Days 11-12, Vietnam and Cambodia, January 2006.

Day11 Monday 9th January 2006

The first temple this morning was Banteay Srei. The young guide had plenty to say about it but all I remember was steps everywhere.

Next we cycled to see the ruins that all cinema goers know. Either Pre Rup or Ta Phom was used in Tomb Raider. Here the Stung tree roots wrap themselves around the ruins. It seems as if the seeds have germinated well above ground and the aerial roots have grown down to find the earth. By the time the tree has fully grown the roots are massive. I had lunch with Moya and David.

In the afternoon we visited Angkor Wat. This temple was originally built as a funeral temple for Suryanarman11 in honour of Vishnu. The whole temple system here is a mixture of Hindu and Buddhist. Cambodian Buddhism is not the same as Indian Buddhism. Ankor Wat faces West. I climbed a very steep set of steps and came down again intsantly but gingerly. I was foolish to even attempt it .

To me the best part of this visit was discovering tiny frogs in the lake. They made a noise out of all proportion to their size. They were extremely difficult to see below the water because they were nearly transparent and had green stripes. They were present in their hundreds. To make the croak the expanded their throats like balloons. I suppose the noise was that of air being released under pressure.

In the evening Debbie and Moya had massages and I had dinner with John. Very nice it was too.

Day 12 . Tuesday 10th. January 2006

This was our last cycling day. We cycled from the Hotel Casa Angkor to the 12th. century temple of King Jayavarman v11, reputedly Angkors greatest king. Angkor Thom is a Buddhist temple which is enclosed by a square wall 8 metres high with 5 20 metre tall monumental gates decorated with stone elephant trunks. Originally the moat around the Thom was filled with crocodiles. Tall statues of 54 different gods protected each gate.

The city itself contains another of Angkors gems, The Bayon. We cycled there and marvelled at its maze of corridors and 54 gothic style towers. The central temple has 1200 metres of of the finest bas reliefs depicting scenes of every day life in 12th. century Cambodia. This is where the Group photo was taken.

In the afternoon we took an optional trip into the huge lake, Tonnel Sap, in the middle of Cambodia. It is a fresh water lake with floating villages. Pigs were kept on rafts; there was a floating school, a floating Catholic Church and many floating homes. The boats are moored but have to move as the lake expands to 40,000 sq.km. after the rainy season and contracts to 12,000 sq.km. during the rest of the year. This lake is famous for having more fresh water fish varieties than any other lake in the world. We sailed into the centre of the lake and just floated there. Some little boys in basins came along side from a nearby floating restaurant. They were begging. The weather was perfect . We had taken beer and just relaxed totally in the sun. Mel. and No. are getting closer. Watch this space.

Sue collected a contribution from everyone to thank Laura for being an excellent guide.

Our final meal was at The Khmer Kitchen in Siam Reap.

This trip was for me very memorable. I have memories of all the members of the trip and even if you don’t get a mention I would like to thank you for your company. It was superb.

Love from Joan

 

Tasmania-Feb 2005

Terrific Tasmania - Feb 2005

Margaret and I sailed across The Bass Straits from Melbourne to Devonport on The Spirit of Tasmania.
During our trip, one evening was so wild, wet and windy that the The Spirit was damaged by a huge wave and had to return to Port Melbourne. This same evening happened to be our 5th. under canvas but after that we found accommodation with more substantial cover.

We were free spirits having a car, a tent and no bookings. We “did” the North-east corner, the East Coast, the Freycinet Peninsula, the Tasman Peninsula, Hobart and the Derwent Valley, The Huon Vallley and finally up the main North South highway from Hobart to Launceston

“Did” in our case meant take in all the natural beauty of an area and usually included a good walk. We’d had quite enough rainforest walks by the end to last us a while. These included ancient Eucalyptus, Pine and Myrtle forests. We climbed Mt. Stromach through bush following strategically placed pink ribbons; we tramped the coastal footpaths both north and south of Bicheno; we had an exhillerating walk on the Blue Tier Plateau and accomplished numerous mini-walks to visitor attractions.

There were a couple of things I hated about Tasmania.

1) The numerous road-kills of Marsupials of all kinds( Except the Tasmanian Devil because it’s very fast and if it tries to eat the road-kills, it snatches and runs like billio)

2) The heavily laden logging lorries. Enough on that subject!

If you have, thank you for reading and if you haven’t it’s been a pleasure anyway.

Joan

 

Austalian seaside holiday, January 2005

From Jan. 3rd.-10th. we went for a sea-side summer holiday. That is Mike,Helen, Jan(Yan), Sophie, Molly and myself.
The sea in question was the Southern Ocean and the place, Port Campbell on the Great Ocean Rd. As soon as we arrived the weather turned cold, wet and windy. We had a very British sea side holiday. We made sandcastles wearing jumpers etc etc. However it was a break from work for Mike.Click on photo to enlarge it.
So, it was because we had to get out and about that we all saw 3 things we’d never seen before.

