Old&Lost

21 March 2018 – Sihanoukville – Day 2 – Will it Rain?

Published on March 21, 2021April 23, 2021 by Old&LostLeave a comment

I had a great sleep last night. Probably because I was exhausted and may have taken a sleeping pill. I needed sleep. Woke up feeling like a new person. Headed to breakfast by the river. Breakfast was great. Coffee was dark looking but had a medium taste. Good enough to enjoy a second cup.

The water in the river is a little low but that allowed us to observe tadpoles slithering around. Dunk themselves in the water and back onto the mud. It was quite entertaining.

Saw a few different birds but the Kingfishers were just stunning. An indigo blue colour from the back. It’s as if they knew I was trying to take their pictures as they just wouldn’t let me get a good one.

A few locals were ‘fishing’. He would bonk the fish with his machete type instrument and then throw the fish to his buddy standing on the bridge. A talent I would think not many possess. After breakfast we did some hand laundry.

So hot here we are hoping it will dry…..turned out it’s too humid and not drying. There was rain in the forecast for 10:00 am. Didn’t happen but some dark clouds all day. Guess we’ll be packing some wet clothing tomorrow as it’s another travel day. Sihanoukville was really only a place to stop to arrange the ferry. Turned into a great place to work on our blog as their wifi actually works. Hadn’t been able to upload photos for a few days. Took a few photos of the ‘resort’

We headed out to walk the beach. If we went right it would take us along Ochheuteal Beach and into town. The resort owner, Gerald told us this morning that going left would take us to Otres Beach and was a shorter walk. We opted for the shorter beach to start with. Cambodia along with many SE Asia countries just don’t realize just how beautiful their country is. Garbage EVERYWHERE! Just disgusting.As you get closer to the restaurants and accommodations, the beach was much cleaner, but definitely not clean by North American standards. It is such a shame. Take a week and clean it all up and this would be a true Paradise.We stopped at The Bamboo Restaurant & Bar to enjoy a beverage and just take in some of the scenery. Maybe to relax a little too.

We took a different route on the way back and discovered what seemed to be a little ‘resort’ at the top of the hill. They even had what looked very similar to Canada Geese.

So Our blog name is Old & Lost. We just had a great chuckle this afternoon as Doug is watching the series Lost on Netflix…….OLD (Doug) & LOST (Netflix series). Doesn’t take much to amuse us! LOL. The time we are spending here is rest time. We really need it.

We enjoyed some delicious Spring Rolls and a couple glasses of wine. Later we headed back to the restaurant to enjoy dinner by the river.

20 March 2018 – Travel Day – Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville, Cambodia

Published on March 20, 2021April 23, 2021 by Old&LostLeave a comment

We had an early pickup for the bus today, so we were up early to get breakfast. Breakfast was once again pathetic. So happy to be leaving this hotel.

The bus showed up 15 minutes early. Good thing we were ready and just about to head down anyways.

We were the first two to be picked up and got to see many new areas of Phnom Penh City. I think we must have been staying in the grungiest area of the city as there appeared to be lots of nice areas. Not that we would ever go back, but if we did, I would stay in a better area. We had chosen our area of town to stay as it was close to the Kings Palace. Guess it was a mistake.

Our drive to Sihanoukville took approximately 5 hours once we got on our way. Traffic getting out of the city was totally insane. Until you have experienced it, you wouldn’t believe it. One way streets and then there is a scooter or a car coming at you. Doesn’t seem to phase anyone except us. LOL. We drove through jungle like terrain with the roads lined with palms trees and small villages. Mountains in the background, with some really beautiful scenery. Driving on the other hand was a little harey scary at times with all the passing going on. No pictures of the passing but saw this on the way. This guy had lost a cushion a few kilometres back.

Even saw a random cow every now and then, either walking along the road or crossing the road. There was pretty much everything on this road.

This is where we stopped for our bathroom break. The washrooms were really nice, especially by Cambodian standards.

Loved their Canadian Maple Leaf umbrella!

The bus took us right to our resort which was great since it turns out we are definitely out of the way. We are staying at Spayhiti Resort. It’s rated #1 of 242 in the B&B / guest houses category on a Trip Advisor in Sihanoukville. Great by Cambodian standards, but not 5 star by Canadian standards. Got all checked in which involved ringing a big brass bell to get service and being shown to our room. Room was nice.

Received our welcome drinks, which were a couple of beers and sat out on our patio to enjoy them. Ordered some food, fish and chips for Doug and fried noodles with chicken for me, which they brought to us, as their eating area is currently being reroofed. Not sure what it’s being reroofed with. I only saw large palm fronds heading in that direction.

Their ‘Chef’ is from France. They seem to be very proud of that. Food was good but it’s not like they will be cooking up French Cuisine here.

We made a new friend while sitting out.

It was a great, quiet, lazy day. Part of the reason we have stopped here, is to rest up.

19 March 2018 – Phnom Penh – Day 3 – Who is Conning Who?

Published on March 19, 2021March 24, 2021 by Old&LostLeave a comment

Today was going to be a busy day. We had arranged with the travel agent to hire a driver for the day to take us to see the Killing Fields, S-21 Museum, Watt Phnom and the Independence Monument. This also involved quite a bit of driving as the Killing Fields/The Choeung Ek Genocidal Center was approximately 15 km southeast of the city. It doesn’t sound too far unless you are battling rush ‘hours’ traffic in Phnom Penh. From the distance and length of time it took to get from our hotel I am guessing we were not located at the southeast edge of the city. Traffic was insane here but that seems to be the norm for all of these SE Asia cities.
Pick up time was 9:00 am from our hotel and the driver was right on time. We had paid US$35 but this was only for the driver and did not include admission to the Killing Fields or the S-21 Museum. Still a pretty good deal in my opinion. Here are a few sites we saw on our way.

