27th June 2015

We were a little overwhelmed with information when were planning our trip to Siem Reap. Every one had different ideas about what to do , when to go, what to skip. It was too difficult to digest all of the information so we did what all good traveller’s do and moaned to our friends until they told us what they did.
This was the fantastic message I received from the one and only, the legend Tom Jones…no not that Tom Jones, a even better one that we met while living in Korea. Him and his fantastic girlfriend Lynsey are the kind of people you’d pay to be your friend if you weren’t lucky enough to know them.

Here was his advice:

Hi T.
As far as I remember (it was 2 and a bit years ago) we only got a one day pass. The one day pass is valid for 24 hours from the time of purchase. SO what we did (what the hostel told us to do) was this:
5/6 pm cruise down to the ticket office with your Tuk Tuk driver, get out buy your day pass (I think you need passport) jump back in the tuk tuk and he’ll take you to the main Angkor wat super famous temple. It’s f*&^ing magnificent btw. You MUST see the main temple area in the evening if you are to avoid the crowds. The tuk tuk guy will wait for you in the car park, when your done/it’s too dark go home.
Then the same guy picks you up at like 4am the next day. (Take torches) He’ll take you back to the main site in total darkness and you can find a good spot and take pics as the sun rises over the main part of Angkor Wat. F*&^ing nice.
THEN….and this is the best part as most people (idiots) start to arrive at the main part you do one (because you’ve already done the main site the previous night) and go to the some of the other temples. They’re pretty much deserted/really quiet so you can enjoy them to the max. We did about 5 all before 9am. We weren’t rushing but were conscious of time and was really glad because as it gets closer to 9 it gets busier and busier.
One day pass was more than enough we didn’t feel short changed and saved money. We could have stayed longer or gone back too so it’s flexible but so good to avoid the crowds.
Also tried the minced chicken dish in Siem reap. I know it sounds rank but it’s wicked.

And there you have it. We followed these instructions to the word and had almost all the temples to ourselves. Plus he’s right, the minced chicken is fantastic.
To see more from Tom follow his instagram here: https://instagram.com/tomfalcojones/

Giveaway : Tickets to Seoul’s BNK event (FREE BEER!)

25th June 2015

Hello lovely people.
So here is a treat for any readers out there in Korea land. The organisers of BNK (Business Network Korea) are holding an event in Seoul on the 13th July. This is the kind of event where you will get to talk to other bloggers, online companies and meet some lovely people – both Korean and Westerners. You can check out the event info here.
The tickets are usually up to 45,000 won but we have two free tickets for two lucky readers. Oh and did I mention it’s ALL YOU CAN EAT CHICKEN WINGS, QUESADILLAS and BEER!! That’s right we’re offering you FREE BEER.
If you would like to be entered into this giveaway please leave a comment below and I will raffle the names on the 1st of July and announce the winner.

Event Info:

Monday, July 13, 2015
6:30 PM to 9:30 PM
On The Border – Mexican Grill & Cantina

2F, 211, Itaewon-ro, Yongsan-gu, Seoul – Line 6, Seoul (map)
Take Itaewon Station (Line 6) come out of Exit 2. Walk straight 200 meters until you reach Hannam Building. On The Border is on the 2nd floor.

Angkor Wat – Temples , Temples Everywhere

23rd June 2015

When people say they are going to Cambodia it’s normally an un-said assumption that they are also going to Siem Reap to see the beautiful ruins of Angkor Wat.
We were really excited to go to the ruins but at the same time we were a little worried that we had heard and seen so much of it online and in people photos that it would be a little under whelming.
We had been given the perfect plan of attack for this big complex by our friend (which i’ll post for you guys soon). We decided that because we have been traveling so much that just the one day would be the perfect amount of time for us in the complex…we were also warned from many people that unless you are a History graduate studying the building , you will probably be ok just doing the one day.

We payed our tuk tuk driver to take us to pick up our tickets the evening before from the Angkor Wat offices. This allowed us to see Angkor Wat while it was quiet (with the added bonus of the beautiful dusk light as the sun set).
The next day we woke up at early o’clock…4am…urrrrr and headed to see the rest of the temples. I am no expert what so ever on the history of the temples but I will say that my favourites were the temple of faces named ‘Bayon’ and the temple made famous from the movies ‘Indiana Jones’ and ‘Tomb Raider’ called Tah Phrom. Tah Phrom is recognizable because of the tree’s that have been left to grow out and around the buildings making the stone structures more jungle and artifact.
Pictures can’t do this place justice but here are a select few.

The town of Siem Reap itself is like an adult Pleasure Island from Pinocchio. We really liked it and it was a shame we didn’t have more time to spend there. I got to have a drink in ‘Angkor WHAT?’ and drink a Costa coffee (the british style starbucks) so I was a happy camper.

I don’t care what anyone says…this is a dinosaur carved into tha phrom

A great lightning storm in the sky’s of Siem Reap

Small and Tall do Angkor Wat

Koh Rong Samloem – Our Paradise Found

13th June 2015

Oh Koh Rong Samloem. How I miss you!
As I write this we are in Indonesia and it has been a month since our visit to Cambodia’s Saracen Bay. I don’t think there has been a day that Lee and I haven’t talked about how we miss it. It honestly was our little paradise.

