Killing an AK47 at Angkor W(h)at?

Christmas time is over and it was different from other years...

Christmas day I spend by going on a trip in and around Phnom Penh by TukTuk. The first stop was the Tuol Sleng Museum, a prison (S-21) where Pol Pot's security forces detained, interrogated and killed approximately 20.000 people. Looked very scary and made prepared us for what was going to be next on the Killing Fields. The Killing Fields of Choeung Ek consist of some 129 mass graves of people killed by the Khmer Rouge. You are literally walking on pieces of bone and clothes of the people buried there... and yes, the pits in the picture are the graves! Again very impressive.



After that it was time for my Christmas gift. We went to a nearby shooting range and I treated myself to 25 bullets and an AK47 ($30) :-) I had never fired (or even hold) a real gun before and now I was holding an authentic Russian AK47. It was loud and I had fun, but I will never be a big supporter of guns, they just are scary! The AK47 was just one of the many weapons you could fire, they also offered handgrenades ($25), pistols, and even a Bazooka ($200).



Ruudje shooting an AK47 (turn your head...)!!! (movie)

Back in town I paid a visit to the central market and walked back to our guesthouse. That night we had a nice Indian diner, but the real Christmas feeling never surfaced. Still had a great time with some great people!



The next day I left early for Siem Reap. Different people told me the trip would take between 4 and 6 hours. That is if your bus doesn't break down... and guess what happened to my bus?! Indeed, we had to push start the bus 3 times after they had to change some parts of the engine. Fun to experience, but my trip took 8,5 hours due to these delays :-(



In Siem Reap I walked around a little and decided to go to the Tempels of Angkor to see the sunset (a tocket bought after 5pm is valid for the next day as well and that's a good thing since they cost US$ 20). Arriving at Angkor and seeing Angkor Wat for the first time, the only thing i could think of was: WAUW!!! The Angkor complex is the world's largest religious complex and that is quite impressive! The sunset was not that spectacular, but still had a great time there.



Today was going to be my big Angkor day. Rented a bike and arrived at the complex around 8.30. Describing what I've seen there is the same as describing the feeling you get when you see Mount Everest or the Great Wall for the first time. Words simply cannot describe it, you have to experience it!! I made tons of photos and walked/cycled around all day, just being impressed by the sheer magnitude of the complex. A recommendation to everyone: go there! Angkor Wat, Bayon, Baphuon & Phnom Bakheng are all stunning pieces of craftsmanship and still look great!











And then it happened... Ruud wouldn't be Ruud if he doesn't crash his bicycle at least once a year. However, the year is almost over and I haven't crashed yet. That was until the chain of my bike decides to snap, propelling me of the pedals and smacking into the asphalt :-( The result: several scratch marks on my left side (leg, but, elbow, shoulder) and some bruises all over my body. Nothing permanent, but it still hurts a little! Cheap ass, Cambodian bikes!!!

Yesterday it was time for the infamous bus trip from Siem Reap to Bangkok. Rumor goes that an airline company is paying the Cambodian government not to fix the road from Siem Reap to the border crossing with Thailand... Getting in a big minivan at 8am, enjoying the rollercoaster ride over the Road-of-Broken-Backbones, changing buses twice in Thailand because it "broke down" (conveniently at a restaurant probably owned by the buscompany) and arriving at 9pm in Bangkok were all included in the the $12 ticket ;-)

Check out part of the bumpy ride (movie)

I will stay in Bangkok for 3 nights and then I will fly to Ko Pha-Ngan. Here I will celebrate New Year and be part of one of world's most famous parties: The Full Moon Party!!! Besides that, I want to doing nothing but lying on the beach and relaxing!

I don't know when the next update will be but for now:
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Laa Kawn!
Ruudje

Santa Claus has arrived

Arriving in Cambodia on Christmas Eve!

In the morning we visited some fish farms and a local minority village and after that we prepared ourselves for the 6 hour boat trip to Cambodia. Crossing the border was a piece of cake and the boatride was very, very relaxing! Another 1,5 hours in a bus to Phnom Penh and that was it! Had a nice Christmas Eve together with Jess, Jack, Vanessa and Steve. Some good food and drinks always help ;-)



And below you will find my Christmas card to all of you!! Once again: Merry Christmas!!!



