Guess what?

It's a fancy dress costume for dogs.
Obviously!

Face says it all

Managed to spend another, ooh, £10 of Richard's 'massage fund' on four foot massages at the weekend market in Bangkok. Kim complained that 30 mins wasn't long enough, and is now demanding a massage at every stop.

'Nuff said

Round Five

We left Cambodia reluctantly, if only we had more time....
Praise again to the boys for how well they handled the 7 hour journey to Bangkok. Most obvious difference once across the Thai border was that cars drive on the left and the roads instantly transform from dusty pot-holed adventures to smooth four lane highways.
Bangkok seems remarkably less chaotic than we remember from 19 years ago. The Khao San back-packers ghetto is now a sprawling Camden Market style shopping/dining area, and the stall holders don't hound you like they used to either. In fact, it's quite pleasant. There's even a swanky new overhead rail service and Metro system (though thankfully the tuk-tuk's and river taxi's are still in service).
We weren't expecting it to be so expensive here either: £24 for a room compared to the £5-£10 we've paid in Vietnam and Cambodia. It doesn't sound like much, but we've failed to keep within budget so far, so now we've no chance. Food's not as cheap either, and we're struggling to convince the boys that the street-side stalls are not only cheaper, but fresher and tastier too.
Talking of taste, we finally tried fresh durian just before leaving Cambodia: the flesh has a thick custard like texture, and it has a rich sweet flavour, but with an aftertaste of raw onions!? Hmmmm

Yum?

Cat Burger? Yum?

Questions

More recent questions raised by the boys: 
"Why do lizards and cats have vertical slits in their pupils?"
"Why are there different languages, and how is a language created?"
"What's carbon dioxide, and how can scientists measure how much of it is in the air?"
And our favourite so far:
"Do lady-boys get a refund if they change their mind about a sex change?"

Battambang

We decided to forego a few days on a beach in Thailand in order to stay in Cambodia a bit longer. I can't recommend this country enough. Vietnam was lovely, but I felt like we were being taken by the hand to all the sights, a bit too 'neatly packaged'. Cambodia, by comparison, is more laid back, more friendly and more open. Despite their recent history, it's a very peaceful country.
We've had a great couple of days here in Battambang: went to a circus show put on by a performing arts school for disadvantaged kids (many of whom go on to join the adult troupe who are famous world-wide in their own right), and spent the following day behind the scenes at the school where Kim & Ned got to join in with their circus skills lesson!
See www.phareps.org for more info on the group.

Easy riders

Hired a couple of scooters to explore some temple sites around Battambong. Passed wooden houses on stilts, with rice paper and chillies drying on mats out front, and had to navigate between cattle and shoals of schoolkids on pushbikes. Much more fun than just being a passenger in a tuk-tuk. Ned took after his father by falling asleep while riding pilion, and I had to tie a scarf around our waists just to make sure he didn't fall off!

Went to the Cambodian Landmine Museum today. Had some interesting insights to the war from our tuk-tuk driver, who's father was taken mysteriously by the Khmer Rouge and who's mother is disabled from shrapnel wounds. I didn't realise the war only officially ended in 1998. Ned's been quite affected by the mine victims we've seen here, so now he understand's how and why mines inflict the damage they have.

Round Four

Angkor Wat

Kim: we went to Angkor Wat, with our nice tuk-tuk driver Sarorn. We climbed up a massive pyramid kind of thing, and I was really tired at the top. I climbed around the edge and it was a bit scary when I looked down. We found some tiny frogs, and a huge dead millipede (covered in ants).
Ned: The millipede looked like it had purple armour on it. We saw huge bats sleeping in one of the temples. Some of the temples had trees growing in the middle. I liked being able to climb all over them.

Foot massage

My lovely neighbour Richard gave me £40 for my birthday, to have a foot massage with. Unfortunately I never found the time to spend it, so promised him we'd use it while away.
Finally managed to spend some of it on a family foot massage - by fish! Really tickly at first, but once you get past the fact it's live fish nibbling at your dead skin, it feels like a high-powered jacuzzi.
Total dent in the 'massage fund' = £5



Ned's put this on his list of 'Thing's I want to have In our house when we get back to England'.

No hand grenades...

