Month: July 2017

Hi Y’all

Apologies for not posting in a couple of days! We’ve been without electricity for the past 2 days and before that the wifi was pretty shoddy! 

Since my last post we have visited Hanoi (Vietnam) and then onto Laos. 

In Hanoi we watched a traditional water puppet show – it was in Vietnamese but luckily they had English fliers with the names of each mini show which helped us understand what was happening. For example, ‘Fisherman’s dance’. Ryan didn’t exactly enjoy himself – he was falling asleep by the end of it (baring in mind it was only a 45 minute show!) but it was an experience nonetheless. 

In Hanoi we also visited Hỏa Lò Prison. This prison was used by the French for political prisoners and later by North Vietnam for U.S Prisoners of War during the Vietnam war. It was sarcastically known to American Prisoners of War as the Hanoi Hilton and there are photographs in the prison showing them playing cards, football, volleyball etc. The prison was demolished during the 1990s however the gatehouse remains as a museum for tourists.

We then took a flight to Vientiane, Laos. 

I really wasn’t sure what to expect with this airline (not to be stereotypical, but, it was a flight from Vietnam to Laos so my expectations were pretty low) – and I was pleasantly surprised! 
The flight was just over an hour long and we were given a sandwich, cake and drink and there was so much leg room! EasyJet please take note..

When we touched down in Vientiane we opted for a day of sightseeing. 

We visited Buddha Park which is a sculpture park in a meadow by the Mekong River and contains over 200 Hindu and Buddhist statues. There was one statue that you could enter through an open mouth and climb to the top to view the whole park. 

After this we visited Pha That Luang, a gold covered Buddhist Stupa in the centre of Vientiane. There were also many other traditional sculptures in the grounds that surround the stupa. I loved how colourful the temples and sculptures were – simply beautiful. 

Victory Gate was another sight we wanted to see. Patuxai (which literally means Victory Gate) is a war monument which is dedicated to those who fought in the struggle for independence from France. 

As suggested by our CEO we visited COPE.

The Cooperative Orthotic and Prosthetic Enterprise (COPE) is based in Vientiane and runs non-profit rehabilitation centres aiming to provide care and support to UXO survivors, including prosthetic devices and physiotherapy.

Learning about the damage that has been left to innocent locals and how COPE are helping those in need was eye opening. On the other hand, there were many prosthetic legs and feet around the visitors centre; and for some reason it made me feel strangely uncomfortable. 

The next day we decided we would go kayaking, tubing and zip lining! 

The day was a total flop! (In my opinion – many others loved it!)

As many of you know I’m not a lover of the sea/rivers/lakes… But I had done kayaking once before and didn’t die so I thought, why not!

WORST DECISION EVER! 

1. The current was ridiculously strong so unless you kayaked regularly you had a very high chance of not being able to control the kayak. 

2. Within the first 5 minutes around half of the group hit a rough patch of greenery growing in the middle of the river and we all collided and capsized. 

2a. Me and Ryan were included in that ‘half the group’…

2b. When we capsized my shorts got caught on the greenery and were pulling on my stomach as I was being pushed the opposite way by the current and other kayaks. I could not breath and I felt panic take over… Then my shorts ripped off! (Luckily I was left with my bikini bottoms on otherwise this really would have been the worst experience of my life!) 

2c. They were my favourite shorts and I am struggling to find any new ones on my travels that fit my butt. 

2d. During this ordeal I lost Ryan – I was clinging on for dear life on an upside-down kayak along with another member of our group and couldn’t see him anywhere! When we got back into the kayak, after what felt like forever, I finally saw him ahead in a kayak all by himself. 

3. We had 10km to kayak. 6km then stop for lunch, tubing and zip lining, then a further 4km. You can imagine my upset, after capsizing, knowing I had no other option but to kayak the whole way.

4. Ryan capsized over a rock and cut his leg! (Mumma Elaine if you’re reading – he’s fine! Just a cut and a bruise) 

Will I be kayaking again?

