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Vietnam the third: Day 1, Transit Day
Who doesn’t like a 3am start? Me for one, but when the mobile starts beeping and calling out that wonderful catch phrase, “Smile, you’re travelling!” then it’s just a case of sucking up the entitlement and hauling my white arse out of bed. An added bonus was pissing the cat off by having the audacity to get up before she’d had a chance to get in my face about her breakfast. So it was last minute run around, make sure animals were sorted, recheck the notes for the house sitter, and drive to the airport. Being generally prepared and seasoned travellers, we aimed for 2 hours pre-flight and weren’t too…
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Vietnam the third, Day -1
And we’re back, just about ready for the next trip. This time it’s back to Vietnam, and a few days on the way back in that Disneyland with the death penalty, Singapore. Our first trip in a post-COVID world. The packing is almost done, just the few basic bits like electronics and toiletries to pack. Nothing fancy is needed on this trip, as it involved Hoi An so there will be many more clothes joining us there. It’s an early morning flight, so I doubt I’ll sleep much tonight, but L has done her magic on the bookings so it’s business class all the way to Hanoi. It goes without…
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Holiday in Cambodia: Days 8&9, Phnom Penh
Day 8/9: Phnom Penh I didn’t sleep well that night. (Writing this from over a week away, in the comfort of home, the other side of a head cold, so these ramblings may not have the same immediacy as previous entries.) I didn’t sleep well that night. I probably slept better for the late night drag show and $4 mojitos, but I know that what I saw and felt at S21 and the killing fields will stay with me for a very long time. My time in Cambodia was drawing to an end, only just over one more day in Phnom Penh before I’d be homeward bound. I still felt…
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Holiday in Cambodia: Day 7, Phnom Penh
Day 7: Phnom Penh I cried today. I get that there are those tourists that can go to a country that has previously borne witness to grand atrocity or extreme human obscenity, who then choose not to go to the worst sites because they can be hard going. I also kind of get those who go to these countries in a sense of mindless oblivion of history and then do their thing (which probably involves only eating at places that advertise a western menu or feature a king, clown, or colonel). I’m not one of these travellers. I feel that I have an obligation to go to these places, to…
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Holiday in Cambodia: Day 6, Battambang to Phnom Penh
For those following at home, this one should be a short entry. I’m now back in Noongar Boodjar, eating overpriced avocado on toast and sipping on an iced coffee with dairy products that have known actual refrigeration, and am playing catch-up. Went for Khmer noodle soup breakfast this morning, lots of noodles, some greens in a soup of turmeric, galangal, and other yummy flavours. At a couple of dollars, a good way to start the day. Battambang to Phnom Penh can be done in a number of ways, well, by road, but the vehicle choices are plenty. Cheapest are the big comfort coaches, these are also the slowest taking around…
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Holiday in Cambodia: Day 5, Battambang
So I have a list, which would come as no surprise to anyone, as every traveller has at least one list: things to always pack, things to avoid packing, 15 ways to be a tight-arse in an impoverished country, and so on. Mine is in response to the frequent question: where would you love to go to or go back to? Being honest, almost everywhere I’ve been to has left me feeling either that I had a really great time, or that I barely scratched the surface of somewhere unique and want to explore more, so I’d go back to almost everywhere I’ve been, if the opportunity arose. Almost. My…
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Holiday in Cambodia: Day 4, Siem Reap to Battambang
Today, for better and worse, was what travelling is all about. Real travel, the stuff the stories get told about, where not everything goes as expected but everything turns out okay in the end. The boat. There are two ways to get to Battambang from Siem Reap, either by road or by water. Most people travel by road: bus, taxi, scooter, whatever. It takes a few hours and if you pick right you get airconditioned comfort. By road is fast, and cheap. Otherwise there’s the boat. When you google boat Siem Reap Battambang you’re soon waist deep in travel blogs talking about how “interesting” the boat ride is, and how…
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Holiday in Cambodia Day 3: Siem Reap
