipping along the water towards the morning market. This was a real Burmese local market and was packed to brim with everything you could imagine... Souvenirs, jewellery, clothes, suspicious looking medicine and food. We tried samosas and banana doughnuts which were delicious.
After a walk around the maze of stalls we jumped back into our boat and headed to a floating weaving factory. Here they made traditional longyis, scarves and various other garments. The employees here were mainly ageing women who had clearly been working the looms for decades and could work intricate patterns into the cloth without blinking. By this point, four days into our adventure through Myanmar, Lots was itching to get herself a longyi. With the help of the lady in the shop, she chose a green silk, floor length longyi with ties to hold it secure. Locals don't wear longyis with ties, instead they knot the fabric at the front, something which Lots couldn't quite get hold of, so to spare her the embarrassment of a longyi disaster we opted for the easy option.
Happy with our purchase we jumped back into the boat and made our way to the opposite side of the lake to the floating monastery. The monastery looks quite worn from the outside but inside the carvings, buddha statues and paintings depicting the origin of Buddhism made for a beautiful site. The monastery was also home to several newborn kittens owned by the monks which of course occupied all the girls attention. By this time, it was late afternoon and we decided to head back to the town. It had been a fabulous day exploring every nook and cranny of the lake and we are glad we got to share this experience with our friends Kerry and Ronan.
That evening we met our friend Louise who had arrived from Yangon that day. We found a BBQ restaurant where all the raw meat was displayed in a giant refrigerated cabinet. We were each given a small plastic basket and asked to go and pick the meat we wanted cooked. Once we had chosen we put our selection into the basket and handed it to the man behind the BBQ who returned the basket full of cooked meat a little later... A genius idea we think!
Tomorrow we make the 7 hour journey to Bagan by ourselves whilst our friends enjoy a couple of extra days at Inle Lale, slightly jealous but time in Myanmar is not on our side and we need to move swiftly. Bye!
After the room was finally ours, we left Aquarius Guesthouse, hired a push bike each and hit the road. We ended up at a monastery just outside town, where we grabbed some street food of samosas, a chapati and a couple of local style doughnuts. The doughnuts are made with sweetened sticky rice, deep fried until crispy and golden brown on the outside and then to top it off, covered in sugar. Not the healthiest of snacks, but not half tasty! We enjoyed our feast leaning up against a tree, where we could gaze out across the rice-paddy fields with the surrounding mountains as a backdrop.
We met up with our friends around lunchtime and decided to go on an adventure, attempting to cycle as far around the lake as possible. When we say it was hot, at one point we must have started to melt! The start of the ride was fairly easy going, nice and flat, but the views were still phenomenal. Our plan was to reach the hot springs and use that as our first goal, unluckily we got completely lost! We cycled past a group of about ten monks, asked for directions and then misinterpreted what they said. This ended up with us cycling up a dirt track into a small village, where we had our first casualty of the day. Kerry was attempting to cycle up a small hill with a small ledge on a bike that was stuck on its highest gear. When her legs could no longer propel her up the slope, she fell sideways over the ledge, it was impossible for her to put her legs down. Luckily she wasn't hurt and could laugh it off as it looked like something from a sitcom.
After hours and hours and kilometre after kilometre of cycling in the gruelling heat we finally had to say no more. We rode into a local village on the lake that was beautiful. The houses were on stilts and where intertwined with small canals. The only mode of transport there was by boat and we quickly snapped up the services of a local and his long tail boat. With five people and four bikes, we set off, through the maze of man-made canals, flying past huge floating vegetable plots and shops. In this moment we knew that the trip to Myanmar was worth every penny and would be remembered for the rest of our lives.
The next day we arranged a tour of the lake on another long tail boat, we were told this was a must do and it didn't disappoint. We left fairly early and had an hour or so zipping along the water towards the morning market. This was a real Burmese local market and was packed to brim with everything you could imagine... Souvenirs, jewellery, clothes, suspicious looking medicine and food. We tried samosas and banana doughnuts which were delicious.
After a walk around the maze of stalls we jumped back into our boat and headed to a floating weaving factory. Here they made traditional longyis, scarves and various other garments. The employees here were mainly ageing women who had clearly been working the looms for decades and could work intricate patterns into the cloth without blinking. By this point, four days into our adventure through Myanmar, Lots was itching to get herself a longyi. With the help of the lady in the shop, she chose a green silk, floor length longyi with ties to hold it secure. Locals don't wear longyis with ties, instead they knot the fabric at the front, something which Lots couldn't quite get hold of, so to spare her the embarrassment of a longyi disaster we opted for the easy option.
