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Showing posts from January, 2013

Under the weather...AGAIN!

While I am now feeling much better, this morning I was not brilliant.  While this episode didn't last quite as long it was accompanied by cramping so I decided not to go on the boat trip to Bamboo island.  I am so disappointed as I was so looking forward to it.  Luckily there is a boat trip to an island in my immediate future though.  Just a different island!!!  And not sure what day it will be! Once I was feeling a bit more, ahem....settled...I decided to walk down to Seredipity Beach.  I bought a few bits and pieces along the way (small is the name of the game with my luggage...)    I was able to see the hotels I had been thinking of staying at and while they were nice (with the waves crashing below) I am glad I opted for Kep.   Having been down in the area last night it is very noisy. Lots of partying, fire crackers going off, loud music, etc.   While there I had a leg and foot massage for five dollars.  I am getting used to these cheap massages.  I do draw the line at manicur

Beach time

We drove the three hours down to Sihanouk Ville this morning.  On the way we stopped at a local market which was very interesting.  Thyda said people were exclaiming to her how lovely and white our skin was - they don't see many tourists there!!!  I had some freshly squeezed sugar cane juice and it was lovely - yum.  On arrival we went to the Star Fish cafe which is a cafe and shop that provides physically disabled people opportunities from their profits.  We had delicious sandwiches there made from rice bread.  We also bought some things in the shop.  I would rather spend a bit more money and know it is helping someone.  They have been open since 2001.  Intrepid (the tour company I am with) supports them in their endeavours.  Arrived at our hotel the Golden Sands .  Immediately we all changed into swimsuits and Thyda walked us over to the closest beach - Ochheuteal Beach.  Very busy and touristy but the water was wonderful and it was fun to jump in the waves.  I had a 40 minut

Cricket's revenge?

Well I admit it - yesterday I ate a cricket.  It was crunchy and like a charcoal potato chip.  Would I have another one?  No.  However I do like to try new things.  I also tried eating a tarantula's leg but yuck - spit it out.  Instead of Montezuma's revenge I will just call it revenge of the crickets.  Immodim to the rescue.  So After a morning of touring a salt field, a pepper plantation, visiting a temple (while the others explored a cave with bats...yep sign me up..had a bat roommate for one day - that was enough thank you), a seafood meal (provided) at the crab market in Kep and a few visits to the crapper I am resting this afternoon.  We have a sunset cruise along the river in 45 minutes but I won't be going.  It is good to relax though - even the 19 year olds in the group are getting tired.  I am sitting in bed with the a/c going full blast.  Illness has been going around the group and while I am a bit busy at one end luckily I haven't been sick.  Tomorrow is

Checking in from the river lodge

Right now we are staying at the Natural Bungalows in Kampot.  Very nice.  Tonight we had drinks and dinner on a deck overlooking the river.  The food was delicious but the service was so slow it was pathetic.  I was the first one served and I had to wait until the last one finished eating...very painful.  I had fish and chips - made from local fish.  My first western dish since I got here but just wanted something different.  Last night we were at the home stay - oh lordy lordy.  I will have some good stories to tell about that one.  The fellow who hosted us was lovely and so was his family but sleeping on a thin mattress on the floor in the same room with 12 other people (separated by curtains with two behind each curtain) with the loo down some steep stairs outside was not my idea of a fun time.  Add dogs barking with another dog howling backup for a long time and then a cat yowling.  I got the giggles and then someone farted and oh my I laughed out loud and had to hold my hand ove

Templed out

Well I am templed out - but one more to go and that's tomorrow!!  The Angkor area temples are absolutely amazing.  Of course one thinks of the whole thing as Angkor Wat but that is just one temple.  However that is the first one we visited.  We went in the "back" entrance which was less crowded.  We sat down on some rocks as Teedagh gave us an overview.  All of a sudden I felt something against my back and here it was a monkey leaning against me and  trying to get the water bottle out of my backpack.  The others soon shooed him off.  However they can be viscious.  I just could not resist one sitting on a motorbike guzzling water (the motorcylist's water by the way that he had foolishly left there)  but he hissed and made a face at me (as monkeys do) so I didn't hang around.  I could not do the high stairs so just went as far as the second floor which was fine by me.           Isn't it amazing?    The front of the building was much more cr

