Following the trail into Cambodia and Laos

Well, this is long overdue, but being a traveller can be very busy what with all the beaches to lie on, and bars and restaurants  to explore.  Ok so maybe not the best excuse...you'll just have to forgive us.  From Vietnam we headed into Cambodia and Laos.   Well technically we went to Cambodia first from Ho Chi Minh then returned to Vietnam and then after working our way up the coast we headed to Laos. There was probably a more direct way to do it, but at the time it made sense.

Skulls at the Killing Fields and Singapore Slings at Raffles

Cambodia was interesting.  Phnom Penh was very developed and OVERRUN with Lexus’.  You owned a pharmacy, you drove a Lexus.  You owned a convenience store, you owned a Lexus. You ran a restaurant, you guessed it, you owned a Lexus.  This was in stark contrast to the people living in mud and straw shacks not 5 minutes outside the city.  We visited the Killing Fields and the Genocide museum, by day (both thoroughly depressing) and by night sipped Singapore slings at the Raffles hotel.  But 2 nights was more than enough and we headed to Siem Reap.   Now this was a town we loved.  Wats aside, we stayed in a beautiful hotel where we were greeted every day with chilled lemongrass towels, a nice and much needed gesture in 38 degree weather.  The restaurants in the town were tasty and to top it off beer was  a mere $.50 US a pint.  Now that we could get used to. 

Of course, we also visited the famed ancient city of Angkor.  

Angkor

A truly magnificent piece of history, I think I can actually say that Angkor Wat was only my 3rd favourite ruin on site, as Angkor Thom with the thousands of faces and the astonishing mix of nature versus humans at Ta Prohm were even more incredible.  After a long, hot day touring the temples we ended up once again on the aptly named bar street for some seriously delicious papaya salad and curry amok. 

Our wee plane

Laos was a different experience altogether.  After boarding an impossibly small plane, we flew for 45 minutes before landing in Vientienne.  Not much was happening here, and after a pretty good dinner from street stalls lining the river bank, we were about to head home for the night when Noah noticed a big door with piles of locals filing in.  Not ones to miss out on anything, we quickly jumped in line and headed in.  Reminscent of the après ski bars in whistler, this massive live music venue was packed with locals listening to the latest talent and drinking bottles of Johnny Walker red.  Although we couldn’t understand a word, the music was almost country in tone so we had a great time.  We were off early the next day to Vang Vieng and the infamous tubing river. 

While our place in Vang Vieng wasn’t exactly luxury, it was clean enough and had nice balcony looking out into the mountains and down into the river.  In fact it was from the said balcony that we watched one of the most incredible storms we have ever seen.  It lasted only about an hour, but I have never heard thunder and seen lightening and rain like that before. 

First bar on the Vang Vieng river

After an afternoon of wandering the streets passing scores of backpacker bars/restaurants playing either Friends or Family Guy on repeat, we found a bar and had a few buckets (buckets, for those not acquainted with the uber-classy drinks, usually consist of: whiskey, coke, and red bull in a plastic pail served with 5 or 6 straws) before heading home for the night with a freshly cooked nutella pancake in hand. The next day we rented our tubes and jumped in a tuk-tuk to take us to the top of the river where the next 5 hours would be spent floating downstream, drinking at the many bars scattered along the banks, and swinging on giant rope swings into the murky water.   Tacky? Yes, maybe.  But was it fun?  Definitely.  Our second day was much tamer and was spent on bicycles peddling  around the rice paddies and stopping at organic farms for lunch.  Thus concluded our time in Laos.  Next up, we headed to the Perhentian Islands in Malaysia.

Cambodia Fast facts
Currency: Riel  6,472 = £1 but more commonly used is USD
Local Beers: Angkor
Average price of a vodka tonic: £1
Average price for dinner  for 2 incl. drinks (restaurant):£6
Average price for dinner  for 2 incl. drinks (street food):£2
Average price for a manicure: £3
Favourite national dish: Curry Amok
 

Laos Fast facts
Currency: Kip 13,000 = £1
Local Beers: Beer Lao
Average price of a vodka tonic:£2 (but in bucket form £3 -way better deal)
Average price for dinner  for 2 incl. drinks (restaurant):£4
Average price for dinner  for 2 incl. drinks (street food):£2 
Average price for a manicure: £5
Favourite national dish:
Aisling -Larp (a ground mix of mint, beef, chili peppers, onion and lime juice - I really liked it, Noah not so much) 
Noah - Noodle soup with chicken or beef

Doubling-up on the swing!