Phnom Penh - day 1

After our long trip to Phnom Penh we then had 2 days to see as much as we could and as much as the kids would put up with. We met up with another family staying at our hotel with 2 boys similar ages to Lach & Finn, from Washington DC, so spent some time comparing notes and sharing war stories of life travelling with kids. They were on the road for a year and had already done Australia & are heading to Vietnam later.

We had been given a contact in Phnom Penh from a guy we've met in Hoi An who used to be based there with Intrepid Travel. It was a huge bonus to have a reputable contact lined up for transport and a guide while we were there and gave us a head start with our plans and the flexibility we needed with the kids.

 

 

Beautiful buildings of the National Museum

Wat Phnom which the city was built around originally - a small lump/hill in central Phnom Penh with a temple on top .

The Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda is one of the huge iconic sights in Phnom Penh and is lit up with spectacular lights at night. Some of it was not accessible as there are special preparations going on after their previous exiled King recently died. He is due for cremation in Feb after the entire population (of Cambodia) have had the chance to visit him and pay their respects if they wish. Below is some of the Silver Palace and surrounding Royal buildings

Buntanh our guide explaining it all

A minature of Angkor Wat with a moat around it that had huge fish and full sized turtles swimming around in it.

Pete & Finn admiring an incredible frieze mural that went on and on for 100's of meters depicting ancient Cambodian mythological history.

                      One of the resident monkeys at the Royal Palace

                                    Silver Pagoda lit up at night

                                     On the streets on Phnom Penh

Ho Chi Minh City & Mekong Delta Experience

It’s been a while since we blogged and in that time a lot has happened for us. We needed to renew our Vietnam Visas, and with so many interesting countries close by to explore we chose Cambodia for a week’s travel for the visa run.

 

The family flew into Ho Chi Minh City which was a stark contrast to our small town of Hoi An. The hustle and bustle of a busy city with everyone in a rush took a bit to get used to. While we were there we linked up with Ian, Karen and Jess (from the Mornington Peninsula) and hit the markets/shops for some bargains. See if you can spot Alison!

 

The boys having fun buying watches.



 

We shared a delicious meal of Vietnamese treats with Ian, Karen and Jess after our afternoon of shopping.

 

Ho Chi Minh City night scape.

 

With an early start we began our two day Mekong Delta tour (yes we became real tourists) which was a combination of bus and boat that would take us across the Vietnam / Cambodia border to the capital city of Phnom Penh.

 

Along the way we experienced the rice paper making process, the maker being very skilled and quite quick, with each piece of rice paper being made in less than a minute.

 

Many people live on their boats, travelling up and down the Mekong Delta, transporting produce that is sold at various markets, including the famous floating market of Can Tho.

Refreshing coconut juice.

 

Along the way we experienced the Vietnamese rowing style which was a beautiful way of traveling while we explored a floating village. This village mainly farms fish and have big cages in the water under the houses that hold thousands of fish.

 

 

 

We made it to the Vietnam / Cambodia border and the first part of the crossing process occurred on a boat where our passports were checked. From there we had to walk about 1km to Cambodia across the official border and back on the bus again.

 

 

 

The final bus trip ended in Phnom Penh where we jumped into our first of many Tuk Tuks (motorcycles with a little hooded carriage towed behind).

 

After a hard days travelling we all enjoyed a dip in the pool.

 

Our first night in Phnom Penh - dinner at the Foreign Correspondants Club with Al's volunteer friend Carola

 

 



Some of this week

The kids had fun painting the school mural wall over the past weeks and now it has been completed. The theme is the enviroment and the kids came up with the ideas and design. Very complicated story!

 

Last weekend we did the tourist thing and visited Marble Mountain a famous nearby local attraction. It's surrounded by exploding development but once you start to climb up the stairs leading up into the 'mountain' it is surprisingly tranquil and there are lots of pagadoas and caves to explore.

 Lachy sees the light.....

 

 

We had a hankering for a roast and Pete delivered another great meal again! Roast pork with vegies and crackling. You have to work with what you can get (in this case we borrowed the oven from a local friend Robin)

 

Pete's 46 birthday. The Vietnamese do a great sponge cake with mock cream and very rich chocolate icing.

 Birthday meal at local restraunt by the river

 Night walk through Hoi An to end the birthday.

 

The next day the waves were cranking and Pete had a great surf.

 

One of our favourite, most peaceful places for a drink, hanging over the river just a 5 min bike ride from our place



This weekend

We decided to try & green up our front 'yard'. So went shopping for plants with delivery Vietnamese-style.

Last night Finn had some fun when an impromptu soccer game sprung up in our front yard with some of the kids living nearby and a mini audience came along to watch. Things winded up eventually when one of the local grandma's came over to let everyone know it was dinner time. I thought she was asking for a drink so went inside for a glass of water for her. She thought I was nuts when I offered it to her but eventually I worked it out and we all waved goodbye.

Pete & our new garden.

 

Last night the 2 older boys were both off at different sleepovers so we had Finn all to ourselves. We took him to his favourite chicken burger &   lemon-juice-in-a-jar restaurant that hangs over the river.