An Endless Wanderlust

Leaving super early in the morning we got on our flight and arrived in the warmer although very cloudy Venice. With thanks to my mum and dad they let us use their Hilton points to get us a stay in the swanky Hilton molina stucky on the island of Guidecca. After checking in we decided to go explore the island a bit and found a delicious place to eat some lunch. Since we arrived so early we got the ferry across to Venice to explore San Marco and the Basilica. Wandering in the basilica was amazing and such a great intro to all these Italian buildings that I am sure we will see. Just as we were going to leave a massive thunderstorm came overhead, leaving everyone sheltering for cover from the rain and giant thunder claps. I’ve never heard anything like it.

We spent the late afternoon enjoying the views from the rooftop pool! A perfect way t spend the first day.

Over the next few days we went exploring in the Doge’s palace marvelling at the incredible art and architecture of the building, we wandered the streets and the canals, we went to the Galleria Dell'Accademia to look at the art.

We also spent a day exploring the outer islands of Murano and Burano; the first being the home of glass blowing. We got to see a demonstration of the making a small glass horse as well as a vase. Very cool. We even got ourselves a beautiful glass photo frame. The island of Burano is famous for its lace however we gave it a visit because of the picturesque coloured houses which the fisherman painted so that they would be able to see their homes when they arrived back from sea.

Our last day in Venice we got a Gondola ride which was a birthday present to Ed from my mum! We ended up having to move it from the evening to the morning as there was a strong chance of a thunderstorm and we didn’t want to risk bad weather! It was so much fun and great to see Venice from the canals. I’m also pretty sure we made it into a lot of people’s photos!

We had a lot of fun exploring venice and it’s many streets, enjoying the food and the gelato, I can’t wait to explore more places in Italy.

The first evening we got there we went for a short walk before coming across a market just down the road from our hotel. This was such a bustling busy place and so cool, the sort of thing that would work well in Bristol if we only had the weather. We found ourselves a bar to have a drink at, sitting outside to make the most of the amazing warm weather. Although this did mean that we got to witness a rather drunk man drink a carton of cream. Slightly gross but hilarious at the same time!

Walking around Brussels I couldn’t help but admire how pretty all of the buildings were, definitely makes me want to explore Europe more! Ed also got to impress me with his French language skills!

Saturday morning we had our breakfast and left the hotel about 9am. This was probably our first mistake as the traffic to get to the track was horrendous, what should have been an hour ½ journey took us over 3 hours to get there! Thankfully we made it in time for the qualifying races! Our seats were right on the starting grid with a view into the pits and the first corner! Very exciting! After qualifying Ed and I went for a walk around the track to see what some of the other views were like. It is in such a pretty location surrounded by trees and big hillsides a beautiful setting. Almost makes me want to go camping/hiking!

On the Sunday we learnt from our mistake and got up super early to make sure we made the most of it and got to the track nice and early this time. When we got there we went for a walk to the f1 village where all the merchandise is. Heading back to our seats afterwards to get ready for the race! Watching the drivers parade as well as getting to watch them set up the cars!

The race itself was pretty exciting with a crash on the first corner and then a few laps later an even bigger crash, which lead to a red flag and the race being suspended whilst the fixed one of the barriers. This was all very good news for Lewis Hamilton since he started at the back due to penalties it all meant that he could catch up massively. In the end he made it all the way up to third, impressive when you started 21st.

The weekend was so much fun and jam packed. So good to get away for a bit! Now though we probably have a while until we are next able to get away.

After our relaxing days we headed down the road to Chankanaab park where we spent the morning swimming with Manatees. These are the most adorable animals ever, we got our kisses and hugs and then got to swim out and feed them lettuce. They are so cute as when you feed them they use their front flippers to hold your waist or your leg! After our Manatee encounter we got to have a brief Dolphin experience, we’re we got to stroke them, kiss them and watch them swimming around! We then spent the rest of the afternoon down by the beach and watching a sea lion show. It was such a good day!

The next morning we went for our first dive since we qualified in Koh Tao. Felt a bit nervous but very excited as we’d heard it was an amazing place to go diving! We were not disappointed. We had such an good time, where we got to see turtles and beautiful tropical fish as well as a nurse shark and a moray eel! We decided to sign up for another two dives a couple of days later, as well as night dive! This was was not run as well as the one in Thailand as Ed’s torch ran out when we were about half way through the dive, so a pretty hairy moment for him trying to find the Dive-master to get another torch! However the dives themselves we’re pretty amazing getting to see so many things and made us remember how much we loved diving! 

Whilst over in Mexico the Euro’s (football) were on so we went to Hooters to watch some of the games, this was a much better place to watch the games in the warmth with a cocktail in hand! 

We couldn’t go to Mexico and not see some Mayan temples/ruins, so despite being on a small island we got to go tour one of the ruins they have in the centre, this was pretty cool getting to see how they lived and the different structures they had built. I would have loved to have seen some more but we were just too far away from some of the other mayan sights. We’ll just have to go back!

