LANGKAWI

March 29 to April 3.

 BELLA VISTA BY NIGHT

Tony had been working very hard on the boat while I was in Australia for the birth of our grandson; we had to go to Langkawi to pick up some paint that had been delivered there from the U.S. and we were hoping to meet up with Doug, Pam and Paris the cat on Helly, friends from way back in Hastings so decided to make this trip a mini holiday.

 VIEW FROM OUR ROOM

We had booked the night bus to Penang leaving at 9.30pm from Larkin, the bus station that serves Johor Bahru. Buses from here go all over Malaysia and are only a 10 minute taxi ride from the boat. Most buses are very comfortable with reclining seats; some buses even have massage chairs, but we haven’t managed to score one of them yet!

We managed to get the last two seats, so even though we were right in the back left corner we were quite happy. The bus was to leave at 9.30pm, but it was nearly 10.30 before we finally got underway. Apparently they had combined both buses so we had to wait for those who had booked on the 10.30pm to turn up.

Once under way almost everyone including us settled down to sleep the night away. Everyone that is, except the two bozos sitting alongside us! They kept up a dialogue until the first stop at 0130am when one of them disembarked much to our relief. Yay, finally fell asleep, only to wake up an hour later feeling very cold. Now the aircon on these things are usually very efficient and I usually take some sort of covering, but this was ridiculous; my legs were freezing. Not only freezing, but what’s this? Wet as well!! Bugger, looks like I got the seat with the leaking roof. Great! Only 6 hours to go before we get to Penang. Luckily our previously garrulous co-passenger had moved so we were able to move one seat along so I could stay dry. 

The rest of the trip passed uneventfully and we dutifully arrived at 08.30 am in Penang at the ferry terminal. Fantastic, this is all too easy. Yep, definitely too easy.

 BAD WEATHER

We follow the signs for the ferry, and arrive at a ticket office. I ask if this is the ferry to Langkawi, I get a “yes”, okay, that’s good. He says “you give me three ringgits.”($1.00). Okaay, it’s two and a half hours to Langkawi so that sure is cheap. I ask again for the ferry to Langkawi and once again he asks for three ringgits. I give him three ringgits, he gives me three separate piles of change, indicates that we each put one ringgit thirty in the turnstile and the rest is my change.

We look at one another, think “what the heck” and proceed through the turnstiles. Once through, there is no turning back! In front of us are rows and rows of seats with people patiently sitting there, all facing forward and obviously waiting for something. Hopefully the ferry to Langkawi. After about ten minutes, we can see a ferry approaching. It doesn’t look too good, and right about now all those news items about ferries in Asia capsizing or sinking flash through my mind. It looks like a rusty old bucket that certainly should not be going out into the open sea. God, now what do we do? No way back, so I guess we go forward and hope for the best.

Once on board it does nothing to inspire confidence in us. Once again we all sit on rows of wooden (some broken) seats facing forward. The sides are open, the weather is bad and the rain is coming in. The boat starts moving oh so slowly, definitely going to be a very long trip. Ten minutes later the rain clears and we see land! Huh? I thought Langkawi was a lot further away, this can’t be right. Well, it turns out that that was the ferry you catch to go catch the ferry to Langkawi. All very simple? Sure!!!!

 LANGKAWI FERRY

Right, let’s see if we can find this darn ferry. A taxi driver asks where we want to go and when we explain his reply goes like this. “Oh, very long way miss, much too far, I take you for only ten ringgit”.  Well, why not, after all it is only $3.30. As we get in I said to Tony, I bet you we’ve been had! Bet you it’s just around the corner! And sure enough, down one street, in another and round a corner and voila! there we are. We had a good laugh as we really should have known better by now.

 LANGKAWI YACHT CLUB

Without further ado, we finally got the ferry to Langkawi! The trip cost us $20.00 each and it rained the whole time so our view wasn’t really all that good. See, all just too easy.

 BELLA VISTA HOTEL

On arrival we took a taxi to our hotel, the Bella Vista. All the cruisers anchor in front of it and call it Disneyland. You can see why. We arrived at 12.00 but apparently check-in is not until 3.00 pm, and as our room was not ready they could upgrade us. Okay, what will that cost us? Oh nothing sir. Oh? Well okay then, please feel free to upgrade us and is there any possibility of a sea view? Well yes of course sir. Great, this all sounds too good to be true. Well the room was a little on the small side but otherwise great. For $35.00 a night we had a great shower, aircon, jug, coffee and tea, cable TV, free wifi, and a huge smorgasbord breakfast with western and asian food.

