Month: October 2013

Ho Chi Minh City

Andy,

On Wednesday 23rd October we took a bus from Phnom Penh, in Cambodia, to Ho Chi Minh City, in Vietnam. The six hour bus journey with Mekong Express was infinitely better than our previous bus trip (Siem Reap to Phnom Penh), although nothing in comparison to our luxury bus journies in South America. The bus was comfy and they made the border crossing a breeze, especially when compared to some of our previous border crossings (Bolivia to Argentina, for example).

The skyline of central Ho Chi Minh City

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Choeung Ek and Tuol Sleng

Andy,

After our days exploring the ancient temples around Angkor Wat we spent some time in Phnom Penh exploring some more recent history. We arranged a tuktuk to take us out to Choeung Ek, better known as the Killing Fields, and then to Tuol Sleng, better known as S-21, on the way back.

Before coming to Cambodia I knew a little about the Khmer Rouge and the Killing Fields, but I was by no means an expert. Following our visit to Choeung Ek and Tuel Slong I am still not an expert, but now I have some understanding of the horrors that went on during the rule of the Khmer Rouge from 1975 to early 1979.

A mass grave where 450 bodies were found

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Siem Reap

Andy,

Following our very relaxing week at Melia Benoa, we left Bali on Monday 14th October heading for South East Asia and the final leg of our big adventure. Our flight provided us with a few hours at Singapore Changi airport before arriving in Bangkok at 2100 local time. In anticipation of being asked to prove that we were leaving Thailand within the 30 day visa, but not being prepared enough to have sorted out our visas for Vietnam, we had booked a flight to Siem Reap in Cambodia for first thing Tuesday morning.

Hongda picking us up from the airport

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Hippie times around Oz

Andy,

After so long experiencing winter temperatures (even though some were considerably higher than a normal British winter), it was quite a shock to the system as we walked down the plane steps at Ayers Rock airport into the 34°C heat. Actually, it was the hottest weather we had experienced since our wedding day a little more than 12 months earlier. It is always a relief when you see you based appear on the luggage carousel and this time was no different.

The wreck of SS Maheno on Fraser Island

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A week in paradise

Andy,

During all of the planning for this seven month adventure we had intended to have one week of luxury in Bali. We included a stop in Bali when we booked our flights but that was all of the planning we did until a week or so before we were due…

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