1. In a National Park near Warrnambool called Tower Hill we climbed up to the rim of an extinct volcano. It wasn’t a text book round crater but we were all impressed. Sophie and Molly were more impressed with the kangaroo poo that Dad had pointed out.
2. Further west in Port Fairy, we saw a Chinese squid boat.It was festooned with multuple lights about 2 mt.above the deck. The squid fishermen go out at night and switch on the lights.
   These attract the squid food which in turn attract the squid; the fishermen scoop up the squid and Bob’s your uncle.
3. 25,000 short tailed shearwaters returning from a day’s fishing at sea,to Muttonbird Island, where we witnessed this. There are 50,000 birds but apprx half were sitting on eggs.It was quite a spectacle.

Go to www.focusonflinders.com.au for more info.They are dubbed Mutton birds because early settlers ate the fattened chicks and it tasted like mutton. A small industry in this fare exists today.

All in all this was a memorable holiday.
Love Joan

 

Uwland Christmas in Australia 2005

Hello Again

Warm/Hot December.
December just whizzed by in a flurry of end of term playgroup parties,Christmas lunches (Helen’s Alphington Community made me particularly welcome at theirs) Christmas decorating and shopping,carol sevices and carol singing. It was very peculiar going to evening carol singing in T shirts and summer gear.

The Uwland dynasty included me in their traditional Christmas-Eve Christmas dinner at Mike’s (Helen’s husband) parents’ home. Tineka and Henk met at about the time their respective parents emigrated bringing their offspring with them. Of the original parents who emigrated from Holland only Omama (greatgrandma) Tineka’s mother survives.She’s in her mid 80’s and had made the large Christmas pudding.

During the late afternoon ,Santa came to the house on a fire-engine. He brought loads of presents that were put under the tree.There was a photo session of course.
Twenty seven sat down for dinner. Henk’s and Tineka’s children,their spouses,offspring and where applicable boy/girl friends. Tables had been borrowed from the church hall and the splendid meal was a joint effort. The men cooked the various meats outside in a barbeque cum oven , the ladies did the starter and veg, Tineka made the pumpkin soup and Omama made the pudding.

When everyone was full after the main course, Henk (with little helpers ,Sophie and her cousin Lewis) distributed the presents to every one in turn round and round the room.Sometime a present turned out to be a potato. In one case, cousin Kelsey who’s about 7yr.old got a potato for “telling on Mummy”.Nobody knew what she had told but every one had a good laugh.
After pressie opening Tineka poured lashings of brandy on Omama’s pudding and along with cream and ice cream in disappeared in quick style. By this time it was dark so the flames showed to good effect.
That “many hands make light work” came true and H and T were left with a clean and tidy house ready for Christmas Day
Father Christmas came the next day. Of course.

 

21st. November 2004-1st.December

Hello Everyone,
I haven’t forgotten any of you.
Here is some “International Traveller News”
International traveller isn’t far off the mark,Mark.
On 21st. November, Mark took me to Harrogate Train Station where my travels began.
Some of you will have seen the photo he took of me . I was really well loaded up.
From Manchester I flew to Dubai with United Emirates then straight on to Nairobi in Kenya.
My friend Daniel was there to greet me with a minibus and a wonderful driver called Duncan.
The next day ( I spent each evening at the Nairobi YMCA) I met Daniel’s wife Jane and their 2 little girls ,Mercy who is 6 and Lynn who is 3. The whole family made me feel very welcome .
We used the minibus and Duncan every day to get around.
During the week we:- 1. had a 3hr. walk with a Massai Guide through Hell’s Gate Gorge (Mercy and Lynn were at school),
2 visited Mercy’s school
3 visited Nairobi National Centre to see traditional Kenyan dancing and several reconstructed tribal villages
4 visited the Rothschild Giraffe Centre. These giraffes are endangered. We were able to feed them . There is a plan to increase their numbers
5 met Patrick, Daniel’s boss. Patrick gave me a very good deal on the hire of the bus and Duncan for the week. His youngest little boy contracted Malaria while I was there.
He’s O.K. now thankfully
6 spent 3 hours plus in the Nairobi Widlife Park with the top of the bus up. Duncan rescued a car load of very grateful Oriental gentlemen (Homo sapiens) by towing their Toyota out of a big rut.

I had the pleasure of visiting Daniel’s and Jane’s home and have to say that their hospitality is second to none . Mercy read to me from a Ladyird book in English.
Finally the family came to the Jomo Kenyatta Airport to see me off.

My thanks for a wonderful week during which I saw:—-
baboon,hartebeest, Thompson’s and Grant’s gazelles,impala,warthog ,3 kinds of giraffe,hyrax,tortoise,ostrich,guinea fowl, buffallo, rhino and crocodile

Thanks go to Daniel, Jane,Mercy, Lynn,Duncan , Patrick and all the staff at the Nairobi YMCA.

P.S.We didn’t see lion or cheetah; it was too hot.

From Nairobi I flew to Dubai again and then Singapore.

I had a free morning in Singapore so after having a chat with ubiquitous Brits. in the breakfast room of the Furama or was it Fumara?I went for a long walk to The Raffles Hotel. Just to see it.

People are attracted to it in much the same way as they are to Betty’s in Harrogate.
Helen met me at 2am. Melbourne time. It was lovely to see her after several months.