Vientiane. March 27 - April 2, 2014

Thursday, March 27th

A long drive today, but rewarded with Vientiane (the Capital of Laos). Found a delightful hotel on the edge of town. In the early evening we went exploring for a) the Land Rover dealer and b) the Belgium pub. We found both. Tomorrow we will try and get Sterlin serviced, which is much needed. I am afraid to see the state of the air filter. The Belgian pub was nice. Caroline was extremely thrilled with her Americain Préparé and Chimay Blue. I stuck with Hoegaarden.

Caroline sharing a drink with Kuifje

The high temperature in Vientiane today was 39°C or 102°F, but in the early evening the temperature dropped significantly (maybe 34°C) and we had a lovely stroll along the embankment of the Mekong. We thinks we are going to like this town.

Friday, March 28th

Today we had things to do, so we were up early. We found the local Land Rover Dealership and in turn found the local Land Rover Service Center. Fortunately they were not too busy and we were able to get Sterlin serviced on the spot. And a few little things taken care of, more details can be found in the Sterlin blog. The best news, no major issues found with Sterlin. We also headed to the Mongolian Embassy to just check that we do not need a visa to enter via land into Mongolia. The Consular official was very friendly, chatted about our trip and confirmed we were good to go under Mongolia's visa waiver program. Next up, and just down the road we headed to the Chinese Embassy to try and correct our 30 day China visa (should be 31 days). No real luck. here, but they did confirm that we can extend the visa once in China if needed.

So, all in all, a busy day. Maybe some sightseeing over the weekend.

Sterlin having his Oil changed.

We got a SMS alert from our bank a few days ago about a suspicious cash withdrawal. And as we were back in good internet coverage, we logged into our bank account only to discover that one of our ATM cards has been hacked. Someone had withdrawn money in Vietnam. A quick phonecall to the bank and our card was cancelled. In the 3 days the activity had occurred, quite a bit of money had leaked out of our account. Hopefully the $0 liability offered as part of our card does the trick.

Saturday, March 29th

A lazy day today. Stephen tried and succeeded in getting a hair cut. It is a little weird wandering around town in the middle of the day. The streets are completely empty. We assume that all sensible people hide indoors during the heat of the day. But once the sun starts to set, everyone emerges. I know this all makes sense, but it is very strange actually seeing it.

Over dinner we took a good look at our route through China. So much to see and so little time. Our future travel companions had done all the hard work to propose and establish the route. All we were trying to do was transfer the itinerary onto our map and cross reference each place with our guide books. It was actually harder than we thought. But by the end of the night and a few drinks later we felt like we had the route worked out. We are getting pretty excited about the overland trip through China.

Sunday, March 30th

Another lazy day. We thought we had to checkout of our hotel, as they were full. But at the last minute they had a cancellation, very nice. We got to stay another night. We also had great plans to do some tourist activities, but they never eventuated. The research on China continued throughout the day and we even started to look at a route through Mongolia. Spent time looking at other people's blogs and got all inspired.

In the late afternoon went for a walk down to the shores of the mighty Mekong River. Very pleasant indeed. It felt like we were only 100 meters or so from Thailand, but it was probably a little more. We enjoyed yet another lovely sunset over the Mekong. I think it could be easy to get trapped here in Vientiane.

Stephen chilling in the Mekong

Monday, March 31st

Coen and Marijke were passing through and joined us for a coffee. It had been almost 2 months since we saw them last. It was fun catching up and plotting our shared trip through China. Also exchanged information on how to keep dust out our cars.

After lunch we moved to a new hotel. Stephen went on a big walk in search of materials to dust-proof Sterlin while Caroline had her teeth cleaned ("French Style"). Stephen got to see the local markets and shops but failed to find any weather-strip type of material. Presumably sealing doors from the cold is not that important here in Vientiane. Caroline's cleaning was superficial to say the least.

Tuesday, April 1st

We headed 25 kms south east to the Buddha (Sculpture) Park. It was interesting and a little weird. But well worth the drive. As we drove back into Vientiane the thermometer hit 40°C and as soon as we got back we hit the air conditioned comfort of our hotel room. Stephen futzed with the car trying to dust proof the rear door, servicing our stove and other minor changes in Sterlin.

