Chapter 14: A Complete Circle and a Line

So, here I am at the end of the tour of Thailand, Laos and Cambodia - well actually I am now in Kuala Lumpur but that's another story.

Crossed the border from Cambodia into Thailand by "rocket" ferry from Sihanoukville to Koh Krong, then pickup taxi to the border and minibus from there to Trang for the night. These rocket ferries are about 60 seater streamlined boats with massive internal diesel engines and shift at about 40km per hour over water, which is going some - 4 hours on the ferry to the border then the usual paperwork and handover of currency takes about an hour (unless you pay a local to jump the queue with your passport and departure card, he disappears inside behind the counter and hey presto comes back in about 10 minutes - but it is expensive).

Trang is the nearest city, so I stayed the night there, then a bus and ferry to the island of Koh Chang for some diving and beach. Mountainous island, said to be the next Phuket, particularly as only 4-5 hours from Bangkok by road. Found this fishing village right on the southern end where the dive boats go from too, and a guest house in its own little rocky cove (so good snorkelling too) and rustic bungalows - remember those? Bamboo hut with a fan and a mattress on the floor and a toilet block a few hundred yards away, but cheap (300B, or 5GBP per night for a "double"). Diving was good, mainly small fish but loads of corals and anenomes.

And so at last I go to Bangkok and the famous backpacker area around the Khao San Road - supposed to be chaotic fun, but mainstream tourism is moving in and the road is now tourist shops and bars plus a couple of clubs but no different from other tourist areas really. Experienced people I spoke with said it has died, but still I managed to lose a couple of days / nights! Did manage to go to the Royal Palace and temples, absolutely packed, plus the King's sister, who died at New Year, is still Lying in State there as part of 100 days of mourning (all civil servants, TV presenters, etc are still having to be dressed in black everyday) so queues of Thais for the daily ceremony and walkpast.

All in all Bangkok was ok, nothing special and nothing really bad (although I didn't go to the apparent 3 red light districts) and the pollution let up after the first day so lucky there.

Bus to Kanchanaburi, and the site of the Bridge over the River Kwai and the Thai-Burma Railway Line. Again very touristified, and a party town at weekends for Thais from Bangkok, but you can still get passed that and appreciate the history. There is no sign of the famous original 220 metre wooden trestle bridge (bombed and dismantled over time), it was only in service for 6 months in 1943 because the Japanese built a concrete and steel bridge next to it which superseded it by July 1943 - I didn't know that. Anyway part of this bridge is still the original, the centre sections are post-war after it was bombed in 1945 (despite POW's being tied to the pillars to try to prevent the bombing). You can walk over it, tourist noddy train over it or catch a twice daily train from Bangkok which goes up to the next town in the hills 2 hours away via the original wooden trestle bridges, viaducts and cuttings (inc Hellfire Pass, where "working 24 hours a day by firelight cast shadows on cutting walls which looked like a scene from Dante's Inferno").

There are 3 cemeteries and a very good museum, which puts it all into context both from a global war perspective and the actual reasons, engineering and above all the lives lost, for building it. About 9,000 - mainly British, Australian and Dutch (captured whilst defending Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia) plus about 40,000 asians (mainly Malays, Burmese and Indonesian - not Thai as they signed a Cooperation Pact with Japan). A common urban myth is 4 deaths for each sleeper on the line. A sad but beautiful part of Thailand.

On south to Hua Hin on the Gulf of Thailand coast, and a royal summer retreat. Skyscraper hotels and condominiums disappear over the horizon, miles of good beaches and loads of golf courses, but basically of no historic interest (apart from the original fishing village, where I stayed in a guest house on stilts over the sea). Then an overnight bus to Phuket for a couple of days before flying on to KL and the final leg.

Photolink at http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/laurentmik/Thailand_2008_Chapter_14

See you soon!

