The Retreat

Monday, (the blog is set at Bermuda time)
As I write a chicken has just strolled through the lobby of the retreat. We are laying low today, blogging, reading and catching up on emails. We are the only people in this massive estate, it is like our private residence, the numerous staff go about their business and occasionally Winnie comes from the kitchen with some fresh ginger tea. The sound of the river is constantly in the background but closer still are birdcalls and other unidentified creature noises.

The chicken has now been evicted. As you can see, open air living is pleasant but anything can arrive at the doorstep, as long as it isn't a snake we are happy!

Yesterday, we explored the north and eastern end of Bali. It was overcast so the photos are not brilliant but as we're in Indonesia I suppose it is mandatory to show a rice field, this one at the base of Mount Batur. Everyone is gearing up for a big ceremony so the temples are busy and the streets are lined with decorations cleverly made with many different forms of bamboo.

Bali

Yesterday was a travel day, Yangon to Denpasar via Singapore. We arrived in the dark, slept under a mosquito net and listened to the birds in the jungle and an almighty lightning storm.

When we woke up, this is what we saw, The Panchoran Retreat, magical.

The hotel is owned by Linda Garland, known locally as the Queen of Bamboo having founded the Environmental Bamboo Foundation, she is famous for her interior design using 'nature's miracle' and the material has been cleverly used in everything: lamps, shades, screens, chairs etc. etc.

So we are up to date, feeling refreshed and off to explore Ubud and beyond.

Inle Lake

Due to the difficulties of uploading pictures we could not show you Inle Lake. Starting with the view from the hotel:

The famous fisherman on one leg.

Longboats up river at Inn Dhein vilage.

Lord Mountbatten

We are not guide book travellers and do not research pages of text prior to arrival, we just go with the flow and find out when we get there. However, on day 2 we were very privileged to spend the day in the company of a guide, former curator at the Museum of Archeology who had been a guide to Lord Mountbatten. It was he who ensured the preservation of Bagan by instructing the British not to bomb the Japanese around Bagan during WW2. We spent the day being enlightened on many aspects of the temples: glazing, painting, Buddha stories and construction.

See here the story of the duck and the crow (the Buddha always recognizable with the umbrella above). Unfortunately the fine paintings cannot be photographed.

One of the more unusual pagodas and one of Mountbatten's favourites.
Bagan was a Unesco World Heritage site until 2000 when they withdrew in frustration at the attitude of the government which has every interest in taking the profit from tourism and no interest in spending the millions that this area deserves. Believing that they know what they are doing they have replaced the finest Italian restorers with unskilled, inexperienced workers to restore these fine works of art and the results are disastrous.
We finished the day with a river cruise at sunset.

Bagan

Burma has been described as ' the land of breathtaking beauty and charm yet only recently emerging into the modern world'. Nowhere is this more evident than around Bagan, an area of 49 square miles (7x7)and the site of a staggering 3,200 pagodas, previously the 11th century home of an estimated 200,000 people. One can only imagine what it must have looked like with all the villages, crops and animals interspersed with these incredible structures in prime condition.

Not only are they breathtaking from the outside but inside many of them were painted floor to (very high) ceiling with Buddha stories in intricate detail, we spent the first day wandering in a horse cart, there are a few temples which you can climb and see probably a thousand pagodas.

Bagan is quite different from Angkor, where everything was laid out on a grid (in the middle of the jungle) here there is no pattern and they are randomly scattered, sometimes quite close to each other. As we sat at dinner overlooking the river we enthused about an extraordinary day.

The river

First sight across the river from Mandalay was the biggest concentration of pagodas we had seen, shining gold in the morning sun but we soon passed into rural countryside, reading and relaxing as we passed the fertile sandy banks of The Irrawaddy passing the occasional passenger ferry and many barges laden with timber, this being the main artery of trade from China to the Andaman Sea.

Mingalabar and Mandalay

Mingalabar is the Myanmar greeting which rolls easily off the tongue and seems to have been created to end with a smile, Burmese people have a wonderful happy character. We tok the short flight to Mandalay, the primary intent being to take the ferry to Bagan. It's amazing what can be packed into a few hours so we visited the Royal Palace (disappointing)and Kathadaw Pagoda, but the highlight was the wooden monastery built as a home by King Mindon, an incredible structure of intricate carving both inside and out.