 

 BELLA VISTA VIEW

After a catch-up snooze we wandered off to explore nearby and find somewhere for dinner. Stumbled into a bar and restaurant called The Pier frequented by the yachties cos the beer is cheap. Actually the beer is cheap all through Langkawi as it is a duty free haven. That must mean the shopping is good! Something to look forward to when we come up with the boat.

 BELLA VISTA POOL

The next day after a great breakfast, we headed into town, which is quite a walk. Halfway there we found a motorbike rental place and promptly hired one for two days, at a total cost of 78RM ($25.00) including insurance, helmets and rain ponchos. Bargain!!

 

FARANG BIKIE

While cruising around town the heavens opened, and I mean that literally. We were soaked before we even had a chance to put on our ponchos. Manage to shelter under a carport, ten minutes later the sun is shining and not a cloud in the sky.

 REBAK

Friday we decide to go and check out Rebak Marina and Telaga Harbour. It was just lovely on the bike, nice breeze and very little traffic. There was a police block and of course we don’t have a motorbike licence, so we stopped, and I went up with map in hand to ask how to get to Telaga Harbour. Oh, just follow this road and at the T intersection turn left. Bye, have a nice day! Boy, that was easy. Nice one.

 TELAGA HARBOUR

Telaga Harbour is a lovely spot, and has a great anchorage behind a couple of wave break islands. Very pretty place, look forward to spending some time there. Once again the heavens opened, so had lunch while we waited for it to stop. It finally slowed to a drizzle, and thanks to our ponchos we got home dry. 

 IT’S A HARD LIFE

Our friends on Helly were delayed due to bad weather in Phuket, and when the weather finally cleared up and they were ready to leave their cat Paris went AWOL. They searched high and low, spent hours and hours and all next day calling him and combing the neighborhood to no avail. That evening when they arrived back from eating and searching there sat Paris on deck, looking for all the world as if to say “hey guys, where have you been?” 

 VIEW AT DINNERTIME

Because of this, if we wanted to catch up with them then we would have to stay another night. Okay, no problem, I’ll just pop downstairs and extend our stay. Too easy? Yes indeed; too easy.  The conversation goes like this:

“Yes madam, of course we can book you for another night, but not for same price as on internet.”

 Okay, says I, that was 100.00RM ($33.00) so how much if I pay cash?

 “That will be 200.00RM madam.”

Now let’s see if I got this straight: if I go upstairs and book online it will cost me $33.00 and if I pay cash here it will cost me $66.oo. Hmm, what the?

“What if I book on the internet?” I ask.

“No problem madam, but I need a printout of the receipt”

“Well I don’t have a printer with me, just my computer”

“No problem madam, just email it to me.”

Great, that sounds good, I go back to my room, book another night, pay 100RM, email the receipt to my friend downstairs, and trot back down to reception.

“Ah, madam, you have emailed it?  Just one moment. Yes, it is here.” I turn to leave thinking that all is well, but that would be too easy. “No, no, no, just one moment.” He then proceeds to print out the receipt, hand it over to me, I hand it back to him, he enters it on the computer, writes out another breakfast voucher and thanks me for staying at his hotel. Needless to say I return to our room just slightly bemused.

The next morning after we took the bike back we wandered through the beautiful park in town. There is a huge statue of an eagle, their symbol for Langkawi.

 EAGLE

Helly finally arrived that afternoon having sailed (with Paris) overnight to be able to spend time with us. We met up for dinner and had a wonderful evening. Paris was confined to barracks for the duration! The next morning Doug and Pam came over for a swim and the use of our shower. If you are a yachty then you will understand what a luxury that is. Spotted a Chinese in snorkelling in the pool. Yes, snorkelling in the pool while taking photos!!!! 

 ONLY THE CHINESE…

After we checked out we left our baggage at the ferry terminal and wandered off to a local eatery. You dish up whatever you want, order your drinks, and sit down. Somebody ambles over, checks out what is on your plate and gives you the bill. For meals for four and 7 drinks it cost us 30.00RM, that’s just $2.50 each. And it was delicious!

