Phnom Penh and Rabbit Island (Cambodia): motorbikes, culture and beaches

9 November - 17 November 2010











I came to Cambodia 3 years ago with my sister but we only went to Siem Riep, to see Angkor Wat, in the North of Cambodia. This time, I wanted to visit Phnom Penh and go to the Southern Coast. I arrived in Phnom Penh after (again) a long trip. In total, it took me 13 hours with the boat, bus, border checks and re-bus. When I arrived it was already dark and late and I was very tired, so I decided to stay in a "nice hotel", sometimes you have to enjoy good things. 10 euros a night, my most expensive accommodation since I traveled. But it felt really good to be in a nice, clean room with hot water and no insects.

Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, is a big city where the traffic is terrible with hundreds of motorbikes all day long in the streets. You have to be very careful when you cross the streets, nobody will stop for you. I almost died 10 times in 2 days time...

I visited the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. The site is a former high school which was used as the notorious Security Prison 21 (S-21) by the Khmer Rouge communist regime. Prisoners were tortured and killed in that prison. The whole museum was terrible but very interesting.

In Phnom Penh, it was really hot but I liked the city. It was just very delightful to walk along the riverside, having an iced lemon tea on a terrace of a cafe and doing some shopping. Well, I could not buy much because of the weight of my backpack but still I managed to buy some clothes. So good to do some shopping from time to time.











After Phnom Penh, I wanted to relax on a quiet island, the Rabbit Island. Named like that not because there are a lot of rabbits on the island but because it has the shape of a rabbit, seen from the sky. It's 4 hours by bus from Phnom Penh and then 40 minutes by boat to get to this little paradise. And it was really a paradise on earth. Not a lot of tourists, sunny beaches and hammocks all over the island. During 3 days I stayed in the sun, just moving from my long chair for lunch and dinner. And to get a massage on the beach. In total, I think I walked 300 meters during my stay. But I didn't feel guilty at all, it felt so good to rest and relax. My bungalow was just in front of the beach, with a hammock on my small terrace. Well, it was a basic bungalow with some mosquitoes and geckos but it was very comfortable. There was electricity only from 6 to 10 PM at night on the whole island so after 10 PM, there was nothing to do besides sleeping.

When I came back to Phnom Penh, I was really shocked when I saw myself in the mirror. I have never been so dark in my entire life. Now I really look like a local...

I spent one more day in Phnom Penh before heading to Vietnam.

Next stops: Ho Chi Minh City and Dalat, Vietnam

Savannakhet, Pakse and Siphandon (Laos): relatives, mosquitoes and excellent food

25 October - 7 November 2010

After 10 hours in a crowded bus, I arrived in Savannakhet, second-largest city in Laos (after Vientiane). It was dark, i was hungry and I felt really sick. That was the first time since the beginning of my trip that i missed home... but it was for a very short period of time. I went to sleep at 9PM that night. The next morning, everything was fine again.

I spent 3 days in Savannakhet, visiting some relatives. Very sweet couple. They took me out for dinner and showed me around. They even took me to Xeno, a small village next to Savannakhet because I insisted to see where my parents were teaching when they were in their 20's. The school (see picture) was so small and the village so cute, hard to believe they were teachers there...

Besides a very nice old temple, there is not much to see in Savannakhet. So time to move to Pakse.

Pakse is a city in Southern Laos, it is where my dad was born and where my parents grew up till they had to run away from Laos, it was 35 years ago...

I stayed at my parent's friends place, it was great, i felt like at home. Well language was sometimes an issue (some of the family members could only speak laotian) but the good thing is that my laotian improved a lot in 1 week...

All I did in Pakse was resting because I was still a little bit sick, eating (of course) and biking with a little girl. I really enjoyed my time in Pakse.
I also visited all the places related to my parents: their homes, their schools, theirs friends, etc. I learned a lot about my family in 1 week of time...

But there were also lots of positive things, for example, I learned how to drive a motorbike.
Well I still need to practice but in theory I m able to drive a motorbike. Very useful in Asia.

Pakse is famous for it s waterfalls around the city. All the waterfalls were very different but all beautiful.
I also met the biggest Buddha of Laos, impressive.

