We've officially passed our first month of travelling!
It's strange, feels like a lot longer as we've eased into the travelers lifestyle completely. I can't imagine how weathered I'll feel at the end of this... or maybe it'll be the opposite, revitalised and full of life ... a girl can only hope.
We just arrived back in Phnom Penh after a tiki tour to Cambodia's beach towns, Sihanoukville and Kep. Unfortunately the weather was crap so no real lazing on the beach time, but Andy and I did manage a swim/bodysurf in Sihanoukville, the waves were really strong for SE Asian standards. Everytime i resurfaced after a wave dunk i had to yank both sections of my bikini back into place! The waves would tear them out of position and pull me into the shallows to add insult to embarrasment.
Sihanoukville is a realtively new destination in Cambodia, founded in 1964 as Cambodia's main port. It's a whitish (off white, stucco) sand beach with cafe's galore and yes ... fire dancing to lure the tourists into the bars like moths to a flame. The experience I had was of a sleepy, poor (lots of begging kids selling trinkets) beach town with not much going on. I'm sure this is different for those that visit it in high season without the monsoon rain we were treated to.
After two nights we moved onto Kep, which was Cambodia's most popular beach town prior to the sixties, frequented by the rich French and Cambodian elite. We could see this from the magnificent stone villas sp
otted along the lush coastline, which were obliterated during the KR years. Now they're broken and weathered, many shot up with bullet holes, all grey water marked stone as the paint has peeled off - essentially in a state of complete disrepair.... and absolutely oozing character!
Locals have squatted in those that still are habitable and others that are not, were free for us to explore. We took bikes from our bugalows and went for a tour. The villa's are still full of splendor, with tiled floors and high ceilings, some as high as the sky as they've been blown out in the war, some without floors too so you can look straight up two stories or more. Geometric forms everywhere. We saw the old palace the king built before the KR, which now houses squatters who welcomed us to come in and have a look. They were all irrisistable to photograph, draped in vines and the scars of war. Luckily we were out of battery or I would have used our whole 8MB card on shots of them only!
Kep's also great for seafood...which Rach, Andy and I all love, so when we were out of exploring might we popped into a seaside cafe and had fresh crab and ginger squid. Honestly...the food here is so cheap and delicious. The downside is I did tempt fate on my last post boasting no tummy trouble yet and have now experienced my first tummy trauma. Its been two nights so far and seems to be letting up thanks to the drugs we stocked up on in NZ.
Hope you're all well and snuggling up infront of the fire/heater/ heat pump with your hot cuppas and think of me occasionally while I sweat and demand rooms with fans.
Angkor this weekend!! YAY
xxx
It's strange, feels like a lot longer as we've eased into the travelers lifestyle completely. I can't imagine how weathered I'll feel at the end of this... or maybe it'll be the opposite, revitalised and full of life ... a girl can only hope.
We just arrived back in Phnom Penh after a tiki tour to Cambodia's beach towns, Sihanoukville and Kep. Unfortunately the weather was crap so no real lazing on the beach time, but Andy and I did manage a swim/bodysurf in Sihanoukville, the waves were really strong for SE Asian standards. Everytime i resurfaced after a wave dunk i had to yank both sections of my bikini back into place! The waves would tear them out of position and pull me into the shallows to add insult to embarrasment.
Sihanoukville is a realtively new destination in Cambodia, founded in 1964 as Cambodia's main port. It's a whitish (off white, stucco) sand beach with cafe's galore and yes ... fire dancing to lure the tourists into the bars like moths to a flame. The experience I had was of a sleepy, poor (lots of begging kids selling trinkets) beach town with not much going on. I'm sure this is different for those that visit it in high season without the monsoon rain we were treated to.
After two nights we moved onto Kep, which was Cambodia's most popular beach town prior to the sixties, frequented by the rich French and Cambodian elite. We could see this from the magnificent stone villas sp
otted along the lush coastline, which were obliterated during the KR years. Now they're broken and weathered, many shot up with bullet holes, all grey water marked stone as the paint has peeled off - essentially in a state of complete disrepair.... and absolutely oozing character!Locals have squatted in those that still are habitable and others that are not, were free for us to explore. We took bikes from our bugalows and went for a tour. The villa's are still full of splendor, with tiled floors and high ceilings, some as high as the sky as they've been blown out in the war, some without floors too so you can look straight up two stories or more. Geometric forms everywhere. We saw the old palace the king built before the KR, which now houses squatters who welcomed us to come in and have a look. They were all irrisistable to photograph, draped in vines and the scars of war. Luckily we were out of battery or I would have used our whole 8MB card on shots of them only!
Kep's also great for seafood...which Rach, Andy and I all love, so when we were out of exploring might we popped into a seaside cafe and had fresh crab and ginger squid. Honestly...the food here is so cheap and delicious. The downside is I did tempt fate on my last post boasting no tummy trouble yet and have now experienced my first tummy trauma. Its been two nights so far and seems to be letting up thanks to the drugs we stocked up on in NZ.
Hope you're all well and snuggling up infront of the fire/heater/ heat pump with your hot cuppas and think of me occasionally while I sweat and demand rooms with fans.
Angkor this weekend!! YAY
xxx
3 comments:
wow that all sounds so awesome. You are blowing my mind with excellent tales and excellent photos. Thank you.
Yes exactly, we are loving your stories and photos so much. Those beautiful old buildings look incredible! Soooo wish we could pop over to join you.... Miss youse guys X X XX
oh sophface and brettface. we miss you too! talk about you guys often and what cool cool people you are and how super cool it is you two found eachother....oh I'm getting all mushy!! xx
pop over....bank loan...cha cha cha...meet us in Argentina..cha cha cha!!
Post a Comment