We finished on top of mandalay Hill approaching sunset. This is a fine pagoda (a pagoda is a collection of any number of structures: stupahs which are solid and temples which can be entered and usually house one or more Buddhas)but it is not as magnificent as the Swedagon in Yangon.

The views over the surrounding countryside were spectacular as the sun set over the Irrawaddy River on which we would set sail for Bagan in the morning.

Myanmar

The Golden Kite – first stop on the route, which is called The Golden Kite was Inle Lake which is a unique self contained community. The fisherman are famous for steering their boats using one hand and one leg on the oar in order to keep their other hand free for casting lines and nets.

The lake has many hectares of floating gardens, bamboo rafts loaded with soil and held in place by bamboo poles sunk into the bottom as the lake is very shallow. Many vegetables can be grown and the locals tend the “fields” on their narrow skiffs. They also dig for mud and weed in the lake that is used to replenish the gardens that eventually break down and return to the bottom, thus completing a full eco cycle.


Each day we were taken out in the hotel long boat to visit a different
village. There are many other artisans such as silversmiths, blacksmiths, silk and cotton weavers and cheroot producers but the primary enterprise is fishing.

Around the perimeter of the lake they grow rice, sugarcane and raise livestock making this area virtually self-sufficient. It is still very unspoiled and hopefully will stay that way but times are changing. Tourism figures for 2011 were 200,000 and they will triple in 2012.
We understand that many hotel companies are waiting in the wings and as soon as sanctions are lifted development will be rapid.

Thailand

Apologies for long delay, wifi in Asia is not reliable and uploading photos also tricky.

Thailand – We decided to make a day-long bus run for Bangkok, crossing into Thailand at Aranyaprathet which is as grotty as all the other borders. Once inside Thailand it became obvious that it is decades more advanced than where we have been, better housing, roads, schools and electricity supply. We arrived at 9pm two hours late (normal) and checked into the Mandarin Oriental for three days of decadence. Within five minutes we realized the service would be the best anywhere and it was that way for the entire stay.

The Jim Thompson Museum is located in the house that he built. JT was an American architect, designer and one time part owner of the Oriental Hotel and the primary promoter of the Thai Silk Industry. He disappeared mysteriously in Malaysia in 1967 but his brand continues and is widely marketed.

Those who have seen the King’s Palace will understand how difficult it is to capture on film particularly with our pocket camera, but it is the tourist highlight of the city. When we weren’t enjoying our view of the Chao Prah River we rode the sky train. Two full days was perfect. On to Myanmar.

Yangon – We had been warned that one’s itinerary may not always go to plan and so it proved as we were thwarted in our attempt to take the train to Inle Lake via Thazi. The 11:00 am train did not exist and taking the 4:00 pm over night would have defeated the objective of seeing the countryside.

We managed to bring forward one of our Yangon hotel nights at the Governor’s Residence. This could be a blessing in disguise as it will give us more time in Bagan.
The hotel is an oasis of calm set in the diplomatic neighbourhood of Yangon which is a rather tired city, suffering from years of neglect and pollution.

The feature attraction is the Shwe Dagon Pagoda, a massive golden stupah that towers over the city. As in Thailand all the temples are either bright gold or multicoloured mosaics made of millions of tiny pieces of mirror, porcelain and coloured glass. In this part of the world one can become rather blasé about all the Buddahs and shrines but this one is special!

The Bamboo Train

There is not a lot in Battambang (pronounced bong) but our 6 bungalow eco-hotel, recently built by a frenchman and his Cambodian wife whose family fled the Pol Pot massacre, was charming.

