Kuala Lumpur

March 19/20th.

Yes, we met as planned, by the baggage carousel at KL International Airport. Paul left England for two days/I left Cambodia for an hour’s flight (an absolutely deserted Malaysian Airways plane, more staff than passengers, impeccable service, clearly very difficult time for the company and crew)-we found each other at the allocated time/place!  A long hug-watched with many smiles-and a culture shock for both of us in KL.

For me, a return to western skylines/shops/efficient transport –full marks to KL Airport Express train- a ‘modern’ hotel room with no ants/no sand/a flushing loo/hot water/comfy bed…and RAIN.

In the late evening sunset the storm set in-a quick stroll left us soaked to the skin! I was splashing about laughing enjoying the unusual sensation, much to the local’s bemusement.

This morning a splendid buffet breakfast overlooking the city and off we set on the rapid transit monorail to explore. First stop, Petronas Twin Towers. Neither of us fancied paying the extortionate price to go up and we're not keen on the fast lift experience, so pottered about the outside parks and inside shopping complex admiring the skyline in the sunshine until-it rained!

We retreated inside, following the staff away from the expensive food courts to their local ‘shop’ downstairs for a cheap but delicious coffee/ice cream/lunch. Off to Chinatown/Central Market area to see the other downmarket side of the city. As the rain eased off we wandered around the typical Chinese alleys, dodged the enormous puddles, found ourselves in Little India in a Hindu temple and had a restorative massive mango shake –tis Asia despite the city high street/upmarket brands.

Hindu Temple

In the cool pleasant aftermath of the storm we decided to walk to the KL tower, not realising the path that climbed through the forest park below it was a) steep, wet, and mosquito ridden and b) deserted. Deserted because after half an hour of clambering up uneven steps through denser foliage that we realised we found the gate to the tower locked!!

As it was beginning to get dark desperation took over; I seized the locked gates and yelled at the top of my voice! Staff appeared from somewhere –we could only see a brick wall and the glimmer of the tower high above us-and after much debate a security guard was summoned with a key. Full marks to the kind/helpful KL populace, bless them! Apparently the gates were locked due to the heightened security re the missing plane, and not many people ever walk up that way usually-only mad people like us!

As before we declined the expensive lift experience and contented ourselves with walking around the tower spotting city landmarks from its hilltop vantage point. A walk back along the safer highway to the station, on to the train watching the setting sun over the towers and the city skyline-KL has given us the perfect space to become a couple again. Off to Borneo tomorrow, it’s been good to have today to ourselves in this ‘easy’ but still fascinating cityscape.

Petronas Towers in the sunset

KL Tower in the setting sun

Back on the bus

As the sun rose over the already scorching sands I tramped through the sands to the waiting tuk tuk to travel in Silanoukville for the bus back to Phnom Penh.  This time a minivan.

My English foresight in prebooking my ticket had nabbed me the front seat with more leg room…I had to be very assertive to claim this, demanding the driver evict the invaders, but it was worth it!  The roads and the traffic are horrendous but having a tiny space to stretch out my legs without spending hours crouched knees to chest helped (a bit). The buses all show films (Skyfall-again!) no doubt to distract passengers from the driving.

So now I am back in an air conditioned brick built hotel. It’s not exactly the Ritz, but the toilet flushes, there is no sand other than the pit which fell out of my case-there are ants, even on the ninth floor, but apart from that I can see no other wildlife! I have a television, unimaginable luxury, and a kettle with coffee sachets/complimentary biscuits.  Yet after five nights in total darkness/silence I am finding it all rather odd-when I get home the idea of being able to drink the water-and have a bath!!-will be soo strange!!

Hot and hotter

OMG it is soo hot here….I am lying under the fan in my little bamboo oven sweating and its 10pm…much as I have loved this free time on this paradise beach, I am ready to go back to air conditioning, running water (ok, not drinkable, but a tap and a flushing loo will be a luxury now, my standards have changed considerably) and a room which isn’t full of sand/red ants/lizards/etc…

So at dawn tomorrow I leave for Phnom Penh, time to regroup, declutter the case, de sand me and everything and get ready to meet Paul in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday.
Today as I repeated my routine of breakfast at one end of the beach and an evening two hour walk at the other end of the beach/day I was greeted with friendly waves and cheery hallos. I shall miss the gorgeous expanse of sand, the warm waters, the shallow surf, the endless blue sky, the spectacular sunsets…

I am ready to return to civilisation though. It is impossible to do anything here but lie in the shade between noon and three and even then the heat/glare makes even reading hard. I swim with a turban and long sleeves, much to the young backpacker’s amusement! Sun cream liberally applied sweats off so quickly that despite much care I have acquired a rather red shade of brown! My feet have acquired a webbed look from spending so long in the sea, plus I am sporting a neat selection of bites from assorted creatures. And my mind, happy to shut down a few days ago, is starting up and craving stimulation…

So farewell to the beach and almost farewell to my solo travels, nearly time for Paul and Edwina’s travels-Borneo awaits!