Absolutely not. 

We also went tubing. This is were you float on rubber rings (tubes) through a cave. The tubing was fun but short lived as the water level was to high to do the normal route. 

Ryan couldn’t go tubing either as he had cut his leg. The guide had put some antiseptic liquid on it to stop the bleeding and disinfect the area so he needed to keep his leg dry. 

He did, however, do the zip lining. Which he said was really good – I didn’t fancy doing the zip lining. I’ve done Go Ape before and that was too high for me! Ryan took his GoPro with him and he showed me a video of a zigzag bridge he had to walk over – it looked so scary!

The next day we started our journey to Luang Prabang. The road was up, then down and zigzagged between the mountains. 

We stopped to use the toilets, buy some snacks and take in the view. 

We also saw a fluffy dog which was adorable! 

When we reached Luang Prabang we decided to visit the waterfalls. They were beautiful! We walked to the top of the waterfall and swam in the lagoon. 

On our walk up the waterfall we also saw some rescue bears including one with an arm missing – he seemed to be enjoying himself, bathing and eating, but it was still sad to see.

In the evening we walked around the night market. We visited a food market and paid for a bowl so we could help ourselves to a buffet section. There was so much food and it was super cheap! 

After eating we popped to Utopia, a local bar & restaurant that over looks the Mekong River. 

There were mats on the floor to lay on and the atmosphere was very chilled. 

The next day we took a boat to a local village for us to stay with the locals for a night. 

The boat journey was long; but luckily our group had the boat to ourselves and the sun was shining so we managed to catch some rays. 

When we got to the home stay we were told some rules that are followed by the locals that we to need to follow. 

The main rule being that men and women are to sleep separately. 

Our CEO explained that in their culture it is a sin to sleep together before marriage. If a sin was to happen they would have to make a sacrifice to the gods by killing an animal.

One of the girls then went on to tell us of another group that went to the homestay where a couple had sex. The locals then had to sacrifice a pig due to their sins however with their low income could not afford to buy a pig. 

The locals got in contact with the group guide, who contacted the couple, who then had to pay for a pig to be shipped over for the locals to sacrifice. Horrific.

We also met some of the local children and gave them some gifts we had brought with us. The group gave stickers, pencils, colouring books and bracelets. 

During the day we saw a local boy playing. He was so happy to play by himself with the mud and a bottle cap – it was adorable! 

All the boys stayed together. I stayed with another 3 girls in a locals home. We each had a mat, cover, pillow and mosquito net. All lined up next to each other like sardines. 

The toilet was outside the house and didn’t have a lock or a light – this is where my head torch came in handy!

Shockingly, I didn’t get a very good nights sleep! 

I was very glad to hear my alarm going off to get up and out of bed (if you can call it that!)

We are now on the boat again for our journey to our next stop – Chiangmai, Thailand!

‘Til next time! 

Love Bumble x

Hi Y’all! 
The last few days have been super busy for me and Ryan – what with the exciting things we’ve done and seen… And the long boring travelling journeys via bus, train and boat.
In my last post I teased that what we had been up to was pretty messy – and not due to alcohol! 
We had been to the mud baths! 
I was really looking forward to a nice cleanse from the mud baths as travelling around Asia isn’t the cleanest task!
We went to a local spa to visit the mud baths; there were mud baths, hot baths, a (man-made) waterfall and a pool. 
The mud wasn’t as thick as I was expecting – it was surprisingly thin and watery – I guess as it gets so hot over in Asia it needs to be quite watery so the mud doesn’t dry up! 
After our mud bath we then went into the hot baths. Ryan and I were well aware that we were visiting parts of Asia in rainy season – we have been very lucky with the weather so far however whilst we were in the hot baths the heavens opened and it started p*ssing it down! 
Luckily the hot baths had a cover over the top to shelter us from the rain; and there was something therapeutic about being in a hot bath and it raining heavily around us. I loved it! 