I didn't really want to leave Pakse but after about 8 days, it was time to move on. Especially because the aunty was making me eat 4 to 5 times a day. It was delicious but for my sake, i had to leave Pakse...

So I went South, to Siphandon, the Four thousands islands. An island of farniente, nothing to do except to relax, enjoy the waterfalls and bike for hours, alone on the road...
I stayed there for 2 days. After that i have to admit that I started to get bored.

I stayed in a bungalow with hammocks. It was my cheapest accomodation since I travelled (2 euros) but for that price, I only had a room with a big bed and a mosquito net. There was a shared bathroom, shared with mosquitoes, coackraches, ants, etc. The worst bathroom ever...

And the food on the island was not that good, so excellent reason to leave!

After about a month it was really time to leave Laos. But this country remains one of my favorites.

Next stops: Phnom Penh and Rabbit Island, Cambodia

Luang Prabang, Vang Vieng, Vientiane (Laos): Waterfall, tubing and excellent food

Here I am, in the country where my parents were born and where they lived half of their lives, Laos. It has always been a special country to me.

I came here the first time around 15 years ago but only went to 2 main cities, Vientiane and Pakse. This time I decided to go from North to South and to go to all the places my parents went to.

I started with one night at Luam Nam Tha, close to the chinese border. There I met Maja, Michal from Poland, Tomas from Germany and some other Lao people.

With Maja and Michal, we, together went to Luang Prabang. The trip was awful, maybe the worst bus ride ever. Almost 10 hours of horrible roads, tiny seats and dust dust and dust. It was really hard to breath...

Anyway, after this terrible journey, we finally arrived in Luand Prabang. But it was already dark and most of the guesthouses were full. So we took the first one who still had availbilities. Terrible mistake. My room was opposite the kitchen... that means cockroaches... besides, it stank and it was dirty. So next day we all decided to move to another guesthouse, without cockroach. Much better!

Luang Prabang is well known for its numerous temples and monasteries.

We also went to a beautiful waterfall. We could even swim in it, wonderful feeling!

I spent 3 days in Luang Prabang, having a great time with my polish friends and having great food ;o)

After Luang Prabang, I headed South to Vang Vieng, by myself. And again, 8 hours bus...

Vang Vieng is per definition the city of farniente. People can stay there for ever and do nothing. That's is exactly what I did the first day :o)

My room had a balcony and a view on the mountains, what else could I ask for?

Oh yeah, good food, not an issue, food was excellent in Vang Vieng.

Well besides enjoying doing nothing, the main activity in Vang Vieng is tubing. Basically you ride an inner tube (bouee gonflable) on the river. But the funny part is to stop at every bar, get drunk and do some slides. Then again you take your inner tube and continue to float on the river. It takes about 5 hours to float 3 kms...

I started tubing with one Irish and one Japanese guys and ended up with 2 German and 3 Dutch guys...

Even if I wasn't drunk, i tried all kind of alcohol (put in buckets). Nice experience.

Time to move to Vientiane, capital of Laos, where i spent 3 days with some relatives.

It was the biggest festival of Laos, Boun Ok Phansa, that marks the end of the monks' 3-months-fast and retreat during the rainy season. The biggest event is a boat race on the Mekong river. Very interesting but with 250.000 people, under 35 degres and with all my mosquitoes friends, it was hard to stay for a long time...

Still Vientiane was a cool city.

After getting bitten 18 times in Vientiane by mosquitoes, I decided that it was enough and that mosquitoes from Savannakhet could also enjoy my fresh european flesh...

Next stop: Savannakhet, Pakse, Champassak (Laos)

Xishuangbanna and Yuanyang (China): Sun, rice-paddy terracing and diet

My cousin Maly went back to Shanghai after 2 weeks with me in Yunnan. I continued the trip by myself and went to the South of Yunnan province, in Xishuangbanna and Yuanyang.

Xishuangbanna is very close to the Lao border. I only spent 2 days there but it was nice to have the sun back after such a cold weather in Shangri-La. Average of 30 degrees, that's what i called "holidays". I rented a bike and went to another village famous for the hot springs. Well, it's not the best idea to go the hot springs during summer time but it felt so good to be in a swimming pool. Even though the water was around 35 degrees. Anyway, as I was the only crazy girl going to hot springs during noon time, i had the 8 pools all by myself. Nice feeling...