Mike

Chapter 13: Cambodian Sunsets

Hi

Last posting from Cambodia as time is running out to get to Phuket by 08/04 for my flight and I want to see Bangkok and Bridge over River Kwai plus get some more diving in!

Cambodia has been a surprise, mostly pleasant but with some irritants. Last post was after Angkor and its sheer scale and history. Phnom Penh was a mixture of new-found investment (and the corruption), tourism and really good, but relaxed, nightlife.

Then to the coast in the Gulf of Siam, Kampot and Sihanoukville:

• Kampot the original trading post and sea port for Cambodia, so with plenty of French colonial influences including the Bokor hill station (a volcanic plateau just a few miles inland from the coast), built by the French in the 1920's as a retreat from the heat of the lowland plains. Complete with 5-star hotel, casinos, auberge and whole community including church. It was abandoned twice by the French as wars overran them and was made a National Park (it has its own rainforest and micro-climate, rare tigers and elephants, etc) and is an eery place to take a 4-WD drive to get to when the clouds start rolling in from the coast and up the cliffs.. It became one of the last Khmer Rouge refuges until the 1990's, when they had pitch battles between the buildings! And guess what, the government has sold the National Park to a friendly businessman, who happens to own the State Oil business, so a 2-way road is being bulldozed through the rainforest, widening the original hill climb made by the French, and in 3 years' time the old buildings will either be renovated or destroyed and a golf course created too. Doesn't tourism stink sometimes?
• Sihanoukville, a set of good beaches just along the coast from Bokor, also now a diving, fishing and the new commercial port centre for Cambodia. The diving is ok (shallow stuff and visibility only ok), fishing is good (boat caught barracuda, snapper, ray and loads of littlies, and the kiwi that runs the boat cooks it all up in his pub in the evening!). Still great value for both compared to Thailand, $25 for day's sea fishing, inc dinner and $60 for a 2-day liveaboard diving trip! But get there soon as developers are buying it all up at a fast rate and it is getting dirty too, the locals are not into cleaning up.
  
  So, a reference for Cambodia?:
  
• The main tourist sites of Angkor, Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville and their surrounds are definitely to be seen. I have found out that the north-east area needs seeing too, but too late, they filmed Apocalypse Now river scenes there and the lakes and trekking are supposed to be great! More mountains in north too but you can't see everything. The remainder of the countryside is flat and poor, sorry but, uninteresting, much like the Mekhong plains of Laos.
• The people are really good, smiley. laughing, and very few attempts at real rip-offs, much more new to tourism (like Laos) so have not grown the thick hide of most of Thailand (unless you get right off the beaten track in Thai).
• Value for money is excellent, much cheaper than tourist Thailand but apparently catching up - the reliance on imports for oil and consumer goods is not healthy and fuel prices are high compared to our minimum wage and fuel rates. Watch out for photocopies of books on the streets, can be great value but may be old editions of travel guides inside and/or the pages may be out of sequence / missing! A bit like any SE Asia CD's / DVD's I suppose.
• The food - they rely a lot less on chilli peppers than main part of Thailand, which makes it different not necessarily better but watch out for the oddities, please add ants and ants eggs to the menu.
• Again there is the French influence which is making a big comeback (minus the boules in Laos interestingly as it was banned by Khmer Rouge), it is seen as a stylish angle to the tourism.
• Sadly there is begging, mostly genuine amputees but not all, so you have to judge for yourself. I have tried to buy everything through charities / village opportunity schemes, etc but you really don't know what is real.
• Rural women also wear colourful pyjama suits for some reason at any time of day, maybe they are made here?

So, here I am back in Thailand, actually I crossed back a couple of weeks ago but lost some days and nights resting in Bangkok, and heading back to my original location at Phuket for my flight to Kuala Lumpur so I'll talk around then.

Happy birthday to Mary please someone, and to TC please Jackie - I have sent cards honestly!

Photolink at http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/laurentmik/Cambodia_2008_Chapter_13

Cheers! Mike