By 4pm we were getting cabin fever and headed out for a stroll around town and our goodbye meal and drink. Our replacement ATM has not turned up, but we decided it was time to continue the journey. We still have 2 weeks in Laos and still have quite a bit to see.

Buddha Sculpture Park.

High-tech dust proofing.

Wednesday, April 2nd

After six days in the relaxed capital of Laos it was time to move on. It was also time to fire up the fridge which had been turned it off during our stay in Vientiane. Unfortunately it did not fire up, but instead blew a fuse. Both the fuse and fuse holder were fried. So between the scrambled eggs and the pot of tea, an emergency repair was completed. The fridge now has a new 12v adaptor and fuse.

After breakfast we checked to see if our replacement ATM card had arrived, it hadn't. So, that was our cue to head North. We bid farewell to the Mighty Mekong. 

Kong Lor Cave. March 26, 2014

Wednesday, March 26th

We drove north along Mekong and after 100 kms or so turned right at Road No. 8 and started to wind through the mountains. This was such a pretty drive and we both enjoyed the mountain scenery. The last 40 kms were particularly scenic.

It was around lunchtime when we arrived and we planned to explore the cave in the afternoon. So we had a little time to find a place to stay first. The first place we stopped at had a sign up saying they were full. But we soon found someone who invited us in, showed us a room and invited us to stay. It was a little weird, as the lady did not speak english, and we could not work out how much the room would cost. And the "We are Full" sign freaked us out a little.

The Kong Lor Cave was truly amazing. It is 7.5 kms long cave with a underground river running through it and is navigated by small long-tail boat. We and our two boatmen spent several hours navigating the dark waters and just soaking it all up. This was one of those experiences we are not likely to forget. In the caves we had to negotiate the occasional rapid, which was a little exciting and a little wet. By the time we finished the tour, Caroline was ready to sign-up for another go. But instead we headed back to our hotel and started the search for dinner. The village near the cave really is a "village'. There are home-stays and a very nice riverside cafe/restaurant ('Enjoy Boy Guesthouse') where they served us a fine meal and cold BeerLao.

We nodded off to sleep still not knowing how much the bed was going to cost us.

7.5kms long-boat trip in a pitch dark cave.

At 'Enjoy Boy' overlooking the river.

Walking to our guesthouse through the tobacco fields.

Thursday, March 27th

During the night the internet started to work. Yihaaaa! Also during the night some marketing company in America thought it was a good idea to ring us. And to cap it off a local bird sat outside our door and sang a beautiful yet ill-timed bird song, every hour or so. This was also our last night of taking Malarone (aka Atovaquone/proguanil) which is a medication used in prevention of malaria. One of the side effects is vivid dreams. We have both have been experiencing or the last month.

On checkout we discovered the room for the night was 60,000 Kip, or USD $7.50. What was I worried about?

Thakhek. March 24-25, 2014

Monday, March 24th

The roads in Laos are getting better and faster as we head North. Less potholes, less cattle wandering around aimlessly and less villages on the main highway. This is a good thing, as today was a driving day.

We got to Thakhek for a late lunch to discover it is a smaller version of Savannakhet. Our first choice of hotel was fully booked! Now that hadn't happened in a while. So onto the second best thing, The Riveria Hotel, which as it turned out, was probably the flashiest hotel in town.

During our late afternoon stroll around town we watched the sun set in magnificent fashion over the Mekong river. Then we ate and drank.

Tuesday, March 25th

Today was Cave day. We got up early to check out the local caves. The mountains to the east are very beautiful and very similar to the limestone karsts and mountains we saw near Ipoh, Malaysia, and Phang Nga in Thailand. But these are better. We got a sketch map of the area noting where the caves were, as they were not on our GPS map. Turns out that the New Zealand tourist office had been very busy putting up tourist signs everywhere, so we ended up just following those. The caves we visited were Tham Xang (Elephant Cave), Buddha Cave, Xieng Lieb Cave, Tha Falang Lake, Tham Pha Inh Cave and Tham Nang Aen Cave. They were all a little different and special in there own way. And the entire area is just magnificent, a little like Avatar.