As our bus for Bangkok did not leave until noon time we took an excursion to see the bamboo railway. This is not a train in the traditional sense but a method of transport ingenious and typically Cambodian in its simplicity.
There are few parts as you can see: 2 axles, a bamboo raft with a lawn mower engine attached and a drive belt. The raft slots onto the wheels and the belt is fitted to the motor and off you go. As there is only one set of tracks, when you meet an oncoming 'engine' both stop, one driver takes his unit apart and lifts it off the tracks and then the other driver can pass. This takes perhaps 2 minutes.
We rattled along for 5 miles bobbing and weaving to the undulations of the tracks and then made the return. Sadly the line will soon be replaced by a new modern train which the country desperately needs so we are fortunate to have seen it and it was worth the visit.

Battambang by boat

We suspected that cramped conditions would be the order of the day when the minibus (9 seats) that collected us was loaded with 15 people. It is not unusual to see 20 Cambodians packed into a Nissan van but for Europeans it's tight. The half hour ride to the boat reminded us that we had been at the posh end of Siem Reap where the park is kept clean, this was like Phnom Penh revisited.
The boat had 54 fiberglass seats and we were fortunate to have two, there were an additional 25 bodies or so on the roof with the luggage.

We crossed Tonle Sap lake to the mouth of the Sangker River which has no banks, just floating lilies and reeds. The people live in wood and corrugated huts which float on large bamboo rafts. The shops, schools and government buildings all float and most have a tv antenna. Birdlife was plentiful and the river people have many ingenious ways to trap fish.

Occasionally we would collect more passengers and their boxes and bags, delivered by skiff and usually sculled very proficiently by a child.
As we progressed further up river population increased and we eventually stopped at a floating restaurant where everyone could have a pee (into the river, behind a screen) and something to eat (no, thanks). Tinned almonds have never tasted so good! The raft was tilting seriously to the 'loo' side as 75 odd passengers disembarked.
The next phase of the journey was totally unexpected, suddenly we left the open river to take (presumably) a shortcut down a narrow channel cut through the brush. There was no warning as we crashed a 10 foot wide boat down a 9 foot wide channel and branches were smacking us in the face. Within minutes we were all huddling in the gangway or laying down as the massive diesel engine churned through the undergrowth. This went on for probably 20 minutes until we encountered a fishing vessel coming the other way, big boat won as the poor chap was forced off into the bushes and we carried on.
After meandering through very shallow wetlands the river banks appeared, quite depressing to see miles of ramshackle dwellings and the people swimming in a filthy river fishing for the smallest fish.

Who knows what they think of a boatload of foreigners invading their privacy through a huge Nikon lens clicking 20 frames a minute but all the children wave and smile while the adults try to stop their boats from being bashed by the surge of our massive wake. A bit tedious at the end but all told a fascinating day and an insight into a way of life you would never see by road.

Last days of Angkor

Having accomplished the primary reason for visiting this area we left Angkor impressed and amazed at the scale of this ancient city, built over 1,000 years ago by 1 million laborers and no machines. They say the foundations of Angkor Wat could support a modern 50 storey building and there is not an ounce of concrete in it, every stone is meticulously shaped to fit and the carvings are perfect, probably because if a mistake was made your hand was chopped off.
Siem Reap is a fun cosmopolitan city, by day thousands of visitors spread around the vast network of temples in the park and at night the triangle of bars and restaurants in town is buzzing and dozens of languages are spoken.
We are feeling fit and have been careful with food (no meat or fish) and water and we have started taking our malaria tablets, it is swampy here and the lizards that run on the walls of the restaurant are fat due to the plentiful supply of mosquitos. The result of our change in diet is that my belt tightens effortlessly to the next notch but Mrs. G looks the same, immaculate as always.

the road to Siem Reap

The express bus (Ford Transit with seats) was definitely the fastest way to travel, 50% of the time was spent on the wrong side of the road overtaking and occasionally even overtaking the overtakers, horn honking every 5 seconds. There was a stark contrast between new Cambodia, the DVD player showing a Luc Besson action flick (perhaps to distract the passengers from the driving) and the oxen plowing the fields outside, very old Cambodia. Arriving in Siem Reap was a big improvement, modern city, wide streets, many new hotels, lush gardens etc. all a result of the tourist demand for Angkor.
Arrived at the guest house to discover the first error on the part of the tour planner (also the writer). It transpired that the cost was $60 for 3 nights including a 2 day guide package, not $60 per night. The proprietor was not surprised when we said we weren't staying ( the look on Clare's face said it all) and we were driven to a nearby hotel some 3 stars up the rating scale. The only room available was a junior suite and the bellman who showed it to us prior to taking it was very kind to advise that we should ask for a discount so in the end we have superb accommodation for $120. Gives new meaning to the concept of helpful staff.
The best advice we can give on Angkor is to Google it! After one day touring what is a huge National Park it is clear that we have absolutely the SLOWEST tuk tuk in Cambodia, but who's in a hurry? Impossible to capture in pictures but a here are a few.