The mud baths seemed so long ago now! 
Since then we have moved on to another part of Vietnam, Hoi An. 
Hoi An, by far, is the most beautiful part of Asia that we have seen on our trip so far. The old town in Hoi An is a mixture of bars, restaurants, tailors and clothes shops, with beautiful architecture dotted all around. 
There are lanterns everywhere in Hoi An and when the night comes they light up the town.. they even have some large animals made out of lanterns on the river, and a tree covered in them which reminded me of a Christmas tree! 
We visited a tailor during the day and some of the group bought made-to-measure suits, dresses and skirts!

Ryan was ever so tempted by this (and so was I – who doesn’t want a dress that fits perfectly?) but it seemed silly to buy a full suit when we would be away for so long and our bodies would change! *prays for better body not worse*

We also visited ‘Oodles of Noodles’ for a noodle making class and to have lunch! 
We learnt the different types of noodles and how they are made; and even got to attempt them ourselves. 
To make the rice noodles they mixed rice with water, then it sat for 4 hours, then it is blended together in a grinder (or blender) to make a liquid. 
Then, using a coconut ladle, they poured some of the liquid mixture on a cloth over a steaming pot and covered for a few seconds. They used a bamboo stick to take the rice layer off the cloth ready to put through a cutting machine to cut into strips/noodles. 
The class was a lot of fun – the lunch was delicious, we learnt a lot and making noodles didn’t actually seem particularly difficult to do (just very time consuming!) 

Our guide suggested to the group that we should look to do a bicycle tour around Hoi An. He said it’s a good way to go outside of the normal tourist route and see things that other tourists normally miss because they aren’t aware it’s there. 
I’ll be honest, all I heard was ‘cycling’… I had been walking around for hours in the blazing sun, all sweaty, and the last thing I wanted to do was have the same again tomorrow but worse because we’d be cycling instead of walking! 
It was a no from me! 
Then a few hours later Ryan managed to persuade me to go..
And I’m so glad I did! *Ryan looking smug in the background*
The tour guide was right, we did see lots of things we wouldn’t of if we had stayed behind.
The cycling itself was pretty easy too, nice medium pace, and as there was some rain in the morning it wasn’t so hot either! 
We cycled all through the rice fields which was lovely, they’re so beautifully green! 
We also stopped a couple of times throughout the tour. 
Our first stop was to visit a famous couple known as ‘The Happy Couple’. They are a couple that were photographed years ago and in the photograph they were both extremely happy (and still are)!

The little old lady made my heart melt; she had no teeth yet her smile was from ear-to-ear.

The couple showed us their garden and their dog and puppy which was adorable! 
Our second stop was to see the water buffalo! I thought we’d just see them in the distance… Oh no! We got up close and personal and some of the group went into the water on the water buffalos back – including Ryan!
Our third stop was to refuel on fruit and then take a trip in the bamboo baskets. These baskets are hand made out of bamboo and can float along the river. Ryan and I were in one basket along with a lady who was the ‘driver’ (well at least she knew was she was doing). 

Ryan sat on the outside to assist with the rowing whilst I sat back and took in the scenery! 

There were traditional hats for us to wear if we wanted; naturally I was all up for looking like an idiot! 

The ‘driver’ stopped and pulled some long grass from one of the plants that were growing in the water. She then went on to make a ring and necklace for me made out of the grass..

She made Ryan a ring too which I was thankful for as mine broke so he gave his to me! 
We took a short boat trip to the other side of the village before our final stop which was to visit the bamboo workshop. This is where they make and sell products made out of bamboo. They sold bikes, phone cases, tables, chairs and so on. 
In Vietnam they use Vietnamese Dong for currency. It’s around 22,000 VND to 1 USD. 

We asked how much a bike was out of curiosity and the lady said 800… meaning 800,000 VND, so around 40 USD, a bargain! 
Until we realised she actually meant 800 USD! Wowzer! 
Here’s some pictures taken from our bicycle tour! 