After the day spent day driving around and visiting these caves we had to decide if we continue east for the next 2 days along the dusty and bumpy back-road system known by tourists as "The Loop" or if we head back to Thakhek to the luxury of town, hotels and bars. We headed back.

Our first choice hotel was available this time: Inthira Thakhek.

Someone went to a lot of effort building stairs and balustrades in this cave.

Savannakhet. March 23-24, 2014

Sunday, March 23rd

A wonderful night's sleep on the Bolaven Plateau, and the first time in a long time we did not hear the humming of an air conditioning unit. Bliss. 

A big day's drive as we planned to go to Savannakhet some 280 kms away. Although the Laos roads are very good - in comparison to National Highway 6 in Cambodia - they are remarkably slow. There are slow trucks, solid white lines on bends which means no overtaking, the constant threat of police hiding in the bushes, a continual stream of villages and posted speed limits which are ridiculously slow. The average speed is probably 60 km/h.

The drive off the plateau was very nice. We had a choice of roads and were lucky enough to choose the unsealed back road. It was bumpy as hell but a lot of fun. More dust collected on Sterlin. And we got to see rural Laos life which was also nice.&

Once we got to Savannakhet, our initial impression was not great. But the place quickly grew on us. We visited the Mekong and grazed across the water over to Thailand. A month or 2 ago we were on the other side of the river, in Mukdahan, at a lovely coffee shop where we met a Swiss/Thai couple over lunch.

We checked into the Phonepaseud Hotel.

For dinner we found Lin's Cafe were we had a delicious meal.

Monday, March 24th.

After a breakfast at our hotel we returned to Lin's Cafe for lattes. It is sad how in 'coffee country' hotels manage to serve some undrinkable brew they try to pass as coffee...
Upstairs from the cafe there was an informative exhibition on Savannakhet's Historic District. We picked up a leaflet with a self guided walking tour of the district full of old French Colonial style buildings, in different states of (dis)repair, with some beautifully renovated.

Bolaven Plateau. March 22, 2014

Saturday, March 22

We headed east to the hills, where there are waterfalls and they grow coffee, and, just as importantly, being 1,000 meters higher it is 10 degrees cooler. And indeed, as we headed up, the thermometer headed down.

It was not long before we were at the first waterfall, and a very nice one it was. And right there at the waterfall was a hotel so we decided to checkin. Unfortunately the check in process turned into an ever increasing spiral of issues. The manager was incredibly unfriendly and towards the end threatening and that was that. We left.

Tad Fane waterfall.

The very good news: another 40 kms down the road was a truly awesome hotel, where we felt extremely welcome. The 'Sinouk Coffee Resort' is part of a coffee Plantation, so of course we had a lot of coffee while we were there. The grounds were lovely and we spent the afternoon enjoying them, reading and talking to other guests and patrons.

Sinouk Coffee Resort grounds - no pun intended.

Later that night we enjoyed a wonderful view of the night sky and had a crystal clear view of the stars. So nice to be away from the constant haze of the plains.

Pakse. March 20-21, 2014.

Thursday, March 20th

The road to Pakse was good. Well, apart from cows regularly and aimlessly crossing the road. We suspect this will be a common occurrence here in Southern Laos.

Pakse has good coffee and it was not long before we found some, along with lunch. Pakse also has a supermarket of sorts. Lots and lots of aisles of tinned and long shelf life goods, and not a single fridge, freezer or fresh fruit, meat or fish stand. But since we haven't seen a supermarket for while, it was quite exciting.

We checked into our hotel (Pakse Hotel) to escape the heat. We did get out for a little walk around town and managed to pick up a Laos flag for Sterlin. Dinner was in the roof top bar where we watched the sun set.

Images in the neighborhood around our Hotel (1)

Images in the neighborhood around our Hotel (2)

Friday, March 21st

We decided to stay another night in this fine town. Today we had some chores to complete and a UNESCO World Heritage Site to visit.

