Happy Monday - Phnom Penh to Kep, Cambodia

Hi guys,

Last Tuesday we had a very interesting but quite somber day. We took a trip to The Killing Fields just outside Phnom Penh followed by the genocide museum. The Killing Fields were quiet and peaceful and as we wandered around our audio guide gave us a really thorough outline of the horror that occurred there and the thousands of people who lost their homes, families and lives during the Khmer Rouge regime in the 1970s. It's horrible to think that it was all so recent too, that this all occurred during our own parents lifetime, it really put into perspective just how lucky we are.

A lot of people were taking photos in The Killing Fields site and the museum, but we thought that this didn't really feel like the right thing to do, so no photos of this particular day trip I'm afraid... So here's a picture from Phnom Pehn instead...

And of the cool bar we found, it was once a grand mansion, that was prior to the Khmer Rouge.

The next day we took a short three hour bus journey to Kampot. A small, quiet and pretty town famed for its pepper production.

Riverside town with a French influence

We stayed in a really relaxing resort along the river, a short tuk tuk ride from town.

The view from the lounge-like bar

Our home for four nights 

While here we discovered a cafe with great food and for a great cause. It was set up to support deaf and disabled local Cambodians.

Their ethos painted on the wall

After a few days lounging around drinking beer and swimming in the river we decided we should probably get out and see some of the sights, so we booked a tuk tuk tour of the surrounding area.

The tour was, lets just say a bit of a whistle stop tour but all the same we got to see a but more of rural Cambodia. Our stop offs included a very wet salt field, a bat cave, small fishing village and the pepper plantation....

Fishing village

Into the bat cave...

Pepper plantation 

Dried pepper ready for sale

While in Kampot we found two great cafes, so mostly we just split our time between relaxing in front of the river and enjoying great coffee and food!

After four nights in Kampot, we took a short journey half an hour east to the small town of Kep, famous for its crabs! 

Kep used to be a boutique seaside resort until the Khmer Rouge moved everyone out and looters saw that everything else was taken. It is steadily climbing to it's feet again and has a great community spirit... On the Sunday when we arrived all the locals and visitors from Phnom Penh were sat in hammocks having family picnics of noodles and fried fish.

The weeks highlights: 

Best view:

This week has been all about relaxing and so the view which we've spent many a night watching the river go by is this one...

Samon Village, on Kampot river

Lesson learnt: 

Try and have a wet weather contingency in the rainy season... 

Love Monday Funday: There is a small island half an hour from Kep known as Rabbit Island. Having been inland for a couple of weeks we decided that it would be nice to spend some time at the beach, so a day trip to Rabbit Island sounded great... However it being in the middle of rainy season, the weather can be a little unpredictable so our ideal day of sunning ourselves on a secluded island didn't quite go to plan....lets just say we didn't need to venture into the sea to get wet! 

The fishing port

The beach

Still it was a pretty island and we spent most of the day eating noodle soup and chatting to travellers and locals so all was not lost! The boat journeys were also hilarious, seriously choppy water, boatmen steering in pants, jump starting the engine and a most ungraceful boat embarkment! 

One of the boatmen, pants on trousers very much off

Colin has been enjoying a rest-bite from the sun...

Number of hours on a bus: 3.5

Number of hours on a tuk-tuk: 2-3

Hope you all have a great week,

Rach and Lisa xx

Happy Monday - Bangkok, Thailand to Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Morning everyone,

So, after we touched down in Bangkok last Monday we spent the first few days readjusting to the heat. We wandered Bangkoks' streets soaking up the sounds, smells and sun! 

Riverside views

Royal palace and emerald budda

Alleyway we were staying on

After a few days though we were on the move again, back to the airport as the next stop was Siem Reap, Cambodia. As soon as we landed and hopped in the tuk tuk we felt a completely different pace. Even though Siem Reap is quite touristy everyone seems to move a bit slower, so we instantly fell in love with the place. 

The view from our first tuk tuk

One of the main streets in Siem Reap

We spent our first full day wandering around the markets and the back streets...

The south east Asia part of the trip was one that we were really looking forward to, if Central and South America were all about sun, Mayan ruins and getting to grips with Spanish and NZ and Oz were all about reconnecting with friends and family then Asia is definitely all about the smells, colour and most importantly the FOOD! We've only been here a week and already we've experienced some of the freshest and tastiest dishes we've ever had....

Street food in Bangkok

Noodles in The New Leaf Book Cafe, Siem Reap

Khmer Kitchen, Siem Reap

One of the things that Siem Reap is famed for is the nearby Angkor Wat and it's surrounding temples, so on our last day we got up super early (3.30am) to get to the site for sunrise....

Amazing sunrise!

We spent the next few hours being driven around by tuk tuk visiting the surrounding temples...

Swatting up on the history

Elephant terrace

Ko Phrom- trees intertwined with temple

The next day we travelled 7 hours on a bus to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. A much bigger city with lots to see and do, but you'll hear all about that next week!

The weeks highlights:

Best view: The sunrise was our best view this week, the colours were just amazing!

Best food: The food IS the highlight so far, so many great dishes!! But, maybe our love Monday dishes were the best... Even if we say so ourselves!! 