The day we went to see the ruins we had hired a jeep to drive round the island (yes it’s that small that you can go round in just one day!) on the opposite side of the island to where we were staying they had some beautiful looking beaches and the sea was just the most amazing colour. We got to have lunch overlooking one of these beaches. Perfect scenery. Later in the afternoon we drove right down to the bottom tip of the island to Punta Sur eco park, where we sat on the beach and swam in the sea. Before heading up the lighthouse to get a view over the island. It was only when you got to the top that you realised how much of Cozumel is covered by forest, it was literally all you could see!

On our second to last day we went across to the mainland to Xcarat park. We spent our time in the park going down a very crowded lazy river (where it was slightly easier to swim) which went through underground tunnels. Quite cool although very busy! Whilst there we got to experience and have a go at the Mayan way of making Chocolate. This included a tour of how it was grown and the different tools used to make the chocolate, after the tour it was our turn! Not as easy as it looks. But we did make some half decent dark chocolate just using cocoa beans and sugar, and a lot of effort! We also had a go at Otic Candles. These are candles placed in your ear and burnt to help draw out the ear wax. It was the strangest feeling ever, since you can hear the crackling of the flame in your ear. But I have to say it does work! We had a great time relaxing by the sea and even made a giant lizard friend sat on the beach!

Our time in Cozumel was so much fun and so great to have a relaxing holiday. I’m already counting down the days until we can go away again!

Much love

The New Hope project aims to provide children and adults with skills to help get them out of the slums of Cambodia. They do this through providing totally free education, a health program, counselling and support, and training restaurant. 

We first got shown the old school building where many of the young children from the neighbourhood came running alongside our tuk tuks to play with us. All the children were very sweet and kept wanting to jump on our backs and get us to swing them around, it was very cute. The old school comprised of a few small run down buildings that weren’t big enough to cope with the demand. 

With thanks to donations they were able to open up new buildings where they now teach over 1000 students. We joined in with one class of teenagers who were learning English, it was really amazing what they knew and it was great to see the effectiveness of this program, the kids all really wanted to be there learning. On this site is also a health care centre and the training restaurant where that evening we were prepared an amazing 5 course meal by the students. The website of the project is below if you want to read more about the amazing work that they do.

http://www.newhopecambodia.com/index.php

Our first full day in Siem Reap started very early indeed, we met with the group at 4.30am to go to Angkor Wat to see the sunrise. Despite the very early morning we got lucky and the sunrise was amazing and so very worth it! We then went on to see Angkor Thom and Bayon the smiling temples. This series of temples as you might have guessed has lots of smiling Buddhas everywhere, it was very cool to see it seemed so different from a lot of the temples we had previously seen, even compared to those in Ayutthaya. 

After going back to the hotel for breakfast we went back into the complex to go and see Ta Phrom the ‘Tomb Raider’ Temple which was very jam packed full of tourists, still very impressive with all the tree roots around and in the temple walls. Our last temple of the day was Angkor Wat. After seeing the sunrise over it, we finally got to go in. It was amazing to look around, and we got to go all the way to the top which gave great views over the whole complex. It really was so amazing to see and wonder about how they created it. 

After lunch we went round another market nearby our hotel to get some final souvenirs. That evening we all went out for a special dinner as it was Matt’s birthday. This meant we got a special deal on drinks all night, there was also karaoke involved, it was such a good night with the group we’ll be really sad to say goodbye at the end.  

Our last day in Cambodia was a great one. In the morning we got up early to visit a couple more temples; one of which was built for the Kings parents and the second was called Pre Rup which were the Kings were cremated. That afternoon we went Quadbiking through the Cambodian countryside, after a brief lesson we set off along the roads. It all started pretty calmly until we went off road through the wet and very muddy fields. It was so much fun! Especially when it came to riding down through big ditches full of water and also weaving your way around cows on the road. 

After a quick dinner we then went to go and see ‘Phare’ circus, this was similar to a cirque du soleil show although on a much smaller scale. It was still amazing! Being so close to the stage in a small tent was so amazing and you really felt involved with all the action. It was also really nice to see the relatively young cast seem so excited and happy to be there and when they completed a move you could see the thrill and excitement that they had. We found out that they tour so if you ever get the chance definitely go! It’s so worth it. 

We have one final night in Bangkok tomorrow before we fly home, we’ve had an amazing time on this tour and this last night in Cambodia definitely ended our trip on high! 

After checking in and refreshing we went on a cyclo tour round the capital city. It was such a great way to see all the sights and experience like Vietnam the crazy traffic but from a slightly scarier point of view. On the tour we saw the central market, Silver Pagoda, Royal Palace among other things. Despite being a relatively new country things are starting to look more modern there due to the investment from countries like China and Japan, this is really nice to see for a country with such a terrible history.

That evening we went for dinner at a restaurant overlooking the river and got our first taste of Khmer food (The curries taste pretty similar to Thai food, just not quite as good). It was good to spend some time with our new group and get to know the people that had just joined us some more. 

Today was a very tough and difficult day emotionally to go through as we went to visit the Killing Fields and S21 Prison, the memories from today will be something that will forever be stuck in our minds.