It is not clear if car insurance is compulsory in Laos or not. But we figured, probably best to get some. There was no one selling car insurance at the Cambodian border, so we looked into getting us some here in Pakse. The Tourist Information Office pointed us in the right direction. We found a little office happy to sell us insurance for a very reasonable USD $27 for one month.

After that little exercice we turned around to head towards the temple ruins of Vat Phu. We had got about 400 meters away from the insurance office heading down the road, albeit on the wrong side of the road due to some major road construction. After the construction we failed to correctly move back to the correct side. Then we made things worse by illegally turning left at the lights even thou we didn't actually have green signal. Surprise surprise, we were pulled over by the police. In broken English it was made clear to us that we were on the wrong side of the road and this was a major problem. The Police weren't buying my story that the correct side of the road was under major construction and as a result caused us to be in the wrong place. But to be fair, I had just broken two road rules. After a short discussion I was advised that the problem would go away for a mere 50,000 kip (USD $6). Ok, I paid the bribe. I said I never would, but pragmatics took over in my confused state. Grrrrrrrrrrrr. (*)

(*) I (Caroline) would like to reiterate that we were actually on the wrong side of the road, so 'bribe' might be a bit strong...we could've ended up with a much heftier fine.

Vat Phu Champasak is 40 kms south of Pakse and is the most significant Khmer style temple in Laos. The road there was very good. So good that there was a toll. However, we drove at a modest speed to avoid more police fines and aimlessly wandering cows. Here's the Wikipedia link to Vat Phu.

The temple was very nice. The site dates back to the 5th century AD, but now all the buildings and temples are from around the Angkor Wat period. So the site was very familiar for us and we had a nice visit. This was probably our last Khmer style temple for this trip.

Back at the hotel we were entertained with rain and an electrical storm. Which also meant no live and loud music from the roof top bar, so a quiet night.

Looking down on the causeway to the Temple

Vat Phu Champasak Temple

And the scared water

Muang Khong. March 19-20, 2014.

Wednesday, March 19.

On arrival in Muang Khong we headed straight for the Senesothxuen Hotel recommended by other travelers and we were not disappointed. After relaxing a bit and a bath (yes, a bath; for the first time in a while we had a nice tub with a plug no less) we went for a walk along the sleepy waterfront into the heart of the quaint, sleepy village, a whopping 100 meters away. The town is also 100 meters long. Absolutely delightful little place right on the Mekong River. We love it so much that we are considering staying an extra night. We sat down for a drink on a terrace overlooking the river and moved to another terrace overlooking the river for dinner. We can't get enough of the Mekong.

USD1.25 for a big bottle of beer. Heaven!
And the view over the Mekong isn't bad either.

Muang Khong Centre Ville.

Thursday, March 20.

In the end we didn't stay the extra day and decided to head for Pakse, but not before a tour of Don Khong Island. We left Muang Khong in the opposite direction that we arrived in and drove the 40-ish kms circumference road around the island until we got to the ferry again.

Goodbye Cambodia, Hello Laos! March 19, 2014.

About 40 minutes after the sun we got up as well.
We enjoyed breakfast at Ponika's Place again, after which we went back to our hotel to check out and headed towards the Cambodia-Laos border.

The road to the border crossing hugs the border: the road and left of it
is Cambodia; somewhere in the trees to the right runs the border with Laos.
Tell-tale of de-forestation in one country?

Just before heading to the border we took the turn-off to a river ramp where we rented a small, narrow boat to go in search of the rare and endangered Irrawaddy Dolphin on the Mekong River. The boat trip on the river was pleasant but we did not meet any dolphins. There are only about 85 of them left.... and it looks like they are about to be extinct. Which will be a sad day for Mother Earth.

We technically crossed the Cambodian and Laos border during this boat trip, as the dolphin viewing spot is in Laos. Of course there was no border control formalities as we planned to come back. But as we were on the Mekong during the crossing, we claim to have been at the lowest point in Laos at moment in time. Laos is a land locked country and it's low point is about 50 meters above sea level, depending on the height of the Mekong which obviously varies. 

