SIEM REAP & ANGKOR WAT

Siem Reap is the base for people visiting the temples of Angkor. A charming town by the banks of Siem Reap river. The town has become very touristy with the popularity of the temples and the town now has good quality hotels and restaurants and good night life. There seems to be lots of Australians in Cambodia. Cambodians are a very friendly people and go out of their way to help.
We took a bus from Phnom Penh, a five hour comfortable journey and were met by a relative of the taxi driver in Phnom Penh. He introduced us to a very good hotel which had free shuttle service in the town at request and a pick up at the time of your choosing. Very convenient. The food and hotel accommodation were of very good quality and very reasonable. A good quality hotel would not cost more than $40. Food on average including drinks would work out at about $5 per person. The most popular street is the Pub Street where the tourist crowd congregate to have there feet nibbled by dipping them in a tank full of fish. Apparently the fish clean your feet and legs of any impurities on the feet.
The three days here were all spent at the Angkor Wat looking at the various temples which is the minimum one needs to have to take a good look at the major sites.

One of the views of the Angkor Wat.

Outer part of Angkor Wat.

Angkor Wat main temple.

Ta Keo temple built in 970.




One of the outer temples of which there are many

Roots at the bae of temple

What is he upt to?.. The roots have taken hold since AD1150.

Not an easy climb. East Mebon.

Central Temples Bayon.

Inside one of the complex. Many Buddha Statutes.

Elaborate carving at Banteay Samre

A great picture.

Angkor Thom AD 1180.

A part of 108 statues lining the path of the temple

Phnom Penh Palace.

A view from the hotel.

A park in Phnom Penh

A part of the Phnom Penh Palace complex.

CAMBODIA PHNOM PENH

For much of the last 30 years Cambodia has been associated with suffering, warfare ,bombing ,landmines and we have all heard of the killing fields and the Khmer Roughe.
In the last few years things are beginning to look better and the country is slowly rebuilding itself in its old image of ancient temples and major historical attractions that would compare to the valley of the kings in Egypt.
Phnom Penh the capital is 2 hours flying time form KL and is well served by Air Asia, our equivalent to Easyjet. However sometimes the taxi fare can be more expensive than the actual air fare as the air port serving the destination is very far away.
The city of Phnom Penh on the Mekong river is not in the same league as Singapore or KL but there is a lot to see in terms of Palaces, Pagodas gardens and riverside life. There are lots of tourists in the city and hotels and restaurants are plentiful. Restaurants serve an interesting choice of different food. During the Khmer Roughe period due to shortage food the population resorted to eating anything they could get hold of like cockroaches and spiders. These have now become a delicacy and deep fried spiders are now a speciality. - No I have not tried it yet , however I was tempted by grilled snake at $5 rather than a pizza at $7.

form of transport in the cityPhnom Penh Pagoda.

You will need to look with a slanted eyes.

They want me to join them

Part of Royal Palace

Banana plant in the Palace garden

More of the Palace buildings

In Phnom Penh city

Relaxing after a hard day touring

SINGAPORE & KUALALUMPER 30/09-06/10

Kualalumper
5 hour coach journey is the best way to travel from Singapore to KL. Customs and Immigration can be a hassle if you are carrying luggage and has to take it off the coach and on again twice.
Hotels are plenty and cheaper than in Singapore and are of good quality.
Again China town and India town are worth a visit for restaurants and shopping. This is was our third visit and the only change we noticed was more high rise buildings and more shopping malls. After three days here we said goodbye to parents who went back to India. They seem to have had a very good time. However getting on and off planes, trains and buses and long walks up and down the streets and in shops was finally beginning to take its toll. Three months of rest in the Indian home town will do them good.

Little India in Singapore
KL hotel

Little India by night

Battu Caves in KL

SINGAPORE.

Singapore is lovely city, very clean and well organised in terms of layout ,transport facilities, shops, bars and restaurants. Wide tree lined avenues, hugh modern shopping malls with every designer label one can think off.

90% of the roads are one way which can be a problem as a short journey can turn into a long one and sometimes in the rush hour a little expensive. Hotels are plentiful and of good quality at a reasonable price. For US$ 90-100 one can get a very high quality hotel.

Little India in Singapore is a must. Colourful shops , very lively and vibrant. Streets and shops all had colourful lights due to Diwali and decorated with real flowers in different colours. Night time in the area can be very good fun. Eating in the restaurants in Little India is highly recommended. Lot of the restaurants serve food on a banana leaf and is quite an experience and one can have good quality food and drinks at a very reasonable price. Any one travelling to Singapore must visit

the area.

In Singapore there are lots of statutes of lion as the word Singa means lion and therefore it is referred to as a city of lions.

Singapore skyline by the river

tree lined avenue in Singapore

a trip to the garden has to be must for Rekha

one of the five lion statutes in Singapore

second major statue ...

TAJMAHAL PICTURES.

Tajmahal on a hot day
Difficulty in walking a short distance

I am at the Tajmahal again

This view is better.....

Looks good in the photo........

LAST FEW DAYS IN INDIA

We had a few days to spare so decided to do some more temples, for the sake of the parents. The two important site with very impressive temples at Mathura and Vandraven despite the heat were worth a visit.
The Tajmahal at Agra is not what it use to be. The marble is getting a little yellow and is less impressive now than what it was before. Going on a Sunday was also not a good idea due to the very large crowds on the day.
India is fine if one is going on a week or two week holidays and staying in posh hotels, but going on a long tour like the one we did was hard and at times a little tiring.
India for now is done and has been a very worth while trip despite everything.

