gee... it's exactly three months now since we boarded the plane in switzerland. three month done, many more to go. so far all is still very good and we are loving it.
the travelling is quite hard work i must admit. always on the move, facing new challenges, places, people. but it is worth it. for real!
right now we are in da lat, a small town in the vietnamese mountains. and we are wearing jackets for the first time cause it's rather chilly here. but that feels quite nice for a change. da lat is very beautiful, many french houses, small streets, a big cathedral and something like an eiffel tower.
but first things first. so this is how we got here...
after siem reap and ankor we headed south to cambodia's capital phnom penh. this city is know from mid 70ties, when the khmer rouge took over the whole country and terrorised its own people under pol pot the fucking dickhead. sorry, no other way to put it... he's right up there with hitler and sorts.
nowadays phnom penh is a nice city. it has a special vibe to it. if you sit in a cafe and watch the people, you see many westerners who live there. it somehow made me think of the 60ties in the states. there's just this smell of freedom and "anything is possible" in the air. the downside is, that there are many beggars. they don't send their kids to school (which is free) but take them begging instead. so that means you have all these cute kids asking "for only one doooolla" and you have to constantly stay hard and say no. otherwise it will never stop. this seems to be quite a problem in the city. but many cambodians are aware of that and don't welcome it at all.
in phnom pen we visited a prison of the khmer rouge, where people where left to starve, beaten and whipped. in this prison were people (also some westerners) who protested against the regime. but in 1975 it was enough for a woman to have short hair to be suspected of being a traitor. the inmates were tortured and forced to admit (false) betrayal of the regime so they could be killed. they were brought to the killing fields. we visited one such killing field the next day. it is an area with loads of mass graves where thousands of people where thrown in, sometimes still alive. they didn't shoot the people cause bullets are to expensive. so they beat them up, threw them in the pit and buried them. they also killed lots of women, children and even babies. they just held them by the legs and smashed them against a tree. this all happened under the direct order of this pol pot guy. he however never got charged with anything and lived a quiet live till he died a natural death some years ago. sometimes the world is not fair at all!!!
just before we entered cambodia the king had died and the people of cambodia love their king. so in front of the grand palace there were hundreds of people every evening, from all over cambodia, praying for their late king. that was actually quite nice and very peaceful.
so after that we went on south till we were at the sea in sihanoukville. this little town is not that special. it has quite a few nice places to eat or have a drink along the beach. and lots of 60 year old fat fuckers hitting on 19 year old prostitutes.
but what is beautiful are the islands off the coast. we took a boat out to bamboo island and stayed the night there. i think i have never seen such lovely and clean (!!) beaches. we spent the night in a small beach hut and it felt like living in paradise. we would of loved to stay longer, but had already organised the bus to saigon in vietnam for the next day, so we didn't have an option. but you never know... we might go back there sometime.
so after an awesome last night in cambodia we took a night bus to saigon. so far the worst trip in our travels. shitty bus and even shittier roads add up to be the shittiest bus ride ever. 14 hours of hell... but we survived :-)
once we got to saigon we called astride, the mother of lui, a friend of mine. astride is one hell of a woman. pure energy. she is awesome! she welcomed us to her home and we felt at home indeed. she is a tennis teacher and has her own courts just next to her house where she teaches kids how to play tennis. we stayed there and organised everything for vietnam.
we did a three day trip to the mekong delta and could see how the people live in the countryside, growing fruit, making rice paper and noodles, trading at land and at floating markets. all in all it was quite ok... but it was a booked tour which means "follow the group". but on the other hand it is quite an easy way to see the interesting things. we named our guide "the general" cause he seemed to have a military background or just acted like he had one. "now here, this plant, used for medicine. ok. we go. quickly". always quickly and everything was "bloody haaard". but we had a laugh and got to see some cool things.
after that we went back to astrid for a day and then headed up to da lat where we are now. it's been raining, so we didn't do to much yet. we just walked around the town, enjoyed vietnamese coffee (soooo good) and tea. and tomorrow we're off on a motorbike trip with an easy rider. easy riders are guides on motorbikes and they are suppose to be great. cong our easy rider seem to be a really nice guy. so we're looking forward to our trip tomorrow.
in four days we will be in hanoi where we meet up with my parents. we're so exited. and then we head back to saigon to meet lui (astrids son) who will be there then. and after that we are off to bangkok for xmas and new years where we're meeting jäggi and simon. so for the next time we are looking forward to seeing many friends. awesome....
so that sums it all up.... and now enjoy the pictures....
take care
bonda & dee
people praying for the king in phnom pen, cambodia
snacks for the people in front of the palace
phnom penh streets and people
palace at night
khmer rouge prison in phnom penh
killing fields
wildlife park outside phnom penh
rice fields outside phnom penh
temple in phnom penh
central market in phnom penh
sihanoukville
oh yeah.... pink bad boy
paradise on bamboo island
astrid in front of her house in saigon, vietnam
mekong delta
rice paper
this is a fish farm underneath a floating house
THE GENERAL! quickly....
da lat