Last of Phenomenal Pong (Phnom Penh)

After The Royal Palace we decided we had seen the best of the capital so took a last day trip to the Old City of Udong, 40 km by tuk tuk is on the slow side but it gives a chance to take in the sights, including the attached picture of the fairground and Buddhist Center of Cambodia where we saw only 2 other tourists.

Phnom Penh

A 7 hour bus journey took us to the Cambodia border and on to Phnom Penh. Our tuk tuk driver got us to the hotel and we then went out to see some sights. Saigon driving is crazy but nothing like here where Buffalo Rules apply, in other words there are none and you go where you like, as a buffalo does! Pedestrian crossings mean nothing and everyone expects the unexpected, it is not unusual to be in the middle of traffic going against the flow (as pictured) but there is no road rage, no animosity, it's as if the whole population understands that they are all struggling to survive and they move together, even if it's in opposite directions. Today was a total bombardment of the senses, every minute there is something unique to see. It may be beautiful, it may be ugly as the squalor, dust and filth can be overwhelming, as is the stench. We both agree we have never been anywhere like this. Within a short distance of the majestic Royal Palace complex is Tuol Sleng, the former school turned into a prison and torture chamber by the Khmer Rouge. A few kilometres outside the city is Choeung Ek Genocidal Center and the memorial Stupa which houses 9,000 skulls and various bones and clothes on 17 levels. These were excavated from the surrounding killing fields of which there are approximately 300 different sites in the country. We left there quite sad and drained and realise as we see what the Cambodian people cope with every day we have little cause to complain.

Saigon

Arrived in Ho Chi Min City at night and left the tranquil environs of a modern airport to be greeted by a mass of humanity and in stark contrast to the cleanliness of Japan this place is very dirty. Fortunately we had arranged a car so did not have to negotiate a taxi to the Majestic Hotel. We learned quickly that the Vietnamese do not like having their city renamed after a communist dictator so it is Saigon again. At night it is seedy Saigon as most illumination is provided by neon palm trees and light curtains which adorn the cafes and bars, everywhere else is dark and shadows lurk in every doorway and alley. The hotel is probably the best located of any, overlooking the Saigon river which does come alive at night.
Today was spent visiting the Ben Duoc tunnels at Cu Chi, now a historical monument, but for decades the underground home of the Viet Cong which deviate like a cobweb for over 200km. Imagine a network of tunnels up to 10 metres underground where people lived for weeks at a time to avoid detection. It is difficult to determine which would have been worse, the spread of agent Orange and Napalm or pain of being caught in a pit by one of the spiked traps designed to spear you in various parts of the anatomy after which you would bleed to death. See photos and note that the tunnels have been enlarged to accommodate tourists!

Japan

Most people probably pass through Narita Airport and head into Tokyo. The town of Narita is less than 10 minutes by train from the airport and gave us an opportunity to see some Japanese culture. The Naritasan Shinshoji Temple (900AD) is an impressive collection of pagodas, shrines and altars and hosts over 13 million visitors per year. The approach from the station offers a wide variety of shops selling every type of food to be found in Japan. We were here in 1999 and were immediately reminded of the sense of order and politeness and it is incredibly clean. After walking for over an hour through the streets and stations we struggled to find one piece of litter anywhere, no butts no cans or bottles. It is most impressive to see a team of ladies in green uniforms board the train and immediately start mopping and dusting (imagine that on the London Underground). However, nowhere is perfect and already after just a few hours in the airport lounge the ting, tang, ting of the endless plucking of some apparently out of tune stringed instrument is grating on the nerves! Ho Chi Min City is next.