For our final few days left in Nepal we spent the majority of our time recuperating after the trek. Once we had our Indian visas in hand there was little else for us to arrange and so we took advantage of a pleasant room at Pilgrims and decided to do a spot of sightseeing.

On our first full day back in Kathmandu we opted to take some of our trekking gear to The Porter’s donation charity based at KEEP, where we also wrote an account of our trekking experience in their 2012 Everest Region journal. We felt good about doing this as we enjoyed reading through the notes when we first arrived.

We spent a lazy afternoon in The Garden of Dreams where we enjoyed great food and a chance to sit and relax away from the busyness of the city. We vowed to come back before leaving Nepal. The only things that got in the way of our recovery and sight-seeing time were Helen’s sore throat and Dave’s lightening bolt effect food poisoning from the falafel stand in Thamel. Eek! We were however comforted when Joshua and Amata returned and decided to stay in our guesthouse too. We were also relieved to have access to over the counter antibiotics, we know this isn’t something that should be taken for granted but it was handy in this situation.

Helen enjoyed a fantastic Paneer-Dosa with friends at Pilgrim’s Bookshop cafe, they have a nice space out the back of the bookshop. Dave opted to stay in and recover and we arranged to sight-see later on.

We took a rickshaw out to Swayambhunath, the ‘monkey-temple’ as it’s also known at around 4pm to get the low light effect. It was packed with locals going up to say their prayers and turn the hundreds of prayer wheels, the site looks down on Kathmandu and is home to shrines, prayer flags, large Buddhas and a tall crowning stupa. There are some 365 stone steps to reach the stupa lined with trees and monkeys and hawkers trying to feel tat. There is a 100rs fee for tourist entry.

The following day Dave was still ill and so Helen ventured off with Joshua and Amata to Pashupatinah, Nepal’s largest Hindu shrine.

We couldn’t access much of the site but what you do witness are hindi’s on their deathbed’s, wrapped in orange cloth on stone slabs with their feet dipped in the water (this is to drain out the remainder of their life). From there they get taken to stone Ghat’s used for cremation and there is quite a stench in the air whist bodies’ are cremated on piles of wood for all eyes to see. It was an interesting and slightly voyeuristic experience, but it was equally intense and in some ways upsetting to watch people’s emotions being played out right in front of us. Dotted around the complex are fancily dressed male Saddhu’s who wait for tourists so that they can charge for a photograph, Helen managed to get a sneaky one without them noticing.

We walked from Pashupatinah to Bodhnath northeast of Kathmandu city centre. We could see the temple as we made our way down the hill and into the urban area. It was a really nice walk ambling through village-like areas with dwelling’s surrounded by some greenery, something you don’t see in Thamel. Bodhnath is 40m in height and is the largest Buddhist stupa in Nepal, marking the centre of the country’s Tibetan culture. Always circling stupas and mani-walls on the left here a few hundred people were walking around the base of the stupa surrounded by gompas and pilgrim rest-houses and tea lodges. We walked around the top of base of the stupa also before enjoying some tea and momo’s at Dew Drops Cafe looking out directly over the site.

We enjoyed good pizza’s at The Roadhouse along with some decent Thai food on the other side of the street, and on our last day in Kathmandu we returned to the very relaxing Garden of Dreams visiting the nice Patan Durbar Square.

Patan is around a half hour south of Thamel by taxi which was the first time we’d actually left the Thamel area since we’d been staying in Kathmandu. It’s hyped to be much nicer than the Thamel Durbar Square we didn’t visit, but those guys said it was way nicer and well kept in comparison. There are 3 main courtyards in the square open to public and in one of the old palace building’s is a very good Nepalise historical museum. Many people are drawn to the square to meet with friends or to sketch the wonderful Newari-crafted architecture. It was also nice to roam the backstreets of Patan and get a feel for the place, there are many temples and shrines dotted around and more locals are simply living there rather being constantly surrounded by people trying to sell you stuff as it often seems to be the case in Thamel.

