Cambodia: Angkor Wat...

Having finally arrived in Seim Reap we checked in to our (rather swanky) hotel, checked out the pool and then headed out for the real reason we were here - to see the ancient temple complex of Angkor Wat. 

Wow! Just wow! We're were blown away. Majestic, a bit weather-worn, and way bigger than we thought it would be the place is simply breathtaking. 

Cambodia: Phnom Penh...

Stuart and I flew into Cambodia yesterday and its been fab so far. Our guide in Phnom Penh is a weirdly wonderful woman called Narra who has had us laughing from the moment we meet her. She is full of gossip and facts about her beloved city. We love her.

We checked into the Raffles Hotel and Stuart is in his element: we have a butler! He is on call, will unpack our things and run us a bath if we want! 

Today we had a city tour to the royal palace (great fun) and the national museum (meh). Narra thinks the current Cambodian king might be gay ("never married", "ballet teacher") but would love him to marry another man and they rule together! As I said - we love Narra!

After lunch we made a very sobering trip to the S21 prison where so many Cambodians were tortured by Pol Pot's Khymer Rouge in the 1970s and then on to one of the Killing Fields where so many were murdered. I'll write something about this another time but suffice to say it makes you very angry and has echoes of the horrors of Auschwitz.

Vietnam: Siagon City Tour...

Siagon is a crazy, busy, chaotic, lovely city. Full of local charm and oddities from years of colonial rule. On our last day we scored around seeing the sights but had not enough time to see it all.

(One thing we did see was the War Museum. It was so upsetting and I had to take a break at one point. Our guide said Americans don't come here and if they do their rarely last more that 15 minutes. I might write about it at a later date if I have the stomach for it.)

Vietnam: Saigon Vespa Street Food Tour...

Last night Stuart and I climbed on the back of a couple of Vespas for a white knuckle ride round Saigon on a street food tour. Weird food, lots of booze, some amazing views and probably the most fun I've ever had on two wheels. If you come here you must do this!

Vietnam: Saigon (well, that's what the locals call it!)...

Are you two married?

No.

Girlfriends?

No.

Would you like to eat some dog?

No.

Fire some American rifles? We have AK47s?

No.

Would you like to go to the tunnels where the Viet Cong hid from the Americans during the American War?

Sure.

The Cu Chi tunnels are deep underground structures down to three levels totalling 250km. They were used for meeting, dining, living and fighting by the Viet Cong. At anyone time 1000 people lived underground and the tunnels contained numerous gruesome booby traps to stop American soldiers gaining access to them. Women and children lived down there to as well as the fighters. They are now held as great examples of Vietnamese resistance and ingenuity. We found them to be fascinating but rather sad. 3,000 Vietnamese people died in those tunnels. And they were used to kill many US soldiers too.

Vietnam: Hoi An (the countryside)...

While in Hoi An we took a boat up river to Kim Bong village, hired some push-bikes and went exploring. We spotted plenty of the classic 'old women bent over working in a paddy field', as well as various local farmers tilling their fields or tending their crops. 

The locals all either farm or make things - their only sources of income. And they were keen to show off their skills (but never tried to sell us anything). We watched one mother and daughter team making brightly coloured mats out of dried reeds which they sell in the day market for $3 a mat. 

We were invited into a few people's houses to watch them make stuff too.  One place was a noodle factory. Ok, a noodle hut. The family that lived there bought the rice from their neighbours, ground it, soaked it, spread the milky solution onto a steamer to cook and when cool cut it into strips to sell by the kilo as noodles (50p a kilo). They made 10kg every day so if they sold it all they brought in £5 to cover costs, pay for materials and live off. They were even brave enough to let Stu have a go. 

Later on we came across a family who made their living making fishing boats out of reeds. They were circular boats that looked like giant baskets that they sold for $50 to local fishermen. It took them two weeks to make each boat. The old man of the family aged 87 was the main weaver and he very kindly let me help him out with some weaving (but probably ditched it later!). They were all very patient with us bless them.

It was such an amazing experience and everyone seemed genuinely pleased to see us and show us around. (With my Arsenal top maybe they thought they had a celebrity in their midst!)

Vietnam: Hoi An (the town)...

We flew into beautiful Hoi An a couple of days ago and have been completely entranced by the place. Once a thriving port the river has long since shallowed by silt to turn Hoi An into a town for visitors.

It's a relaxed kind of place that has been on the backpacker trail for quite some time now and judging by the construction we saw is now opening up to more tourism in general. 

The old town buildings are delightful with many markets, museums and temples nestled amongst the houses that have been converted into bars, shops and restaurants. 

At night the place comes alive with lanterns and lights and the buzz of people having fun.

ABBA : Re-Arrival Tour 2016...

Vietnam: Halong Bay...

We left wonderful Hanoi for a couple of days to cruise into Halong Bay. Made up of 1600 little limestone islands it's a beautiful place marred only slightly by its popularity. 

There were hundreds of boats and thousands of visitors but luckily Stuart found himself a huge cabin ona junk with walk-in wardrobe, spa bath and private balcony so he was as happy as Larry. 

We had a lovely meal on board and then ventured onto (and up) one of the islands. 400 steep steps later we were at the top and knackered. We took some snaps and then descended and went for a swim in the warm waters. 

Unfortunately there was a storm brewing so we had to head back to the safety of the dock and miss out on the evening on the water. Stu got a cooking lesson on the sun deck on the way back while I sorted out a refund from our travel agent(!)

We cut our losses at the dock and went back to Hanoi in the end. A long journey but worth it for the comfy bed that waited for us at the posh Metropole hotel.

Today we are getting south to Hoi An via Danang. 

Vietnam: Hanoi...

We flew in last night and our feet haven't really touched the ground since. Hanoi is a really wild city - crazy traffic, great food, lots of noise, old meets new, French/US influenced, and a right old life's-too-short-to-look-back-over-your-shoulder-let's-must-fucking-go-for-it sort of place. We've dodged speeding mopeds, been to a Communist museum, visited a temple, a pagoda, a mausoleum, eaten goats meat with the locals, had weird coffee with raw egg, been driven by someone called Wang, been to a children's book fair, had crepe Suzette cooked at our table and downed martinis watching a New York jazz singer at a cigar-smoked French club. And we've not been here 24 hours yet. I need a spare battery!

Laos: UXO

For such a hot country we went to a decidedly chilling museum today. There are millions of unexploded bombs in Laos - which was a neutral country after all. But the cluster bombs are the worst.

The little bombs inside cluster bombs dropped by the USA in their carpet bombing during the Vietnam War are called bombies. Someone dies everyday in Laos when one of the still undiscovered 78,000,000 unexploded bombies goes off. They have a range of 30m. Many of those killed are children at play. 

They joke here that everyone who lives here has 15 bombies waiting for them with their names on.