Happy with our purchase we jumped back into the boat and made our way to the opposite side of the lake to the floating monastery. The monastery looks quite worn from the outside but inside the carvings, buddha statues and paintings depicting the origin of Buddhism made for a beautiful site. The monastery was also home to several newborn kittens owned by the monks which of course occupied all the girls attention. By this time, it was late afternoon and we decided to head back to the town. It had been a fabulous day exploring every nook and cranny of the lake and we are glad we got to share this experience with our friends Kerry and Ronan.
That evening we met our friend Louise who had arrived from Yangon that day. We found a BBQ restaurant where all the raw meat was displayed in a giant refrigerated cabinet. We were each given a small plastic basket and asked to go and pick the meat we wanted cooked. Once we had chosen we put our selection into the basket and handed it to the man behind the BBQ who returned the basket full of cooked meat a little later... A genius idea we think!
Tomorrow we make the 7 hour journey to Bagan by ourselves whilst our friends enjoy a couple of extra days at Inle Lale, slightly jealous but time in Myanmar is not on our side and we need to move swiftly. Bye!
Monday 1 July 2013
Mingala Ba Burma
After a cheap and easygoing Air Asia flight, we landed in Yangon in the afternoon. You can tell as soon as you land that Myanmar hasn't been influenced by the western world quite like the more modern Thailand and other Indochina countries. The first thing you notice is that all the men are wearing longyi. These are traditional skirts worn by both sexes and are more common place than shorts or trousers. The women also wear what looks like yellow face paint, but is actually whitening cream not rubbed in to their skin, but instead smeared on in a warpaint fashion... Something that took a lot of getting used to!
This is an exciting time, the government have just started letting tourists back into the country and are slowly opening their doors to more capitalist ideals. While we were in Yangon there was a Southeast Asian economic summit that included the likes of Tony Blair. The consensus from the people is that the country is moving forwards, away from civil unrest towards an influx of foreign investment and tourism. Lets just hope the money is shared amongst the people and not just stuffed into the governments pockets!
The Burmese people are diverse in culture and origin. Each state has its indigenous people and their way of life differs from the food they eat, to the religions they believe in and the languages they speak. We met a young hotel worker who explained that he was from the southern Taninthary division who lived in a fishing village. He moved to Yangon two years ago not being able to speak Myanmar (Yangon's dialect) and couldn't read or write. He spoke fairly good English, but his education consisted of a small amount of schooling and then rice farming with his father.
On the first day we decided to do a walking tour of the city with our new English friends (Ronan and Kerry), starting at Sule Paya (Paya is the Burmese word for temple), located at the centre of the city which the British built the road structure around. We quickly had to buy some umbrellas as the downpour was torrential! Whilst sheltering from the rain in the temple, a monk came and introduced himself and offered to show us around. He explained the two different forms of Buddhism, the history of the temple and about his Buddhist beliefs. He then helped us partake in a ritual where you poor water over a Buddhas head, the amount of times you poor it over the head all depends on your age. The Buddhists believe that there are eight days in their religious week. Each of those has a different animal that represents the corresponding day. Wednesday (the most religious day) is split up into two days, morning and afternoon, an elephant with tusks represents the morning and an elephant without tusks is the afternoon. We found out that we are both born on a Tuesday which is the day of the lion. If you are going to be an animal then the lion is not a bad one to end up with, especially when one day is represented by a rat! Each animal (day of the week) has a different shrine and depending on which day you were born on means you perform the water pouring ritual on your relevant shrine.
We then proceeded to a tea house, we've heard it was a must to do in Yangon and it meant some respite from the monsoon. The first one we came across was completely packed full of locals, which was a pity as it was recomended in the Lonely Planet guide as the best. Nevertheless we pursued our quest to find some good tea and a bite to eat. We ended up in the muslim district in a tea house called Golden Tea. The four of us sat down and had some very sweet tea, not to mine or Lots taste, but the samosas, potato and onion bhajis and the semolina cakes were delicious. We had all this for $2.50, what a bargain!
The tea shops in Yangon are famed for being the places that general day to day business is made. As Burma is only open and running during day time hours, the tea houses act as an English pub would for the locals. Additionally, if you believe the rumours, the government supposedly plant spies in the tea shops to make sure the Burmese populace are behaving and keeping in line with the military run governments directives.
We spent that evening at the famed golden temple, Shwedagon Paya. This for us is the religious jewel of Southeast asia and comes to life at night, when the gilded surface of the Paya is gleaming from the surrounding floodlights. The sheer size and beauty of this religious monument makes the entire place feel mystical. When we visited it was also fairly empty and because it was low season there were no tourists, making it even more enjoyable. The majority of people were monks dressed in their maroon coloured robes and Buddhists worshipping the statues of the Lord Buddha; this only improved the aura surounding the temple and made the experience unforgettable. We finished off the evening in the Chinese district looking for some bargain street food. We hit the jackpot and gorged on some local Burmese cuisine as well as some tasty Shan noodles.