On the Mekong River.

Guess which vessel was ours... yep... the small one.

The border crossing was a breeze, the easiest and quickest to date. Click for details on exiting Cambodia and entering Laos.

Shortly after entering Laos we spotted a sign towards Khone Phapeng Waterfalls, so we decided to take the detour to have a look-see. And what an amazing site it was! Volume wise it is the largest cascade in South-East Asia, according to the sign. And I had my first decent cup of coffee since Phnom Penh!
We then continued to Muang Khong, our destination for the day.

Khone Phapeng Falls.

The ferry to Muang Khong.

Sterlin didn't hesitate once and drove straight on it.
One would think he actually enjoyed it!

Stung Treng. March 17-18, 2014

Monday, March 17th

Guitar Milk Garden Cafe.

The hotel selection here was very limited, so that made it easy to find the best hotel in town, Gold River Hotel. Tripadvisor recommended a cafe located on the outskirts of town, and that is where we had lunch. A very cool garden cafe/pub/restaurant 'Guitar Milk', lovely spot to unwind. Pity they started to play corny old music followed by rap music, no doubt to 'please' us Westerners, but not too sure why they would think two older people like us would enjoy that...



Just relaxed in the afternoon before taking dinner in town. The town is not the prettiest thing around, as is often the case for these border towns. So we were very pleasantly surprised to find 'Ponika's Place' which serves very decent food in a clean and welcoming environment. The Khmer 'amok with fish' was probably the best local meal I've had in Cambodia; Stephen loved the 'green curry with chicken'. During our 2 days in Stung Treng we had all our meals here (breakfasts, lunch and dinners), except the one lunch at Guitar Milk.
We purchased some Laos Kip (currency) from a traveller who had just come south and was forced to exchange a large US note into Kip, which he was now trying to off-load. Needless to say we got a pretty good exchange rate and will have Kip when we cross the border in a few days. So, all good.

Tuesday, March 18th

Last full day in Cambodia. We got a bit of a late start but had a good day. First up we headed to Mekong Blue Women's Development Center where they grow silk worms, extract and spin the silk, wash and dye the silk and then hand weave the silk into items for sale. All very impressive really. More importantly the project has been set up to help 'vulnerable' women by teaching them skills so they may be able to provide for themselves and their children. Alongside education the project also provides housing and medical care from the proceeds of the small shop (offering gorgeous handwoven silk products) and foreign donations. The project does not get assistance from the Cambodian Government. We picked up a very nice cushion cover for not a lot of money considering how it came to be.

28 day old silk worms ready to cocoon.

Cocoon produces silk on the outside (not so good stuff) and
the inside (good stuff)

Hand weaving on a wooden loom.

After a late lunch, and as the heat of the sun was starting to fade, we took the ferry across the Mekong to visit a 7th century pre-Angkorian Khmer ruin. It was nice to stretch the legs, something we haven't done much of late. We had to ask several locals (with sign language) how to find the the temple, but it was not long before we stumbled upon it. A small but nice temple ruin. And much older than most of the temples we had seen in Cambodia. It seemed fitting to visit just one more before we left the country. As part of the process we sort-of got our own private self-guided village tour as we wandered around getting lost and talking to locals who didn't speak any English except "hello". It was fun. We returned via a very over-crowded ferry as the sun was setting over this massive river.

Prasat Preah Ko. 7th Century.

Our ferry, with cars, motorcycles and people.
No chickens.

Is that the Google Car with the camera thingy?
I do believe it is.

Magical sunsets.

Kratie to Stung Treng. March 15-17, 2014

Saturday, March 15th.

We had rain and thunderstorms overnight, which was a little exciting. We got a late start, but the plan for the day only called for 3 hours of driving. And the plan was right for once. The road was in excellent shape and we made good speed to Sen Monorom. The drive was very pleasant and it was very nice to see the forest and jungle again. The plains of central Cambodia are not nearly as pretty.