I should have wrapped up my previous post with the affirmation that I am still a fortunate traveller. That I am one of a minority in the world who can earn both enough money and enough time to hop on a plane or two in order to be a Goldilocks. So there, me, take that. Today was aiming for a take it easy day, as the previous day I clocked over 35,000 steps. How hard would it be to just have a quiet meander around the museum, grab some food, and maybe a good foot massage? 23,000 steps later, I think I missed the point. The museum at Siem Reap…
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Holiday in Cambodia Day 2: Siem Reap, Angkor Wat
I am a fortunate traveller. In the past 3 months I have both watched the sun set over Manhattan, and the sun rise over Angkor Wat. I know that I’ve also worked hard to be able to afford both the time and money to travel, so some of my fortune is of my own doing, but I’m in a count my blessings kind of mood. (Not that I’m going to literally count all of my blessings, but we can just say that I’ve probably got more than most but less than some.) Angkor Wat, a huge, impressive temple structure, symbol of Cambodia, world heritage listed, and a monument to Vishnu.…
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Holiday in Cambodia Day 1: Siem Reap
If I only make about as many typos this time as I’ve had hours sleep today then I think I’m doing pretty good. Today has been a series of fitful, uncomfortable naps, followed by food, and repeat. I got about 2 hours on the flight PER > SIN, followed by not the best airline breakfast. The staff were looking after me, though, as the inflight entertainment wasn’t working for my seat, so they kept checking to see if they could do anything else for me. It meant I got breakfast along with the dietary groups that normally get fed first, so I probably missed an extra 30 minutes sleep there.…
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Holiday in Cambodia: Day 0
It’s that time again, for the second year in a row I find myself with some accrued work time I have to take and I’ve managed to scrape together the bucks for a cheap jaunt in South East Asia. Last year was Kuala Lumpur: cooking classes, rollercoasters, rooftop helipad bars. This time it’s the Heart of Darkness, the place where, as Jello Biafra noted in the late 1970s, “they get things done”. It’s a holiday in Cambodia. I don’t know much about Cambodia. I’ve read the news, followed the history, read the wikipedias. So all I know is that, when it comes to Cambodia, is that I know fuck all.…
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Days 18-20: Frankfurt, Badenheim, and surrounds
The last few days have been full of many cool things, and many hot things. For the hot stuff, well Europe is currently experiencing close to a record-breaking heatwave. The maximum temperatures started with a bearable 32, but today and possibly tomorrow are around 38-39 degrees. Add this to longer hours of daylight, and the temperature peaking around 5pm and the level of comfort less than optimal. And then comes the bonus, as this area is full of 200+ year old houses built to keep warm through snowy, sub-zero winters, and lack the high ceilings, fans and airconditioners that no Australian home would be without, and well, I’ve been sweating…
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Days 16-17, Krakow part 2
Krakow is a lovely town, and I think I’ll always be happy spending a couple of days here, just wandering the old town and surrounds, eating the food, drinking the vodka and beer. But after a couple of days, once I’ve figured out the maze of streets, it can start to get a little difficult to find ways to amuse myself between eats and drinks. So aside from it obviously being great to see L after her her few days in the UK, I enjoyed being with her as she discovered Krakow, seeing her fascination for the old streets and beautiful historic buildings, and as I’d only ever been to…
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Days 14-15: Krakow part 1, the search for the perfect pierogi
Thus begins the solo adventures of a not-so young man in search of the perfect pierogi. Or something like that. With L still in the UK hanging with her mum and great aunt, I’ve got a couple of days in Krakow. I’ve been here before, seen many of the sights, so I’m unlikely to regale you with tourist tales of all that Krakow offers. I’m writing this about half way through my second day here, and so far all I can say is that I’ve slept a lot, and walked a lot. I think that I might have a touch of jet lag, as my sleep patterns are a bit…
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Day 13: Frankfurt
I’ve hit that point where I think it’s day 13, but it just might not be. I’m not completely sure what day it is, but am pretty sure I spent most of it either getting to or wandering around Frankfurt. The flight in was good, premium economy on the Singapore airlines A380 is pretty comfy, the seats have an okay recline and a decent amount of space. First movie was South Korean, “Hit and Run Squad”, full of drama, some explosions, and lots of car chases. As the last two stops of this tour are Krakow and Frankfurt, I thought that possibly one of the most memed movies of the…