The next day being our final in Yangon, we decided to go on a circular train ride around the city before getting on the night bus to Inle Lake. We were shown on the train by a local who took our nationalities and names for record (we think this may have been the government keeping tabs on us but we're not sure!). The whole trip lasted about two and a half hours. It allowed us to steer away from the tourist trail and get a feel for what the 'real' Burma was like, even though we saw many squallers and horribly poor working conditions, we also saw football matches, children playing in lakes and markets on train platforms. The trip was a pretty good way to spend the morning and an especially good way to gain an insight in how people live outside of the city. It was also not uncommon to see people drying their clothes on the railway tracks, using their initiative we say!
Anyway, next stop Inle Lake. This will be the only place we visit in the Shan District and is suppose to rival most places in Asia for sheer beauty!
This is an exciting time, the government have just started letting tourists back into the country and are slowly opening their doors to more capitalist ideals. While we were in Yangon there was a Southeast Asian economic summit that included the likes of Tony Blair. The consensus from the people is that the country is moving forwards, away from civil unrest towards an influx of foreign investment and tourism. Lets just hope the money is shared amongst the people and not just stuffed into the governments pockets!
The Burmese people are diverse in culture and origin. Each state has its indigenous people and their way of life differs from the food they eat, to the religions they believe in and the languages they speak. We met a young hotel worker who explained that he was from the southern Taninthary division who lived in a fishing village. He moved to Yangon two years ago not being able to speak Myanmar (Yangon's dialect) and couldn't read or write. He spoke fairly good English, but his education consisted of a small amount of schooling and then rice farming with his father.
On the first day we decided to do a walking tour of the city with our new English friends (Ronan and Kerry), starting at Sule Paya (Paya is the Burmese word for temple), located at the centre of the city which the British built the road structure around. We quickly had to buy some umbrellas as the downpour was torrential! Whilst sheltering from the rain in the temple, a monk came and introduced himself and offered to show us around. He explained the two different forms of Buddhism, the history of the temple and about his Buddhist beliefs. He then helped us partake in a ritual where you poor water over a Buddhas head, the amount of times you poor it over the head all depends on your age. The Buddhists believe that there are eight days in their religious week. Each of those has a different animal that represents the corresponding day. Wednesday (the most religious day) is split up into two days, morning and afternoon, an elephant with tusks represents the morning and an elephant without tusks is the afternoon. We found out that we are both born on a Tuesday which is the day of the lion. If you are going to be an animal then the lion is not a bad one to end up with, especially when one day is represented by a rat! Each animal (day of the week) has a different shrine and depending on which day you were born on means you perform the water pouring ritual on your relevant shrine.
We then proceeded to a tea house, we've heard it was a must to do in Yangon and it meant some respite from the monsoon. The first one we came across was completely packed full of locals, which was a pity as it was recomended in the Lonely Planet guide as the best. Nevertheless we pursued our quest to find some good tea and a bite to eat. We ended up in the muslim district in a tea house called Golden Tea. The four of us sat down and had some very sweet tea, not to mine or Lots taste, but the samosas, potato and onion bhajis and the semolina cakes were delicious. We had all this for $2.50, what a bargain!
The tea shops in Yangon are famed for being the places that general day to day business is made. As Burma is only open and running during day time hours, the tea houses act as an English pub would for the locals. Additionally, if you believe the rumours, the government supposedly plant spies in the tea shops to make sure the Burmese populace are behaving and keeping in line with the military run governments directives.
We spent that evening at the famed golden temple, Shwedagon Paya. This for us is the religious jewel of Southeast asia and comes to life at night, when the gilded surface of the Paya is gleaming from the surrounding floodlights. The sheer size and beauty of this religious monument makes the entire place feel mystical. When we visited it was also fairly empty and because it was low season there were no tourists, making it even more enjoyable. The majority of people were monks dressed in their maroon coloured robes and Buddhists worshipping the statues of the Lord Buddha; this only improved the aura surounding the temple and made the experience unforgettable. We finished off the evening in the Chinese district looking for some bargain street food. We hit the jackpot and gorged on some local Burmese cuisine as well as some tasty Shan noodles.
The next day being our final in Yangon, we decided to go on a circular train ride around the city before getting on the night bus to Inle Lake. We were shown on the train by a local who took our nationalities and names for record (we think this may have been the government keeping tabs on us but we're not sure!). The whole trip lasted about two and a half hours. It allowed us to steer away from the tourist trail and get a feel for what the 'real' Burma was like, even though we saw many squallers and horribly poor working conditions, we also saw football matches, children playing in lakes and markets on train platforms. The trip was a pretty good way to spend the morning and an especially good way to gain an insight in how people live outside of the city. It was also not uncommon to see people drying their clothes on the railway tracks, using their initiative we say!