We soon checked into the number 1 rated hotel on trip advisor. Although this town appears to be on the move with lots of fancy new buildings and other construction, our hotel (Mondulkiri Hotel) was not. But it had adequate Internet (only in the lobby though, which unfortunately was constantly occupied by smoking guests) and the bed was not too hard. We did find a great cafe/bar/restaurant (Sovannkiri Guesthouse and Restaurant') where we had both lunch and dinner. The place is run by an Australian/Cambodian couple and seems to draw in many of the western tourists. The burger was awesome and we washed it down with a $13 bottle of Chilean wine. We talked briefly to the Aussie owner, and he confirmed the northern road is bumpy and dusty but doable. Always nice to get the local information. So game-on tomorrow.

Between lunch and dinner we managed to get to a
sunset viewing spot.

Sunday, March 16th.

We had breakfast at the same cafe where we had lunch and dinner the previous day. Over breakfast we met and chatted with 2 trail bikers, part of a group of 4, from Belgium. They were riding rented bikes and exploring Cambodia. Like us, they were taking the back road to Ban Lung. We left before them, but knew they would soon overtake us. At the 40 km mark they did.

With the 2 Belgians - I hope to get an email from them to confirm their
names; they told me but I didn't take note and forgot.

The 179 kms of the back road was under construction. But actually, it was in pretty good shape all considering. Having a high clearance 4WD helped, but it was passable in a regular car (would be a tad more challenging though). The road itself was fine, it was the temporary bypasses around the construction sites that were bumpy and dusty. In the end we completed the journey in around 5 hours.

After a little searching we found a clean and comfortable $15 hotel (Lakeside City Guest House) which was an upgrade from the previous night. During our early evening walk we stumbled upon the flash hotel in town: Terres Rouges Lodge. Although we were not going to change hotels, it did provide an excellent location to watch the red sun set over the lake and wash away the day's dust with a few drinks.

Monday, March 17th.

Before setting off we enjoyed breakfast at Terres Rouge.

It was a short drive to Stung Treng. We almost stayed an extra day in Ban Lung, but in the end decided to push on. Our exit date from Laos is set for April 17th (because of the fixed Chinese itinerary), and, as we will get a 30 day visa upon entry, the earliest we can enter Laos is March 19th. Therefore we had a few days to kill in Cambodia, and we were running a few days ahead of schedule anyway. We couldn't decide if Stung Treng or Ban Lung would be a better place to spend our 1 extra day.

The road was fast and completely pothole free so we arrived in Stung Treng just after lunch.

Kratie. March 13-14, 2014.

Thursday, March 13th.

After having picked up our Chinese visas, we headed off to Kratie, the long way around. Ok, we got lost, but only twice. I think our GPS got confused; actually our GPS got confused twice. Once it thought there was a bridge, when in fact there was none and the second time it could not find the route between where we were and where we wanted to go as it did not think that there was a road there when in fact there was a ferry. But we got there in the end.
Part of the problem was that our GPS kept wanting to route us via National Highway 6 out of Phnom Penh (no matter what we tried to deter it). Having come in on that road and knowing its dismal state, we wanted to avoid it at all cost.

So once our GPS and we were on the same page, and we got on the National Highway 1 out of the city, the road to our next stop, Kratie, was fine.
We arrived in town just after 4pm and by 5pm, after looking at a few accommodation options, we'd checked into to the one we liked.

Red Sun Falling

There's not much to Kratie. It's a sleepy town on the Mekong River - so yes, we were reunited with the river - but not much activity on it here. It's one of the places one might see the Irrawaddy Dolphin. We weren't that lucky. The heat (35-37 C) was not conducive to much activity. In fact, we spent most of the time in our hotel room (Santhepheap Hotel) where even the A/C had trouble keeping up. We found a nice place for food and, more importantly, a cold pitcher of beer just next to our hotel, so we were happy :)



Friday, March 14th.