Just chilling

For once, I am doing nothing! No boat trips, no sightseeing tours, no forays into the town. I walk along the beach 3 kms to Otres 2 for breakfast soon after sunrise, catch up on the BBC News playing in the hostel there, enjoy my pancakes feet up on the sandy sofa in a shady bamboo shack, wander back before the heat rises and fall exhausted onto a sunbed.

Lying under the trees inches from the calm warm waves I read and sleep and swim until the heat passes, buying fresh coconut, iced coffee and fruit from the café and passing vendors.

The Beach

By late afternoon it is cool enough to walk once more, this time in the opposite direction. I’ve learnt to time the stroll so that I have time to get back before darkness descends as it is pitch black here then and impossible to see anything!

In the evening I sit under the stars reading/writing the blog/washing the endless sand out of everything-impossible and thankless task as this hut is set in sand dunes and then there’s the beach so there is nothing but sand, sand and more sand…

Sunset

 

The loo has to be ‘flushed’ with a bucket, the water is cold and brown, the hut is unbearably hot at times, the ants are the least of my wildlife companions-I did take exception to an enormous wasp this morning-but the peace, the silence, the sheer luxury of doing nothing, is wonderful. Not long now til Paul comes out to join me for Borneo and I needed this rest, I was bone achingly weary. More than I realised. It is unusual for me to stop, rare for me not to be twitchy, but here I find I can do nothing, be still, and relax. ‘Just chilling’ (though it is impossible to be cool, even the seawater is boiling!) is fantastic.

Sihanoukville

Cambodia has beautiful beaches! And I’m on one, in a bamboo ‘bungalow’ on stilts in a peaceful spot, the very end of Otres 1 beach in Sihanoukville.  This lovely place is a collection of 7 huts set in a garden a few metres from the beach, away from the ‘party’ areas. The quiet is disconcerting-no television, no air conditioning, cold-and brown-water, I am sharing my living quarters with wildlife from lizards to ants but so far we’ve been amicable partners…I’m wrapped into my mosquito net more to avoid being dive-bombed by bats/frogs than mossies, eyes glint down at me as I type, I’m not making eye contact!

My Angkor Air flight-an extravagance but it saved me two days on a bus-not only turned up in Siem Reap, a minor miracle as they are notoriously unreliable- but went on time. There are only a few flights a week here and I was prepared to be stranded in Angkor chasing a bus ticket, but to mine and everyone else’s surprise, the usual tiny propeller plane lifted off and within an hour dropped us down again in deepest Southern Cambodia.

The shuttle bus to the town also appeared-another miracle-and then a tuk tuk knew where I wanted to go, as Otres beach is another 5 kms outside the town itself. A fortunate choice as what little I saw of downtown Sihanoukville reminded me of a Cambodian Margate, originally a fishing village now a large dock and tourist haunt, I was relieved when my tuk tuk drove out of the heaving masses and into the countryside, depositing me in the middle of nowhere bar a few hostels like this one (‘Don’t Tell Mama’) and beach cafes.

It was pitch dark as I arrived. I sat outside on my veranda with a cold beer provided by the friendly German couple who run this, stared up at the moon, and realised I could hear absolutely nothing. The odd dog barking, geckos otherwise total total silence. I am always amazed at how odd this feels.

Today I rose with sun as normal and set off along the deserted beach in bare feet and shorts. It feels so liberating to be free of the usual Cambodian dress code of shoulder/knee coverings. Otres 2, a 30 minute walk away, has a collection of beach cafes where I greedily consumed a pancake with honey/coffee/fruit shake. ..

As the pics show, I am relishing the freedom of the beach-the water is warm! Truly warm! Shallow, calm, a pleasure to float around in (best to ignore the rubbish, this is Cambodia after all!). A sunbed for the price of a sprite (a dollar) comes with a shady umbrella and free hassle from beach vendors/masseurs/beggars thrown in!

There is a welcome breeze here after the stifling heat of Siem Reap and Phnom Penh. I walked for hours in the late afternoon watching the setting sun, ambling along the beach, chatting idly to other strollers –there are few people here bar the ‘party’ backpackers haunt at the furthest end to my ‘pad’ so a carnival holiday atmosphere prevails.

I intend to do very little for the next few days bar swim, sleep, sunbathe, eat, drink and be merry!