Love Monday Funday: Given that we love the food so much, we decided to enroll on a Cambodian cooking course. Such a great morning! We started off at the local market collecting all of our ingredients before learning how to make, vegetable spring rolls, sweet and sour sauce and fish amok, just a few pics........ 

Local market

Fish amok ready to steam in banana leaves!

Such a great day, met some lovely people and learnt some new cookery skills- perfect, couple of beers and then off to see some of the local sights.

Number of hours on a bus: 7

Number of hours on a plane: 1

Number of tuk tuk rides: 5

Have a great Monday...  Hope it's a fab one!

Love Lisa and Rach xx

Happy Monday - Tauranga, New Zealand to Bangkok, Thailand

Evening chaps!

Apologies for the delay, but we were having so much fun last week that we let our blog entry fall by the wayside, so this week is a double whammy!

After we said goodbye to Rachel's family in Tauranga we carried on our campervan adventure in New Zealand. Next stop after nearly a whole day in the van, was Whangerei for a brief night before making our way to Paihia, a breezy little town where we had great fish and chips and and a few drinks in an open bar over looking the ocean...

Wine with a view

Next stop was a couple of hours east to Whangaruru where we found a secluded and totally empty campsite right next to the sea, perfect! And this little spot became even more perfect, when that night down on the beach over a bottle of wine and some ferrero rocher Rachel popped a certain little question...!!!! 

At the campsite

We had the beach to ourselves, apart from a sheep...

As we were coming to the end of our time in the van, we had one last stop at Martins Bay near a cute little town called Matakana, after a recommendation from one of the campsite owners. We had a fair few great coffees and homemade cakes there... 

Beautiful apple cake... Also had a rhubarb and custard brioche there!

Then it was time to say goodbye to the van and to New Zealand and head off to Sydney.

While in Sydney we did all of the typically touristy things, the opera house, the bridge and a visit over the water to Manly but it was also a great chance for us to catch up with some fellow travellers. Dan, who we had met while in Panama and Ciara a uni friend of Rachel's who had been on her own little adventure. 

Opera House by day

Celebrating our engagement with a glass of bubbles in Manly wine bar!

After a few short days in the capital we were back on a plane, this time to Melbourne. This was a part of the trip that we were both really excited about as Rachel's friend Natalie had moved here a year ago so it was great to be reunited after so long. It was so so nice to spend four days staying with Natalie and Ryan in their apartment and finally have some home comforts! 

First night in Melbourne with Natalie

On our first full day Natalie had to work, so we did....nothing. We literally managed to go for coffee and pick up some bits at a supermarket for dinner but other than that we made full use of the fact that we were staying in a 'home' and just spent the day recharging our batteries (and watching midsummer murders!)

The next day though Natalie had the day off work so she took us down to Brighton beach where we went for a long walk on the beach in the sunshine before stopping off for lunch and prosecco!!

Brighton beach huts

Us lovely three 

We finished off the day with a night out in Melbourne and catching up with another Rachel... A girl Rachel had met on Karen's hen do... Another girl who managed to escape The UKs weather... Many a cocktail and bubbles were drunk that night!

End of the night photo booth pictures

On our last full day in Melbourne we walked into the city through the Botanical Gardens, and what a cool city it is! We had fun exploring the street art lanes....

All in all NZ and Oz were a great change of pace for us, time to take things a bit slower, catch up with friends and family and prepare ourselves for the next, and final leg of our trip.....on Monday we flew into Bangkok an instant change of pace! The city is buzzing with flavour, colour noise and heat!! So far we've seen a few sights and eaten amazing and incredibly cheap noodles... We fly to Cambodia on Thursday, but you'll hear all about that next week!

The weeks highlights:

Best view: The Bay of Islands was beautiful, definitely somewhere we'd liked to have spent more time. We came across Bland Bay whilst driving our van ... So beautiful!

Gorgeous green islands popping out of the sea

The opera house was amazing by night from our slightly tipsy ferry back from Manly too...

Best food: Where do we start....on our first night in Melbourne Natalie and Ryan took us to a great Moroccan restaurant, amazing tender meat, crunchy colourful salads and of course a glass or two of wine!

After our walk on Brighton beach we had some great platters, made even better by the sunshine and prosecco!

Lesson Learned: ALWAYS check your visa/entry requirements when travelling to new countries! Who knew that as a British citizen you needed a visa to get into Australia, even if its just for a holiday, we didnt!!! Luckily we bought one at the airport. We almost landed ourselves in hot water too getting into Thailand, but luckily we checked this one out a few days before we flew, so disaster averted!!

Number of hours on a plane: 17

Number of hours on a bus: 4 (very much favoured walking in Sydney and Melbourne

Number of drinks had with friends and family: too many to count!! It was great!

Number of shiny new rings: 2 - Rachel bought two as she didn't want to miss out on a ring! :-)

Love Monday Funday:

We spent the most recent Monday on a plane to Bangkok and so not all so fun, however the previous Monday we spent celebrating our engagement. We decided to make our way over to Manly, where we went for a walk along the beach, ate some great Thai food and drank probably too much prosecco at Manlys cool wine bar! 

Have a great week everyone,

Love Lisa and Rach xx