Erin and Justin

The all day boat trip from Siem Reap to Battambang was extraordinary, with kids running to the rivers edge to scream out "hello" to us in tiny voices.

SEE PHOTOS OF THE BOATRIDE AT http://web.mac.com/erinfearn/iWeb/SE%20Asia/Boat%20to%20Battambang.html

SEE PHOTOS OF BATTAMBANG AT http://web.mac.com/erinfearn/iWeb/SE%20Asia/Battambang.html

We made lots of friends in Battambang! We met Graeme from England (who gave us his email so that we could get in touch when we get there!), and Steve and Jess from USA, who gave us a load of Lao destination inspiration, and we met moto drivers Chin-Chin, Tin-Tin, Kris and Jay.

Our drivers first took us, through back and rural roads, to a nearby hill where there was a rural community living, and a beautiful walk, and monkeys running around, and other animals being kept.

The walk up the hill from the village was just beautiful.

And above this community, at the end of the beautiful walk up the hill, were the Killing Caves.

Here Tin-Tin gave us a comprehensive overview of the political history of Cambodia, and gave us his own history within that context. He explained the formation of various parties, political relationships with other nations, between the Government and the King. He also explained that the history is not written, as all of the educated people were killed under Pol Pot. Tin-Tin has studied from many sources – books, accounts written by foreigners, and personal stories from many people, including Khmer Rouge soldiers – to get as much of the picture as he can.

He showed us the killing caves, and the human remains still stored within them. And he described how the cave looked, as he had seen it with his own eyes, right after Pol Pot’s reign ended. We all had trouble stomaching the story, and it really gave us a new understanding of just how much suffering this country has seen.

And yet the People of Cambodia are smiling and very, very friendly.

Next our drivers took us to a nearby 9th Century temple where we met Ing, Mohm, and David - three kids that lived at the bottom of the hill. They taught us that Mai ohm bau means butterfly

On our way to the Bamboo Train, it began to rain heavily and we saw a group of enthusiastic people from a small rural village scrambling around on the road. The road was a little flooded, and they were FISHING!! They were catching tiny fish that ended up on the road with nets and plastic containers and with their hands. Jason and Justin helped, and the people there let them, though laughed at them – they weren’t very skilled. ☺

We rode the Bamboo train – the 4 of us, the 4 moto drivers, the 4 motorbikes and the Bamboo train driver and 2 kids – almost right back to town.

When we got back to our guest house, we asked our new friends to join us for dinner. They took us out to a pub that does not target tourists – and for the eight of us to eat dinner, with so much food served that we couldn’t finish it, and for all of us to have a couple of beers – the final bill of $26 made it a very cheap shout!

SEE PHOTOS AT http://web.mac.com/erinfearn/iWeb/SE%20Asia/Siem%20Reap%20-%20War%20Museum.html

The man who worked at the War Musem had set off 6 land mines, had been shot 3 times with an AK47 and he had shrapnel – a ball bearing and 3 nails still under his skin. He was blind in one eye, and he expected to be blind in the other within months, following an unsuccessful operation.

When he is blind, he will no longer be able to work.

Both of his parents and his brother were killed under the Khmer Rouge, his sister was killed by a land mine. His wife was killed by a land mine – 1 year and 11 weeks ago. He became anxious about the volume of his words when he became passionate and bitter and angry with the Government.

When we had money out for the donation box, he told us that the donations placed in the box went to his boss and did not help the victims.

Next we were taken to the killing field nearby. There was a large structure with glass windows, containing bones of people killed there.

SEE PHOTOS AT http://web.mac.com/erinfearn/iWeb/SE%20Asia/Siem%20Reap%20-%20Angkor%20Temples.html

Angkor Wat at sunrise. It was just too awesome to really comprehend (or maybe it was too early!?) but by the time we reached Bayon and the terraces by it, we had begun to connect with the magical place that that we found ourselves in.