The ticket pictures show admission being US$3 to the Choeung Ek Genocidal Center and US$3 for the audio headset. For some reason I thought it was more than that but honestly don’t remember now.

Choeung Ek is the most well-known of over 300 killing fields throughout Cambodia.

It is a sad place with a story to be told. A horrific story of how it was while the Khmer Rouge was in power. How they murdered close to 2 million people.

Many of the stops are now just a picture and a sign with a brief description. The narratives were more detailed and excellent. Very moving.

Locals came up to the fence begging for money. It was so sad to see. Above bottom right is Logan Orchard were people were worked to death by Angkar

From here we basically drove in silence as we processed what we had just seen.
Once we got back to the city of Phnom Penh I saw this building, Ashley Furniture. Same company we have at home.

Our next stop was the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum also known as Security Prison S 21, Interrogation and Detention Center of the Khmer Rouge. One of what I understand was many similar prisons. This had been the Tuol Svay Prey High School in the city, but was taken over in 1975. Again very moving with an important story to be told and to be remembered. Between the years of 1975 and 1978 more than 17,000 prisoners were held here and later taken to Choeung Ek Genocidal Center to be murdered. They would take before and sometimes after torturing pictures of each person who arrived here. Everything and everyone was well documented. Unfortunately, our driver did not give us enough time to tour the whole complex. Our admission ($5 US) and audio tour ($3 US) was so full of information.
Since we were running into rush hour traffic again, (I’m starting to think that it is always rush hour here), we didn’t really stop and get to see the National Monument. Our driver just pulled to the side of the road and I hopped out to grab a photo from there. Was a little disappointed in this especially since it was part of the package we had arranged. We also drove by the Prime Minister Hun Sen’s house.

From here we headed off to the Watt Phnom which is in Phnom Penh. It was built-in 1372 and is the tallest religious structure in this city. Our driver gave us around 30 minutes to tour here. Foreigners once again had to pay, but only US$1.

I thought that 30 minutes was not going to be enough time but it turned out to be plenty. Though it looked like a large temple and grounds from the road it really wasn’t and we finished in 20 minutes.
Our driver dropped us back at our hotel around 3:00. Have to say that it was really great having our own driver and not dealing with a bus load of people at every stop.
We rested up for a very short bit and then headed out search of food. We hadn’t eaten since our breakfast at the hotel. We headed back down to the main road by the water as this is where most of the restaurants seemed to be in our area. It was always so hard for me to find something that I would eat. We stopped and looked at many menus along the road and then decided to head back to one of the first places we had seen, Pka Chan Restaurant & Bar. Draft beer was cheap as it was Happy Hour. I know surprise, surprise. It always seems to be Happy Hour in Phnom Penh. Menu also had a good selection of food with reasonable prices.

Since I was starving we ordered a jug of Anchor Draft and a plate of spring rolls to start while we looked over the menu and decided on what to eat. Doug chose beef tacos and I went with chicken satay. Both were delicious and my satay serving was so large that I gave Doug one to eat. There was no way I could eat all three of them. But of course I had room for dessert! The ice cream with Baileys on it just sounded too good to resist. Doug ordered strawberry ice cream with no Baileys and I ordered vanilla ice cream with Baileys. Both came with Baileys! LOL The ice cream was more expensive than the jug of beer.

Total for our meal with a jug of beer was $21.75 US. There is a story behind this next picture.

There was a guy sitting at the table next to us who ordered Spaghetti Napoli with chicken. I know this because it appeared on our bill but was crossed off. He finished before us and was paying his bill with a $100 US bill. The waitress went to the bar to settle the bill but came back to him explaining she did not have enough change for the $100 bill. He had nothing else, so she went outside, to do what I assume was to try to find someone who could change the $100 bill, but she had no success. Next she was back saying to him that it was a fake (counterfeit) $100 US bill. She did not know the word counterfeit, but you definitely could tell what she was saying. He argued with her about this, saying that the bill wasn’t counterfeit for quite a while, but finally he offered to pay with his credit card which was declined so he tried with another credit card which was then accepted. He left the restaurant only to return a very short time later. He approached the bartender and was accusing him of making a switch, as the bill in question was not the one he had given the waitress. Next up, appeared another lady, who we are assuming was the management or owner. The bits and pieces that we picked up were in reference to calling the police and calling lawyers. So that is why I took a picture of our bill with the money that we were paying with. This wasn’t going to happen to us if in fact the restaurant did pull a change of bills on him. Guess we will never know the outcome of it. Neither side were backing down by the time we left and there were even more people involved in the ‘discussion’ by then.

After all this excitement we headed back to hotel and had a nap, snapping a few photos along the way. You can see the Monks robes hanging out to dry.
Not a high paying job by Canadian standards.

Later that night we headed to the Circle K that we had found on our street to pick up bottled water and snacks. On our very short trip there we had the pleasure of seeing a huge rat running along in the gutter. Gross!!! I will NEVER get used to rats!! Back to the room to pack up for tomorrow’s bus trip to Sihanoukville.

18 March 2018 – Phnom Penh, Cambodia – Day 2 – Best Day Ever: Flip Flop Repair Day!

Published on March 18, 2021April 23, 2021 by Old&LostLeave a comment

After getting up we headed downstairs via the elevator to have the included breakfast at the hotel. There wasn’t much of a selection but it would suffice.

We headed back to the travel agents office that we had been at yesterday and booked our car and driver to go to killing fields along with a few other places tomorrow. Caught a glimpse at this shop on our way. Beautifully painted coffins.