Peeing on fish or a fish out of water

Well this morning we headed off by boat to Siem Reap.  Due to the low water on the Tonie Sap Lake (more like a river until near the end of the trip when it widened considerably) the trip would be an 8 hour one... It was supposed to be boring but ended up as anything but...in no certain order...let's see.... We had a rest stop (turned out to be the only one) along the way and the loo was just a hole over the lake and there were fish circling around underneath.  Yes it was just a hole in the floor...you definitely had someone watch your stuff while you went in or one false move and your camera/purse or whatever would be in the lake.  The fish either like the warm pee coming in or they are pervs and like to see ladies parts.  We were just a few minutes out when all of a sudden there was something flying over me and jumping all over the floor - a little fish!  Guess he wanted to join the tour.  Roger reached down and scooped him up while I hooted and hollered.  Okay it wasn&#

Riding the rails

The countryside tour yesterday was fun.  We went in tuk tuks (basically motorbikes pulling a small carriage) and visited a few locally owned businesses.   First stop was a family business that makes the rice paper for spring rolls, next was a place that makes face paste (ewwww...stinky!) and then a place that makes bamboo sticks with sticky rice in.  Yum yum.  I bought two - had one for brekky this morning and one will be my lunch tomorrow.   The bamboo train ride was fun - we will be among the last of the tourists to ride it as they will be rebuilding their rail network with the help of the Australian government.  It had the sh*t bombed out of it thanks to the Khmer Rouge.  The bamboo train was flat beds made from...you guessed it...bamboo.  We were going quite fast at one point. Fun!!  We turned around on a bridge and watched the sunset.  Luckily we had enough people on our car that we didn't have to get off - the rule is when two cars meet the one with the least people on it has

A quickie from Battambang

Just arrived here in Battambang and have spent my spare hour washing out undies and nursing my blister.  Yes I got a blister - I walked over to the Royal Palace yesterday in just my birkies as my feet were so hot from being in shoes in the morning.  It is across the street from the hotel but the entrance is quite far.  And then there is the walking around...what a magnificent place.  Wow wow wow.   Alas I won't be able to post the pictures until I get home probably.  The bus ride up here was LONG and I was in the suicide seat - fun and games.   We were on a public bus and the driver was really good but he honked and honked and honked.  At every motorbike even though they could see him he honked - twice.  I almost had a headache by the end.  I will never sit at the front again.  (I only did it to let couples sit together)  I couldn't even read as I got nauseous from all the twisting and turning around potholes.  Yikes. Now we are off for a countryside tour in tuk tuks and th

Hello from Cambodia!

I thought I had better check in and let everyone know I am alive.  This will be a short post as I am not tethered to a plug in (and I hope to heck I have the right plug adapter with me - the three prong one is hanging off the wall so didn't want to try it!) plus the wifi is not very strong. Tiger Airways was awesome and got me here on time.  I am too tired to post anything meaningful - I have not had a full night's sleep since I arrived in this part of the world.  Last night it was a damn dog barking all night.  They were overbooked in the hotel we were supposed to be in so a lucky few of us got dumped into this dump....not too happy but oh well.  Only one night.  But a pain as well for having to repack everything.  The group seems good.  We went out for a good dinner last night - I had the national dish which was amok.  Fish cooked in spices and coconut sauce which was very tasty.  My travel agent Bernice had recommended it so I mentioned that and a few tried it and enjoye

Rain rain go away

The forecast for today is rain, rain and heavy rain.  Now I don't mind rain but heavy rain is kind of an inconvenience.  Oh well it is what makes Singapore so green and lush..... Last night I wandered around the food court beside the hotel and nothing appealed so I came back to the hostel restaurant and ordered....pizza.  Now it wasn't any ordinary kind of pizza...it was pepper crab pizza with onions and mozza.  Very good.  First time I've had crab pizza.  And then I had to have a Singapore Sling in Singapore.  An expensive little sucker but it was good.  I opted to sit outside as it had cooled off a tad so it was very pleasant.  The waitress put my first pizza down on the table and it slid off the wooden pizza tray so they had to do another one.  That was fine - I was in no hurry.  I enjoyed the meal thoroughly but it's back to food court/hawker food today.   I was hoping to go to China town tonight but guess it depends on the weather.  Rain was forecast for yesterda