Kathmandu is a mixture of several things, there is rubbish literally everywhere, the place is extremely polluted and it’s busy all the time. Having said this though it was exciting to be thrown back into a culture like this. We’ve really loved our time in Nepal and hope that the photographs and blog entries give you a glimpse of what it meant for us to be there exploring their rich culture and amazing country. Yes there is a huge problem with rubbish and infrastructure but we couldn’t help but feel a close connection to the people who really welcomed us into their beautiful country.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0, 18mm f4, 90mm Tele-Elmarit f2.8 processed in Lightroom 3)

Our stay in Singapore was more of a two night stop over than anything else. We hadn’t quite anticipated how tired we would be after our 3.30am start the morning of our flight and so by the time we’d reached Singapore, enjoyed a chai and a little breakfast at Starbucks, plus the time taken to actually navigate and exit from the airport terminal, we were almost ready for lunch!

Thankfully for us and to Barbara (Dave’s mum) we had booked ourselves a lovely place to stay through the wonderful world of Airbnb. Our hosts Sam, Linda and Phillipe all from the creative sector certainly offer a great alternative to staying in hotels and hostels in Singapore. They’re base just off Club Street is easy to find and only a short walk from the Chinatown metro stop. Staying in their homely apartment didn’t really give us much reason to leave, but we knew we would have to venture out at some stage. On our first day though we were very low key and enjoyed the comforts of our room, called home and ate at an excellent local sushi restaurant. Club Street itself is full of charm and seems to attract the ex-pat crowds, it’s perhaps a little over-rated in terms of eateries, restaurants and bars but the night life is pretty strong there.

We enjoyed exploring the local area which is rich in multi-cultural temples including Hindu, Buddhist and Chinese temples scattered throughout China town. The Hindu one was perhaps the most interesting to us; bold, colourful statues and decor with a daily ceremony taking place to traditional Indian instruments. Quite atmospheric.

We also stumbled upon a very nice independent bookstore called Woods In The Books. Primarily a visual bookstore it sells mainly illustrated books most of which are aimed at children, but it’s a lovely place to explore and absorb. We were more than happy to idle away time going through their collection and noticed some of their own illustrated publications were dotted around too. It’s a lovely concept indeed and we bought ourselves a few items as well.

On day two of Singapore we had a little more motivation to do some sight-seeing and so took off in search of a few famous places. Our first stop was at SAM; Singapore Art Museum, which was a pretty excellent stop for us. They were hosting some really interesting exhibitions and installations. It’s a bold, white colonial building with a melting Superman standing outside the front! Just around the corner at 8Q SAM’s sister gallery we found a contemporary exhibition showcasing young artists work from Singapore.

Moving on from our art-experience we ventured down the street to Raffles, perhaps the other extreme of sight-seeing as this is what most people try to get to when they have only 2 days in Singapore. Raffles is probably the most famous building in Singapore aside from some of the architecture on the harbor front, mainly because of it’s history and it’s infamous Singapore Sling cocktail. We couldn’t really push the boat out to afford a cocktail each but we did find the Leica store and we were also enticed into the little Chinese cake shop on the 2nd floor. Phillipe had told us about it and so we wanted to find it ourselves to experience.

It’s a lovely space with interesting art, old bikes and an all round great concept for a place to come and enjoy tea. The best past is you don’t even need to buy anything, the tea and one piece of their complimentary pineapple cake is free and so we sat there and enjoyed the space. Sunny Hills are solely a cake and tea shop and only sell the one type of cake, they are very successful and provide a unique experience. If you like the cake of course you can buy little boxes of them and they are very beautifully packaged.

So after our tea break we walked onwards to the water-front, a place again where nearly every tourist will visit during their time in Singapore. It is home to the crazy looking Marina Bay Sands resort with a boat on top as well as what seems like hundreds of sky-scrapers! Not to mention the Merlion statue! We simply wandered around, took a few photos and people watched as the rain came down and stopped everyone in their tracks.