Saracen Bay on Koh Rong Samloem was our home for a week and also the place I was turning 29. Because of this Lee decided to book a slightly nicer place for us , which I wasn’t going to argue about. We choose the delightful Saracen Bay Resort which was 45 dollars a night. I am not exaggerating when I say they should be charging 200 dollars a night. This place was heaven.

We arrived via the fast boat from Sihanoukville (which you can read about here) and suddenly all the travel and pain was worth it. We were taken to our bungalow that was right on the beach and a few meters from the calm and still ocean.
The second we dumped our bangs, we threw on our swimsuits and hit the water. The water was so shallow you could just walk and walk in water warmer than any sea i’ve ever experienced.
There isn’t too much to write here since we spent a serene few days drinking gin and tonics* on the porch, swimming in the sea and star gazing.

no fridge…not a problem.

I spent a fantastic birthday the same way we had spent the rest of the week and it was incredible. The main thing to point out to all you techie bloggers out there is that there was no wifi. The first day I was almost strickend that I couldn’t instagram the incredible sea views but I quickly loved the lack of contact with the world and didn’t really want to return.

The incredible sunrise was worth waking up for

I did debate not talking about this place just to see if I could keep it a secret a little bit longer but I loved it so much that I want you all to instantly run there and soak up the sunshine. If you are looking for the real desert island experience then this is the place for you.
There were other bars to explore but everything closed at about 8:30 for food and 10 pm for drinks so if you are after a bit more of a party feel then Cambodia’s other island Koh Rong, is more for you. We really liked the quiet few days we had there. In fact we liked it so much that when someone compared Koh Rong Samloem to Gili Meno in Indonesia we instantly changed all our plans to add it to our list. We’ll arrive there in a few days so we’ll let you know how they compare.

We loved our little bungalow on Saracen Bay and we definitely will be back as soon as possible.
*We stocked up on snacks and alcohol before heading to the island because we heard it was expensive. It was actually quite affordable there but I’m glad we brought our own supplies.

Sihanoukville – An Unavoidable Stop Over pt2

11th June 2015

The second day in Sihanoukville was a lot better than the first.
We were quite far away from the main area so went for a walk along the beach. The beach front took a long time to resemble anything we were use to. It just seemed to be Cambodian people sat around in areas that were full of plastic chairs but with no bars or restaurants. And a lot of litter. We were starting to get a little worried until we came to the very end of the beach and found some real bars.

We took a seat in a comfy looking beach bar and were told by the staff that they were on the break and wouldn’t be serving anyone for a few hours. So we got up and headed as far as we could until children stopped hassling us and arrived at ‘above us only sky’.

Does anyone know what this lovely bird is?

The Cambodian ‘morning glory’ vegetable

This bar was our little savior in the town. We loved it here. Nice music, nice service and a great view. We sat here for about 3 hours because we didn’t want to head into they main area again. We organised our boat to Koh Rong Samloem in a local tourist building (as adviced by our hotel) and headed back to our hotel. We had a nap and woke up in time for dinner. We started to get ready to head out when Lee and I caught each others eye…looked at our laptop containing all of our unwatched Game of Thrones episodes…and ordered a pizza.
It was the best night we could have hoped for. We did also make a quick stop at a local In supermarket to stock up on supplies for our island trip since we had heard there was only one shop in Saracen Bay that only occasionally opened .. we bought the important supplies of gin, tonic, chocolate and soju. Very adult of us.
Do we like Sihanoukville? No. Is it as bad as you read online? It depends where you are since we did have glimpses of really pretty places and very nice people but I would view it more as a stop off before you head to one of the islands surrounding it. Then again this may have something to do with pooping my insides out, being attacked by ants and backed up toilets….who knows?