S-21

A thought provokingly sombre day today. Went to the Genocide Museum, housed in an old school which Pol Pot turned into his secret interrogation, torture and execution centre. I was ashamed at how little I knew of what the Khmer Rouge did, and chilled to hear that the simple act of being a city dweller or wearing glasses was enough to be branded an 'intellectual' and therefore a threat to the agrigarian revolution. 
Had a ride out alone to the nearby Killing Fields where they discovered almost 200 mass graves and thousands of remains, all of which are now housed in a huge glass sided Buddhist stupa. Riding back past cheery crowds of scoolchildren, I was reminded that Cambodia's population is disproportionately young - because so many of the older generation simply vanished.

Haunting

Child conscripts to the Kmer Rouge army.
We tried to impress on K&N what it must have been like for a child during those times, where whole families were killed to prevent the children growing up and avenging their parents death's.
They heard the words, but I think it's beyond their comprehension. Maybe that's not such a bad thing.

FCC

Sitting in the Foreign Correspondants Club in Phnom Penh, overlooking the Cambodian Mekong, and being reminded of my Aunt Alice and Uncle Cecil by hearing 'A Whiter Shade Of Pale' in the background.

Tuk tuk life

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Crossed the border by bus into Cambodia, and instantly saw a difference. The script and buildings resemble the florid styles of Thailand, as opposed to the Greek based letters and narrow utilitarian block buildings of Vietnam.
Phnom Penh feels like a very chilled capital city. People seem friendlier and more relaxed (that implies that Vietnamese weren't, which isn't true, just that the Cambodians seem even more relaxed!).
Poverty is more visible - people living in the streets, disabled beggars, and shoe-shine boys offering to clean my flip-flops for $1. Maybe that's why there are so many charities and NGO's here? But there's obviously some money too - the main transport is still the motorbike, but there are more cars on the road and they're nearly all huge luxury 4x4's: Lexus, Land Rover and even a Hummer pick-up. Cambodian status symbols or playthings of the ex-pat workers?
After two abortive attempts we finally made it to the Royal Palace, which even the boys said was beautiful. It was well worth the effort: ornate gilded 'King & I' style palace buildings, a silver floored pagoda, saffron robed Buddhist monks, a shrine, temple and a museum to the King and to traditional Khmer lifestyle. A huge portrait of the King faces out from the front of the Palace, which we've decided makes him look like a Cambodian version of Ted Heath or Alfred Hitchcock.

Saigon

We were warned that Ho Chi Minh City (or Saigon as the locals still call it) would test our patience, but we all think it's great. Found a cheap room down a warren of charismatic, full of life, alleyways. The city has a busy vibe, but doesn't feel as hectic as Hanoi. It's wide streets only filled with chaotic traffic for the evening rush-hour, but was entertaing to watch.
Sampled durian flavour ice-cream (still can't compare it to real thing yet), on our way to the War Remnants Museum, with it's collection of weapons and graphic evidence of atrocities commited by the US. Interesting to hear about the war from the other perspective, and a chance to dispel the boys glamourised image of soldiering.
Took an organised tour to the start of the Mekong Delta, to paddle down narrow canals and visit some lo-fi cottage industries (honey farming, rice paper production and coconut sweet making) on the shallow islands. Tasted rice wine from a bottle that had a dead snake bobbing around inside, and Ned made friends with a python. It was all a bit neatly wrapped and touristy, but it was an interesting day all the same, and an area we wouldn't have time to explore properly otherwise.

No Free Lunch

We're really proud of how the boys are coping with all the traveling. Bar the occasional tantrum from Ned over keeping his diary (strangely he doesn't mind doing work from the textbooks we've brought, but he begrudges the diary as it's not something he's used to at school) they've been brilliant. They turn heads everywhere, especially when they use the few Vietnamese phrases we've picked up, and are full of interest and questions. Even the days on the beach provoked discussions on what causes the wind and tides, the economics of being a fisherman, and the differences between the English and Vietnamise alphabets (they have several variants of the letters d, a and o) Am feeling vindicated that education can mean more than just sitting in a classroom.
I just need to convince Ned that a diary will be something he'll want to look back on... 

R&R

£15 a night, for the four of us, and right on the beachfront - bargain!