I was sad to leave Hoi An but we needed to make a move to our next stops which were Hue and Halong Bay. 
We didn’t stay very long in each place.. 
In Hue we visited the Ancient Temple, Thien Mu Pagoda, which was the temple built by the order of the first Lord Nguyen. When the Lord first arrived in Hue, he heard a local legend in which an old lady had a vision from the gods and they told her that a Lord would come to the town and build a temple on the hill to pray for the country’s prosperity. Upon hearing this the Lord ordered a construction of the Temple on the hill. 
The Temple now houses the car of a famous monk, Thích Quang Duc, who, in 1963, drove from Hue all the way to Ho Chi Minh City and burnt himself alive to protest against the persecution of Buddhists by the South Vietnamese government . 

We took a boat trip around Halong Bay to view the islands (where they filmed some parts of the new King Kong film – Kong: Skull Island). The views were amazing and they reminded me more of something out of Pirates of the Caribbean! (Which me and my family love – almost as much as Harry Potter!)
The islands that stood out most were Lonely Island and Kissing Islands; the name lonely given due to the Island being small and away from the others, and kissing Islands given as there are two islands which almost touch each other at one point. 

The boat docked at one of the bigger islands for us to view the caves inside. 

The caves were huge and the natural shapes on the walls were fascinating. It was, however, very wet inside! The floor was soaked and water dripped from the ceiling almost constantly. 

We are on our way to another stop now..
‘Til next time! 
Love Bumble x 

Hi Y’all! 
Yesterday was so much fun! 

We decided as a group we would all go snorkelling; our CEO arranged it all, from the bus to the boat, the boat to the lunch, and the lunch to the drink…
We had unlimited amount of beer and two buckets worth of cocktails (which we didn’t finish!).
Beer over here is ridiculously cheap… you can get a beer for 50p or less in a bar when it’s happy hour (which incidentally normally lasts for 3 hours). The cocktails however are not cheap; you’re looking at around 6 to 8 pound for one cocktail… which is why I’m trying to train myself to like beer and save the pennies!
 I’m not to sure how I feel about a potential beer belly though! 

Our lunch which was included in our snorkelling trip was also delicious! We had a feast of egg noodles, rice noodles, fried vegetables, and fish, pork, beef and chicken all cooked on the BBQ. Everyone just tucked in and helped themselves – everyone was stuffed and there was plenty left over… I was half wishing they had some plastic pots so we could take it home for dinner! Another money saving tip haha! 
The snorkelling was really fun. Anyone that knows me well knows I’m not a massive fan of water. 
A swimming pool or jacuzzi? No problem. 

The great big ocean with god-knows-what in? Not so much.

There were points when I was a little bit scared but I definitely enjoyed myself more! 

We snorkelled around in a big group – 18 of us! Perhaps that’s why I didn’t feel as scared? Like, if I’m going to drown surely one of these people would save me?
As well as snorkelling we also jumped from the top of the boat into the sea (I took quite a lot of encouragement from the others but finally took the leap). 
Ryan and the boys were doing dives, front flips, back flips – absolute dare devils… This is where I became the camera lady! 

After a while we popped into a nearby village and walked around to see the locals and what they were up to. 
We saw many people preparing food and fishing nets. We even saw a group of women playing a game of cards to win some money while their other halves were at work – if the husbands away, the wife will play, right? 
Here’s some snaps taken throughout our day! 

Today was another messy one… But not due to alcohol consumption! 

Find out on my next post! 
Love Bumble x 

Hi Y’all,

Sorry I haven’t posted in a while – I’ve been a very busy bee! 
In my last post I explained that I may not be able to update you all or keep in touch as our next stop was basic…

This was the point in our trip where we took part in a ‘home stay’. 
Where we got a chance to live, eat and sleep like the locals do. And to my surprise they did have wifi! 