Temple travelling

Another day, another cycle ride around the temples of Angkor. Although at times I eyed the passing tuk tuks with a tinge of envy as I pedalled along the red hot red dust tracks, I do prefer the freedom of going my own way and at my own (slow) pace.

There are unexpected delights at every turn-the small temple of Prasat Kravan at first sight seemed only a collection of towering spires but inside each individual column hide wonderful carvings of ‘Vishnu’-see pics of this Hindu site, dating from 921 AD.

Carvings of Vishnu

My favourite temple is Phrom, the ruins dominated by the enormous banyan trees which have grown through the collapsed stones, casting welcome shade over the site. I sat from a pleasant hour eating two pineapples and a mango (my negotiations with the stallholder were so successful I ended up with rather too much fruit!) lying with my back against a tree trunk, listening to the distant sound of Khmer music and the sounds of silence.

This afternoon I joined the throng in Angkor Wat for a final foray to the most famous temple of them all. There is a real sense of awe uniting the crowds who gather at sunset, a true friendliness uniting tourists from multi nations and locals who also make the pilgrimage to this holy place. People share cameras-hence the many pics of me sporting the unglamorous baggy cut-offs from Phnom Penh market, a sunburnt glow and a scarf protecting my cut leg from the dirt-an improvised bandage but fingers crossed it’s done the trick.

 

Angkor Wat

 

Sunset at Angkor Wat

Stunning though the sunset was it did mean cycling back the 7kms to Siem Reap in the dark with an unlit bike on unlit very busy roads where no one has any road sense, dodging tuk tuks, tourist coaches, pedestrians, monkeys-the most unpredictable, one nearly sent me under the wheels of a passing car-oxen…especially hard as the potholes become invisible in the blackness. Siem Reap itself is gaudy with neon lights sending a beacon to light my way ‘home’.  Two cups of iced sweet coffee and a cold shower and I resemble something human again, at least for the present. I have grown to love the temple tours but am off tomorrow for the beach and a much needed rest-fingers crossed for sun, sand, blue seas and a hammock!

Amazing Angkor

I have found the significance of the ‘lost’ kingdom of Angkor. Finally I have fallen in love with this amazing archaeological maze. Turns out I needed a bicycle, not a tuk tuk. For two days I have taken to the brown dusty roads by pedal power, heading out past towering temples, swerving to avoid tourist buses, seeking out the lesser temples with their stunning stone colours shifting in the sunlight, admiring the deep bas relief carvings, clambering up steep steps carved into rock faces to peer in awe at the complex intricate stone pillars.

Pics show the elephant trade in full swing here; tour buses load passengers on them –the poor animals look so fed up and sad. The stunning stone carvings of these beautiful giant creatures running for miles along the ‘terrace of elephants’ in Angkor Thom is wonderful, a moving mural, spoilt only by the real elephants plodding alongside.

Bored Elephants

Carved Elephants

There are so many temples, the roads twist and turn around lakes where local families swim/wash and graze their cattle, past dry swamps eerie with white tree trunks rising from the dark still water, through forests ancient and new-multi national funding to replant from deforestation-many have a complex history, the Buddhist origins recarved into Hindu gods as the Kingdom changed. Shrines appear in the darkest corner or the highest pillar, the air suddenly filling with incense.

temple originally Buddhist then resculptured into Hindu worship

It is easier on the bike to dodge the beggar children, the street vendors who run alongside pulling at my clothes, the landmine survivors, the horrendously deformed children-it tugs my heart strings to say no, but it is impossible to give to everyone, or even to just one-giving to one means either the money is sidetracked into gangs or you will be followed by hundreds desperate for the same handout-it is really hard to be hard hearted, and I have resolved to find a reputable charity to support when back in England.

I am glad now I have taken the time to explore both Angkor and Siem Reap. Angkor is so vast its true beauty is slowly revealed. Siem Reap is a shopping mecca-night markets/day markets everywhere, massages for a dollar –I had a complimentary one here at the guest house which was very welcome!-‘same same’ products as throughout Asia obviously but its all rather fun-the town exists to serve tourists, it reminds me of a tiny Vegas in the Cambodian desert.

The downside is that I ache all over, every bone in my body hurts-today I cycled the 17 mile ‘grand tour’ along the bumpy dirt tracks. stopping only for an iced coffee in a roadside shack, sustained by my picnic of bananas and crackers. By the time I returned here tonight I was literally too exhausted to climb the stairs to my fourth floor room and had to sit in reception being plied with free sweet iced coffee and banana chips by the kind staff, bless them!

I am hoping to take the bike again tomorrow, but I am also hoping to be able to move-the first will depend on the second!