Our driver during the 1500 miles of travelling was a miserable old chap by the name of Mohiner Singh. He did not communicate very well or tell us much about anything, however he was a good driver and considering the conditions , he got us everywhere safely.

Some interesting road signs on our journey:

1. You sleep child weeps.
2. She will wait if you are late.
3. Life is a journey complete it.
4. Don't nag him let him drive.
5. All will wait.
6. Licence to drive not fly.
7. After whisky drive risky.
8. Peep peep don't sleep.
9.This is a high way not a runway.

Singapore will be, on the other hand , totally different. No car horns, no dusty roads and no noise.

CHAR DHAM YATRA

The four very important Hindu religious sites are located very high up in the mountain ranges in the north of India. To make a pilgrimage to these four sites is known as The Char Dham Yatra, to which all practising or non practising Hindus aspire, to make the pilgrimage once in their life time.Hundreds of thousand make the trip between April and October when the mountain passes are accessible.The final ascend to the site is either by foot, or on a horse back or one can be carried on what is called a "dolly". This is basically a chair attached to two posts and is carried up the mountain by four young fit lads.
Two days before we started the journey from Rishikesh, there had been heavy rains which had caused landslides and in some places and roads had been totally washed away. Taking a chance we made the start hoping the roads would be cleared in time. With the parents in their 80` this was not going to be an easy journey. Fortunately the car we chose was a very good Toyota Innova 2.5lt.

FIRST DHAM: YAMNOTRI 14TH &15TH SEPT.

220km from Rishikesh ,driving through out the day , always going up the mountains,with roads barely passable and in some case very large and deep pot holes we were making good progress. The drive was fantastic with amazing scenery, water falls, high mountains and deep gorges that you dare not look out of the window. The roads were so narrow that it was frightening. We chose a small hotel 11km from our destination as the roads further up were not suitable for the car.
The hotel was very basic, hot water had to be bought by the bucket at 15Rupees a time. We had to insist that the hotel staff change the bed sheets in our presence, or Madam was not going to sleep in the bed. Our own duvet covers and pillow cases that we took with us was the best decision we made and came in handy at a quite a few places.
Next morning at 6.00AM ,by Jeep, we made it to the place form where we could make the final climb of 6km to the site. As soon as we got here we were mobbed by people wanting to take us up on horses or on dolly. The parents went up by dolly and we made the 6km hike in the cold weather, suitably wrapped in warm clothing. The scenery on the way up is magnificent. Rolling mountains, high water falls and deep gorges. Climbing on foot is hard work. As soon as the sun starts to come up the mountains it starts getting warmer and the layers of cloths start coming off.Out comes the sun glasses and the hat. It took us 4 hours to climb the 6km at reached the destination at 11.00am. The mountain path is cemented and stoned so it is hard on the knees. In the peak season it can be scary as the path is very congested with horses, dolly's and people on foot. There is now a safety railing installed so it is less dangerous and not many people end up in the gorges.

Once you get up the summit and the temple there is the usual throng of priests but this time we were a little wiser. Getting close the source of the Yamanotri and taking a dip in the very cold water was the aim of this particular trip. The dip cleansed what ever few sins I had left. Getting up this far was a great feeling and a release of tension and worry that had built up the past few days.

Coming down was much relaxing. Plenty of tea stalls to stop and relax and admire the beauty of the hills.

ba in a basket , a one man dolly

at the source of Yamnotri

at the source , the water is fast flowing

mother getting drenched, she loves it

along the path

along the path

admiring the view

waking up not that easy

dad in a dolly

2ND DHAM GANGOTRI 16TH & 17TH SEPTEMBER

The second site was another long and slow drive up a different range of mountains with the road conditions not getting any better. After 8 hours drive , arrived at a place called Harsil, 20km from the final destination. The hotel was again very basic but with very helpfull staff. The following morning the drive to Gangotri was easy but the place itself was disappointing. However the walk along the river and the trek up the hills to the caves was OK.

It is amazing that thousands make the long and tiring journey only to spend a few hours at the final destination. This is all due to a religiously significant event that took place thousands of years ago.

still Gangotri

view of the river

close to the source

River was fast at this point

View of Gangotri

Hotel in Harsil

THE FOURTH DHAM BADRINATH 20TH & 21ST
A very impressive temple once we got there by some night driving, which in India, for tourist like us not advisable. This was due to road closures and therefore unavoidable. The place is also high up in the mountain and therefore very cold in the evenings and early morning. Luckily for us the hotel was newish and therefore a little better than others we had stayed.

a view in Badrinath

After a visit to the temple

He likes having his photo taken

Badrinath temple

KADERNATH 18TH &19TH SEPTEMBER

The third site on the tour through a different mountain range, but much more difficult drive, partly as a result of road closures, more land slides and a final destination 14km. up the mountain which we decided to do on a horse back. Not an easy thing to do. The backside got sore, the back hurt and the knees were battered. I think the horse was a bit small for me. Coming down however we decided to walk as on a horse back it was becoming more difficult.

The parents got to the temple site on a dolly, which was also very uncomfortable. Three done and one more to go. looking good on the horses

RRekha was more at ease on the horse

view from the top

somewhere along the way

back form Kadernath

horse needed a drink