Amazing how quickly one adjusts to 'sleepy hot town mode'. We slept in and then went in search for and found breakfast at the cafe of You Hong Guesthouse. And just when I thought I had the whole coffee ordering thing sorted out (and I mean in the small towns without the coffee shops) - 'coffee with milk no sugar' - I get coffee with sweetened milk....
Back to our airconditioned room to cool down. Some time later we ventured out for a walk and some lunch, but again the unrelenting heat had us back in the room after about 35mins. A good time to start plotting our high-level route in Laos.

Later that afternoon we went out for a another coffee.... When I saw coffee with 'sweetened or fresh' milk I thought 'yes'! Until I sipped it.... the milk was right, but don't ask what they did to the coffee but it was very sweet and just about the worst cup I've ever had. Better luck next time.

Dinner that night was at 'Le Bungalow', also on the riverside and not far from the hotel. Decent meal. Over dinner we decided to add a little detour to our trip. Instead of heading directly north to the next town before the Laos border, we decided to head east, then north and west. This adds 400 kms and about 8 hours driving to the trip, but means we will see some mountains and forest scenery. And it should be cooler (at least for one night). There are mixed reports about the road forming the northern leg of this detour. In the past this was apparently nothing more than a goat track which only the very ambitious motor bike rider would attempt. But now it is a fully fledged road, albeit still under construction.

Sunset on The Mekong River.

Phnom Penh. 7-13 March, 2014.

Friday, March 7th

The road to Phnom Penh.

What a long day. After we left the temple and regained National Highway No. 6 we had only 180 kms to go to Phnom Penh. We had heard the road was in bad shape, but we did not expect the journey to take 5 hours. There was construction almost the entire length, maybe the last 10 kms as we entered Phnom Pehn were finished.  It was a dusty and bumpy ride.

Once we found a hotel, the real drama started.  We couldn't get the rear door of Sterlin open. The dust from the last few days had somehow jammed the mechanism. This is a bit of a problem, as the shelving is designed to prevent the luggage from being stolen unless the rear door is open, so although we could access the car, we could not get to the luggage. I broke out the toolkit and started doing things, but it is very hard to access the back door to grease it if it is jammed shut and the "secure" shelving system is in the way. Anyway I started to dismantle the shelving system, knowing this would be a multi-hour job and would involve breaking or sawing through things to regain control of our luggage. About 30 minutes in, the door magically opened. I think the WD40 that I sprayed into the rear door seal had somehow worked itself into the locking mechanism and freed things up. Another 30 minutes later I had returned everything back to the correct place. I was very relieved.

Later that night we found a wonderful Japanese restaurant were the attentive staff could not do enough to please us. To be fair, we were the only people in this section of the restaurant. Our first choice of wine was not available so they offered Craggy Range Sauv Blanc as an alternative. Very nice food with a very nice bottle of wine to wash away the day's dust :)

Saturday, March 8th

After 8 days straight of visiting temples, today we rested. Our hotel has a very nice English Breakfast and Lattes. What a great way to start a day off. I (Stephen) did spend an hour or so giving the rear door of Sterlin a good old clean. There is a bit of a design flaw in Land Rovers and the inside of the rear door fills up with dust. I flushed the dust away with water and greased anything I could find. The rear door has never worked so well. Also made a failed attempt to do our 2013 taxes. I thought I could get everything I needed on-line. Apparently not. So sent out an emergency cry for help to our trusty administrator in America who is already ahead of us and has been keeping our tax documents to one side.

We did do a little wandering of the streets and found a very nice cafe/restaurant/bar/shop where we had a mighty fine burger with white wine (Caroline) and Sierra Nevada beer (Stephen). We have not really explored that much of Phnom Penh (yet), but what we have seen appears very cosmopolitan, very lively and the french colonial style buildings are very nice. We see about 30 Range Rovers an hour and even more high end Land Crusiers. Clearly there is some money in this town. There are also western style coffee shops so of course we got ourselves the type of latte that we are use to.

Otherwise we spent the day relaxing in the hotel a catching up on email and the news. The situation in Ukraine is not looking very good.


