Leaving Vietnam by boat we arrived in Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital. After a day of settling in and getting acquainted with the very friendly locals and delicious food we arranged a trip around the less savoury parts of the city to see the relics of the Khmer Rouge regime.
Located in a former high school the S21 interrogation camp is where perceived enemies of the Khmer Rouge were imprisoned and tortured in order to obtain confessions of treason and lists of accomplices. Those named would soon be arrested and suffer the same fate. Once the necessary confessions and denouncing of others had finished the prisoners were taken by the truck load to the killing fields for the final stage of Pol Pots political cleansing. To save money and equipment the executions were very brutal and a giant column of smashed skulls was a gruesome testament.
Back in the city we watched men in long boats race down the river in preparation for the annual water festival from the Foreign Correspondent’s Club bar. Since it was the King’s birthday while we were in town we paid the palace a visit to help give him the bumps. Unfortunately it seemed that all of the cake had been eaten by the time we arrived and there wasn’t a balloon in sight so instead we contended ourselves with a look at his solid gold, diamond encrusted Buddha.
We flew over to Phu Quoc island for a few days relaxing on the beach. We later learnt it’s pronounced ‘Foo Kwo’ but that was too late to save us from the embarrassment of asking for tickets to ‘Poo Cock’ island in the Vietnam Airlines office. The weather in Vietnam had been decidedly shady to this point with monsoon downpours almost every other day, not exactly beach weather. As we touched down in Phu Quoc however the sun was blazing so we hired a motorbike to scout around the hotels. Two people, two rucksacks and two backpacks crammed onto a single moped was almost up to locals standard, though we’d need a few children and chickens on board to really make the grade. The next three days were spent watching films when it rained and riding motorbikes around the island looking for beaches when it was dry. After a boat ride back to mainland Vietnam we prepared to cross into Cambodia via the Mekong delta.
En-route to Cambodia we stopped off for a fantastic tour of Can Tho’s floating markets and backwaters of the Mekong. Starting at 5:30 AM our boatwoman kept us entertained and awake until we hit the mass of the floating markets down river. After picking up our Halloween pumpkin we took a lazy cruise through the deserted backwaters. The atmosphere was amazing as we winded through the narrow, shady waterways to the sound of crickets chirping. We stopped at a wooden monkey bridge and we both had a go at crossing it. After our guide watched me nearly destroy the bridge as I crossed she quickly urged Helen not to attempt it. I think we must be a bit heavier than the locals.
After a beweildering series of attempts to overcharge us we finally boarded a fast boat to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, excited to be moving onto a new country.
We arrived in Saigon bleary eyed at 5:30 AM after our last train journey for a while. A ride on a motorbike taxi to the hotel district soon woke us up however and we realised that Saigon (no one here calls it Ho Chi Minh City) had even crazier traffic than Hanoi. After a quick breakfast it became apparent Mark was as equally popular in Vietnam as China when the swooning waitress declared she wanted to marry someone just like him. After Mark’s head had reduced sufficiently in size to leave the restaurant we took a walk across the city the War Remnants museum. By the time we arrived we were drowned in sweat from the heat and humidity and to our horror it was only 9:30! The museum had some incredible photographs from war journalists from both sides and some truly awful depictions of Napalm and Agent Orange victims.
We spent the evening walking around streets lined with colonial architecture and tried a classic Vietnamese iced coffee. Brewed to a super-strength and sickly sweet, Mark has become addicted to them.
A tour out to Cu Chi was a fascinating insight into the Viet Cong’s network of tunnels in which they lived and fought a guerrilla war against the South Vietnamese and US armies on the doorstep of Saigon. Our guide was a Southern army veteran who told some amazing stories and demonstrated how the VC recycled American bombs, vehicles and rubbish to make weapons and traps to use against them. Though extremely heavy on pro-Communist propaganda it was nevertheless interesting to see an alternative to Hollywood’s portrayal of events. The rain continued to pour throughout our visit and the thunder combined with AK47 rounds from the nearby gun range created a chilling atmosphere as we waded through puddles between the sights. We finished the tour with the chance to be real life tunnel rats and crawl through a 100m passage ourselves. Dimly lit and descending along the way it could be very claustrophobic at times. The last 30m really set the adrenalin pumping as the tunnel became tighter and pitch black. We shuddered afterwards at how terrifying it must have been to raid these tunnels as an American soldier.
From Hanoi we took a hard sleeper train to Da Nang with a carriage full of locals and an equal number of cockroaches. We’d obviously been spoilt by the excellent Chinese trains but once the earplugs in we soon slept our way through the countryside. Arriving in Da Nang to a torrential downpour we made our way to Hoi An, a historic riverside town. It would have been better described however as ‘The Venice of Asia’ as the river had burst its banks and flooded several blocks cutting off many guesthouses and restaurants. After a few Tsunami flashbacks we checked into a nice multi-storey hotel, far, far from the waterfront. Unfortunately most the sights were out of bounds due to the flooding so we quickly headed to Nha Trang for some much needed beach time. We had hoped to take a day trip to surf Charlie’s point but found we were around month too early for suitable waves so contended ourselves with lazing by the pool and reading our extensive library of photocopied books.