Bis schnell,
Rudi

(I also added lots of pictures to the previous post, so check them out!!)

The south of Vietnam

China isn't the only place they use Chinglish.

Some examples of rules that apply to hotelguests:
4. No weapons, firings, or bad-smelling foodstuff should be brought in the room. These should be kept at the store of the reception.
7. All pets and vegetables are not allowed.

A common remark of motorguys on the streets after darkness set in:
Pssst, hey you, Tiger Beer Boomboom...

Dalat is a cool, laid-back place in the mountains. That means tempuratures drop considerably at night and a blanket is a definate necessity. The first night I spend exploring the city, walking around the lake and enjoying the people out on the streets. The second day I booked a trip with an EasyRider, the EasyRiders are a group of people driving proper motorcycles and they will take you on day trips or multiple-day trips anywhere you would like to go. They are pretty expensive, but for that money you get a fully customized tour including a driver who speaks English (to a certain extent...). During my trip I saw the beautiful countryside of Dalat and visited several factories, farms and a gorgeous waterfall. I ended the night going to a local fair with Tim and enjoyed some real local entertainment.









The next day my bus left early in the morning with destination Saigon (a.k.a. Ho Chi Minh City). The trip took about 8 hours and I felt really tired. Therefor no sightseeing that night, but relaxing and making some new friends at the local Bia Hoi :-)



After a short night of sleep I rented a motorbike and took off to visit the Cu Chi Tunnels. Finding it wasn't as easy as I thought, but without big problems I reached the Vietcong tunnels at Ben Duoc. I must admit, these tunnels are the most impressive war "thing" I have ever seen. It is just unbelievable that they actually used to live in them. No wonder the Americans lost that war, those Vietnamese were (are) extremely smart. After a very nice tour I drove back to Saigon and got totally lost in this city with its 8 million people and 4 million motorbikes... Not to worry, some friendly people, a lot of patience and some 40 km later I was back at my hotel ;-) Made the "compulsory" visit to the War Remnants Museum that has some chocking pictures to show and horrible stories to tell (a lot of it kind of anti-American). I ended the day again with some chatting and drinking at the Bia Hoi. Went to bed early since my three day Mekong Delta trip tomorrow will leave early.







Luckely Jack and Jess (an English couple I met in Saigon) are doing exactly the same trip as I. That means I won't have to spend the last days before Christmas on my own :-) The first day of the trip took us on a boat to several small factories. We visited a coconutcandy factory and a honey farm and "enjoyed" the caged animals the Vietnamese tend to keep at every tourist spot... Strange because non of the tourists I met, including myself, likes to see caged bears or monkeys. I have no problem with a snake, but animals that normally are very active should not be in a cage. Besides that I just enjoyed the scenery along the way and the fact that I didn't have to take care of anything.

Wrapping coconutcandy at lightning speed (movie)










The second day we got up early: 6.00 AM. This in order to make an early visit to two floating markets. The boat ride was once again beautiful, but the floating markets were a bit boring. Not the mass of colors and liveliness I expected. They show their merchandise on a bamboo stick high in the air, that looks very funny! In the afternoon we visited a crocodile farm and climbed Sam Mountain, the highest mountain in the Mekong Delta area. Tomorrow we'll cross the border to Cambodia by boat and we should arrive around 17.00 in Phnom Pehn.







Don't know what I'll be doing for Christmas exactly, but probably something very Christmassy like visiting the Killing Fields... haha!

To all of you:
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Best wishes,
Santa Claus

(no pictures at the moment due to a very bad internet connection)

Brommers en water

Dat zijn de twee dingen die ik het meeste gezien heb in Vietnam (oh ja en de binnenkant van bussen).

De laatste dag in Hoi An heb ik voor mezelf een brommertje (lees 100cc, 90km/h, geen helm) gehuurd en ben naar de ruines van My Son gereden. De ruines zijn best mooi en beroemd om de manier van bouwen. Ze stapelen de "bakstenen" namelijk zo op dat het een stabiel geheel vormt zonder ook maar enige vorm van specie (schrijf je dat zo..?) te gebruiken. Het complex was een stuk kleiner dan ik dacht dus was daar redelijk snel uitgekeken. Maar eerlijk gezegd waren de ruines gewoon een excuus om een brommer te huren en de omgeving te verkennen op mijn nieuwe race-monster. Wegwijsborden kennen ze niet, dus het is een kwestie van zoeken en vragen. Paar keer duchtig verdwaald, maar daardoor kwam ik juist in de afgelegen authentieke stukjes Vietnam uit. Mensen zijn daar een stuk vriendelijker dan in de toeristensteden. Ook nog fftjes naar het strand gereden en ik denk dat het in de zomermaanden daar heerlijk vertoeven is!