When we’d had enough we were already nearly back at our accommodation and so we opted for another low key night. We ate on Club Street at one of the Italian restaurants as we were both a little tender from something we ate on our last day in Bali. A few more calls home and then we were ready for another flight onwards.

Our next flight was taking us to Kathmandu for the next stage of our travels.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0, 18mm f4, 90mm Tele-Elmarit f2.8 processed in Lightroom 3)

We started the day with our customary Luang Prabang breakfast; JoMa’s cinnamon and raisin bagel with jam, followed by oats, fruit and yoghurt. Our pick up was at 11.10am and off we went to the airport. The whole process was very smooth indeed and by 2.30pm we were in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Bliss.

A taxi took us from the airport to Julie’s guesthouse in the south-east area of the old town in Chiang Mai. They had a few rooms available and saving cash we opted for a triple for the night at 270 baht between the 3 of us. We spent that day sorting out things for the next few days of our trip with the most important on the list being a good cooking class. Helen has done the class in one of the many schools before and so we wanted to do one that was a little different. We booked a full day class for the 3rd with the Thai Farm Cooking School, costing us 1900 baht each, a little more pricey than some but with the experience of cooking at the farm and getting away from the city for the day. Other things we looked into were possible elephant sanctuary’s and buses to Pai. There are so many tours to choose from half the time it’s just a case of getting the price you want to pay for a tour that looks good value. The food choices in Chiang Mai are very good with a wide range of thai and international restaurants to choose from. We opted for a local cafe style restaurant for some long awaited authentic Pad Thai and Papaya salad.

We booked minivan tickets from Julie’s for 180 baht each to take us on the morning of the 4th so we had a few days to play in Chiang Mai before the next part of our adventures. We took in more temples, this time in Thai style design, and recognised some elements that have been taken into some of the temples we saw in Laos. We picked up a Thailand Lonely Planet second hand and paid more than we should have, only to realise this later on and we found a few useful camera accessory items from Paantip Plaza near to where the Night Bazaare starts from the east side. We explored the busy night bazaare and bargained for a fake north-face rucksack, hoping that it lasts! We asked at Julie’s about swapping to single rooms but they were very vague and we couldn’t help but think they had rooms available but were waiting for people booking treks and tours with them to use up the room allocation. This happens a lot in Chiang Mai.

The cooking class took place on the 3rd and we were picked up from Julie’s as part of the package. Our tour guide Tommy talked us through the day and explained that he would also be our chef for the day too. He was a real charmer with the ladies and had a good sense of humour to go with it. We started the tour by going to one of the markets a little out of town, we were really surprised by the organisation and cleanliness of the market. Tommy talked us through traditional Thai foods used on a regular basis, rice, sticky rice, fish sauce, coconut, curry pastes and so on. We then explored the market ourselves for a short while before continuing onto the farm. A couple on the tour bought some deep friend insects and frogs and managed to pass them around on the bus causing intrigue and disgust.

The farm is really nicely located around 45 minutes from Chiang Mai, we were introduced to the vegetable gardens and talked through the various herbs, fruits and vegetables growing there. Our first task was to make curry paste for our curry of choice, Dave chose green curry and Helen yellow curry. We bashed away with a mortar and pestle for around 10 minutes until all ingredients were nicely combined into a paste, some of which were chillies; fresh and dried, kaffir lime, galangal and garlic (many more went into each one!!) turmeric being the one that makes the yellow curry go yellow!

Once the pastes were made we went into the kitchen and started on the mains. We all chose from a selection of 3 different dishes per course and so have 5 in total to cook. We chose different options on purpose so we could try different things. The mains being green and yellow curry, a soup either traditional Thai or Tom Yum, a stir-fired dish, papaya salad, a noodle dish and a dessert. By the end of the day we had cooked and eaten most of our food including the dessert and we had pad thai and noodle dishes ready to take away and eat later on. It was a good course and we’d recommend this school to anyone looking for a cookery get away.