Anyway, next stop Inle Lake. This will be the only place we visit in the Shan District and is suppose to rival most places in Asia for sheer beauty!
Sunday 30 June 2013
Diving in the deep blue sea
From the start of the trip we knew we wanted to do our PADI Open Water Certificates in Koh Tao. The first island on the East coast of Thailand from Bangkok is the dive capital of South East Asia. With over 60 dive schools on the island it is a must do.
We chose to do our course with New Way Diving, a dive school with rave reviews on TripAdvisor. We sent them an email the day before we were meant to arrive and received an email back almost straight away. They offered us a deal we couldn't refuse - the 4 day course with 5 nights accommodation on the beach for 20 000 baht (£420) between us!
We arrived on an over-night bus/ferry ride from Bangkok and were greeted by a sign reading NAT before being taken on the back of a pick-up truck to New Way diving HQ. We were still a little dazed from a restless night travelling but completed some medical forms and signed some other necessities before we were taken in a moped sidecar to our home for the next 5 nights.
Safe to say we hit jackpot with this accommodation!! A modern, sparkling clean apartment which was a stones throw away from the beach. We spent the rest of the morning napping, eating and having a dip in the sea before we went for our first theory lesson at New Way.
It was then that we met the rest of the newbies, 6 Quebecens, 3 other Brits and 1 Brazilian. We were then split into smaller groups, Nat and I being grouped with Mathias the Brazilian whom had spent the last year living in Germany. Our instructor was Rafal, a Polish ex-pat who had spent 8 years living in South West England during which he had learnt to dive in Weymouth! We were given a textbook to work from plus a worksheet of questions to answer. After each topic we were given a test to prepare us for the final exam at the end of the week. The first afternoon consisted of watching a two hour video and answering questions on the topics - simple enough!
The next day was an 8 AM start with 3 hours of theory, sizing up for wetsuits, fins etc and a lesson on how to set up your equipment before an 11AM lunch break. After, it was our first time in the water. Some dive schools take you to a shallow swimming pool to practise basic techniques but New Way chuck you in at the deep end (literally) and take you to a shallow beach. The boat ride was a rocky one and Lots filled up on Sturgeon as a precaution! We put on our wetsuits, flippers, BCD (breathing apparatus), weight belts, mask and snorkel, did our safety checks and proceeded to the leap of death.
The leap of death - a big step off the side of the boat sounds easy but with all the equipment on which is extremely heavy outside of water, is much harder than it seems! The boat was not an actual diving boat, but an old fishing boat which means climbing up the side and jumping from a greater height. When it came to Lots turn, she was helped up, put in the right position (left hand on weight belt, right hand covering the mouth regulator and mask) but refused to jump in. After a countdown from Rafal, there was still reluctancy to enter the water so a friendly push from the Thai captain helped quicken proceedings.
The afternoon was spent learning all the basic techniques required to be able to do the first dive such as taking equipment off and back on in the water, emergency breathing, clearing the mask (Lots favourite) and a horizontal version of a controlled emergency ascent.
Once back on solid ground, we were tired from a challenging first day of diving, but it was not too end there! More theory once back at the centre as well as a maths lesson from Rafal (to Lottie's dismay), by 8 we were free.
By luck, this weekend was Koh Tao Festival 2013. An annual celebration on the island, a nearby field was decked with copious amounts of food stalls, games, displays and two performance stages. We enjoyed the local schools hip hop performance (?!) and a DJ set before we made our way back home for a much needed sleep.
The next day was d-day, dives 1 and 2... no going back now! But before, the theory test. The two of us and Mathias all passed (phew) so we were good to go. Another rocky journey to Lighthouse Bay and we were kitted up, safety checking and stepping into the water. We made our first descent down the mooring line. The sensation of being weightless in water with so much equipment on is a unique one but an amazing one too. We reached a depth of 10.7 metres and were down for 39 minutes. This time consisted of practising underwater skills, buoyancy and some exploring. Dive 2 was a short boat ride away to Mango Bay. This time we only went a depth of 6.8 metres but spent the majority of time swimming around and enjoying the marine life on offer. There were plenty of Clownfish (Lots favourite) to keep her happy plus the odd Triggerfish thrown in for fun... a fish that will attack if you get to close in its proximity, it rears a horn on the back of its neck if it is feeling defensive, safe to say we steered well clear from them!
First day of diving complete, back to HQ to fill our log books in and enjoy a beer with Rafal. That night we went back to the festival where Nat proceeded to consume two spicy pork kebabs, one corn on the cob, one beef kebab, one chocolate chip ice cream and a slice of chocolate cake, washed down with a Chang... All this diving makes for a healthy appetite!
