Recently we had our first UK visitors arrive for a holiday, our good friends Pauline and Graham.
We spent most of the time showing them around where we live in Stung Treng and I think we all agreed we had a great, fantastic time without resorting to the usual tourist sights in other parts of Cambodia e.g. Siem Riep etc.
I met them at the airport where they arrived after one week in Thailand.
Kirsty, Graham and Pauline on cycling tour in Thailand (Kirsty returned to UK after Thailand)
Next day they were subjected to a 9 hour bus journey up to Stung Treng town where unfortunately the bus stops next to the outdoor market which, after all the food has been lying around in the sun all day, stinks to put it bluntly or ,as Pauline exclaimed looking out of the window, ‘’Has there been a disaster here?’’
We are now in our new house so we were pleased to show P&G where we live.
Angela in our new house as Pauline and Graham arrive.
We travelled extensively around Stung Treng by motorbikes and by bicycle and had many adventures including 3 motorbike punctures and 2 bicycle punctures.
This is the life!!! better than walking, where's the beer?
Finally the motorbike tyre decided it wasn't playing anymore and we had to walk to the next repair shop which we were told was 1.5Km away but turned out to be 6Km ,luckily some local men came past on a tractor and trailer and we lifted the bike onto the trailer and they took Pauline, Graham and the Moto to a local Stung Treng repair place where we got a new tyre and tube.
Typical road we travel along.
We ate out in the evenings and here we are trying the 'meat mountain' - gas flame under the domed grill.
The meat is brought to the table raw and you cook the individual pieces to your liking. The juices run down into a deep lip at the bottom which has water and various vegetables added , as the cooking continues the water becomes a soup at the end which can be very tasty. You need to keep an eye on the flame and heat otherwise the water boils off and nothing is left.
Pauline and Graham kindly donated some toys and clothes for the Orphanage here in Stung Treng so we visited one afternoon.
At the Orphanage the children with finger puppets.
The bridges can be a bit of a challenge.
We went a motorbike ride following the river on what should have been gravel roads according to the tour notes but was in effect a mud path but this was great fun until we came to a flooded part and were forced to turn back. As we were turning around I noticed what looked like a spring dangling down from the motorbike handle bars so I touched it and it disappeared inside the plastic covering of the motorbike- it was alive and it turned out to be a mouse’s tail –yes I has driven with a mouse inside the frame of the motorbike all the way from the shed where we keep the motorbike- they get everywhere.
We were told to make sure they get out of the bike otherwise they chew the wires and your lights stop working.
As it is the wet season the roads can be quite a challenge but that all adds to the fun of travelling in very remote areas where the sight of foreigners is a big event.
It is the wet season after all!!
Graham very bravely and kindly offered to donate blood whilst he was in Stung Treng so we spent an unusual afternoon at the hospital where he gave a unit of blood and received a can of Coke, a meat sandwich and a T Shirt.
Graham giving blood in Stung Treng Hospital
He must be one of the very few people in the UK with a T shirt which says, in Kamai, I gave blood in Cambodia, how about you?
Been there, done that, got the Tee Shirt - have you?
Never ignore an opportunity when a volunteer so Angela has taken the hospital photos and turned them into a publicity poster to place , with the management permission, on the wall of the hospital to hopefully stimulate people into donating their own blood.
We had two days at the end to spend in Phnom Penh with all its usually unavailable luxuries,we went for happy hour cocktails to the Foreign Correspondents Club.
Singapore Sling
Chris and Graham in the Tuk Tuk on the way back to the guest house after another couple of cocktails and some draught beer.
The following day a change of mood as we visited some of the important Tourist sights In Phnom Penh.
We went on a guided tour of the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuol_Sleng_Genocide_Museum_
where we met one of only 7 known survivors of the prison, Chum Mey , a victim in the Toul Sleng Prison.
Chris with Chum Mey at the prison site.
From there we visited the killing fields at Choeung Ek. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choeung_Ek
Another change of mood and on our return journey into Phnom Penh we were recommended by the Tuk Tuk driver to visit a shooting range which appeared to be around the back of an army barracks although I may be completely wrong about the location. We found a place where it was possible to shoot almost any weapon for a price e.g. hand grenade $60, RPG $350.If you chose the RPG they transport you to another location to fire it at the side of a mountain.
We were given a menu each (Pauline replied : Oh no we haven't come here to eat) This listed all the weapons and the price to fire them.
No Graham put it down its $350 !!!
Finally the shot everybody wants to get a hospital patient on their way home with their drip still in place - quite a common site in Cambodia.
Picture taken from our Tuk Tuk
Unheard of in the UK of course but you never know what sights you will see on the streets when travelling.
So lovely holiday and sad to see them return to the UK.
Any friends want to visit you are very welcome.
