Next stop - Luang Prabang

29 Jan 2014

The airy, spacious sitting area at Bacoma guest house, where we have spent many a happy hour chatting with fellow guests, shooting pool or watching movies.

So after two happy months at the seaside in Kep, we said a fond farewell to all our new friends at the lovely Bacoma and set off on the 4-hour bus journey to Phnom Penh in order to be at the airport first thing in the morning for our flight via Bangkok to Luang Prabang.

We went for a walk through the mangroves on one of our last days at the coast.

The fishing fleet of Kep with Rabbit Island in the distance. We never made it to Rabbit Island in the end!.

I don't usually post pictures of my food but this was exceptional! Our last meal at Breezes in Kep included locally caught barracuda and stuffed squid. Delectable!

Trevann was a bit chilly in the cinema on our last night when we watched Dallas Buyers Club, so he wrapped himself in a rug!

Phnom Penh was a bit of a wake-up call after sleepy little Kep, where the dogs can safely snooze in the middle of the road. The traffic is manic – and it’s not a pedestrian-friendly city. We told the tuk-tuk drivers outside our guest house that we preferred to walk and they laughed. “Good luck!”, they called as we set off down the alleyway towards the road.

A snapshot of old Phnom Penh round the corner from our guesthouse.

Curiously, the Buddhist Institute in Phnom Penh is completely dominated by the vast new Naga World Casino just behind it.

I can see why – just crossing the road is a major adventure. No one has right of way in the constant stream of motorbikes, cars and trucks. Only the brave survive – and get to go where they want to go.

Nevertheless, undaunted, we reached the riverfront and had a stroll along the path there, watching the cargo boats chuffing past up the Tonle Sap river (which, remarkably, changes its direction of flow during the rainy season!). Also found a bar which served BeerLao and good food – about two-thirds the price of a meal in Kep too. Sixteen dollars for two mains, a massive Greek salad (with olives) and beers.

All the same I wasn’t sorry to be leaving PP the next day. I’m not really a city gal.

Our flight to Bangkok, 3 hours in the airport and then flight on to Luang Prabang all went smoothly. Trevann and I managed to digest both 3-course meals they forced on us – at 10.30 in the morning during a 50-minute flight and then again at 3 o’clock during a 90-minute flight! Personally I would rather be offered a small snack and pay a cheaper ticket price, but there you are.

It was wonderful to land back in Laos! The little airport has been rebuilt since we were here last Feb, but it still small and friendly. And here we are, back in our old bungalow in the hills. It feels more rustic this year and the road is more rutted and track-like than I remember, but that’s all just in contrast to what we’ve got used to in Kep.

Lovely Laos.

Our friends Khoun and Khone welcomed us warmly, along with Bo, O, Mena and Leanne. The three dogs are fatter and there are many more kittens but in other ways it is all unchanged. Perhaps a few more trees have been felled on the hills opposite, more undergrowth has been cleared along the road, and a few new houses built but nothing too drastic yet.

The main contrast with Cambodia is the silence! No dogs howling, no tweeting birds greeting the dawn, no distant fishing boat engines, no clattering cleaners etc. I slept like a log and woke to a misty cool morning (17 degrees) which feels cold to us, but it soon warms up and by mid afternoon we’re retreating indoors to escape the 30 degree heat!

To Kiri Sela and back

6 Jan 2014

I just liked this little fellow who crawled across our balcony the other day. Tufty.

Sunday was to be Roy’s last day with us so we decided an expedition was in order. Dara booked a tuktuk to pick us up from Bacoma at 11 and take us to three local sights – a pepper plantation, the caves at Kompong Trach and the salt flats – finishing at Angkoul Beach for a swim if we wanted.

A tuktuk doesn’t have much in the way of suspension and the “roads” leave a lot to be desired so we felt well and truly shaken and dusted by the time we got back but it was a good day and well worth it.

To get to the pepper plantation we drove away from the coast into the hills, past farms growing mangos, rambutan and other fruit. The pepper is grown on 4-meter-high frames shaded with coconut fronds. They look a bit like hops in Kent.

Pepper vines.

The pepper plantation we visited is in a community called Phnom Voar (Vine Mountain) which was a former Khmer Rouge stronghold. In 1994 it was developed as a reintegration settlement for former Khmer Rouge soldiers. They were given land and training opportunities in exchange for laying down their weapons.

Our guide showed us round, explaining how the pepper plants are started from cuttings and are productive for up to 30 years. The ripe peppercorns are picked by hand every day and each vine yields 2-3kg per year. This is an organic plantation fed entirely with cow and bat manure. The soil is particularly suited to pepper growing because of the high quartz content. Pests are kept at bay using a natural home-grown insecticide made from the leaves of the nim tree mixed with a small nut-like fruit steeped in water.

Corns are picked singly by hand as they ripen.

Depending on the stage at which they are picked, the peppercorns are either red or black. They are dried in the sun in round baskets. If the corns are soaked in water and then dried it produces white pepper.

Black and white pepper.

Who would’ve thought!?

These guys drove past. Unfortunately I wasn't quick enough with the camera and you can't quite see the spirit house they are transporting.

Next on the itinary was the Khompong Trach temple within a cave – again renowned for being one of the very last of the Khmer Rouge strongholds - right into the 1990s. We drove through Khompong Trach town to get there. Never has an Asian town looked more like the Wild West!

By far the best building in Kampong Trach.

The rest is all like this. Mega dusty!

As we bumped and jolted up the track to the caves a young girl – perhaps 13 or 14 – leapt on her bicycle as we passed and cycled furiously after us. She smiled as she came alongside the tuktuk: “Hello. Where you from?”. We then realised that she was carrying a torch. “Kitty” was to be our guide.