Before doing anything else we headed back to the hotel to get my busted flip flop as we had seen a shoe repair guy on the street. We always forgot to put the flip flop in the backpack in the mornings, so back we went to get it. Flip flop in the backpack we arrived at the corner where the repair guy had been and he was gone!!!!! OH NO!!!!Thankfully he returned in a few minutes. Even though he had a pile of repairs to do, he set to work on my flip flop right away as I waited. He did such an excellent job and just made my day. Not only did he glue my flip flop back together, he stitched it too. He only asked for US$1.00 but I was so happy that I gave him US$5.00. Back home last year I had one glued only and it was Cdn $10.00 so the US$5.00 was cheap to me.

It was now too late to tour the King’s Palace this morning as they closed for lunch and so we decided to head to the National Museum of Cambodia. We hadn’t really planned on doing this attraction but decided to, as it was close to the palace and would fill in the time until the palace opened. We bought our US$10 admission tickets and entered. If you wanted to take pictures of the pieces you needed to purchase a ticket for your camera also. I didn’t think I would take any until we entered and I saw part of the collection. Headed back to the entrance and purchased my US$1 camera ticket. Turns out this museum holds one of the worlds largest collections of Khmer art. Over 14,000 pieces. Needless to say I would be taking a few, okay maybe a lot, of pictures. So many of the pieces were just magnificent.

There were rooms upon rooms of art work. So many that I am not even sure that we viewed them all.

This turned out to be a spectacular place to see. Highly suggest it, if you are ever in Phnom Penh. In the center of all the buildings there was a beautiful courtyard with ponds. So calm, quiet and relaxing.

We probably could have spent more time here but it was now time to head over to the King’s Palace. You could tell it was open from the crowds.

We had to cover up to enter here so Doug had to zip on the lower part of his pant legs and I had to put on my sarong. The King’s Palace was made up of numerous buildings with many that were closed to the public or under renovation. Probably a good thing as there were still many to see. The Throne Hall was the only building that we could really enter and from the lack of inside photos I am guessing we weren’t allowed to take pictures inside. There were lots of people, but everyone moved through quickly. Doesn’t take as long when no photos are allowed.

They had this amazing model of Ankor Wat. It was rather neat to see this after touring the actual place already.

As I was looking through the last couple of buildings Doug was off making friends with the four legged inhabitants of the Kings Palace.
We thought that Thailand was hot, but Cambodia is hotter and more humid! I feel like we will just melt into the sidewalk at times. We were each given a ‘free’ (price included in admission) small bottle of water. Guzzled that down in a few seconds and headed back to our room to rest up and cool down for a bit. Well a bit turned into 4 hours and we were getting hungry so decided to head out in search of some place for dinner. The burritos sounded good but I was afraid of what might actually be in them, so passed on this option.

Just as we often seem to do once we have found a place we like, we gravitated back to the Angkor Mithona restaurant, which is just up the street on the corner from our hotel.

Definitely can’t complain about the prices here. Of course it was happy hour on the drinks. Draft beer was buy 1 get 1 free. Cocktails were also buy 1 get 1 free. Can’t go wrong with US$20 for 6 drinks, 2 meals and 1 dessert.

Headed back to our hotel for the night where I worked on future travel arrangements. I managed to book our flight and hotel for Kuala Lumpur. Nothing is really easy or simple when working on an iPad with iffy internet service.

Found that I had a new bite of some sort tonight and it appeared as if they left something behind. Thankfully I was able to pull whatever it was out.

17 March 2018 – Travel Day – Battambang to Phnom Penh, Cambodia – Day 1

Published on March 17, 2021April 23, 2021 by Old&LostLeave a comment

We had to get up early at 0700 to catch our bus (actually 11-passenger van) to Phnom Penh at 0830. No need for a taxi or should I say a Tuk-Tuk to take us to the bus station as it was just around the corner and down the street from our hotel. We had picked up a couple of extra donuts and a slice of a rolled cake for this morning’s breakfast and had them with some water. Didn’t really want coffee as the buses didn’t seem to have washrooms on them and you never knew if or when the bus would actually stop for a bathroom break. As we left Battambang I snapped a few pictures.

The trip took 5 hours with only one 20-minute rest stop break. The bus finally stopped for the break after approximately 3 hours of travel. I have to say that the rest stop could have used a little sprucing up in the washroom department.

As we got closer to Phnom Penh we noticed more and more police ‘directing’ traffic. Not sure how effective they are standing on the sides like this.

After checking into the Silver River Hotel we were extremely happy to find that this hotel finally had an elevator. Of course I took some pictures of the room and ‘admired’ our view. Room was quite nice, but the ‘view’ left a bit to be desired. This is what you get when you book the cheapest room in a hotel on Expedia. What more could you want for $46.00 a nights, taxes and fees in?

Since we hadn’t eaten since breakfast we headed out in search of food and to see the surrounding area. Came across a restaurant, Angkor Mithona on the corner of our street and there were people in here eating and enjoying a beverage. Our indicator that the restaurant might be okay. It was Happy Hour. Turns out there is lots of happy hours in Phnom Penh. So we headed in and selected a table beside the road. After all we need to enjoy our view. Ordered a couple of COLD draft beers and a pepperoni pizza. Both were pretty good and once again I can’t believe I don’t have any pictures. I’m starting to think my iCloud is loosing some of my picture.

After our bellies were full we continued to tour around and headed over to what seemed to be the main street down by the river. Came across a travel agent and booked our next “bus” for 20 March to Sihanoukville, Cambodia in the country’s south-west on the Gulf of Thailand.