We first went to the killing fields, one of many around the country this one just happens to be one of the bigger ones near the capital. These fields were used during the Khmer Rouge era to kill of unpure people, this involved many smart well educated people and their whole families as if one was unpure they were all unpure. Between 1975 and 1979, 2 million people were killed in these places for no reason at all. 

When walking around the fields we were instructed to be careful and watch our feet as due to the heavy rainfall that the country gets, clothes and bones get washed to the surface and so might be on the paths. This was very evident when we were walking round and was one of the hardest things to see. There were lots of mass graves with the biggest holding 450 people, we also got shown the killing tree where soldiers of the regime which hit babies against to kill them. 

The tour of the fields ended by going into the Memorial house set up in the middle of the grounds. This comprised of 7 stories, the first layer were clothes found and the rest were the bones and skulls of many of the victims. It was very chilling to see especially knowing that it was only a small part of the horror that the country saw in this time. 

We then went back into the city to go to the S21 prison, this particular prison was an old school and was actually run by a teacher. There were up to 17,000 men women and children that were imprisoned here and it was a horrible place to walk around. The cells were cramped with no light and some of the high ranking prisoners many of which were believed to be traitors were kept in horrible conditions. Throughout the tour there were many pictures of all of the individuals that were kept here, it was hard to look at some of the very young faces of children brought here. 

Of the 17,000 brought to the prison it was known that only 12 survived 3 of which are thought to be still alive, these people were kept alive due to skills that they possessed. Two of these prisoners were at the prison telling their story of how they survived. One was a painter and was kept alive as he painted an incredible picture of Pol Pot (The leader of Khmer Rouge) and the other was kept alive as a mechanic to fix the machines. 

This was a day that was very hard to witness but something so necessary to do in order to learn about this horrible tragedy that happened not that long ago and isn’t frequently taught about. 

That afternoon we walked around the central market after lunch with the group, to see what it was like. It was pretty similar to most markets we’ve been to with the exception of very fresh produce for sale. 

Our time in Phnom Penh was an interesting one, one that we will never forget and is something that would be interesting to learn more about, especially considering the trial of senior members of the Khmer Rouge only happened in 2013. Tomorrow we venture on to Siem Reap to visit the famous Angkor Wat complex. 

Our first stop of the day was to Unicorn island where we were greeted by the locals with a fruit platter and treated to some traditional Vietnamese music. We then got to walk around the island to see how the fruit is grown and how the locals live.

Next it was on to a bee farm where we got to try honey straight from the nest as well as other honey related drinks that they have. They were delicious! They then finally brought out a Python! We both had a go at holding it, safe to say it felt very strange especially when it moved plus it was pretty heavy. 

We then went to see how coconut candy is made, which involves lots of skill to not seriously harm yourself, as the tools used are all very sharp with no protective gear! The final product tasted great! It was then time to have a walk through the forest and then get on a horse and cart with 5 of us in the back being taken the short distance to some boats similar to gondolas. Going down the river in the boats was a very peaceful experience listening to the birds in the trees. 

The smaller boats took us to our big boat dropping us at Dragon island for some lunch, not the best food we’ve ever had but it satisfied our cravings before we went back to the mainland to go back to the city. That evening we were free to do what we wanted for dinner so we met up with most of the group as a final goodbye since some of them had stayed on an extra couple of nights. 

After some final sad goodbyes and promises to see each other when back home we went back to the hotel to prepare for our early morning crossing into Cambodia!

When we first got there we had a look at one of the old underground bunkers to see just how small they were, we could only just about fit down them! We also got to look at some of the traps that they set. They were all pretty gruesome definitely wouldn’t like to be caught in one of those!

Towards the end we got to actually go through one of the underground tunnels. Our guide explained to us that they had to be made twice the size since the war in order to fit some of the larger tourists in. This makes the tunnels even crazier as we all struggled to crawl through in this cramped space. I have no idea how all these people lived down in the tunnels for long periods of time. We only went 100m in the tunnels but due to the heat and the strain on the legs we all came out looking like we had just showered. It was a great experience though!

When our tour ended we headed back into the city and went to the War Remnants museum, we had been warned that this would be pretty hard stuff to go and see but I don’t think it quite prepared us for how heartbreaking it would be. The museum was full of honest photographs of what it was like during the war, and showed soldiers being tortured, severely injured children and civilians. The museum also explained about Agent Orange. This was a chemical attack from the Americans over huge populations of Vietnam, the pictures shown were not only of people during the war that had been affected but of children nowadays still being born showing the effects of the attack. This was the most difficult thing to look at. We definitely came out of the museum feeling a bit flat, so just decided to go back to the hotel to rest before dinner. 

That night was the last night we would be spending with some of the people on our tour, we were also joined by some new people that would be coming with us to do the Cambodia leg, so our family was a pretty big one. After dinner our group went out for farewell drinks at the Skybar which had amazing views out over the city but pricey so after just one drink we went to a cheaper area! It was a great last night to spend with everyone. I will be very sad to see some of these people go, we’ve all become such good friends in the short space of time.

Tomorrow we have a trip to the Mekong Delta which will be our final day in Vietnam, can’t believe we are already half way through the trip!