We enjoyed Thai massages that evening along with a few people who had joined us on the course. This is something you must do when you come to Thailand; have a Thai massage. Helen opted for an oil body massage which was very good indeed, and Dave enjoyed a more hardy traditional Thai one, both costing in total 400 baht. Not bad! We went to a salon called Panna which is located near to the eastern gate and we liked the idea of doing a one day massage course and looked into this for when we would be back from Pai.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

We left HCMC at 8am, as always it took a while to get out of the city as the bus kept stopping to pick people up but once we were on our way it took around 2.5 hours to get to the Cambodian border, we had quite a smooth route through passport control as the bus company took our passports, visa fees as well as a $5 admin fee which we only assumed meant that we weren’t hanging around as much as we were through both departure and arrival points within half an hour. It’s always a little nerve racking when someone takes your passport but it worked and next minute we were in Cambodia. After only 15 minutes or so the bus stopped for lunch for 20 minutes and then we left in the direction of Phnom Penh. On this side it took around 4 hours in the end to get to the bus station near one of the big markets in central Phnom Penh, we were a little bombarded by tuk-tuk drivers and saw one of them holding a sign for Sweethome Guesthouse which is where we had made a reservation, they’re not actually from the guesthouse itself but if you’re not booked in and they take you around they will get a commission from the guesthouse, we stupidly agreed to pay $4 for our fist tuk-tuk ride, he seemed to go the long way round we later discovered and we should have only paid a dollar each. It was find though and he got us to the guesthouse, we had a standard double booked for 2 nights with bathrooms for $10.

After settling in and being pestered for booking tuk-tuk tours with the hotel staff we went for a little walk in the city and took in the sunset over the Royal Palace. The guesthouse is very conveniently located south Royal Palace and of the main hustle and bustle of the riverfront, down a quieter street with some good choices of restaurants.

We made our way to the market and bought a very sugar laden fruit shake which helped with our current sugar-low state. It was also very filling and did the trick for a while before we got hungry. We stayed out for some food and ate at a very local noodle-street style restaurant, it only cost us a dollar for the two of us so it was nice to have a cheap start.

Back at Sweethome we arranged a tuk-tuk driver for the following day to take us, John and Lisa (John is Jules’s brother and we did the Halong Bay tour with them in Vietnam) to the Killing Fields and The Slung Treng Museum, we agreed a price of $6 each which we again later realised it was more than we should have paid. Anyway you have to figure these things out when you arrive in new places. We’re learning all the time.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

29th January – Sightseeing in Phnom Penh

John and Lisa arrived at just after 8am and our cheeky choppy tuk-tuk driver was ready and waiting with a tuk-tuk that appeared to be borrowed from one of his pals, they were all joking about the size of it and fitting us all in but it was fine. Perhaps the most amusing thing was that his fuel tank was made from a plastic container!!

It took around half and hour to get to Cheung Ek where the Killing Fields are, arriving early is again better as most tourists start turning up after 9am or so. The entrance fee is $2 per person and we decided to have a guided tour which you pay for based on donation. The area is smaller than we imagined, it was previously an orchard and retains many trees making the area quite serene. The large monument erected for the remembrance of the dead is a powerful reminder of what took place in Cambodia just over 40 years ago! Bones, skulls and clothes which have been found here can been seen, brightly coloured clothes indicated that you were wealthy or educated so therefore you did not stand a chance. Everyone who was brought here by truck was never going to leave!

We were informed by our guide about wooden structures that once stood and what happened inside, from admin to overnight people storage in sealed and dark cells as they couldn’t exterminate them all in one day! Even tormenting them by allowing them to hear the fate of others before their fate was concluded. Pits of mass graves remain and after each rainy season more bones, teeth and pieces of clothes come to the surface of the dirt. You can see pieces sticking out of the ground which makes it all the more real.