We got off our bus and had to walk down a few alleyways and over a small river to get to where we were staying (this sounds way more dodgy than it was). 

We arrived and were greeted by the family who were kind enough to house us, along with an English speaking guide. After we introduced ourselves we were shown to our beds for the night. 

The room was essentially a wooden house made out of bamboo and coconut leaves. The door was locked with a padlock and key and inside a bed with mosquito net, one plug, light and a fan. You know, the basics. 

The toilets and showers were communal at the end of the rooms and if you wanted a wee in the middle of the night you had to unlock your padlock to your room and pop out into the darkness… just like camping I guess! 

We were shown a cooking demonstration by the family and they prepared us a home cooked meal. It was very different to what I’m used to (except for the rice) but was quite tasty nonetheless. 

Whilst at the home stay the guide also took us on a walk around the village. We walked passed many houses with local people inside – watching TV, preparing food and even one singing on karaoke! 

During the day we visited the floating market; where small boats came to buy and sell goods. Whilst we were sailing, another small boat pulled up next to us to try and sell coffee and cool drinks, it was bizarre to see him easily stop next to us, make a sale, then pop off to find more customers! 

We also hopped on board one of the boats selling pineapple. We watched a local lady cut up the pineapple for us all to try. One of the guys we were with also ordered some noodles to have for breakfast – the local people eat noodles and rice for breakfast which baffles me! 

We then went on to a normal market, one on the ground, where they mainly sold fish from the river and fruit. We all tried a fruit called Mangosteen – which is actually the Queen of Fruits. You could easily break open the purple peel and eat the white fruit inside so it wasn’t very messy. It tasted a little bit like a lychee – delicious! 

At our next hotel we opted to visit the Cu Chi Tunnels. The tunnels were created by the Vietnamese soldiers back in the Vietnam war to use as hiding spots during combat. The tunnels lead to many rooms built underground including meeting rooms, kitchens and bathrooms! 

The tunnels were very dark (not great for photographing) and we had been told they had been made bigger for the tourists to fit through as they tend to be a lot fatter than the Vietnamese haha! 

As well as the tunnels there was also a woman demonstrating how they made rice paper, how they made sandals out of rubber tyres, the traps they created for the enemy and even the remains of a US tank destroyed by a delay mine. 

On our journey to the tunnels we stopped off at a painting shop where they sold tiles/products with different pictures on made out of paint, egg shells and sea shells. The pictures where beautiful but unfortunately we weren’t allowed to take pictures inside the shop. 

We did however see the production line outside where they create the pictures. One person painting, one washing, one adding the shell and another polishing the end product. 

We were due to take a night train in the evening and had some hours to kill before hand so we decided to visit the War Remnants Museum. As well as lots of information about the history of the Vietnamese wars there were many photographs on display; many graphic photos showing the horrific injuries of the victims of the war. I didn’t take any photos inside which you should be thankful for! I only took some of the tanks and planes out the front. 

The night train was an experience! A small room with 4 beds and a toilet at the end of each coach – luxury at its finest! 

Vietnam isn’t exactly known for its cleanliness so this is where our sleep sheets came in handy! (See pic below of Ry advertising his – get yours today at all major outlets! Ha!). 

We had a very busy day yesterday which I will update you on soon! 

‘Til next time! 

Love Bumble x

Hi Y’all 
I’m a teeny bit behind on my travel updates so you can have 2 today – you’re welcome! 

My last post was a little on the depressing side so I thought I would share with you some photos from when we’ve been out exploring and what we’ve seen! 

Deep fried banana – delicious! (Basically a bigger version of a banana fritter) 

Monkeys eating fruit – including the cutest baby monkey! 

A Temple with a view over Cambodia 

A Small Fishermans village where they produce their own local whisky. There’s also a small building used as a school where a volunteer teaches young children from the village. 

Waterfall complete with lunch on hammocks

We’re currently on our way to our next stop, we are going via bus and luckily they have free wifi on board! 