's Middags in een bus gesprongen met bestemming Nha Trang, waar ik om 5 uur 's ochtends aan kwam. Deze stad staat bekend als de beste duikspot in Vietnam, maar vanwege de huidige weersomstandigheden (bewolkt en erg veel wind) schijnt het duiken nu een beetje tegen te vallen. Maar besloten het niet te doen. De eerste dag beetje rondgewandeld (niet veel spannends hier) en eventjes met een boek rustig op het strand gelegen.
's Avonds kwam ik wat mensen uit de bus tegen en zijn samen hapje en drankje gaan doen. Toen ik terugkwam van de "Sailing Club" werd ik op 200 meter van m'n hotel ineens belegerd door 8 meisjes (lees: hoertjes). Ik was er al voor gewaarschuwd dat deze erg actief zijn in de louche business van de zakkenrollerij. Ondanks deze waarschuwing is het ze toch gelukt. Als er 8 van die kleine, kabaalmakende gevallen aan je zitten (echt overal aanzitten!) dan gaan je handen automatisch naar de meest irritante om ze van je af te slaan. En ik heb er een aantal echt HARD weggeduwd, tot vallens toe, en toch was ik 2 minuten later zo'n 160.000 Vietnamese Dong armer. Geen ramp want dat is ongeveer 7,50 euro, maar toch... Ik had gelukkig alleen geld bij me en een horloge om (die ze ook probeerden te jatten, maar dat kon ik wel voorkomen). Niet erg prettig om mee te maken, maar wel weer een ervaring om nooit te vergeten.

Vandaag een boottochtje gemaakt naar wat eilandjes. Was best leuk, maar de boot was een beetje bagger en de eilandjes stelden niks voor. Maar het zonnetje scheen redelijk veel en ik had een goed boek bij de hand. De lunch op het bovendek en de drijvende bar waren wel weer erg geslaagd! Al met al een lekker ontspannend dagje waar ik een mooie rode buik en rug aan over heb gehouden :-)





Morgenvroeg met de bus naar Dalat. Dat moet een heel mooi, rustgevend stadje op zo'n 1400 meter hoogte in de Central Highlands zijn. Denk dat ik daar eens lekker ga wandelen en waarschijnlijk weer een brommertochtje ga maken. Dat wandelen gaat weer super, want de voet is zo goed als genezen!!

That's all folks!!
Luud

Good Morning Vietnam

Finally!!!

After a nice, bumpy flight from Luang Prabang I arrived around 21.00 in Hanoi. Luckely half of the plane was filled with tourists, so it was easy to get a group together for the Vietnam adventure. From that time on I have spent all my time together with Alan, Chris, Andrew, Jordan & Dana (3x UK, 2x US). The first night we just wandered around the city and were suprised that there was absolutely nothing to do... However, when we got out of bed the day after and set foot outside the guesthouse: CHAOS!!! Millions of motorbikes all over the place. Did some exploration of the town, but Hanoi is not that interesting. The Bia Hoi (Draught Beer) places rule!!! Cheap (read 15 cent) beers :-) And we booked a 3 day, 2 night trip to Halong Bay.





We left early for a three hour bus ride to Halong Bay. There we got on a boat and we sailed for a couple of hours along the karst mountains that Halong Bay is so famous for. Did some kayaking as well and played several games of cards. Around 18.00 we arrived at Cat Ba Island, Vietnams largest island. Got some diner and "wasted" another night at a local Bia Hoi!!!





The second day of the trip consisted of a beautiful trek, some walking around, playing football with some local kids and again a short boat trip. This time we also were going to spend the night on the boat. Of course we prepared ourselves with a massive amount of beers, vodka, rum and whiskey. That night was a blast!!! 12 people having fun on a boat... played some rounds of Kings, jumped in the sea around midnight and just relaxed. GREAT!!!