Then I decided to go to Yuanyang well known for its spectacular rice-paddy terracing. The detail I underestimated was that to get there, I needed to take 3 different buses. In total, 18 hours bus. My longest ride in bus ever. And a great experience. Chinese sleeper bus. When the driver saw my touristy face, he immediately understood that it was my first time in such bus... So he warned me that some thieves could steal my stuff during the night and I had to be carefull. I observed the other passengers of the bus and I did the same. Put my shoes in a plastic bag, attach it to my "bed", put my luggage under my bed making sure that the locks are inaccessible and finally sleep with my small backpack as a teddy bear. I had the most awful night ever... but I had all my belongings.
After 18 hours and 3 buses, I finally arrived in Yuanyang. And it was definitely worth it. The landscapes are unique and amazing.

For those who are concerned about my diet, I tried hard to eat the minimum when i was by myself and I was quite proud of myself... I even walked down the mountain, 25km, a record for me... Except that I didn't loose any weight, so depressing :o(
Let's see in Laos if I can do better...

Next stop: Luam nam Tha and Luang Prabang, Laos

Dali, Lijiang & Shangri-La (China): Rain, cold and beautiful landscapes

Yunnan province is one of the most beautiful provinces of China, located in the South-West of the country. Unfortunately, the rainy season was not over yet when I was there with my cousin Maly...

Still landscapes are beautiful. So after visiting Kunming, we took the train to Dali, thinking that it would be more confortable for Maly and the baby but we were wrong... Trains in China are not very comfortable if you are seating for the whole trip.Anyway, here we are in Dali. Very cute old city. With pedestrian areas. Guesthouse was nice, the Bird Bar where the owners were partying every night with their friends (artists, full of tattoos) and smoking marijuana... I thought marijuana was illegal in China.

After Dali, we went to Lijiang. Unfortunately, it was during Chinese national day holidays. That means 1.3 billion people traveling all at the same time. Well, besides the fact that hotels were 2-3times more expensive, there were a lot of people everywhere. Maly and I expected to rest and see some nice quite landscapes but it was not counting on all those Chinese people. But still, the region is beautiful.

For the first time in my life i did a trek, well a mini trek of 5 hours but it was so exciting. To see the Tiger Leaping Gorge (see picture). Legend says that in order to escape from a hunter, a tiger jumped across the river at the narrowest point (still 25 metres wide), hence the name.
Anyway, great experience. Going down the mountain, 5.2km in total, 200 m down. To go up, we had to take a ladder, vertical one, 85 degrees. Scary. My legs still remember that experience.

After the Tiger Leaping Gorge, I decided to go to Lugu Lake, maybe the most beautiful lake I have ever seen so far. 8 hours bus to get there and to stay one night and the next morning 8 hours bus to get back to Lijiang. But the trip was definitely worth the painful trip.
And during the trip, I almost found my future husband. The bus driver, who kept on asking me to go for a beer at night. He was tall, skinny and with no hair BUT definitely not my type. Around 40 years old, dark skin, smoking like hell and already having 5 kids at home. No thanks :o)

Having seen Lijiang, we continued to go North of Yunnan Province, to Shangri-La. Shangri-La is a fictional place described in the 1933 novel Lost Horizon by British author James Hilton. In the book, "Shangri-La" is a mystical, harmonious valley. It's also really close to the Tibet border. We attended to a Tibetan show with Tibetan food like real tourists. Show was entertaining but food really not good, except the Yak meat, yummie...





So it was supposed to be great but the weather was so cold that we didn't really enjoy it. Average temperature was 10 degrees with rain all day long... We were so cold that we wore all the clothes we had in our backpack, t-shirt, sweater, rain coat and sometimes even our pyjamas... Hopefully we discovered a nice coffee house where we had a nice cordon bleu and burger to compensate the cold and the rain.
Food, always the biggest and best comfort...

Next stop: Xishuangbanna and Yuanyang, Yunnan Province, China