Our next stop is going to be slightly more basic than what we have had previously so I’m not expecting any wifi – I will update you when I can! 

‘Til next time, 

Love Bumble x 

Hi Y’all! 

I pre-warned you at the end of my last post that this one was going to be a bit morbid..Yesterday we visited the Cambodia Killing Fields and S-21. 
For those of you who don’t know much about the history of Cambodia, The Killing fields are a number of places where collectively over 1 million innocent men, women and children were killed and buried by the Khmer Rouge regime, just after the Cambodian Civil War. 
The leader of the Khmer Rouge, Pol Pot, wanted to restart civilisation. He wanted there to be no differences between poor and rich, to make everyone equal, for people to work for themselves as apposed to working for money and in a hierarchy. Anyone who disagreed with this where killed, including innocent family members.
The Khmer Rouge Regime arrested and executed almost everyone suspected of connections with the former government, professionals and intellectuals. They also executed any that they believed to be ‘traitors’ ..any that they accused of being a traitor frequently did not go to trail and they could simply execute straight away. 
S-21 was a school turned prison camp where the accused were taken, interrogated and tortured before being taken blindfolded to The Killing Fields to die. 
We visited The Killing Fields first. 
When we arrived we saw straw roofs built over the bigger of the mass graves; the rest were craters in the field, like the indentations on a golf ball. 
Our tour guide told us you may be able to see bones and clothes unearthing in these graves; especially when they have a lot of rain. 
The first mass grave we saw had a sign stating that 450 victims had been buried there; as a sign of respect many people had left bracelets on the posts surrounding the grave. 

There were 2 trees with significance within The Killing Fields..
One The Killing Tree – where children were brutally beaten against. There were two dark patches on the bark of the tree ..our tour guide explained that these were the patches from the blood of the beatings/killings ..the patches were in two places on the Tree, one higher than the other due to the tree growing over time ..showing how long this terrible ordeal went on for. 
The other the Magic Tree – this is where the Khmer Rouge troops would hang a loud speaker on the branches blasting out their anthem where they would kill. 
1 – to drown out the cries of the victims being executed 
And 2 – to provoke the executer to carry out the murder 

There is a huge glass cabinet that has been made to house some of the bones and clothing found in the graves, including 5000 skulls. 
Each skull found in The Killing Fields was cleaned and forensically tested to determine age, sex and cause of death – which was then represented by coloured dots on the skulls on show in the cabinet.

We then went on to visit S-21, the former school. 
There were 3 building blocks in the prison; only one of which in its original form, the others all with history in pictures inside. 
The pictures ranged from photos of the leaders of the Khmer Rouge Regime and to those of the victims mug shots. There was also a wall filled with photos of the troops of the Khmer Rouge, many of them young boys who looked no older than 18. It’s said that they brainwashed many troops from a very young age. 
The one building left in its old form showed the old school classrooms turned into prison cells. There was bodged brick walls to separate the coffin like cells, were the prisoners were packed in like sardines. There were dark stains on the floor; the stains that remained from the blood spilled all those years ago. 
We weren’t allowed to take photos inside any of the buildings but we were allowed to take some of the outside. 

 
Shockingly we were told we would meet a survivor of the S-21 ..out of thousands of people to enter only 15 people came out alive. 
The survivor we spoke to was a man called Bou Meng. He was kept alive due to his talents as an artist; he produced a painting of Pol Pots (the leader of the Khmer Rouge Regime).
Meng’s wife and children however were tragically killed in Pots rein. 

Meng had written a book about his time at S-21 which he was selling to try and make a living. As compensation for his horrific experience the government pay the measly amount of $15 a week which isn’t even enough to live off let alone compensate for his suffering and the loss of his family. 
As tragic as this history was, it was extremely interesting to see and hear about what went on all those years ago. 
I promise my next post won’t be as depressing! 
Love Bumble x

Hi Y’all! 