Dives 3 and 4 the next day were truly spectacular. Waking up at 5 and being out on the water by 6 meant we were the first dive school out there. It was well worth the early morning as being the only ones in the water is hard to come by on an island housing over 60 dive schools! We rode out about an hour to a bay called Chumpon, close to the mainland. We felt like we could really relax and enjoy the diving whilst taking in the colourful coral and it's surroundings. Visibility was clear and there were no currents to fight with so we swam to a depth of 18 metres for 45 minutes where we mingled with some Yellow Fin Barracuda. The final dive was similar, except Rafal gave us compasses so we could navigate ourselves, something Nat was a genius at due to his practise on ships.
The rest of the day was spent consuming beers, filling in log books, getting our certification and saying our goodbyes. Diving was truly wonderful and we would recommend it to anybody heading to the South Islands. New Way diving and Rafal were welcoming, friendly yet professional and made our first diving experience memorable.
Now for filling our logbooks with 100 more dives!!
We chose to do our course with New Way Diving, a dive school with rave reviews on TripAdvisor. We sent them an email the day before we were meant to arrive and received an email back almost straight away. They offered us a deal we couldn't refuse - the 4 day course with 5 nights accommodation on the beach for 20 000 baht (£420) between us!
We arrived on an over-night bus/ferry ride from Bangkok and were greeted by a sign reading NAT before being taken on the back of a pick-up truck to New Way diving HQ. We were still a little dazed from a restless night travelling but completed some medical forms and signed some other necessities before we were taken in a moped sidecar to our home for the next 5 nights.
Safe to say we hit jackpot with this accommodation!! A modern, sparkling clean apartment which was a stones throw away from the beach. We spent the rest of the morning napping, eating and having a dip in the sea before we went for our first theory lesson at New Way.
It was then that we met the rest of the newbies, 6 Quebecens, 3 other Brits and 1 Brazilian. We were then split into smaller groups, Nat and I being grouped with Mathias the Brazilian whom had spent the last year living in Germany. Our instructor was Rafal, a Polish ex-pat who had spent 8 years living in South West England during which he had learnt to dive in Weymouth! We were given a textbook to work from plus a worksheet of questions to answer. After each topic we were given a test to prepare us for the final exam at the end of the week. The first afternoon consisted of watching a two hour video and answering questions on the topics - simple enough!
The next day was an 8 AM start with 3 hours of theory, sizing up for wetsuits, fins etc and a lesson on how to set up your equipment before an 11AM lunch break. After, it was our first time in the water. Some dive schools take you to a shallow swimming pool to practise basic techniques but New Way chuck you in at the deep end (literally) and take you to a shallow beach. The boat ride was a rocky one and Lots filled up on Sturgeon as a precaution! We put on our wetsuits, flippers, BCD (breathing apparatus), weight belts, mask and snorkel, did our safety checks and proceeded to the leap of death.
The leap of death - a big step off the side of the boat sounds easy but with all the equipment on which is extremely heavy outside of water, is much harder than it seems! The boat was not an actual diving boat, but an old fishing boat which means climbing up the side and jumping from a greater height. When it came to Lots turn, she was helped up, put in the right position (left hand on weight belt, right hand covering the mouth regulator and mask) but refused to jump in. After a countdown from Rafal, there was still reluctancy to enter the water so a friendly push from the Thai captain helped quicken proceedings.
The afternoon was spent learning all the basic techniques required to be able to do the first dive such as taking equipment off and back on in the water, emergency breathing, clearing the mask (Lots favourite) and a horizontal version of a controlled emergency ascent.
Once back on solid ground, we were tired from a challenging first day of diving, but it was not too end there! More theory once back at the centre as well as a maths lesson from Rafal (to Lottie's dismay), by 8 we were free.
By luck, this weekend was Koh Tao Festival 2013. An annual celebration on the island, a nearby field was decked with copious amounts of food stalls, games, displays and two performance stages. We enjoyed the local schools hip hop performance (?!) and a DJ set before we made our way back home for a much needed sleep.
The next day was d-day, dives 1 and 2... no going back now! But before, the theory test. The two of us and Mathias all passed (phew) so we were good to go. Another rocky journey to Lighthouse Bay and we were kitted up, safety checking and stepping into the water. We made our first descent down the mooring line. The sensation of being weightless in water with so much equipment on is a unique one but an amazing one too. We reached a depth of 10.7 metres and were down for 39 minutes. This time consisted of practising underwater skills, buoyancy and some exploring. Dive 2 was a short boat ride away to Mango Bay. This time we only went a depth of 6.8 metres but spent the majority of time swimming around and enjoying the marine life on offer. There were plenty of Clownfish (Lots favourite) to keep her happy plus the odd Triggerfish thrown in for fun... a fish that will attack if you get to close in its proximity, it rears a horn on the back of its neck if it is feeling defensive, safe to say we steered well clear from them!