 ON THE FERRY

We were booked on the 4.00 o’clock ferry to Kuah Perlis, which was only an hour away. Our bus was due to leave at 8.15 pm, so that gave us time to look around and have something to eat. As we were leaving from Kuah Perlis and taking the Express, the trip would take 11 hrs, so hopefully we would manage to get a decent sleep. Yeah, right!!! First of all the bus was more than half an hour late, and when it did finally arrive our seats were in the second last row which put us right above the springs. Yes, you guessed it! The springs were sprung and we squeaked our way home for the next thirteen hours. Not only was it not express, it proceeded to meander through most of Malaysia ( okay, maybe a slight exaggeration) stopping every two hours or so and yelling out the destinations and turning on all the lights which made sleeping almost impossible.

Spotted this sign on the way to Langkawi marina… not sure who the sign is meant for.

 WHAT THE???

CAMBODIA - PHNOM PENH

 11th Feb to 16^th Feb

GOLDEN DRAGON

We arrived in Phnom Penh after a 7 hour bus trip, for which we paid $16.00. The trip was interesting with lots to see of the passing countryside, the roads were passable, and are being upgraded along a very large stretch between the two cities.

OUR TUK-TUK AND DRIVER

Once again we did not pre-book accommodation, and relied on our tuk-tuk driver to point us in the right direction. While most get a kickback if they deliver new guests, this did not appear to be the case in this instance.

It works like this: you negotiate a price to be taken in to Phnom Penh, to your choice of hotel, (or their suggestion if you don’t have a preference) they wait while you go in to get prices and check out the room. If you are happy you pay the driver and check into the hotel. If you are not happy, you get back in the tuk-tuk and go to the next place. They are happy to traipse around until you have found one to your satisfaction. Just tell them up front what you want to pay and what area and sit back and enjoy the ride.

IN NEGOTIATIONS

We were taken to the Silver River Hotel, a recently refurbished hotel very close to most major attractions and eating places. The rooms were spacious and clean, the service was great, and breakfast was more than adequate. This was the most expensive hotel we had for the whole trip, and cost us a whopping $30.00 a night.  Talk about being extravagant!

SILVER RIVER HOTEL

 The afternoon was spent settling in as this would be our base for the next 5 nights. While strolling around looking at the sights we booked a tour for the next day out to the “Killing Fields” Choeung Ek Genocidal Centre and S21.

S21

Toul Sleng Genocide Museum, otherwise known as S21, (security prison no 21) started life as a primary school. During Pol Pot’s reign of terror this became a primitive prison and interrogation centre.

The rules were extraordinary: for example rule no 6: “While getting electrification or lashes you must not cry out” or rule 10: “If you disobey any point of my regulations you shall get either ten lashes or five shocks of electric discharges.”

PRISON RULES

Between 1975 and 1979 approximately twenty thousand victims, mostly teachers, doctors, students, monks and other intellectuals were imprisoned, subjected to horrific tortures and then killed or taken to extermination camps outside the city.

MEMORIAL STUPA

Known as “The Killing Fields” it is hard to imagine the horrors that took place in this now peaceful backwater, surrounded by rice paddies and bush.  It is indeed a very sobering experience to wander through the park and read the signs that mark the mass graves, mark where the various buildings (like the killing tools shed) stood, and the tree where the babies were bashed to death, and so many other unimaginable horrors that words cannot describe.

One cannot say that the visit was enjoyable, but it is part of history, and an integral part of who Cambodians are today, for there is no-one who was not touched in some way by the atrocities of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge.

PHNOM PENH RIVERFRONT

Something a little less confronting for the evening was called for, so a leisurely stroll along the river followed by dinner at a local eatery was just the ticket. We just loved Cambodian food. Not spicy, but very tasty, my favourite was Chicken Amok. I had it on three occasions in three different restaurants, and they were all different but all delicious. There are also numerous markets, the two main ones being Central Market and the Russian Market. We visited Central several times and spent many hours just browsing for gifts, and marveling at all the bling.

INDEPENDENCE MONUMENT

The next day we went off to see the Royal Palace but it was closed due to visiting dignitaries so strolled to the Independence Monument instead. Built in 1962 to celebrate independence from the French in 1958, it also commemorates Cambodia’s war victims.