The last time we spoke we were on our way to another area in Cambodia.

Our journey from our previous hotel to our new one in Phnom Penh took a couple of hours. To break the journey up a little we ended up stopping 3 times along the way. 
The first – a good old toilet break (boring I know) 

The second was to stop for lunch. We stopped at what looked like a souvenir shop but when we walked out of the back of the building you were greeted with the most beautiful view of a fisherman’s lake. 

We walked over a wooden path across the lake which led us to a hut sitting above the waterline. This is where we had lunch; we sat, ate and admired the view. Then were off on our journey again.

Our third stop was to visit a local food market. (Take note to the word ‘local’) 

Now I’m not talking your simple punnet of strawberries type market here. 

I’m talking deep fried yuk! 

There was all sorts of fried food to choose from (feels wrong saying ‘choose’ like, really? Who would choose to eat deep fried creepy crawlys?!) 

You could have fried cricket, frog, scorpion and tarantula

..I hear you DIS-GUS-TING 

There was one table full of only fried things and behind it on the floor a bucket full of live scorpions! 

There was also a lady walking round with a pile of fried tarantulas in one hand and a bucket filled with live ones in the other!

A couple of people in my group held a tarantula ..a young girl must have noticed my squeamish expression as she told me ‘don’t worry – not poison – fangs removed’ 

I just smiled back but what I was really thinking sarcastically was:

Fangs removed?! What is there some onsite tarantula dentist round the corner just sat there pulling out all these fangs all day?! 

I didn’t try any deep fried food – half the group did though, including Ryan! 

The group as a whole tried scorpion, frog and tarantula.  

I stuck to my fruit – hardcore! 

When we reached our hotel we decided to go out together for dinner; after which M took us to a street food seller to try Durian fruit which is popular in his hometown in Thailand. 

He said the Durian fruit is known to make you hot and give you heart burn so we only tried a little. 

It was a unanimous verdict = gross. 

I felt so sorry for M as he had paid for all this fruit and we all hated it!

The Durian fruit had the texture of an avocado and the taste of a really sweet onion (in my opinion). The colour was a mustard yellow and the smell wasn’t very appealing either! 

In my next post I’ll update you on what we got up to yesterday – just a pre-warning – it’s a morbid one! 

‘Til next time! 

Love Bumble x 

Hi Y’all 

Yesterday was our first full day in Cambodia and what a day it was! 
One of the things from this trip I was most looking forward to was looking at all the old temples and yesterday was that day! We woke up early in the hopes of seeing the sunrise skim over the temples. We did see a little bit of the sunrise as we walked to the temple but after this it was too cloudy to see! 

A tour guide walked (and talked) us around the Angkor Wat Temples which were simply beautiful – his English was very good and his knowledge vast! He was very informative on the history of the Temples and the ways of life back in the day… maybe slightly too informative at times as our feet were killing by the end of it! 

The Temple tour was everything I expected and more. The buildings aged and dishevelled but still showing their original beauty. 

Many buildings still had distinctive carvings/faces and there were trees who’s roots had grown around the stone. There was even a face that could be seen through the roots of the trees which was slightly spooky! 

I saw a couple things on the tour that I wasn’t expecting…

Firstly, I noticed in the gardens that surrounded the Temple a man cutting the grass using a scythe… our tour guide must have caught a couple of us looking as he then went on to tell us that the man was cutting the grass ready to pile up and create hay. 

Secondly, there were monkeys wandering around freely around the Temples – loads of them! We were told to be very careful as they have a habit of snatching things out of your hand; food, phones, cameras etc!  

