Back to Bangkok

My time travelling had been fun, but sadly all good things must come to an end and I came back to Bangkok with a day or two to kill before I flew back to Britain. I had previously decided to pace myself in terms of sight seeing in Bangkok and had been in two minds about seeing the (very expensive) Bangkok royal palace.

It turned out to be well worth the asking price however, as the temples within it were truly stunning. The complex itself turned out to be pretty big as well and I spent most of the afternoon exploring every nook and cranny of it only to find out that I hadn't even reached the royal palace portion of it.

The current king of Thailand Rama IX, is extremely respected and revered in Thailand (as I found out halfway through buying tickets on a subway only for all the Thais around me to stop dead for a minute as the national anthem played for him). And this was reflected in the grandness and beauty of his throne room.

 I spent that evening chilling out, drinking beer and eating with my fellow travellers at the fabulous U-Baan Guesthouse (yes its shameless hostel promotion time, but to be fair Joy is a awesome if slightly sardonic host and this is my blog so nahhh). My only hick up was in mixing up my flight times, so I arrived bleary eyed to the airport that morning only to find out I could have had a whole extra few hour lie in.

Still overall my time travelling had been a fun, beautiful and eye opening experience and I wouldn't change any of it for the world.

Thailand: Chang Mai

I flew back into Bangkok before taking the very first night bus I could find up to Chang Mai. The city itself proved to be a charming mixture of modern city, ancient temples, bustling night markets and happening night spots, all surrounded by the spectacular nature imaginable.

After arriving early into the very heart of the city, I took my first day there as a chance to relax and recuperate before doing some light sight seeing. Even this proved to unearth a whole treasure trove of wonders, as I past (and then got tempted into) glowing golden temple, after glowing golden temple.

The best was saved for the next day however, as I took a shared taxi up to the hill top temple of Doi Suthep. This complex sat like a jewel overlooking the city of Chang Mai; a rich tapestry of brightly coloured statues, shining buddhas, intricately inlayed doors and walls and in the very centre a spire covered in purest gold. It was a wonderful way to spend my afternoon.

The sun was setting as I arrived back in the city and I decided to join one of my companions in exploring the night markets of Chang Mai. We browsed the market, examined glowing laterns, past rows sequined bags and purses and sampled the wonderful street food on display, before flopping down on the ground to eat. Afterwards I parted ways with my companion and had a rather delightful evening after deciding to pull up a pew with another fellow traveller.

The next day I decided it was time to do something fun, so I decided zip lining was the way forward. As I got picked up we drove through the beautifully pristine forest through which the zip lines had been build. And after a sharp ascent through several flights of steps, I was soon flying through the trees at a rather exhilarating rate of knots. Having slid, tandemed, supermaned and just plain bombed down a zig zag of intercrossing wires, I finally found myself absailing my way down to the forest floor. We topped all this excitement off with an amazing lunch and a walk up to a nearby waterfall.

By the time I arrived back in Chang Mai, I was ready for the return trip back to Bangkok and my final flight home.

Vietnam: Dinh Quan

Dinh Quan was the next destination on my travels. I had past through the town on my first pass through Vietnam and I had been impressed with the truly stupendous boulders that littered the town. So as the bus rolled through from Cat Tien I jumped off and decided to explore.

I managed to check in to a relatively nice (and more importantly cheap) hotel and was soon exploring the town. It was bizarre to see shops and garages literally backing onto rocks that were twice the size of them and in some cases being used as billboards to advertise local products.

Wandering the town, I was drawn to the distance figure of a buddha that sat high on the rocks overlooking the area. It turned out that the area it sat in had been turned into a wonderful area of semi wild parkland and as I scampered over rocks and climbed past fences I was struck by just how beautiful the area was.

After I had toured the massive buddha I puffed and panted my way up the rock face on the other side of the park and was rewarded with a massive rock that was perched precariously on one side. I sunbathed beside it and enjoyed ice tea with the local teenagers who were hanging out by the boulders.

Cambodia: Battamberg

Battamberg turned out to be a nice enough town in and of itself but what really made the place special was the incredibly beautiful temple nearby. I spent my first day there exploring the town, enjoying the food at the local gecko bar and hiring a bicycle to mozy around the surrounding countryside.

While navigating pleasant countryside lanes I came across a group a group of Cambodians that were chilling out, drinking and enjoying snacks and although we couldn't understand a word of what the other party was saying we were able to actually have a rather enjoyable afternoon.

I cycled back and took a tuk tuk to the town's spectacular local temples. They were set high on a nearby hill and as I climbed the many steps up to the top I got to enjoy a spectacular view over the town and the surrounding plains. Hoping down the steps I walked over to my main reason for visiting the site, for as the sun began to set a cavern high in the cliff face began to release a swarm of bats.

What started as a trickle soon became a flood as  thousands of winged bodies took to the evening skies. I watched them until the sun began to slip below the horizon, then I took the waiting tuk tuk back to town. As night fell I hung out and drank in a local bar as I enjoyed the company of my fellow backpackers. 

Cambodia: Prasat Preah Vihear

After life in the hectic city I decided that a trip into the unknown would be just the thing to get my travel juices flowing. I therefore set my sights on the far flung mountain top temple of Prasat Preah Vihear.

This beautiful ruin is set on a disputed region high on the border of Thailand and getting there proved to be by turns fun, frustrating and and adventure in its own right. At first I thought my journey would be relatively simple, I booked a bus from Phonm Penh directly to Preah Vihear, only to discover that this was the name of another close by town and that I would need to make another journey to get near to the mountain top temple in question.

Still the town I stopped in over night was lovely, with great food and some lovely surrounding countryside. So much so that I decided to stop and relax there for a night. Well rested I head off the next day for a military town right ext to the temple. I took what I felt was a rather overpriced moto up to the temple itself and was soon glad I had made the effort. The temple ruins were large, beautiful, peaceful and relatively quiet (I was the only white person there). The views over the nearby plains were also absolutely stunning. After exploring decaying stone hallways, overgrown wats and pocket marked causeways I found to my delight that large areas of the temple were still being actively used as places of worship, complete with buddhist monks and colourfully wrapped statues.

The best was saved for last however as just underneath an overhang which showed off the view to its best extend I found a shrine complete with people meditating inside. After leaving an offering of incense I joined in and let the serene and intensely spiritual atmosphere of the place drift over me.

I left refreshed and ready for the next leg of my journey, Ankor wat.

Phnom Penh part 2: temples and buddhas

I decided to spend the next day or two exploring the beautiful temples of Phnom Penh. I was not disappointed as everywhere I went there were clouds of sweet smelling incense, beautiful golden statues and lovingly crafted pagodas.

My first stop was a centrally placed Wat located near my hostel. I was greeted with a steep white stone spire, crowds of people praying, singing and making offerings and a mulititude of beautifully crafted gold buddhas. After sitting to absorb the calming atmosphere of the place, I carried on wandering the streets of Phnom Penh.

My next stop was the beautiful royal palace grounds, filled with ornate buildings, michivious Macques and possibly one of the grumpiest guards I've had the pleasure of meeting in all of Asia. The most impressive building was saved for last, The Silver Pagoda more then lived up to its name (the floor tiles are all made of solid silver) and collectively it contained more wealth and diamonds then i'm ever likely to see again in my lifetime.

I finished my evening in Phnom Penh socialising and enjoying the sights of the city, all the while playing games of spot (and avoid) the prositute den.

Overall Phnom Penh proved to be a city filled with wonder, beauty, horror and an extrodinary history that I won't soon forget.