On the way to the travel agent we had passed by a couple of bakeries, so on our way back the temptation got the better of us and I guess we weren’t as full as we had thought we were. We decided to stop at a pastry shop and enjoyed desserts and yes you guessed it, iced vanilla lattes. Desserts were okay but definitely not good enough to go back again.

We headed across the street to walk around the riverfront park. There were many of these beautiful trees along the path.

There were so many people begging for money. Some seemed to be in real rough shape and many others were missing limbs. We gave money to a couple of legless street people but had to stop as there were just so many of them. We actually crossed the street and out of this area as it was a very uncomfortable feeling there were that many. Further along the street we crossed back over to take a few pictures of the flags that lined the pathway.

We are not sure if there was some special event going on or whether it was just an ordinary Saturday night down by the river and the Royal Palace but there were hundreds of people and venders setting up. Saw this little guy on the right playing in the water naked as could be.

Also many people lined up for this building. I’m guessing it was for some religious event they participate in as they all seemed to be coming out with bouquets of the same flowers and stopping to do something .

Since the sun would be setting soon we or should I say I decided to wait around to photo the Royal Palace at sunset.

Stopped at a Circle K mini-mart, similar to a 7 Eleven (which are now popping up back home in Ottawa) to buy water and Gatorade. We love Circle K as they usually have the snacks we enjoy…..Pringles, Oreos and Ritz crackers…..LOL This is often where I get my random snack of the day to photograph.

We were ready to head back to the hotel as we had hand laundry to do (when don’t we?) and wanted to work on the blog if the wifi and internet were strong enough.

While relaxing we managed to eat a whole can of Pringles and drank the Gatorade and liters of water to replace electrolytes (especially sodium and potassium) that our bodies lost in this wretched heat. Today had been one of the hottest days we have encountered so far and as we all know everyday has been HOT!

16 March 2018 – Battambang, Cambodia – Day 3 – Busy Day

Published on March 16, 2021April 23, 2021 by Old&LostLeave a comment

We arranged with Peter to take us around again today. He was picking us up at 9:00 am. No sleeping in for us as we had a full day planned. We headed back to the bakery and Café Amazon for breakfast. Didn’t have a lot of time so I brought my iced vanilla latte back with me. Here are a few pictures I took as we rode along.

Our first stop was at the local village Farmer’s Market. Peter explained to us what many of the fruits, vegetables and herbs were. So many items we had never seen before. Lots of fresh seafood too.

From here we went to another little village, where we stopped to see a small family run village bakery. It was quite something to see. Not something we would have ever seen on our own or if we did, we would not have known what it was. They were in the process of making coconut cakes and egg noodles. The first lady cracks open all the eggs and then separates the yolks from the whites. Most of the yolks go to the egg noodles and the whites are for the coconut cake. They use the whole coconut including the shells and husks for one thing or another. Not all in the baking. Some parts are used for the fire to cook the items.

We sampled the egg noodles and they had a great texture but were sort of sweet. Sweetened from the coconut milk I guess. They only took seconds to cook as it was very hot oil and a very thin stream of batter which was poured into it. The end result looked liked Mr Noodle’s noodles, but not even close in taste.

We had asked Peter earlier on what happened to someone when they died here as we had seen no cemeteries. Cemeteries aren’t a common sight in Asia, but we have seen some. He explained to us that the body is cremated and stored in an urn which is sometimes placed in a stupa if the family has enough money for one in a temple compound. He had mentioned something about the Chinese not wanting the locals in the same areas as them and the result of that, but we can’t remember what it was.

Next up we headed to Wat Samrong Knong (Killing Fields). This is a really depressing place. They were referred to as killing wells but are actually small lakes now.

The torture room still stands and is a small museum now. The history is depicted in many carved and painted graphic pictures.

From here we headed to the Crocodile farm where we both got to hold a baby crocodile. After this we wandered around the ‘farm’ for a few minutes to view the adult crocs in the pits. That’s all it took. Plus the place was smelly.

Next up was the rice wine ‘factory’. A shack on the side of the road where they made assorted rice wines. They explained to us how they make the wine. There was a regular rice wine, a silkworm wine and a snake rice wine. Doug sampled them all, including the cobra wine. I tried none of them. Our next road side stop was a Rice paper factory (wooden shack) where Peter explained to us the process of making rice papers. Now I know why they have the pattern on them that they do. It’s from the drying racks. While I was ordering a fresh and a fried spring roll, Doug was chatting with a couple who were sitting at the same table as we were. Next thing I know he’s standing there with a piece of BBQ’d rat in his hand. He ATE IT!

They sell a lot of BBQ’d rat along the road side out in the country here. I guess they eat what they can. The next morning Doug’s stomach wasn’t feeling 100%. Wonder why not? Maybe the weird wines or the rat? He recovered quickly though, thank goodness.

We had seen all of this and it was only 12:30 and we were headed back to the hotel. Peter would come back for us at 3:30 to continue our day. After a bit of a rest we headed out to find some food. Guess the rat wasn’t very filling. We wandered through a few markets and decided to search out a place called Fresh Eats Cafe that was recommended in the Lonely Planet book. Not sure if it is no longer there or was just closed up tightly, but we could not find it at the address maps.me was giving us. We decided upon a hostel that had a small restaurant.

We got back to our hotel just in time for our 3:30 Tuk-Tuk pickup to go to Phnom Sampov Killing caves and Bat caves. It was about 12 km, but a great ride. We just love traveling in Tuk-Tuks. Peter parked his Tuk-Tuk, negotiated a price and we transferred to a pickup truck that would take us the rest of the way up the mountain. We were given the option to sit inside the cab or in the open back. Living on the wild side we chose to sit in the back. They had to put out a step stool and help me up into the back. Wasn’t an easy task! This road was very steep and twisty. Really had to hang on. The pickup stopped half way up and out we climbed, as he headed back down to get more people. This guy was doing a great business.