Kitty - our guide.

In the event we had four young guides who all pointed out the sights with great enthusiasm one after the other: “Head of dragon” “Head of dragon” “Head of dragon” “Head of dragon”; “Eye of snake” “Eye of snake” “Eye of snake” “Eye of snake” etc. Every stalactite and crystal mass was given a name and said to resemble some mythical or real beast!

Throat of dragon I believe. Oh yes.

Would've been good to explore on our own. Plenty of buddhas and devotional altars. 

Next time I would pay them to stay outside and leave me to explore the caves in peace – but it was quite fun!

Mind you, there were times when it was good to have someone shrilling "Mind your head" in unison when obstacles like this came at you in the gloom at head height.

I’m not a great fan of caves in general but these were not at all scary, mainly because there was always light up ahead. After a few yards of darkness you emerge into bright sunlight in a magical tree-filled hidden valley – completely surrounded on all sides by massive limestone cliffs. It’s a natural formation called a “hong” in Thailand, Roy tells us, where a cave roof has collapsed in ancient times leaving a hole in the middle of the mountain.

Very difficult to convey the magical hidden valley effect of vertical walls and enclosed space in photos.

These karst rock formations are extraordinary – rising abruptly from the flat plains.

Our imaginative guides!

Trevann being very silly!

Yet another wat in construction. The painter in action.

Leaving our smiling guides behind to run after the next group of tourists we set off again, back through the Wild West, down to the coast, passing through vast salt farms.

Karst mountains. Elephant Mountain.

Sacks of salt.

Very flat salt flats.

Salt workers.

Every now and again we come across a gateway - to a village or wat.

Not sure what these children were doing in the mud - searching for some sort of little fish I think. 

Our final destinatioin of the day was to be the beach. We turned off the main road down a dusty track and found ourselves driving through the dirtiest, scruffiest little village. The tumbledown shacks were surrounded on all sides by piles of garbage and plastic. We stopped at what could be a beautiful beach – white sand fringed with palm trees – but it was filthy! While we were standing there a man came with a basket of rubbish and just tipped it on the beach.

Angkoul Beach - so nearly a beautiful destination.

A woman came out with menus to persuade us to have a meal but there was no way we were going to risk our health. What a shame. They obviously desperately need the tourist dollars but just haven’t seen that the first step is to deal with the crap.

It was very difficult to take photos from the back of the tuktuk but I wanted to get a shot of this pony cart and waving farmer. Did my best.

 

Two railways were built in Cambodia in the 1930s but unfortunately they only have one train! In some areas locals use the "bamboo train" or norry - a couple of axles strung together with bamboo powered by a petrol engine. No brakes.

Said thank you to our tuktuk driver, paid him and stretched out our jolted spines.

Oh and this was my breakfast - including milk fruit which I hadn't had before.

Happy New Year!

1 Jan 2014  

My dear brother Bill points out that I haven’t posted to my blog since before Christmas, over a week ago. What on earth was I thinking!? Well, to be honest, there’s hasn’t been a great deal going on! More relaxing on the veranda, more magnificent sunsets ...

And then there was New Year of course. Seeing as I'm just recovering from that right now I thought I could spend a few minutes posting some pix.

We weren’t sure how a sleepy little town like Kep would celebrate New Year so Roy hired a moto and popped into Kampot to buy some Chinese lanterns and fireworks. Mindful of Michael’s concern for his thatched roofs, we agreed that we would go down to the beach and set them off there. There would be plenty of space on the deserted beach at night!

So following a delicious meal, a couple of games of pool and a few BeerLao, the three of us wobbled down the road armed with three Cambodian rockets, five hand-held firesticks, 10 Chinese lanterns and a couple of lighters. What could possibly go wrong?

A poor rendition of Kep Beach at midnight. See Trevann's pix for better views. Makes Bournemouth fireworks seem a bit tame!

The beach was absolutely packed – with locals, visitors, staff from the guest houses, children – the entire population of Kep spread along the shoreline all with fireworks ready to go, bonfires, candles, smiling faces. It was a spectacular show at midnight. Trevann’s got some better shots of it.

A wonderful New Year celebration!

Trevann lighting a lantern.

Roy and Trevann doing their utmost to get our poor-quality lanterns airborne.

Local experts joined in the valiant attempts.

Unfortunately our Chinese lanterns turned out to be duds and despite our best efforts, patiently aided by the Khmers around us, who were anxious for us to succeed – only two of our ten lanterns launched successfully and soared away with the others over the Bay of Cambodia, taking all the bad spirits of 2013 with them.

Oh dear!

Fortunately Michael and Shri-Na then turned up with the bubbly!

Other than that, Christmas itself was quiet. We studiously avoided any tinselly celebrations and had a simple meal with local ex-pat Alistair at Bacoma.

A quiet Christmas day.

Boxing day meal at one of our favourite restaurants, Brise de Kep.

Then a couple of days later we set out to do “Le Trek”, an 8 kilometer walk through Kep National Park, stopping off at the brand new Kep Butterfly Farm on the way. We were joined on the walk by Mareet, a Finnish woman who we met at Led Zep cafe. We had intended this to be our Boxing Day walk but somehow forgot to do it on the day! Which day/month/year is it now!?

Trevann and Mareet striding out through the jungle.

Fab butterflies

A distant Wat.

And then on the 28^th our old friend Roy arrived, on his travels between Indonesia and Thailand. Roy visited us last year in Laos as well. He's staying for a week at Bacoma and as from today we're back there as well after our sojourn at Kimly Lodge (which turned out to be fine in the end1).

 So life continues ...

Yes, another sunset.