WAT PHNOM HILL PAGODA

In the afternoon we took a tuk-tuk to Wat Phnom Hill. The first pagoda was built here in 1373, and was rebuilt and refurbishes several times in the following decades. The last time was in 1939. There are hawkers everywhere here, and children with caged birds. The idea is that you pay to let them go free, the birds that is not the kids, but they say that the birds are trained to come back to their cage. Oh well, guess they are just trying to make a living.

 
THE ROYAL PALACE

From there our driver took us to the Royal Palace. The Palace was built twice, the first in 1434, when it was known as “Preah Borom Reach Vang Chatomuk Mongkul”. It was so named because it sits near the confluence of four rivers: the upper Mekong, the Tonle Sap, the lower Mekong and the Tonle Bassac. The royal family then moved to Oudong.

The present day palace was built in 1866, constructed in wood; their original forms were preserved when they were reconstructed in concrete later.

ROYAL PALACE GARDENS

Most of the buildings contain magnificent sculptures, and there are some very well preserved murals adorning the outer wall. The buildings are characterised by many tiered roofs and topped by towers which symbolise prosperity. The gardens were also very impressive.

SILVER PAGODA

In the same compound stands the Silver Pagoda, named for its floor: it is completely covered in silver tiles - 5329 to be exact. It is also known as Preah Vihear Keo Morokot (temple of the Emerald Buddha) after the famous Emerald Buddha made from baccarat crystal. There is also a solid gold life-size Buddha decorated with more than two thousand diamonds and precious stones. Really a sight to be marveled at.

NATIONAL MUSEUM

The National Museum was kept for our last day followed by a leisurely stroll around and dinner at a riverside restaurant. Opened in 1920, the museum houses an impressive array of ancient relics, art and sculpture dating from the sixth century to the present day. We saw some amazing, weird, ancient, priceless, and awesome stuff there. The morning just flew by as we wandered around.

ELEPHANT BUSH

The gardens here are lovely, with some unusual sculptures. Here is an elephant head, with the body shaped out of a bush.

GEE I'M BRAVE!
 

  Unfortunately you are not permitted to take photos, either in the museum or most of the temples, so if you want to see some of these things you will just have to make a trip to Cambodia.

OKAY, WHO’S NOT WEARING THEIR SEAT-BELT?

The traffic here is amazing, going every which way, no traffic lights or rules that we could see, but it all just seemed to flow. They are obviously not too fussed about how many in a vehicle!

CAMBODIA - SIEM REAP

 ANGKOR WAT

After a short one hour and forty-five minute flight, our Laos Airlines plane touched down in Siem Reap. Once again, visas are available on arrival. Pay $20.00, hand over one passport photo and you have a thirty day visa.

 ANGKOR SCULPTURE

Siem Reap is the gateway to Angkor, the world famous temples in northwest Cambodia. Spiritually, politically and geographically Angkor was at the heart of the great Khmer empire.

 ANGKOR TEMPLE

In 802AD, King Jayavarman II became the first god-king of Angkor, and established a unified “Kambuja” which was ruled by his descendants until the fifteenth century. Thirty years after his death, King Indravarman I constructed the temple of “Preah Ko” in his honour. Several temples and grand water projects were built over the next few centuries, until Jayavarman VII took over in 1118. He proceeded to build hundreds of monuments over the next forty years. He also expanded the kingdom in all directions through an aggressive military campaign. After his death in 1220, the Khmer kingdom declined in influence and size. In 1432 the capital was moved from this area to Phnom Penh, and Angkor fell into ruins and the jungle took over.

ANGKOR WARRIORS

In 1860 the Frenchman Henri Mouhot is credited with discovering Angkor Wat, and his book “Travel in Siam, Cambodia, Laos and Annam” helped spark Angkor’s first tourist boom in the late 19^th century.

 ANGKOR RUINS

We took a taxi from the airport, to a hotel that our driver recommended, the Mekong Anchor Palace Hotel. For just $25.00 we had a large room with separate sitting area, aircon, fridge, hot water, bath, shower, T.V. free breakfast, swimming pool and in the centre of town. Truly fantastic!