First day of diving complete, back to HQ to fill our log books in and enjoy a beer with Rafal. That night we went back to the festival where Nat proceeded to consume two spicy pork kebabs, one corn on the cob, one beef kebab, one chocolate chip ice cream and a slice of chocolate cake, washed down with a Chang... All this diving makes for a healthy appetite!
Dives 3 and 4 the next day were truly spectacular. Waking up at 5 and being out on the water by 6 meant we were the first dive school out there. It was well worth the early morning as being the only ones in the water is hard to come by on an island housing over 60 dive schools! We rode out about an hour to a bay called Chumpon, close to the mainland. We felt like we could really relax and enjoy the diving whilst taking in the colourful coral and it's surroundings. Visibility was clear and there were no currents to fight with so we swam to a depth of 18 metres for 45 minutes where we mingled with some Yellow Fin Barracuda. The final dive was similar, except Rafal gave us compasses so we could navigate ourselves, something Nat was a genius at due to his practise on ships.
The rest of the day was spent consuming beers, filling in log books, getting our certification and saying our goodbyes. Diving was truly wonderful and we would recommend it to anybody heading to the South Islands. New Way diving and Rafal were welcoming, friendly yet professional and made our first diving experience memorable.
Now for filling our logbooks with 100 more dives!!
Saturday 15 June 2013
Glowing plankton, one bad belly and a WONDER of the world!
During our stay in Phnom Penh we decided that we couldn't miss out on visiting Myanmar (Burma) so we applied for our visa's at the embasy. The whole process takes around four working days, but as we went on a Thursday we ended up having to wait a day short of a week!
What to do with six spare days in the capital of Cambodia. We headed down to the coast on a relatively short bus journey to Sihanoukville. This is what can only be described as the party town of Cambodia and is full to the rafters with young travellers. We stayed here for one night and decided to quickly move on to what we thought was going to be an idilic island, Koh Rong, but what it actually turned out to be was "So Wrong" (Lots, 2013). Back to basics, limited electricity and beach bungalows, mixed with a huge hippy population. We stayed at a place called Coco Bungalows, otherwise known as "Nono Bungalows" (Lots, 2013).
Koh Rong did have one very cool feature. At night, if you went swimming about fifty meters from the beach, you were then surrounded by bio luminescent plankton. If you thrashed your arms and legs around the water would light up around you. It was one of our favourite experiences.
After a two night stay we decided to head back to the mainland, to a place called Otres Beach and stayed in some bungalows in the shape of Mushrooms. It was a great place, but unluckily lots had food poisoning so we didnt get to make the most of the beautiful beach.
Next it was time to head down to Siem Reap to explore the temples of Angkor Wat, a must see if your visiting Southeast Asia. We enjoyed our time here the most as the town has a great night life, with good food and places to drink, as well as having a wonder of the world on its door step!
We decided to explore the temple sites for three days and hired a tuk tuk driver named Walter. He was great and made the trip a sensational success. We started off the first day visiting the temple that was used to film the first Lara Croft film. Unluckily it was under reconstruction and there was scaffolding in places. The temple directly nextdoor was beautiful, we spent the better part of an hour wondering around and soaking up the atmosphere. For the rest of the day Walter took us around stopping off at interesting sights, including the Eastern entrance to Angkor Thom. This is where you pass over a moat on a bridge covered in statues of dragons and guardians, then you pass through an ancient gateway, theres no gate anymore but it is still a beautiful sight to see.
We finished the day with a walk along the Elephant Terrace, at the heart of Angkor Thom, along past the Palais Royal and the beautiful Baphuon, finally ending up at the jaw dropping Bayon Temple. Seeing the level of detail in the carvings, the shapes of the spires and the sheer magnitude of Bayon Temple makes the visit to Cambodia in itself worth all the effort!
That evening Walter took Nat to play football with the other local tuk tuk drivers. The game was played on a full size pitch where Nat was the striker, netting a top right hand corner finish. Playing in the same team was our Belgian friend Tom, who was the main force in midfield. Standing at a cool 6 ft 5" he was the tallest on the pitch by at least 5 inches.
The next day we got up for sunrise at Angkor Wat. We arose at 4.30 in the morning and were outside Angkor Wat at around 6 am. Sadly it was cloudy which obstructed our view of the sun rising, although it didn't take any of the beauty out of the temple. The sun shone off the clouds and created a deep purple and blue background to see the temple against. Angkor Wat is the seventh wonder of the world and even though it doesn't quite boast the beauty of Bayon or the serenity found at some of the smaller temples, the complexity of the inner and outer buildings, the moat system and the outer walls, mean the temple of Angkor Wat deserves the title Wonder.