And lastly there were elephants being used as a form of transport. The elephants themselves were lovely to see but I couldn’t help feeling extremely saddened watching them being directed away with passengers on their backs. There was a ‘driver’ sitting on their neck using his feet to kick behind each ear to give the elephant direction. 
I did see them get fed so I guess that’s something… 

After our temple visit we then went on to have lunch in a quiet restaurant where we walked through a long wooden archway to get inside; along the way I noticed a small wooden house with upside down beer bottles used as a pathway, how very strange! 
I played it safe with noodles and Ryan tried beef Akoy…

In the evening we all went out together for a meal at a restaurant that also put on a dancing show. The show was mesmerising and consisted of Coconut dance, Khmer dance, Mekhala dance, Fisherman dance and Apsaras ballet. 

Our tour as a group hadn’t really had a chance to let our hair down and get to know each other properly so we decided to all go out to a local bar and have ‘a few’. 
We went to a place called ‘Yolo Bar’… I know, hilarious! It was a small bar with street art on the walls, massive barrels for tables and a car bonnet for a DJ table! 

The drinks were dirt cheap and we also had some entertainment of fire juggling, limbo and a young local girl street dancing like I’ve never seen before!

We’re moving on to another hotel now so catch up with you soon! 
‘Til next time!

Love Bumble x 

Hi y’all!

First blog update brought to you from Asia! Yay we made it! 

Apart from my ankles swelling up to the size of a balloon and a slight delay, the 15 hour flight went well (as far as 15 hour flights go) 

Me and Ry have been pretty busy since we touched down in Bangkok.

Our transfer to the hotel was around 45 minutes, we checked into the hotel and only just had time to freshen up before our welcome meeting for our tour! 

Our CEO (customer experience officer) for the tour is a Thai man called ‘M’ ..well that’s not his actual name but his full name is far too long and hard to pronounce so he goes by ‘M’ which is nice and easy for my brain to remember!

M was very nice and super smiley! He spoke to us and the other 7 people on the tour about what we would be doing, anything to look out for, some does and don’t’s etc.

Do stay open minded and appreciate the culture..

Don’t do drugs or go to prostitutes – *rolls eyes* well that’s my plans ruined!

After our welcome meeting we then went out in Bangkok and visited a small local restaurant to try some Thai dishes.

I tried a rice dish and I didn’t like it (to much coriander for this fuss pot)

Ryan’s was very nice; just a simple red curry and sticky rice – with a beer on the side of course!

We then tried to have a good nights sleep ready for a 6 AM start the next day – yep you read that right 6 AM – might as well be back at work aye? 

We left at 6AM to start our bus journey to cross the boarder into Cambodia. Thankfully it was a private bus with air-con and I managed to catch up on a little bit of sleep! We had to walk through the boarder so we had to say goodbye to our private bus and wait at a small pick up station for another bus to arrive. 

This gave me a chance to see the locals and just sit back and observe. The streets were chaotic; filled with cars, tuk tuks and mopeds rushing by, I lost count of the amount of people roaming around bare foot and many people were walking past holding umbrellas to shield them from the sun.

Did I mention it’s boiling?! I’m quite a sweaty person anyway (sorry to much info) so I literally could feel the beads of sweat on me ..when I looked around I saw local people in jackets, trousers, wearing layers and jeans – YES JEANS?! Are they mad?!

We eventually reached our hotel to check in then made our way to have dinner at ‘New Hope – Cambodia’. This is a school that was set up for local children; the tour company we booked through support this school and its onsite training restaurant. The school children come to learn and also have their meals included which are all cooked onsite. 

They produced a set menu of boiled rice, vegetable curry, a noodle and beef dish along with vegetable parcels and fruit to finish! It was delicious! 

On our journey out to dinner we noticed a sign for a night market so after our meal we got a tuk tuk to take us there to have a little look; I got myself a cheap pair of cotton trousers ready for any visits where ladies need to be covered! 

Updating my blog seems to have been abit difficult since landing in Asia – yes a lot of places have wifi however some places the speed is extremely slow so might as well be non-existent and also things have been pretty fast passed so I haven’t been able to set aside some time to post! 

Luckily this new hotel has a very good wifi so I will hopefully update you again soon! 

‘Til next time! 

Love Bumble x