Sunday, March 9th

After breakfast we headed to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. A former school was used by the Khmer Rouge to house the notorious Security Prison 21 (S-21).  From 1975 through 1979 approximately 17,000 people passed through the prison, which can hold around 1,000 prisoners at one time. The prison was used to torture and obtain false confessions, which in turn enabled the Khmer Rouge to arrest and repeat the process with others. After being interrogated and held for a few months, the prisoners and typically family members were killed and buried locally or were taken to the Choeung Ek extermination center. The Genocide Museum provides a really good overview of what happened so recently here in Cambodia and is a grim reflection of the atrocities that occur during acts of genocide, wherever they occur. We were both moved and humbled by the visit.

In the afternoon we spent several hours just walking the streets and the banks of the Mekong River. Waking is a nice way to see a city. The only real challenge is crossing the street.

Inside one of the former classrooms at Tuol Sleng

Looking out.

Walking the streets of Phnom Penh

Monday, March 10th

This morning we headed to the Chinese Embassy to lodge our application for an entry visa. There were no lines and we had prepared our forms earlier, so the entire process took but a few minutes. We will be back on Thursday. Over coffee we worked out some logistics for our planned trip to the Sea of Okhotsk later in the year (August/September).

Sterlin got a much needed wash. Although around here cars do not stay clean for very long. Caroline went to do a little window shopping while Stephen worked on our taxes. Quite a few hours later the window shopping was complete and the taxes were filed. So, quite a successful morning and early afternoon. We celebrated with a walk around the neighborhood and a burger and drink. I so love that one can get Sierra Nevada here in Phnom Penh. During our walk we conducted a highly scientific survey of the number of Range Rovers. I am glad to report, that one is likely to spot around 100 Range Rovers every hour if you are just randomly wandering around. Which is in stark contrast with the obvious poverty lots of people live in.

Much needed wash

Tuesday, March 11th

We decided to spend two extra days here in Phnom Penh and skip Sihanoukville. It is a long day to drive there and another long day back, and we are enjoying Phnom Penh. We had planned to visit the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek on our way to Sihanoukville, and we did not change this plan. We headed out after breakfast into the worst traffic conditions so far in Cambodia. The 12 km from our hotel took well over an hour to complete.

Choeung Ek is one of the most visited 'Killing Fields' in Cambodia. In total more than 20,000 mass grave sites were found in the country. It is estimated that 1.7 to 2.5 million people died (including of disease and starvation) at the hands of the brutal Khmar Rouge regime between 1975 and 1979.
There is a memorial at the site. The audio tour of the site provides an amazing history of this site and what terrible acts happened in the late seventies. Close to ten thousand people were killed in this tiny site. Quite horrific. The memorial displays around 5,000 skulls of victims recovered from the graves.

We took the back streets back to Phnom Pehn. Only had to backtrack once due to a low bridge which we couldn't get under. There is a lot of poverty in the backstreets.

Stupa. Memorial to the victims of Choeung Ek and
other Killing Fields 

Ribbons left at the site of a mass grave.

Skulls on display in the Stupa.

Wednesday, March 12th

Today we planned to see the Royal Palace. After a late breakfast we jumped in a Tuk Tuk and headed for the Royal Palace getting there at 10:30am. Well, they had already closed for the morning, darn. On the walk back to the hotel we found the shopping street selling all things silk, and picked up a few nice things. After lunch we attempted the Royal Palace, and this time was successful. Unfortunately there is not a lot going on in the Royal Palace, and within an hour we were back on the streets. Maybe we should have gone to the National Museum.

We raided various cash machines around our hotel to restock our US dollar pile. In the process got some US$100 bills that I have never seen before. They look pretty high-tech, so assume that they are legit. Dinner at Ocean Restaurant. There was a little confusion between Spaghetti Bolognese and Spaghetti Vongole, but ended up with the correct dish in the end. Tonight was our last night in this wonderful town and definitively our favourite town in Cambodia.


Thursday, March 13th

First things first. We headed to the Chinese Embassy to pickup our China Visas. Tick. It is only 33 days until we enter China.
And then it was time to say goodbye to Phnom Penh. We liked this city a lot and hope to be back sometime.