 HOTEL IN SIEM REAP

The taxi driver suggested he pick us up at 4.00pm to take us out to Tonle Sap Lake for the sunset. And so it was arranged.

 TONLE SAP RIVER

We spent the rest of the day settling in and wandering around town. It was really too hot to be out after 1.00 o’clock, so we stayed in during the hottest time of the day. Not exactly a hardship!

 FLOATING VILLAGE

What came next was, to me, the highlight of the trip. Our taxi driver turned up promptly at 4.00pm and out we went to Tonle Sap. While it was very touristy, expensive and a rip off, I wouldn’t have missed the next four hours for anything. 

 BOATS AT THE JETTY

Arriving at the jetty, we paid $20.00 dollars each for the boat trip. We did have a boat to ourselves, and our guide grew up on the lake, and his family still lived there, so was very knowledgeable about the area. He was training to be a guide and had to attend English classes at 7.00am, then other classes until 11.00am and then work on the boats until 8.00 pm. He is the first in his family to get an education, learning not only English, but also about conserving and managing the great Tonle Sap Lake. 

 

 HOME SWEET HOME

The lake is the most prominent feature on the map of Cambodia- in the wet season it is one of the largest freshwater lakes in Asia, measuring some 12,000 square kilometres, while during the dry season it can shrink to as small as 2,500 sq. km.

 AT EASE ON THE WATER

 

On the edge of the lake you will find villages built on stilts, but go further onto the lake and you come across a floating village. Everything floats. There is a church, shops, a basketball court on 10 metre stilts, boat houses, piggeries, chook houses, gardens, schools and an orphanage. 

 THE ROAD TRAIN EQUIVALENT ON WATER

 VEGIE GARDEN

 ORPHANAGE AND SCHOOL

The children are not permitted to attend school until they can swim. Because the school is open and only small, and there are 300 students who attend in 2 shifts, children often fall in, and so need to be able to stay afloat and climb back up again. There are approximately 30 orphans who live there permanently.

 FLOATING PIGS

Once the children in the village can swim at an early age, they paddle around in what appear to be very large soup pots. Often with a pet python wrapped around them!

 SOUP POT

There is also a crocodile farm, a viewing platform and an information centre on a central platform. This platform is where they take us tourists to photograph the sunset, but unfortunately it was overcast that evening. 

 FLOATING SHOP

The evening ended far too soon for my liking, but tomorrow was a new day with perhaps new adventures waiting.

 THE RACE HOME

 SUNSET

Wednesday we were up bright and early, as we were being picked up at 8.00am by tuk-tuk to head out to Angkor Wat.  Words really cannot describe the splendour and beauty of these temples, the carvings, the architecture and the sheer size of some of the Wats (temple) are extraordinary.

 ANGKOR WAT 59

We spent most of the day out there, until we were all templed out. It was also very hot, so back to the hotel for a cool off in the pool.

 ANGKOR WAT 86

The next day was a rest day, so we wandered around Siem Reap, lazed around the pool and generally chilled out. There is a very large night market, where anything is possible. You can have a massage, buy souvenirs, sample Thai, Cambodian, Western, Vietnamese and many other cuisines, and even have a fish foot massage! Yes, you sit with your feet dangling in a pool full of fish. They begin to nibble (gently cos they are only little) on your feet and remove the dead skin. This cost $2.00 with a free beer! It was good fun and I got a foot massage as well. We also bought the requisite presents for the grandchildren (and children).

 

 FISH FOOT MASSAGE

I wanted to make some sort of contribution to the community so decided to donate blood at the Children’s Hospital. They are desperately short of blood, and most of the donations come from foreigners. Off we went in a tuk-tuk, who promised to wait for us. They took some blood to test first, and when that came back all good we were all set to go. Okay, let’s take your blood pressure first; says I, it is always around 120/70 so no problem. Well it appears that traveling is more stressful than I could have imagined, cos my BP was 190/105! Good grief, I have never had anything like that. But no matter how often he took it, or how much I tried to relax it stayed high. Once back on the boat, it was back to normal! Go figure!

 BLOOD ANYONE?

We booked our bus trip to Phnom Penh for the Friday which is a 7 hour trip over some fairly basic roads, but that is for the next blog. Siem Reap is a wonderful place, and we probably could have stayed another couple of days, but there comes an end to everything.

 PHNOM PENH BUS