“You buy – one dollar” (“yooo baa-ii – wohn dahl-lor”) began at about 7am, with tiny business men and women – young children selling postcards and bracelets and flutes and scarves and books – persistently following us around the ancient site. “Te, aw kuhn” (“No, thank you”) we would say, and then they would say “I don’t understand this word ‘Te’” And then we would say “no” and they would ask why not – “Wa-aii noh?” – and we would say we don’t want it. And they would repeat “you buy – one dollar” and so it would go on. Gotta give them credit for their commitment to the sale.

Local kids without anything to sell would be friendly, and tell us some bits and pieces about the community and culture, and then ask us for money.

I bought some postcards from a little girl called Ren. She gave me a thankyou note with a picture of a flower drawn on it.

Banteay Srei (the “pink temple”) about 40km out of Siem Reap - about 2 hours on a tuk-tuk. Here we met a policeman who was studying history to be a tourguide. He gave us a tour for $2.50, then offered to sell us his badge – his police badge – as a souvenir..! And the drive was amazing

SEE PHOTOS AT http://web.mac.com/erinfearn/iWeb/SE%20Asia/Siem%20Reap%20-%20Rural.html

SEE PHOTOS AT http://web.mac.com/erinfearn/iWeb/SE%20Asia/Bangkok%20to%20Siem%20Reap.html

We read the Lonely Planet guide a day too late.

We were picked up at 7am. Our “coach” was a mini-bus. No, a van. It did not have a toilet, it did not have any movies and it was not spacious. The driver wasn’t even very friendly.

We were taken through roads that were flooded after a night of rain, out of Bangkok. When we were almost at the Cambodian border, at Aranyaprathet (where we would have caught the train to, had we not been so lucky as to arrange the expensive coach ride) we stopped at a beautiful restaurant we where we could get visas in one hour, had we not already arranged ours over a 24-hour period. It was a beautiful and tranquil spot, with chickens, fish pond and a wooden playground.

We arrived at the border around 12:30 or 1pm. Here we got off the bus, we carried our bags about a kilometre in the pouring rain, trying to keep our torn raincoats covering our pockets (so as to reduce our chances of being targeted by a pick-pocket), and trying to walk faster than the children who were begging for our money, and trying not to fall over opium addicts that were scattered on the ground.

We crossed the border and we were advised that we could not use any currency but Cambodian Riel in Cambodia. So we paid, in Thai Baht, to get moto rides to the casino (on the Cambodian side of the Border) where we could withdraw money, given in Thai Baht but charged in US dollars, then go to the currency exchange and pay a fee there for the Baht to be changed into Riel…

We spent about an hour, in the most dodgy and dangerous feeling environment either of us had ever found ourselves in, before we were back on the road. Needless to say, until we actually were back on the road the camera stayed deep in the bag (which was worn under the raincoat). I wish we had some photos of that border crossing to show you, it was just outrageous.

THEN, our ride from the border to Siem Reap, was in another minibus – this one much, much older than the first, that leaked water, had poor suspension and was horribly overcrowded. Our anticipated 4-5 hour drive became an 8½ hour drive, along a road that was so bumpy and pot-holed that we both actually felt winded!

Finally we arrived in Siem Reap, exhausted, at the Driver’s own Guest House. Surprise! Luckily, thanks to Jason and Emma who we were meeting in Siem Reap, we had a room already booked at the Garden Village Guest House, so we did not give him our business.

We took a tuk-tuk to Garden Village. He told us it would cost $10 (US dollars – not Riel!) to get there, as it was 20 minutes out of town. He took us about 3 minutes away (which was just off the main road of the town – hardly 20 minutes away) to Green Village. We told him that we wanted GARDEN Village, not Green Village. He said he didn’t know it, and wanted to take us back to the first Guest House (which was his sponsor), but we insisted that he find it, and then we were lucky enough to see a sign!

After finally checking in, and after a $1.80 cocktail with Jay and Em (who had started to worry about us), we fell into bed, ready for a 5am start to get to see an Angkor Wat sunrise.

SEE PHOTOS AT http://web.mac.com/erinfearn/iWeb/SE%20Asia/Kanchanaburi.html

1. War memorial cemetery where hundreds of POWs were buried

2. War museum and Bridge over River Kwae


3. Waterfall

4. Lunch on the river

5. Tiger Temple

and there were lots of other animals at the temple…!