At this level there was a temple and a path to the killing caves. This was originally an area of Buddhist temples.

Peter explained the meaning of all of these statues that were along the path. There were many of them and they are all based on Karma and the people’s beliefs.

These pictures were taken at the steps looking down into one of the caves where the people were pushed to their deaths. I’ve read that there were at least 10,000 people killed here. Peter is pointing to another level even further down.

Once down to that level I took these pictures. This man sits here making and selling bracelets to help maintain the site. We were told that he will also explain about the caves if asked. There are also many skull and bone remains.

We headed back to the area where the pickup had dropped us off and back it came for us. Dropped off another load of people and we climbed into the back and continued on to the top of the mountain to tour the Pagoda. I was really starting to regret the decision to sit in the back. Really had to hang on as the road was steep. Once up top we got out to climb the rest of the way.

There were so MANY monkeys here that it was almost scary.

We continued past the monkeys and up the next set of stairs. The view from up here was spectacular as was the pagoda.

Once again the pickup came back for us while dropping off a new load of people. Back down to the bottom of the mountain where we were steered towards an outdoor café with overhead fans, tables and chairs. They just happened to serve food and beer. We would now wait for the Bats to fly out of the mountain. Peter disappeared and so we ordered a beer and waited. While we were waiting we saw a middle-aged Asian woman (dressed with a coat on) climb the steps up to the unfinished Buddha. The Buddha is in the upper right quarter of the first photo below. Peter had told us a little bit about it. The man who had been carving the Buddha fell to his death while working on it. No one has ever finished it since. I think that is partly because there is no money to pay someone to finish it. The steps may not look too steep but they were VERY steep. The Buddha is also very high. Out of all the hundreds of people there, no one else attempted to climb up. The woman climbed down the stairs backwards holding onto the rungs as she descended down. A very brave woman in my opinion and I don’t think this was her first time doing something like this.

What a site when the bats started coming out. There were hundreds of thousands of bats. They actually say there are millions of bats. It probably lasted a good 10 to 15 minutes. As fast as it started it stopped. It was definitely something to see.

This is the entrance / exit to the cave.

Peter reappeared and asked if we wanted to go see a dragon snake. We weren’t sure what he meant by that, but went for it. Turns out, if you are fast enough you can get to the area where the bats are flying and it appears like a dragon or snake in the sky. Unfortunately tonight they had gone in a different direction and we didn’t see the snake. The good thing was we beat the traffic jam of all the Tuk-Tuks leaving the cave site. It would have been Tuk-Tuk rush hour.

When we got back to town we treated our Tuk-Tuk driver, Peter to dinner at the Nary Kitchen. He picked this restaurant and he really recommended it. Funny thing was we had looked at it this afternoon for lunch but thought it was a cooking school. Turns out it is both. Doug had fried rice, vegetables and chicken. Peter and I both ordered the noodles with vegetables and chicken. Food was good. I also ordered a Long Island Iced Tea. Can’t say that drinks were their specialty.

Over the last few days we had talked quite a bit with Peter. Of course we asked him if he had a girlfriend as he’s a pretty good looking guy. His reply was “no money, no honey”. He went on to tell us that a lot of the local girls go for the white men. The larger the man, the more money they think he has, as he is able to eat plenty. It is kind of sad the number of young local girls that we saw with old white guys. Peter said the girls have no interest in him as his skin is darker and they relate that to a farm worker and no money. Our guide the other day had explained to us that it is up to the youngest male in the family to support the parents in their senior years. He had mentioned that in some cases couples end up divorced because of their obligations to care for their parents. This can happen when both are the youngest in their families and there is no male in the woman’s family to look after her parents. At least I think I have that right. If not, it was close to that.

Peter asked if we had been happy with the service provided and would we give a review of him and his company on Trip Advisor. Of course we would. We enjoyed our two days touring with him so much that we actually gave him $50 US instead of the $20 US it was supposed to cost us. These tours in North America would have easily been double that per person. The total of $75 that we paid for the two days would pay his half of the rent for two months. He shares a one room apartment with a friend and had to buy all his meals as they have no kitchen. He also isn’t able to get work every day due to the fact that there are so many Tuk-Tuk drivers and only so many tourists requiring their services.

15 March 2018 – Battambang, Cambodia – Day 2 – Bamboo Train

Published on April 17, 2018March 24, 2021 by Old&LostLeave a comment

Got up this morning and had plans to visit the Bamboo Train and Banyon Hill Temple, but first we had to find some breakfast. This hotel did not include breakfast although you could purchase breakfast. We got dressed and headed down the stairs…..all 67 of them.

We checked out the hotels breakfast menu and decided to look elsewhere. We were lucky to find a bakery on the next corner and then a Cafe Amazon a block away from the bakery. Enjoyed a nutritious breakfast.

Headed back to the hotel as we wanted to contact the Tuk-Tuk driver that we had yesterday hoping he would be available for the day. He had given us his card so the hotel phoned him. He would be there shortly. To our surprise someone else showed up saying his friend was busy and had sent him. Wasn’t too sure about it, but the hotel confirmed his story. Turned out that there are three Tuk-Tuk drivers who operate a little company called Battambang Handicraft Tours. Odd name, but if you’re ever in Battambang, Cambodia, contact them as they are terrific as we found out. Our driver’s name was Peter and he would drive us for the day. It would cost us $20US. Sounded great to us. As we left, Peter asked if we minded if we stopped by his apartment as he had forgotten his sunglasses. No problem. Turned out he only lived a few streets away. Then he asked if we would like to see more of the country side on our way to the Bamboo Train instead of just going on the highway. That sounded great to us. He drove through a village to a bridge that they refer to as The Golden Gate Bridge. From the side it was a similar shape, but definitely not similar materials.