Absolutely horrific events took place here to ordinary citizens which makes no sense whatsoever, all in the idea of trying a new political system in order to make Pol-pot a god, produce rice to buy weapons and then spread their influence/extermination far and wide. Even the soldiers who, most of which were brainwashed children, were killed to try and cover up what had taken place.

We left here feeling sombre but with more understanding of the historical events that unfolded. The area is open to educate both foreigners and locals into the history of Cambodia, for people to learn and not let things like this ever happen again. The only downside is that the area is apparently owned by a private firm, maintaining the site but also quite possibly making money from the “tourist attraction” which is wrong and should be funded by the state in our opinion.

Our tuk-tuk driver was waiting for us and we headed off back into Phnom Penh to visit the S-21 prison, used for imprisonment, interrogation and torture of people. This had been converted from a school into the prison camp under the orders of Pol-pot and processed many people who ended up in the Cheung Ek killing fields. Vast empty rooms remind us of the horrors that also took place here along with photographs of victims who were meticulously catalogued and numbered ready for torture and extermination. There are also some written stories from people who are still alive today with stories of their participation in the Khmer Rouge army and their feelings on trial, retribution and the future.

After a sad and truthful morning we went back to grab some lunch at our guesthouse and waited for the Palace to open after their lunch break. We got to the Palace for afternoon opening, Helen wearing a sleeveless top had to cover her shoulders and then we were allowed in. It’s a 5$ entrance fee to the Palace and it is a big site so you can easily spend a morning or afternoon in there, it’s very reminiscent to the Royal Palace in Thailand and has played host to many kings over time, although in the past few decades the royal family have been based in China (or thailand), we heard guides talking of the current king being a monk, it’s always fun eaves-dropping into the tourist groups and making sense from it what we can. Some of the buildings are undergoing renovations; another occurring sight in many cities throughout South-East Asia and China. The main temples and Pagodas are open and the structures are beautifully exquisite in the late afternoon golden light.

We were at the Palace for the main bulk of the afternoon before ending up at one of the markets looking for simples things like sun tan lotion and shampoo, it was difficult finding anything we wanted so ended up going for a drink nearby. After more walking around the city and the sunsetting we found a restaurant mentioned in the LP which served some excellent Khmer food, perhaps a little more pricey and well presented than we were used to but it was good to have something different.

We said our goodbyes to John and Lisa who were moving north in the next few days. We had decided to put our passports in at the hotel for the Laos visas and bought a bus ticket to Koh Kong leaving at 7am the next morning.

We arrived at 8am in Hue after a bumpy overnight sleeper journey. The bus was packed with westerners which made a change from those our travels in China, but it was nice as Helen befriended a South-American Fashion journalist and watched a few episodes of Arrested Development. When we got to Hue we took our bags off the coach and were pointed towards the Google Hotel, here we had a quick pick me up in the form of some fruit and coffee and then went off to see a few sights before our onward bus scheduled at 1.30pm.

Hue is quite small so it’s easy enough to walk across the river and over to the main sights. It was raining and quite humid, and we passed by a war museum so stopped to take a look and saw some old American army tanks before taking in an exhibition on the Vietnam war. It’s not that big an exhibition but was a good introduction to the developments of the Vietnam war. As we left along very slippery paths we walked to the Imperial Palace which is probably the main attraction in Hue. It only cost 10,000 dong each which is around 33p so we forked out the cash and went inside along with several other tourists. After a brief stop to feed the fish we continued to walk around the Palace grounds and ruins, the site is mainly made up of old Palace rooms, some have been preserved to their original use whilst many others are still as they were since being bombed in the war. Tiled floors still form the ground to many rooms but only have wooden structures and the odd wall that show where the walls would have been.