SEE PHOTOS AT http://web.mac.com/erinfearn/iWeb/SE%20Asia/Sydney%20to%20Bangkok.html

We had every intention of spending our first day just relaxing - avoiding stimulation, not going out, and nurturing ourselves in preparation for a great adventure.

As soon as we finished breakfast however, we decided to just have a bit of a look...

So our adventure begins in Bangkok, in Mo Chit (moor shit), where catch a train to Siam Square and meet a friendly tuk-tuk driver who gives us a “special discount” and charges us about 10x the usual rate to run us about the local neighbourhood.

First we were taken to the “Government Tourist Information,” where we spent an hour, and a fortune paying for Cambodian Visas, Coach tickets to Siem Reap (after being convinced that although the trip would be a little longer, and more expensive than the train and taxi we had anticipated, it would be far more convenient and comfortable with air conditioning, an on-board toilet and movies along the way), a booking at a different hotel for the following night (as we would have to wait in Bangkok an extra day because our Cambodian visas were going to take 24 hours and the coach to Siem Reap we were now booked on would not come all the way out to Mo Chit to collect us), and a day tour to Kanchanaburi (so that we would have something exciting planned for the extra day in Bangkok).

Next our friendly driver took us to a “cheap factory souvenirs” store where we could buy “suits and souvenirs”, despite our insistence that we would not buy anything - “please look – you like, you buy, you not like you not buy”

And then we went to see “Lucky Buddha,” where the solemn man inside the building that housed Buddha had some limited English language skills, which included “F*** off”, though he said that to someone who spoke neither English nor Thai.

After our driver explained that each time we went and looked around one of his sponsoring stores for about 10 minutes he would receive a litre of free fuel, we visited another couple.

And finally we were taken to the “Grand Palace”.

Thanks for an excellent send off, we'll miss you! xx

We are flying out on the 25th of September for a couple of years!

We have 2 months in SE Asia, on our way to the UK. We'll live and work in the UK, spending our pounds on weekends in Greece and Spain and Denmark and France and Germany...

We would like to see as many people as possible before the week is out, so please call us on 0415 580 337 (Erin) or 0433 662 713 (Justin) to meet up, or come along to any of these outings. We're staying in Redfern until the 24th (so feel free to come for a visit!) and staying in Bondi on the night of the 24th.

Our schedule:

Monday 18th
3pm: Hermans Bar Sydney Uni
6:30pm: Golden Barley, Edgeware Rd, Enmore

Wednesday 20th
6pm: Evening Star hotel, Elizabeth St Surry Hills

Thursday 21st
6pm: Courthouse, Australia St Newtown.

Saturday 23rd FAREWELL OUTING FOR ERIN AND JUSTIN AND JEMIMA!
7pm: Dinner at Green Gourmet, Nth end of King St Newtown
8:30pm: Leichhardt Hotel, Norton Street, Leichhardt.

Sunday 24th
All day in Toongabbie

Monday 25th
2pm: going to the airport - yesss!

I thought it would be nice, but really, it was amazing.

And almost everyone that they would have wanted there, was. Nana, all the aunts and uncles and cousins, and a few more from Australia. And all Nathan's family, and his workmates. His old boss was small, looked like he was wearing a toupe, and was outrageously drunk, hitting on women all over the place. Everyone else was pretty well behaved. And emotional.

Beth was beautiful, reserved and fun. And it was Beth who was supportive of everyone who was overcome with emotion - there were so many! I still get choked up when I recall Beth and Nathan making their vows, seeing Nathan's tears fall and Beth touch them away, or Dad's red, shiny eyes at the end of the ceremony. It made me so happy.

That was the most meaningful part of the day for me, watching Dad, and seeing him deliver his speech... my own tears fall as I type, it was just so incredible and touching.

But Beth seems a more comfortable person than I have known her to be. I am just so happy for her. Tears again. I love to see how Nathan adores her, and I love watching her melt into it.

Congratulations Beth and Nathan.
http://web.mac.com/erinfearn/iWeb/Beth%20and%20Nathan%27s%20Wedding/Congratulations.html

Jay and Em and the The Big Tree.

Peel Forest, near Geraldine

It was big