Parking

Sand Dunes and Streams

Hired an ex-army Jeep and driver to explore around Mui Ne. Saw a local fishing village sorting their catch on the beach, then went sledging down huge desert-like sand dunes, before walking barefoot up a shallow stream to it's waterfall source, where we couldn't resist a dip. Were stopped by a TV crew making a documentary about tourism in Vietnam, so Kim thinks he really is famous now.

Mui Ne

After the cool (and rain) of Dalat we headed to the coast for a few days R&R. Mui Ne beach is a picture perfect stretch of white sand and palm trees. We weren't expecting it to be quite so full of luxury resorts and Russian restaurants -it's obviously a prime destination for the Ruskies, but what a sour-faced humourless bunch they were, even on holiday!
Found a cheap bungalow right on the beach. Boys loved just playing in the sand and waves, and we finally got to use the hammock we'd brought.
Had one of those travelling coincidences, when we met a guy who's Dad had a business in Holmes Rd, just around the corner from my old house, and we discovered we used to hang around the same places and even played in the same scrap-yard. I found a barbers and had a haircut for 50p. Unfortunately it also looks like a 50p haircut, but it'll soon grow back.

The Summer Palace

Upon entering the last Emporer's Summer Palace in Dalat, an immaculate 1930's art deco building, we were asked to put cloth shoe covers on our feet. Although they did make me look like a smurf, the upside was that they were perfect for sliding on the polished parquet floors!
Unlike in the UK, once inside we were allowed to wander pretty much all over, even sitting in their chairs and hammocks.
Walking back from the Palace, we saw some uniformed cadre's practising their marching drill. I don't know if it was his Vietnamese military cap, or just friendliness, but as they passed by a few cadre's saluted Kim.
Lounging in royal hammocks and recieving military salutes? - it'll all go to his head y'know.

Durian

Tried to persuade Kim and Ned to try durian fruit today. It has a really strong, almost pungent, smell but is supposed to be delicious. Eating it is described as like "eating custard from a toilet bowl". We've had durian flavoured sweets, but not the real thing yet. I'll keep trying...

Chicken Village

Took a local bus (30p for a 17km ride, and the boys sat up front with the driver) to a Koho tribal village, nicknamed 'chicken village' because of it's strange central concrete statue. Saw coffee beans being dried and weighed, wooden shacks with satellite dishes, and the boys helped a woman de-weevil the corn before bagging it. Strangely enough, pigeon fancying seemed to be a hobby here too, as we saw a few extravagent coops attached to homes.

Motorbike taxi's

Sandra, if you're reading this, look away now.
The cheapest and simplest way of getting around short distances in Vietnam is motorbike taxi. These are often wee mopeds, but we've had great fun squeezing 3 on a bike. The strange thing is that by some quirk of the law, Annie and I have to wear helmets while riding pillion, but the boys, who stand up wedged between the rider and handlebars, don't have any helmets at all (Sandra, I warned you).
Needless to say, they think it's great fun!

View from the front.

Datanla Falls

One benefit of the typhoon rain is that the waterfall's are really impressive! To get to the falls we had to ride toboggon's down a twisting roller-coaster run. It's not automated, the tobogon's just sit on rails, and you have to apply the brakes by pulling a lever!

Dalat

We've headed away from the coast and up into the central highlands of Dalat, for a change of scenery and climate. Saw lots of wooden hut villages and waterfalls on the switchback roads up, and surreal sight of the day was a moped carrying a large clear plastic bag full of water, containing two huge live fish.
The good news is that the predicted typhoon coming from the Phillipines has blown itself out, the bad news is that it still had plenty of rain left in it. And although there is torrential rain here today (I had to wear a waterproof jacket and a poncho just to go and get our lunch), we've escaped the flooding that Hoi An and Na Trang have.
We're in a hotal with free internet access and Cartoon Network on TV, so the boys are happy (though slightly less happy when we suggested they catch up on some maths homework!). The forecast says we'll have a clear day tomorrow, before it rains again, so we think we'll head on to the beach and sand dunes of Mui Ne on Thusday.

Dalat: the Crazy House

Kim: Today we went to the Crazy House, which is a house which someone designed. It's like a maze, and it's crazy. Me and Ned loved it. It had tiny little rooms, like caves, and statues of animals like a bear, an eagle, a kangaroo and a monster kinda thing. There were crazy steps going up and down everywhere, and me and Ned got confused. I'd love to stay there.