While standing on the bridge, Peter explained to us some of the ways they catch fish there. They have some very ingenious methods.

Then it was time for us to move aside as a motor scooter wanted to cross and the bridge was pretty narrow.

We continued on the country roads until we came to a small farm where we stopped again.

Peter guided us through the farm, about an acre and a half and explained to us their methods and what this particular farmer was growing. I can’t remember what this first vegetable was, but the grassy stuff was lemongrass. He told us how when he was younger he would have to get up early and help out on their farm before going to school.

We continued along the back country roads along a river until we had to stop. The road was closed off. Turned out this little village was having a wedding today and had closed the road down for their reception area. We had to go back and get on the highway after all.

It was still a great ride along the highway and we saw a portion that was lined on both sides with these beautiful yellow flowering’s trees. Just looked gorgeous.

A little further along the school children were heading home for their 2-hour lunch break. Some had motor scooters, some bicycles. and many had to walk. They go to school in the mornings from 7:00 to 11:00. Then many go to a different school in the afternoons such as Chinese school.

Can’t say I have ever seen a traffic sign with a Tuk-Tuk on it before.

We soon came to the Bamboo Train. Apparently they have moved it since our son rode it in 2017. They said that it had become unsafe and therefore relocated it. It is still a work in progress. We rode through the countryside for about 20 minutes then got off while they turned our cart around. While it only took seconds to turn the cart, they had us hang around about 15 minutes. I’m guessing in hope that we would purchase something from the stalls. There was an Australian couple and a British woman on the cart in front of us and we stood around and chatted for the break.

From here we headed to Banon Hill Temple. Going there we weren’t sure we would be able to climb the steps, but wanted to see. We have been surprised a few times and have been able to. This temple had 358 steps.

We got there and thought it might not be too bad and started up.

After about 20 steps we realized there was no way we would be able to do it. They were all different heights and depths. Makes it that much harder so took a selfie instead. There was also a photo shoot going on. Not sure if it was a wedding or not.

It was so hot here and there was a stand that had smoothies. That sounded so good that we decided to get some. We offered to buy our driver, Peter, one, but he opted for a large bottle of water. Smart move on his part as all your water has to be bought here.

We headed back to our hotel to rest up before our night, as we were going to the Circus. Peter would be back for us at 6:00 pm.

The circus is put on by underprivileged kids. Paden had told us about it and just raved about it, so we wanted to make sure we didn’t miss it. They told a story with their circus acts. Let me say…..it was AMAZING! These kids have so much talent. Hope they make it far in life.

As we were sitting waiting for the show to start we see the Australian couple and British woman from this afternoon arrive and sit in the next section beside us. They still had their guide with them. They all saw us and we all waved.

Peter, our driver was back at 8:30 pm to pick us up. Since we hadn’t eaten dinner we had Peter drop us off at the same restaurant we had eaten at yesterday, the White Rose. As we’re walking in to sit down, who do we see, but the Aussies and the Brit again with their guide. So just who’s following who now?

We had told Peter we would walk back to our hotel so he could go home and relax. After dinner we actually decided to take a Tuk-Tuk, so just grabbed one on the street. Not sure which was scarier, the walk the night before or tonight’s Tuk-Tuk ride. First off he had no headlight and then he got lost and didn’t know how to get to our hotel. This made me nervous. Our hotel, was actually only two turns from the restaurant. Thankfully, he found someone and asked them where our hotel was. We got back safe and sound. Time for bed for us as we have another busy day with Peter tomorrow.

14 March 2018 – Travel Day – Siem Reap to Battambang, Cambodia – Day 1

Published on March 31, 2018March 14, 2022 by Old&LostLeave a comment

Today was another travel day. Even though Battambang is spelled ‘Battambang’ it is actually pronounced ‘Battambong’.

After a nice breakfast beside the pool we packed up our stuff and relaxed by the pool for an hour or so.

We had booked a bus to Battambang for 2:00 pm through the hotel. The cost was $7.00 US each. Can’t go wrong with that price. The bus company, Mekong, were to pick us up between 1:00 and 2:00. Cutting it a bit close for a 2:00 departure. The pick up van showed up about 1:45. Had one more pickup after us and then to the bus depot. We were on our way. A mid- size passenger van with 12 people. The trip was only 77 km but would take between 3 and 4 hours depending on traffic and road conditions. There was a lot of construction along the way, mainly off to the side, as it appears they are putting in a new drainage system and expanding the road to 4 lanes.

Areas of Cambodia are spotless. No garbage anywhere and in other places there is so much garbage thrown around. It’s not as bad as Vietnam was but will be if they don’t get a grip on it. It appears that they burn a lot of their garbage as you will see piles on fire here and there. Our tour guide was saying that they don’t have a recycling plan in place so the plastics just pile up. You can see that as you drive around the country. Sad as it’s a beautiful country.

This is the dry season and so many of the cows and horses are skin and bones. Once the rainy season comes the grass grows lush and the livestock fatten up. There is grass around just not lots. Even though it is dry season the trees are full of beautiful flowers as are the plants.

Many of the fields have been plowed just waiting for the rain to come. I think they said it should start in July. They don’t get monsoon type rain, just some rain most days during the rainy season. Saw a few groups of men ‘playing’ in the ponds. Water looked so dirty – you can’t drink the water here.