Feels great to be back in Singapore

Well after months of dreaming and scheming here I am!!!  All very exciting.  My flights over were good - but long...I watched a few movies, read and tried to sleep without too much success.  I finally fell asleep looking out at Singapore as we were landing!!!  My flights leaving Regina and Vancouver were 45 minutes late each.  Leaving Hong Kong bang on time..Singapore airlines I do love you even if your entertainment system is a bit dated.....  the food was good however it was good on Air Canada.  The difference...the service.  Singapore airlines employees seem to care...maybe they don't but they sure make you feel like they do.  Luggage arrived (whew!) and off I went in a taxi that only cost me $23 SD.  I expected it to be much more being as it was past midnight and there is a 50% surcharge from midnight to 6 a.m.  On the expressway into the city centre I noticed a few signs saying "Be considerate, signal early".  Singapore is not a typical Asian city by any means - bu

Destination of the week - Jamaica!!!

Yes this weekend my destination is Jamaica mon!!! Jamaica seems to be the destination of choice amongst my friends this winter so it has brought back fond memories of my week there in early 1984.  I fell in love with the place and swore I'd be back in 7 years. (why 7 years?  don't ask me!)  Did I ever go back?  No.  Why?  I don't know.  Too many other places to visit. Now I hear of crime in Jamaica and most people stay in all inclusives.  I went with two friends and we stayed in a modest hotel across the road from a beach in Montego Bay.  It was the Carlyle Beach hotel opposite..you guessed it..Carlyle Beach.   What a week it was...a week of firsts to be sure...first attempt at the limbo, first time drinking rum punch, first time getting DRUNK on rum punch (but not the last!), first time climbing a waterfall, first time snorkeling (which was a disaster and started with them literally throwing me off the boat as I was absolutely terrified to jump in on my own) first time lis

What will 2013 bring?

A new year is always a fresh start but I am not the type to make resolutions.  I can never keep them so why bother? Looking out at the aftermath of a blizzard here on the prairies my thoughts turn to where this year's travels will take me.  (and why the hell can't I leave today???!!!!)  I do have my  trip to Singapore and Cambodia next week which will no doubt be the biggie. To say I am excited about it is an understatement.  I never ever take travel for granted.  I absolutely love it and I know I am very very lucky to be able to do it.  However it is more than luck...but that is for another post.  (which I think will be titled "Must be Nice!" - I don't know how many times that has been said to me...) I have decided this year  to focus on overseas travel and my exploration of North America will take a back seat.  Not totally gone but not the big focus it was in 2012.  I am planning a trip to the UK in September.  It has been a while since I've been to

Sixty new travel experiences the year I turned 60 - part 3!

41)  Visited the Montreal history museum - very interesting to learn more about the history of Montreal. The museum really impressed me a lot.  There is a larger museum covering Montreal as well so if I ever find myself back in Montreal a return visit is definitely in order. 42) Had a bagel at the famous Fairmount Bagel Shop in Montreal - no indoor seating so managed to find a bench outside to sit and enjoy it.   Very good - second only to New York bagels!!! Fairmont Bagels - well you knew there had to be a dog in there somewhere didn't you ? 43)   I did the 10km capital city walk in Quebec City -I could now say I have walked in all the capitals of every province/territory in Canada.  No one can ever accuse me of not seeing my own country!!! Inside the walls of the Old City of Quebec Quebec City Provincial capital - no Canadian flag....grrrrr..........  44)  While walking back from a feast (burp) at Aux Anciens Canadiens (oldest restaurant in Quebec City and a

Sixty new travel experiences the year I turned 60 Part 2

22)  Visited Newport Beach!!! Shared the beautiful sunset with a dog and cat who seemed to enjoy it too. (or maybe it was the surfer dude they were appreciating)  23)  Stayed at the wonderful Art Hote l (nice cheap winter rates) in Laguna Beach - Laguna Beach, I really really love you!!!   24)  Had a wonderful dinner at the Crab Cooker in Newport Beach.  Skewers of shrimp and scallops.  I could dig my fork into this picture and eat it all over again.  25)  Visited the Bolca Chica Wetlands north of Huntington Beach (kind of boring actually...and I was a bit paranoid of seeing a snake..)  26)  Took the #1 OCTA bus up and down the Pacific Coast Highway - and I would do it again!!!  Not too many people use public transit in Southern California.  I did, lived to tell the tale and enjoyed it!!!  27)  I went to Southern California and I didn't go to Disneyland or any other theme park - been there, done that twice and no ambition to go again... 28)