After taking in the Palace grounds we walked to a Vegetarian restaurant on our way back to the hotel to meet the bus. We chose a few local dishes along with some rice and really enjoyed it. We then made our way back to the hotel and got the bus at 1.30pm as scheduled bound for Hoi An. We arrived there at around 5pm and went to find a hotel, we had provisionally booked one place but en-route were offered a cheaper and quite decent room so we opted for this one, breakfast was included and the room was a good size with en-suite. After checking in we went to explore this picturesque river-side town, as we ventured towards the riverside we became enveloped by old quaint houses, tailoring shops, restaurants and souvenirs. It is a very pretty town indeed and almost felt like a stage-set at times, perhaps a little over the top in terms of restoration and just oozed hundreds of western tourists on every street.

We opted for the Morning Glory restaurant close to the riverside but not on the river front for our evening meal. This came in the form of Vegetarian curry, salad, soup and grilled aubergine, each dish was bursting with flavour so based on this we decided to book ourselves onto their cooking class in two days time. Back to the hotel via some more quaint streets, tailoring shops and light displays. before an much needed early night was had.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

Early morning rise at 5.45am saw us take photos of the pink sunrise on Mt Fuji, the best light of the day. Dave went back for more zzz’s and Helen did some yoga.

Our western style breakfast echoed some likeness to what we would have in England; fried egg, hash brown and coffee, add to this a twist of Japanese with soup, salad, vegetables, fruit and yoghurt and it was enough to keep us going until 4pm! Never have we been faced by such well presented food cooked with care and imagination.

On our way into Kawaguchiko they told us they were going to watch their sons fight in a Kendo tournament. We asked if we could go to watch thinking it would be really cool for us to see and document. They didn’t mind taking us and thought it was funny that we wanted to go. It was well worth it though as we saw something that not many other tourists would be able to witness. A sports hall full of children fighting as a team but each time it is one vs one that takes the stage to fight. They are dressed traditionally in Kendo costume and fight with a wooden sword. Hiromi explained the technique and how to win points whilst her youngest daughter Coco-lo posed for photos for us. Their friends were there too with their children so we sat with them and joined in the local support for their team. It really was a fantastic experience and again demonstrated the kindness of our hosts. Taking a break from their sons first fight who demolished his opposition in less than one minute they drove us into Kawaguchiko and left us to explore the area.

It all seems a little dated to us, something that looks like it’s hey day was 20 years ago and nothing has really changed since. We found some good backstreets to explore, the lake had great views of the mountainous region and there was some filming going on – it happens quite a lot here, so we sat and guessed at what may be the point of their project, we decided on a soap opera!

Whilst walking we found a cafe that sold chai based on the outskirts of the village in a large greenhouse. By day a funky cafe and by night a pool-bar/club a really bizarre little find and we wished we could have been there at night. The main reason we stopped was that we couldn’t locate the path to the Fuji shrine, the maps tend not to mark all of the roads and if a path is marked on a map its not always marked on the street! This has at times caused us great confusion and frustration, but we always find a way around it. This time we called for a taxi and got a lift to the shrine…naughty but with limited time until dusk and after last night’s rushed walk in the dark sometimes you have to do these things. Taxi’s are not cheap here though and a 10 minute journey cost us around £15. Still we got to the shrine and it provided us with enough worth to validate the cost of the taxi. Set at the foot of Mount Fuji from the Fuji-Yoshida side you have a large temple with lot’s of other smaller shrines surrounding as well as statues, preserved trees, fresh water fountains, sculptures, flags you name it this temple had it. It really felt like a very spiritual place though and had a real historic feel to it. We found one of the paths to start the trek to station 5 but after a few km decided to go back and make use of the hot baths at the Ryokan.

A short bus ride back and we returned to Inn Fujitomita, we enjoyed the healing properties of the spring, managed to rest our feet and sat for our 2nd evening meal here. This was even better than the first night, again the photos prove our point. Seriously the best variety and flavour of food so far in Japan, and with such a beautiful setting it really was idealic. We were set up for a good night’s sleep after a long day of walking and decided on our route to Takayama for the following day.

We loved our stay at Inn Fujitomita and most definitely recommend it if you ever get the chance to come to the area.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)