As we drove along we got to see many homes. A few looked very luxurious but some were just a floor and roof with hammocks hanging on them. Many are built on stilts and they seem to hang out under their homes. The sun is brutal here.

You can see in places that it appears the family now had more money, as they are building new homes beside the old ones. Just can’t imagine what their lives are like. We just have so much compared to these people. I left my flip flops behind that I had bought when we were on our excursion on Koh Phangan. We left them on purpose. Hope whoever was cleaning our room can use them. Washed them all up (they had only been worn once) and left them on the pillow with the money tip.

Passed a large groups of Monks marching for some cause. Didn’t get the reason, but they had the road tied up for a few minutes.

Just saw 5 people on a scooter. 3 adults and 2 kids. We can barely fit that in a car.

Took us a little over 3 hours to get to Battambang. The hotel was only 1/2 km away but we decided to take a Tuk-Tuk as it was only $1 US and there didn’t really appear to be any sidewalks. Tuk-Tuk driver gave us a map with his contact info on it. We will probably call him tomorrow to use for the day.

We got to our hotel, Asia hotel. We were booked on the 3rd floor. It took us a couple of trips to get all our packs up our room. There must have been a thousand steps for each floor. Thanks Paden for recommending this hotel. We got spoiled in our last 2 hotels because they had elevators. There was actually 67 steps…..every time we went up or down.

The sink was the smallest, lowest one I think we have ever seen. So tiny. The room was fine after all we were only paying $20 US a night.

After resting up a bit we headed out go find some dinner. Our hotel was in the middle of what appeared to be mechanicsville. No place around where we could eat. We got the directions to ‘downtown’ and walked. Didn’t feel the safest, but we made it there. There are also plenty of security guards watching either shops or the streets. We couldn’t determine which.

Found a place, White Rose Restaurant, where it appeared most of the tourists were eating and joined in.

The food was pretty good. I had the Fried Ginger Chicken and Doug had Fried Pineapple Cashew Nut with Chicken.

We walked back to the hotel, me wishing we had taken a Tuk-Tuk every step. It was so dark and desserted.

13 March 2018 – Siem Reap, Cambodia – Day 3 – Angkor Wat

Published on March 30, 2018March 24, 2021 by Old&Lost2 Comments

Yesterday we had bought out tickets for Angkor Wat. We were being picked up at 5:00 am to watch the sunrise. This meant we were up at 4:00 am. Our same Tuk-Tuk driver was supposed to be taking us along with an English speaking guide. Since we were too early for the hotel breakfast they had made us up 2 boxed breakfasts. I didn’t get a picture of these but they were massive. Crescent, cinnamon roll, bread slices, banana bread, yogurt, dragon fruit, bananas and an assortment of jams in each. Along with a bottle of water each. The English speaking guide was here when we got down to the front desk at 4:45 am but no tuk tuk driver. That’s okay he was showing up at 5:00 am or so we thought. By 5:10 there was no Tuk-Tuk in sight. Waited a few more minutes then our guide contacted a Tuk-Tuk driver he knew. He would be along in a few minutes and we could meet him out on the main road. So we headed out. As we were waiting for the new driver, who shows up? Mr. 5:00 a.m. Our guide and Mr 5:00 a.m. had a discussion in Khmer and he drove away a little angry. When you have a time sensitive arrangement, 20 minutes late is a big deal. Sunrise wasn’t going to wait for us. A minute later our newly arranged driver showed up and we were off. It was still dark so kind of weird riding along the unlit roads. The roads into the complex are tree lined with very few lights. Actually very beautiful. There are multiple checkpoints along the way to ensure us foreigners had our tickets. There is a BIG fine for being caught on the grounds without a ticket. Since everyone’s ticket has their picture on it there is no sharing.

We had so much food left in our breakfast boxes that we had offered it to our guide. He ate a little bit and then carried it for us for the first half of the morning. He finally gave them to our Tuk-Tuk driver and we never saw them again. Hope someone ate them.

We got to Angkor Wat in plenty of time for the sunrise. Our guide took us to some rocks to sit down which I thought a little odd. Turned out he knew exactly what he was doing. As the sun rose we moved locations and the sky colour changed. I got so many spectacular photos, it’s really hard just to pick a few.

This was on my list of places to see.

Apparently many people then leave and go back to their hotels for breakfast. We paid extra to have to guide start early and stay. It was so worth it as there we not many people left at all. First up was the actual Angkor Wat. Just spectacular. Even caught a glimpse of a Monk praying as the sun rose.

The walls are covered with carvings that tell a story. It was great having a private guide as he really explained a lot to us. The reason parts of the wall are darker and shiny is from everyone touching the carvings. You are not allowed to touch them, but of course people still do. It’s ruining them.

If you look hard you can see the chariot in this one. It was very clear in person, but not so much in the picture.

We hesitated about climbing the stairs, but didn’t come this far not to. We would never have been able to do the old stairs. The guides don’t go up with you as they only allow 100 people at at time up there.

And the old stairs

The view from up top was spectacular. So many photos again. There was even a hot air balloon taking off in the distance.

Some pictures from inside at the top of the Wat.

From Angkor Wat we walked along a tree lined route until got to where the Tuk-Tuks were parked.

Hopped into our Tuk-Tuk and on our way to the next temple.

Our guided tour only included the 3 major temples, Angkor Wat, Ta Prohm, Bayon and the Terrace of the Elephants, which was enough for us. Had a pit stop at the toilets. Price included in admission ticket. If no admission ticket then 2,000 riel. Not sure how anyone wouldn’t have an admission ticket though.