We were sad to leave China behind as we crossed overland into Vietnam, but were really excited to experience a new country. The bus journey took us straight to the heart of hectic Hanoi with it’s millions of motorbikes and no apparent road rules. We had a night of culture at the water puppet theatre which was a very interesting show set to live traditional music, the only downside was that the seating was designed for the Vietnamese style audience so we sat for the duration in agony with our knees around our ears.
Vietnamese food is delicious our favorites being pho (beef noodle soup) and roll your own spring rolls. After 5 weeks however of nothing but sweet bread in China we were even more taken with Vietnamese baguettes; a legacy from their French colonial past.
A tour out to Halong Bay on a Junk sailing boat was a real highlight. We cruised past amazing Karst islands, explored caves, kayaked and swam in the ocean. The boat, food and company were all outstanding and we can now see why the parents are always off cruising the world.
Despite being miles from home we still like to uphold our traditions so we bought a pumpkin from a floating market in Vietnam and smuggled it into Cambodia for carving on Halloween. Armed with only a travel spoon and a penknife it was quite hard going but we did our best whilst watching a Simpsons Halloween marathon on TV. We would have loved to see the cleaner’s face after discovering it hidden away in our hotel room 
Check out the brand-spanking new ‘Map’ tab in the top right corner! It charts our route across the world in full colour coded glory. We’re still tinkering with this between fighting giant spiders and queuing for train tickets so expect a few upgrades over the coming year.
A quick stop in Nanning was just long enough to experience a Chinese haircut. The beard was long gone by now and unfortunately self-shaved after learning that many barbers only really wipe their razor blades between customers. Lasting almost two hours the trip to the barbers was an event itself. After numerous shampoos and conditioners had been worked in, my ears cleaned and my head, neck, back, arms and hands thoroughly massaged the cutting could finally start. The stylist Danny took great care and attention over the job and since Nanning seems to attract very few tourists my haircut generated great entertainment amongst the locals. After another shampoo and blow dry I was finally released and rather pleased with the results for £3.00. Unfortunately Helen opted out of a trim thinking it would only be a 10 minute affair and spent the entire time reading Chinese magazines.
Taking a boat along the Li River from Guilin to Yangshou took us through spectacular Karst landscape, slightly marred by the huge procession of other boats in front and behind us. We had decided to stay out in the sticks to get away from the backpacker bars and KFCs and though this always seems a great idea when booking up, when you take a taxi ride out of civilisation you begin to have second thoughts. The guest house turned out to be fantastic, nestled right amongst the hills. After a friendly Malaysian tour group left we had the place to ourselves.
The owner of the hotel took us out for an early morning bike ride through the countryside, weaving between rice paddies and remote villages. 5 hours and 30km later we peeled ourselves off the bikes and despite the aches and pains it was certainly one of the highlights of our trip so far. When we got back we found an eight legged lodger in our room, about 20cm long and looking ready to bite 
Making a hasty retreat back to Guilin, we took a series of local buses out to the rice terraces of Ping’an, known as the ‘Dragon’s Backbone’. Much excitement took over the driver on route and we discovered he had run over an Adder. It must have been highly prized as the conductor scraped it off the floor and put it in the boot for safe keeping, complete with cartoon tyre marks striped across its back.
The rice terraces are a very impressive sight and were being harvested as we arrived. Although we didn’t get to see them in their full glory it was nevertheless interesting to see villagers go about their work. After some cool walks along the terrace paths we stopped off at a local school and kicked some ass in an East vs. West basketball match. You may think I look twice the height of the other players but I assure you this is just a trick of the camera.
We’d been looking forward to arriving in Hong Kong for a while, partly because of the Western luxuries there and partly because of the great Cantonese food they serve. Hong Kong island’s skyline is an incredible sight to welcome you to the city though a view of the harbour was no where to be seen in our backpacker hostel. We had ideas of splurging for a 5 star hotel but as soon as we realised costs were roughly three times more expensive than mainland China we quickly revised our plans.
Cars drive on the left here and the road signs and street names are all British creations. We stopped for an outstanding afternoon tea in the Four Seasons hotel and as we sat in the chilly air-conditioned room with torrential rain falling outside it almost felt like being back home.
After a trip up to Victoria Peak to look down on the skyscrapers we explored all over the city taking trams and the famous Star Ferry back across the harbour into Kowloon. We spent our last night in an Australian bar watching a Filipino Jazz band while we figured out how many weeks of Pot Noodles we’d need to get our budget back on track.