Sihanoukville – An Unavoidable Stop Over pt1

10th June 2015

About a year ago Lee and I came home from work and ran up to each other shouting ‘have you seen Emma’s photos!’ a friend of ours had just put up the most beautiful photos of an island called Koh Rong Samloem in Cambodia. We decided that we had to check it out for ourselves.
As we started researching we realised that with the bus times and boat times it was inevitable that we would have to spend one night in Sihanoukville before catching the boat to Koh Rong Samloem. To begin with we were both happy about this since we love seeing as many places as possible. That was until I started researching the place. To say the reviews were bad is an understatement. People seemed to hate this little town. “oh well” we thought “how bad can it really be!” . The answer is that the term ‘so-so’ has been invented for this little place.
We arrived mid-day and we were instantly harassed for about twenty minutes while we walked to our hotel . People aggressively wanted us to get into their trams/tuk tuk/taxis. When we eventually arrived at our hotel we were pleasantly surprised. It looked really nice , despite being quite cheap and having awful reviews (but still the best reviews we could find).
It was at this point we discovered that we’d made an error with our planning and we had to spend two days in Sihanoukville. I can’t say I was happy but I was excited to make our own opinion of this little town. We walked for a little bit and found a lovely restaurant on the road. The people were nice , the food was cheap and the portions were plentiful…but most importantly …the beer was cheap. We returned to our hotel happy and upbeat for the next day. That’s when the hotel started to show it’s true colors. We tried to open our door but it refused to budge. We pushed a bit harder, both having individual ‘you must be doing it wrong’ turns. That’s when we noticed the door had obviously been kicked open a few times. Due to poor locks we basically had to break into our own hotel room. Once we huffed and puffed our way in we sat on the bed and I grabbed two glasses to pour ourselves a well deserved class of diet coke….this is when the inside of the glass seemed to be moving in front of my eyes. I refocused since I had had one beer at dinner…inside the glass were a million ants. This is when we started to look around the room and realise it was swarmed with them. The more our eyes adjusted , the more we saw. We jumped up and ran to the reception desk. The staff seem to clock off at a certain time so we were stuck in the ant room. Lee cleared them up the best he could and I headed to the bathroom. I wasn’t feeling great .
Not feeling great turned into my insides trying to escape…very quickly and very aggressively. This , as everyone knows, is not the best feeling when on holiday. But in Asia it seems inevitable. I let my body attack and finally felt slightly human enough to leave the bathroom. Being ill is an awful feeling and at that moment I didn’t think it could get much worse…that was until I flushed the toilet. Watching the toilet water starting to go up instead of down puts dread into a human like nothing else. I won’t go into too much detail here in case you are sitting down reading this with a lovely breakfast but to say ‘it was the worst of times’ in that bathroom probably wouldn’t sum it up. Lee and I have been together a long time but the things we’ve both had to deal with on this trip has matured our relationship extremely quickly…and luckily made us laugh a hell of a lot. Leaving that bathroom to face Lee and explain the horrors that awaited behind the door was not my favourite moment. Cleaning it up because I refused to let him enter the bathroom was yet another of my least happy memories.
When the ants, toilet and door were all distant memories and we settled down to sleep I was secretly dreading the next day and wishing with all my might that we could just leave for our island paradise the second the sun shone.
Sihanoukville – 1
Us – 0
(Luckily there are no photos to accompany this post !)

Phnom Pehn – Our First Glance of Cambodia

6th June 2015

Well it’s been a while since i’ve updated our little blog. Mainly due to just having too much fun. We have now moved on from Cambodia but I can’t wait to tell you all about our trip.
Neither of us had any clue what to expect from Cambodia. We wouldn’t have even have added it to our travel plans if it hadn’t been for the rave reviews from our friends. We knew we wanted to go to Siem Reap to see the temples of Angkor Wat but other than that we were a bit stumped.
Since we were heading there from Vietnam we decided to start in the capital of Phnom Penh and see what we could find.

What we found was a city on the brink of becoming a big cosmopolitan and a ‘must visit’ city. The Cambodian people were very kind and always smiling which made being in the city much easier but there were a lot of sellers trying to entice you to buy their wears at every turn. Unfortunately it also seems very popular in Phnom Penh to use your children to get money. I’m not a fan of this and it upsets me so much to see little kids being pushed to sell bracelets but PLEASE don’t buy things from them as you just proving that it pays to take your kids out of school. I know i’ve banged on about this before so I’ll stop my blog-rant but try to hold back as much as possible.

The highlights of this city definitely seem to be the palaces and buildings. Such detail is put into the surrounding architecture. A normal government building would have me taking pictures for far too long. Cambodian food is also a highlight. Quite a few people we talked to had suffered from food poisoning so unfortunately it is better to eat in restaurants than on the street but hopefully this will change as the country grows. My personal favourite food was the Amok curry… a coconut, creamy yellow curry sometimes served in a coconut. mmm I miss them already.

Surprisingly Cambodia is a lot of expensive for food and drink than Vietnam. In Vietnam a beer and a meal would cost about 2 dollars where as here it would be closer to 6 dollars. Still incredible compared to our home in the UK but its worth noting if you are traveling here thinking it will be the same as Thailand and Vietnam.

The moments that will stay with me most from our trip to Phnom Penh will definitely be the time we spent in the war prison. This old converted school is haunting. The blood still paints the floors and the eerie feeling of the horrors that took place here still hang in every room. It is a disturbing place to visit that will pull your day down but it is something I’d recommend. I’m really glad we got to understand the country we were in a little more. It is also shocking when you realise how recent all these events happened in Cambodia and how every person we met on our trip near our age or older was effected in some way by the events put into place by Pol Pot and his Communist regime. I didn’t take any photos , out of respect, while I was there . I couldn’t bring myself to snap anything in such a place but please take our word for it that it is a haunting place and one that should be visited.
We only spent three days in this city but I really liked it. I am excited to see how it changes and grows over the next few years.

The part of us that use to live in Korea found this Mr Toulet sign and the placement of these flags very strange (that's north Korea by the way who have an embassy in Phnom Penh)

The part of us that use to live in Korea found this Mr Toilet sign and the placement of these flags very strange (that’s north Korea by the way who have an embassy in Phnom Penh)

These creatures are called the Khmer and Cambodians believe that they come from these creatures. They believe Cambodia was underwater until one of their kind fell in love with a human and created the race we see today.