Cambodia (1) - Sihounk Ville - Temples, Floating Village, Genocide and Beaches

Well, sorry for the delay for the latest post. We have been on the move constantly since leaving Singapore, tiring experience. We arrived in Siem Reap a week ago today and was met by a tuk-tuk driver who took all four of us and our bags to the city from the airport.

 The next day we headed to the Angkor Wat and the surrounding temples. The whole day was interesting and tiring seeing that the mercury in the thermometer was pushing 35C. The temples we saw were the Angkor Wat, which is one of the world largest religious site that was abandoned to the jungle by the Khmer empire. The temple was originally created to represent the Hindu mythical mountain Meus whilst the surrounding towers, water and courtyards represent the world. 

 After Angkor Wat we headed to the ancient city of Ankgor Thom and the temple of Bayon. The temple of Bayon is covered in 236 Buddha heads making it slightly creepy; he sees everything in your soul!

 After Bayon and lunch we headed to the temple of Basuphon which was the original temple of the city prior to the construction of Bayon. This temple did not look overly impressive as it was undergoing a huge restoration project.

Finally we headed to Ta Prohm; which is a temple that has been left to the jungle showing the devastation of mother nature over time! People may know this temple for its appearance in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider movies starring Angelina Jolie.

After the temples we had a day of chilling and recovering from a hangover; the next day we went to a floating village near Siem Reap. In this village there is a floating school, floating hospital, floating church and floating basketball court.

The next day we headed to Cambodias capital, Phnom Penh. It was here that the horrific Khmer Rouge regime destroyed so many lives in their attempt to destroy opposition to their communist views. We went to the harrowing Killing Fields of Chueng Ek, where skulls of the murdered people were left on display as a reminder to how bad things got in South East Asia. Around 17,000 people were killed, this included men, women and children.

After the killing fields we went to S-21; the school converted to a prison and torture camp. This displayed how people were tortured and beaten for false confessions!

The next day we headed to the south to recover from the physical and emotional drain of Siem Reap and Phnom Penh. That is where we are now...on the beach in Sihounk Ville.

Singapore - Singapore - Dave, Helen, Night Zoo and Jet Lag

On the 13th we left for Singapore, arriving late in the evening we went out for dinner in China Town. The next day we got up early and headed to another hostel where we met up with Dave and Helen. This is the start of the Asia tour! We went to the main shopping area of Orchard Road and looked at the shops just to try and keep Dave and Helen up to get over the jet lag.

The next day we went to the Marina to look at the Singapore Flyer (The world's tallest ferris wheel) and the CBD skyline.

Later that evening we headed to the Singapore Zoo for a night safari. It was pretty good seeing the animals moving around in the night.

Not many pictures came out as flash photography was prohibited. We fly to Siem Reap, Cambodia today.

Australia (7) - Adelaide & Melbourne - Not dolphin swimming, hiking with John and markets

After Alice Springs we headed south to Southern Australia's capital, Adelaide. We arrived in 30 degree heat and was really excited about the prospect of swimming with wild dolphins; however the weather and the dolphins had other plans. The sea was very rough and cold whilst the dolphins were also illusive. We did get in the water several times when pods showed themselves however the visibility within the water was poor so no dolphins were seen underwater as we paid for.

In Adelaide we were able to enjoy the brilliant market twice which offered a lovely food court and specialist products. On our last day in Adelaide we met up with John, who we had met in San Francisco way back in January. John looked after us and took us to a national park with a beautiful walk through eucalyptus forests. Afterwards he took us to a Germany town called Hanhdorf which did good schnitzel and had English sweet shops weirdly enough. Needless to say Sam raided the sweet shops for galaxy chocolate.


The day that John took us out for a day trip was followed by an overnight Greyhound bus to Melbourne. We woke up in Melbourne and headed to our hostel, we were there at 8am ready to check in, unforetunately the hostel was not ready for us, so we went to the Botanical Gardens and chilled out for a while.

Once we had finished at the Botanical Gardens we headed to the hostel and chilled out. Later in the evening we went to Crown Casino complex and did some gambling. We began by doubling our money and as the drinks were sunk so were our winnings. We walked away with a minor loss which seems insignificant in comparison to the good time we had. On our last full day in Australia we wandered around Queen Victoria Market and caught up with friends we had met the night before. The next day (today) we flew out to Singapore. Asia here we come...

I would like to take the moment to say thank you to all our friends in Australia who looked after us. I would like to thank Kat, Johny, Dot, Alan, Kat's housemates, Phil, Michelle, Harry, Colin (the dog), John and all the others who offered and helped. Lets hope the good times continue...

Australia (6) - Alice Springs - Uluru, Kata Tjutu and Kings Canyon...oh and flies!!!

After spending 4 extra nights in Airlie Beach we were finally able to escape. We headed north to Cairns where we spent 2 nights looking around town and drinking with friends; it was a shame as we would of liked to have spent more time there and done more but time was against us due to the flooding. On the 4th we got a flight from Cairns to Alice Springs; the centre of Australia. I think Alice Springs is the furthest I have ever been away from the sea (approx 950 miles); out of interest the furthest city from the sea is Urumqi in China (1500 miles).

The main reason for going to Alice Springs was to get on a tour of Uluru/Ayers Rock. We went with a company called Rock Tours. The first day we drove 500km to Kings Canyon

The walls of Kings Canyon are over 300 metres high, with Kings Creek at the bottom. Part of the gorge is a sacred Aboriginal site and visitors are discouraged from walking off the walking tracks. We walked the Kings Canyon Rim Walk which traces the top of the canyon and drops in to the canyon to a water hole called the Garden of Eden. Needless to say I had a swim as shown above. Our guide Scott was able to explain the geology and cultural significance to us; explaining the aboriginals use of plants such Ippi Ippi (plaster) and the Blood Gum Tree (Antiseptic) and the punishment system. On the way back we pulled over to collect fire wood and I had an accident, a large branch fell and landed on my head cutting it open. Loads of blood little fuss...Sam went in to panic mode.

Shortly after this incident sun set occurred and the pictures below show the areas beauty:

Sam helped with dinner (Chilli Con Carne) that night and we had a lovely night under the stars. We woke up early and headed out to collect more fire wood and watch the sun rise over the outback.

Beautiful...We then headed on to Kata Tjuta (also known as the Olgas) which are a group of 36 domes, covering an area of 21.68 km², composed of cobbles and boulders stuck together by sandstone. The area has much secret spiritual importance to the Aboriginals which can not be shared with outsiders of their community. The highest peak is Mount Olga 546m above the surrounding area and is covered in lush green vegetation, though this is not normal and has been caused by the 10 times higher rainfall than normal this year.

After Kata Tjuta we went to the big rock, Uluru. We had a small walk around the base looking at the cultural sites of the rock and the geology. Uluru (also known as Ayers Rock) is the worlds largest rock, 348m above the surrounding area it also goes 10km underground, just like a ice berg. Walking around we saw some large lizards, Perentines wandering around. The rock up close looks different and alien.

Once we had finished looking up close we headed to a view point over looking the rock, waiting for the sun set. It was amazing seeing the different colours of the rock...

We had dinner whilst we watched the sun set and the headed to our camp site for beer and bed. Another day, another early start. We headed back to where we saw the sun set to see the sun rise...

 When the sun had finally raised we walked around the base of the rock.

On the way back to Alice Springs we popped in to a Camel Farm for a quick ride...rocky but fun.

Today we flew from Alice Springs to Adelaide where we will be spending a couple of nights...hopefully with a dolphin swim as well.