The next morning I got the biggest scare of my trip: I lost my camera. Strange, because I remember having it right before I went to bed. After an hour of uncertainty Andrew woke up and presented me my camera... I left it on deck and he was nice enough to take it for me! Was really upset for a while that morning. The way back didn't go without troubles. According to the crew we still had to pay them 29 beers... they counted the cans and that is how much we owned them?!?! It were our own beers!! In the end we came to an agreement, but the tension was rising skyhigh. That same night Alan, Dana, Jordan and I took a bus to Hue. It left at 19.00 and we arrived at 9.00 in Hue. Every inch of my body was in pain by that time. Still had some scratches and bruses from the boattrip and the 14 hours in a "Vietnamese-sized" bus doesn't really help either.



Hue is nice, but not very special. Had lunch in a place run by a mute and deaf guy, but he was the funniest man ever!!! Opened four beer bottles simultaneously and gave us each one of his special openers afterwards. Did a motorbike tour of the area afterwards and celebrated Alan's birthday. We bought him a birthday cake and got some people together for a nice little party.





Check this movie of our friend opening the four beers

Short movie of riding a motorbike in Hue...

The next morning we slept late and got on a bus to Hoi An. Keep you updated on the fun I will have here!!

Byebye,
Ruudje

(volgende keer weer in het Nederlands ;-)

Leaving the Peoples Republic of Laos

Long story this time!!

The first day in Luang Prabang was nothing more than finding a room and going out for some BeerLao. The second day I rented a bike and cruised the town. By accident I bumped into Ryan again (the guy I spend lots of time with in Vang Vieng). Got him a bike as well and did a little temple and market tour. Decided that I was willing to pay a little extra for a swift move to Vietnam instead of spending days in hot busses, so I booked a plane ticket to Hanoi for Thursday evening.





The next day I signed up for a boat trip to the Pak Ou Caves and a minivan trip to a big waterfall. Leaving at 8.00 in the morning, the group was dropped in a slowboat and we took of for an hour upstream to the cave. It is fun for a while, but the scenery along the way is not that exciting and your butt starts to hurt after 15 minutes on the hard seats! Made a short stop at a whisky-village and then continued to the cave. Small cave with lots of Buddha statues in it. Nice, but not really worth going to... On the way back we saw how the Lao people make their own paper and the boat dropped us back in Luang Prabang around 13.00.





At 13.30 the van to the waterfall left. This place is definately worth a visit! Nice walk, great water and amazing views!!! When you are in Luang Prabang, go there! On the way back we played foot-volleybal with some Lao kids. Great experience!!! That night we went for a drink at the LaoLao Garden and ended up in the Vietnam Bar, the only place in the city that's open after official closing hours. Few more drinks there and I was getting really drunk by that time. The TukTuk we took home didn't bring us straight home... he first made a stop at a random house somewhere and invited us in... Old woman appears and she starts waking some younger ones... The next thing is that Mamma San is showing us her "merchandise"... had a good laugh and left with purchasing anything ;-)





Wednesday I subscribed for a cooking class. I only got one fellow-cook: Richard, a 56 year old English guy who drove all the way here on his motorbike. After a trip to the market where we bought all our ingredients, we started preparing the dishes. Lao food is relatively easy since you just put everything in a wok. Nevertheless, again a fabulous local, cultural experience. Our teachers were called Neng and Leng and they made sure we had a great day. Washed the food down with a few beers later that night together with Richard.







However, not everything is funny around here. Getting money is a disaster!! After Tuesdaynight I was broke... only had my ATM card and creditcard. But it is known around here that at one bank you can get money with your creditcard. Big Visa/Mastercard sign on the door, so I was happy. Stood in line for 20 minutes and when I gave the bank employee my card he simply told me that a Postbank Mastercard cannot be used because it works with Interpay... Whaa!!! Stress!!! Luckily I was able to borrow some money from Ryan and I just e-banked the money to his Dutch bankaccount. Knowing that my Mastercad did work with the travelagent I booked my plane ticket I decided to go back there again. They agreed to give me US$ for the small charge of 6%... Oh well, it costs a little, but I definately learned my lesson.

Vietnam, be prepared because Ruudje is coming!!!
Mr. B.