Later that morning we went and visited some of the smaller temples to the North of Angkor Thom. Here is where we actually found our favourite temple of our three day visit. Ta Sohm temple was not the most impressive in size or skill of construction and it hadn't been fully renovated, but it felt more rustic and untouched. Coupled with the feeling of serenity and the fact that we were almost the only people there, the experience of walking around this ancient ruin was unforgettable.
That night we stayed up until 2 in the morning to watch the champions league final. Watching it on a big screen in the street along with plenty of German tourists made for a good atmosphere. But we only made it to half time as it all became a bit too much for Nat and fell asleep in his chair!
The final day was spent mainly enroute to our final temple of the trip, Banteay Srey. Its 37 km out of Siem Reap, but decided to make the effort as we heard it was a 'must visit' if you had the three day temple pass. The temple itself is fairly small, but still very pretty and is surrounded by a moat enclosed in a stone wall. Just outside the temple was a small exhibition highlighting the work undertaken over the decades to restore the complex to its former beauty.
We thoroughly enjoyed our stay in Siem Reap. Our next stop is the island of Koh Chang for a short break and then on to Bangkok. From there we fly to Burma to experience something that we hope to be life changing.
What to do with six spare days in the capital of Cambodia. We headed down to the coast on a relatively short bus journey to Sihanoukville. This is what can only be described as the party town of Cambodia and is full to the rafters with young travellers. We stayed here for one night and decided to quickly move on to what we thought was going to be an idilic island, Koh Rong, but what it actually turned out to be was "So Wrong" (Lots, 2013). Back to basics, limited electricity and beach bungalows, mixed with a huge hippy population. We stayed at a place called Coco Bungalows, otherwise known as "Nono Bungalows" (Lots, 2013).
Koh Rong did have one very cool feature. At night, if you went swimming about fifty meters from the beach, you were then surrounded by bio luminescent plankton. If you thrashed your arms and legs around the water would light up around you. It was one of our favourite experiences.
After a two night stay we decided to head back to the mainland, to a place called Otres Beach and stayed in some bungalows in the shape of Mushrooms. It was a great place, but unluckily lots had food poisoning so we didnt get to make the most of the beautiful beach.
Next it was time to head down to Siem Reap to explore the temples of Angkor Wat, a must see if your visiting Southeast Asia. We enjoyed our time here the most as the town has a great night life, with good food and places to drink, as well as having a wonder of the world on its door step!
We decided to explore the temple sites for three days and hired a tuk tuk driver named Walter. He was great and made the trip a sensational success. We started off the first day visiting the temple that was used to film the first Lara Croft film. Unluckily it was under reconstruction and there was scaffolding in places. The temple directly nextdoor was beautiful, we spent the better part of an hour wondering around and soaking up the atmosphere. For the rest of the day Walter took us around stopping off at interesting sights, including the Eastern entrance to Angkor Thom. This is where you pass over a moat on a bridge covered in statues of dragons and guardians, then you pass through an ancient gateway, theres no gate anymore but it is still a beautiful sight to see.
We finished the day with a walk along the Elephant Terrace, at the heart of Angkor Thom, along past the Palais Royal and the beautiful Baphuon, finally ending up at the jaw dropping Bayon Temple. Seeing the level of detail in the carvings, the shapes of the spires and the sheer magnitude of Bayon Temple makes the visit to Cambodia in itself worth all the effort!
That evening Walter took Nat to play football with the other local tuk tuk drivers. The game was played on a full size pitch where Nat was the striker, netting a top right hand corner finish. Playing in the same team was our Belgian friend Tom, who was the main force in midfield. Standing at a cool 6 ft 5" he was the tallest on the pitch by at least 5 inches.
The next day we got up for sunrise at Angkor Wat. We arose at 4.30 in the morning and were outside Angkor Wat at around 6 am. Sadly it was cloudy which obstructed our view of the sun rising, although it didn't take any of the beauty out of the temple. The sun shone off the clouds and created a deep purple and blue background to see the temple against. Angkor Wat is the seventh wonder of the world and even though it doesn't quite boast the beauty of Bayon or the serenity found at some of the smaller temples, the complexity of the inner and outer buildings, the moat system and the outer walls, mean the temple of Angkor Wat deserves the title Wonder.
Later that morning we went and visited some of the smaller temples to the North of Angkor Thom. Here is where we actually found our favourite temple of our three day visit. Ta Sohm temple was not the most impressive in size or skill of construction and it hadn't been fully renovated, but it felt more rustic and untouched. Coupled with the feeling of serenity and the fact that we were almost the only people there, the experience of walking around this ancient ruin was unforgettable.
That night we stayed up until 2 in the morning to watch the champions league final. Watching it on a big screen in the street along with plenty of German tourists made for a good atmosphere. But we only made it to half time as it all became a bit too much for Nat and fell asleep in his chair!