Tah Prohm where the trees have grown around the temples. Some of the roots are just massive. Quite the sight to see.

Terrace of the Elephants photos

Bayon Photo’s. It might be hard to see in some of the photos, but just about every side of the rocks are carved with faces.

As we exited our guide asked if we would like to get a cold drink. Boy, would we! Doug ordered a mango and I ordered an orange with passion fruit. It was the BEST iced drink I have ever had. Paden, now I know why you love passion fruit!

On our way back to our hotel we saw monkeys. Lots of monkeys.

We were back before noon and were tired. Decided to have a nap. After our nap we headed out to the pool area to enjoy a couple of ice cold draft beers. Their local draft is quite good.

For dinner tonight we took a Tuk-Tuk down to Pub Street and the night market. It looks so different at night, all lit up. Even the bridges are full of lights. Each one a different design.

Walked around for a short while and Doug picked up a sandlewood bead and silver Buddha bracelet. First vendor we saw had a sandlewood with no silver beads and he wanted $15 US. No way! We got rid of our sucker tattoos. We continued looking and came across this one, which Doug liked better. Negotiations started at $3US. We paid $2.50 as we were paying the riel and that was 10,000. Just made it easy for us and it was still inexpensive.

After checking out many restaurants…

…we ended up back at the same restaurant we ate at two days ago. Ordered pepperoni pizza. As Paden said “Good Cambodian food”. Doug had his Shiraz wine and I had a red sangria. A little expensive by Cambodian standards, but good. Some of the best sangria I’ve ever had. So worth it.

As we walked back to the Tuk-Tuk area I saw a kid selling these. Silk worms, snakes, spiders and scorpions. No thank you! Yes, the people here do eat these. The lady who works at the hotel we are staying at was telling me that she eats the worms, crickets and grasshoppers, but not the spiders and scorpions.

After dinner we just grabbed a Tuk-Tuk back to the hotel. The Tuk-Tuk driver was hilarious but it’s a long story.

12 March 2018 – Siem Reap, Cambodia – Day 2 – Sunset over Angkor Wat or should I say Pre Rup

Published on March 30, 2018March 24, 2021 by Old&LostLeave a comment

Today we wanted to go to Angkor Wat to see the sun set. Tourists have to buy an admission ticket for $37 US, but Cambodians don’t. If you purchase a ticket between 5:00 pm and 5:30 pm the ticket is good for that evening and the full next day. After a nice buffet breakfast at the hotel we headed to the front desk to set up our Angkor Wat tour this evening and for tomorrow’s tour. We also had to book our bus for Battambang, our next destination.

After getting this all accomplished, the front desk grabbed us a Tuk-Tuk to take us to the market area. I love riding in Tuk-tuks.

He dropped us off right on the corner of Pub Street. This was on my list of places to see.

Mr Kim, our Tuk-tuk driver said he would come back for us so we set that up.

We wandered around the streets and found ourselves in a large covered market area. There was everything in here. If they didn’t have it, you didn’t need it. Some of the ‘food’ items looked pretty gross. They had every part of the chicken for sale. Already cut up and separated. Lots of items I had never seen before and hope to never see again.

After an hour or so we headed back to Pub Street to grab a beverage and a small snack. Dinner would be late tonight due to the sunset trip. Have to say that it was pretty cheap here. The prices are in US$

Not sure about the meat selection. I’ll pass

We settled upon a place, Cafe Latino, a Tex Mex Steak House.

Somebody took one before I had a chance to get a picture. Wasn’t me!

Found our Mr Kim and headed back to our hotel for a rest before our sunset tour.

A new Tuk-Tuk driver for our tour showed up early and so they called us down. All was good as we were ready. Good thing we did leave a little earlier as it was quite a distance. Tuk-Tuks don’t go too fast.

We got our admission tickets. They put our pictures on them.

Off we headed to the temple to watch the sunset. We weren’t going to the main temple, which is Angkor Wat, as the admissions lady said we couldn’t enter the temple, just the grounds. Plus we had been told it would be a zoo with thousands of people. If we really want to see that we can do it tomorrow evening. I never really thought about it, but Angkor Wat is only one temple in the Angkor Archaeological Park, which is in a town call Angkor. We were going to Pre Rup which was much further than I thought, but we got there in plenty of time to see the sunset. We climbed up the first few steps and I knew there was no way I could climb to the top. The steps were high, steep and no handrails. With my bad knees and fear of heights it wasn’t going to happen.

We wandered around the temple and still got some great pictures. When we got to the back of the temple we discovered they had built stairs with a handrail. Rickety stairs, but still stairs. We headed up. Doug only went half way up as he had flip flops on and this wasn’t meant for flip flops. I made it to the top.

Got a few good pictures up top but the sunset was actually better from down below.

Very slowly made my way down the steps. It was so scary for me, but I accomplished it.

A young lady was trying to sell me scarves. I feel so bad for them but I don’t want any, plus we don’t have room for them in our backpacks. She got down to 3 silk scarves for $5.00 US. They are really beautiful but still no room. And I would never wear them.

Took us a while to find our Tuk-Tuk driver amongst the many that were waiting. Didn’t help that we had no idea what his name was or even the colour of the Tuk -Tuk. He spied us. Thank goodness. He took us on a great scenic route back to the hotel. Tree covered roads and by lakes. We even saw some monkeys. The cicadas in the trees were almost deafening they were so loud in places. Don’t want to see them.

Went back to our room to change back into our shorts and headed down to the hotels restaurant for dinner again. Tonight we sat outside by the pool for dinner. Dinner and drinks were great just like last night. Selfie time!

Early to bed as we have to be up at 4:00 am for our 5:00 am pickup.