The final day was spent mainly enroute to our final temple of the trip, Banteay Srey. Its 37 km out of Siem Reap, but decided to make the effort as we heard it was a 'must visit' if you had the three day temple pass. The temple itself is fairly small, but still very pretty and is surrounded by a moat enclosed in a stone wall. Just outside the temple was a small exhibition highlighting the work undertaken over the decades to restore the complex to its former beauty.
We thoroughly enjoyed our stay in Siem Reap. Our next stop is the island of Koh Chang for a short break and then on to Bangkok. From there we fly to Burma to experience something that we hope to be life changing.
Thursday 30 May 2013
Phnom Penh
We reached Phnom Penh in the afternoon and it was stifling! We didn't expect the increase in temperature and were glad we had air conditioning at the hostel. The first night we met up with the Belgium's and ended up in a Australian pub with a free bar and some live music. Good start to Phnom Penh.
Our first full day was spent doing the two main tourist attractions, the killing fields and the genocide museum. Though they are dark and morbid, the experience was a real eye opener into the Khmer Rouge regime. They were responsible for mass genocide and killed one in four Khmer people. The regime killed the majority of educated people, anyone against the Khmer Rouge regime and anyone with affiliations to the so called traitors. People that didn't suffer death had to work the fields, farming mostly rice and living off two bowls of rice porridge a day. The Cambodian people had a choice, be part of the regime and work in extreme conditions or be subjected to the killing fields. The regime is so hated that the Cambodian people now pronounce their identities differently. Instead of Khmer they pronounce themselves as "Khmar", but the word is still spelt the same.
The reason for so many deaths was the Khmer Rouge killed all family members of anyone they executed. This was so that they would have no potential enemies in the future. Although the Khmer people have been through such atrocities, the people are incredibly friendly and very warm hearted.
We visited the genocide museum next. Set up in an old prison called S-52. The buildings were converted from a school into a holding area for people who were inevitably going to the killing fields. In a way this was more disturbing than the killing fields, with dark rooms, long corridors and small brick cells, the buildings send shivers down your spine.
The rest of Phnom Penh is pretty nice. It has a good night life, some tasty food and some great backpacker hostels. We stayed at the White Rabbit, which was owned by an American, Kiwi and a Khmer lady; this gave the place a really relaxed feel and was a good base to explore the city from. Not forgetting to mention the hostel cat... Jerry. Permanently asleep, you would find him behind doors, in corners, on the bar (!) and even once on our bed.
Tuk tuk drivers generally don't know where they are going and often you need a detailed map with directions to get anywhere in Cambodia. We found this out when trying finding the Myanmar embassy. Luckily we stumbled upon it in the end! We found that it would take six days to process the visas, so we decided to go to Koh Rong and Otres Beach on the south coast to fill the void of time.
Our first full day was spent doing the two main tourist attractions, the killing fields and the genocide museum. Though they are dark and morbid, the experience was a real eye opener into the Khmer Rouge regime. They were responsible for mass genocide and killed one in four Khmer people. The regime killed the majority of educated people, anyone against the Khmer Rouge regime and anyone with affiliations to the so called traitors. People that didn't suffer death had to work the fields, farming mostly rice and living off two bowls of rice porridge a day. The Cambodian people had a choice, be part of the regime and work in extreme conditions or be subjected to the killing fields. The regime is so hated that the Cambodian people now pronounce their identities differently. Instead of Khmer they pronounce themselves as "Khmar", but the word is still spelt the same.
The reason for so many deaths was the Khmer Rouge killed all family members of anyone they executed. This was so that they would have no potential enemies in the future. Although the Khmer people have been through such atrocities, the people are incredibly friendly and very warm hearted.
We visited the genocide museum next. Set up in an old prison called S-52. The buildings were converted from a school into a holding area for people who were inevitably going to the killing fields. In a way this was more disturbing than the killing fields, with dark rooms, long corridors and small brick cells, the buildings send shivers down your spine.
The rest of Phnom Penh is pretty nice. It has a good night life, some tasty food and some great backpacker hostels. We stayed at the White Rabbit, which was owned by an American, Kiwi and a Khmer lady; this gave the place a really relaxed feel and was a good base to explore the city from. Not forgetting to mention the hostel cat... Jerry. Permanently asleep, you would find him behind doors, in corners, on the bar (!) and even once on our bed.
Tuk tuk drivers generally don't know where they are going and often you need a detailed map with directions to get anywhere in Cambodia. We found this out when trying finding the Myanmar embassy. Luckily we stumbled upon it in the end! We found that it would take six days to process the visas, so we decided to go to Koh Rong and Otres Beach on the south coast to fill the void of time.
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