After a very relaxing christmas day by the pool and discovering the hidden wonders of Angkor we took the fast boat to Phnom Penh.
Our first after noon was spent visiting the horrifying museum, S-21; Originally a school and then converted into an interrogation and torture base by the Khmer Rouge during the 1970’s.
The following day we had arranged to visit a very special place in Phnom Penh introduced to us by an American (Marc Gold) whilst in Nepal. The Centre For Children’s Happiness (CCH) is essentially an orphanage and was set up in 2002 by Mech Sokha. Mr Sokha, himself orphaned by the Khmer Rouge and having struggled in his early life has chosen to give something back to the children of Phnom Penn.
With the support of the 100 Friends Project and other charities around the world the Centre for Children’s Happiness regularly visits the nearby Steung Meanchey Municipal Waste Dump and carefully assesses nearly 1000 children who live there for selection to join the orphanage and be given a new start to life.
The Steung Meanchey Municipal Waste Dump is Continue Reading »
We were in and out of Cambodia within a week but we packed in so much that it seemed longer.
Our first dealings with the country weren’t what we expected; we’d bought a ticket on the Scam Bus. If only we’d had our beloved Lonely Planet with us before we entered the country, lesson learnt. Our ‘nice tour guide’ turned out to be a thieving monkey wanting 1000 Thai Bhat per person for a stamp at border control (ok, so that’s only £2 but it’s the principle). Thankfully we Continue Reading »
Bangkok was simply amazing. It was such a pleasure to arrive in a major city with everything you could possibly need. An attack on the senses, just as India had been, only in a completely different way and at the other extreme. Bright lights. Big city. For our entire time in Bangkok we were like little kids in a sweetshop with grins from ear to ear. Walking down the street was a breeze, they were litter free, the cars were horn free, and we looked forward to every meal.
We filled up on all things western including a trip to Computer City, a place of heaven for Guy where you can buy all things techy in a place the size and layout of Olympia. We went to Continue Reading »
India is behind us now and Bangkok is our current little hideaway! We’ve been a bit behind in publishing stuff in the past few weeks as we’ve been doing so much. So, rummage around and you’ll see all sorts of new pics and posts. We’ve also launched Liketytrip TV, our attempt at making little movies of our experiences. If you ever want to just watch Liketytrip TV on the site just select liketytripTV from the category menu on the right hand side and they’ll all be there for you to giggle at in one place.
We had a pretty eye opening time chasing the east coast from Kolkata down to Kanykumari, the most southern point on India. After learning plenty about driving in India, sending mail at the post office or trying to find some food which didn’t burn our innards out we finally arrived at the peaceful backwaters of Kerala.
Then on to Goa’s beaches for a couple of days to fully unwind.
Mumbai got us right back into the swing of things with a Bollywood blockbuster Om Shanti Om (highly recommended). Rajisthan’s forts, colours, people, markets and cultures showed us why it really is “The Land of Kings”. From Rajisthan we headed straight up to the Punjab to visit one of the most magnificent buildings in the world, the Golden Temple at Amritsar. At lunch time we joined hundreds of Pilgrims for Guru-Ka-Langar.
The Pakistan/India border ceremony at Attari just a few miles from Amritsar gave us something to giggle about too and we headed from there to Chandigarh to see what you can really do with a whole heap of rubble if you put 50 years into it!
We’ve met some extraordinary people in India and had some equally extraordinary conversations with them. As the Tourism Board’s slogan proudly states, Incredible India!
So, whilst you’re kicking back at work before Christmas or relaxing at home in preparation for vast amounts of Christmas food and drink we hope the blog entertains you a little. It’s been wonderful to receive so many little comments too, please keep it up, its great to hear from you.
Remember you can see all the pics here and look for specific ones by using the tag cloud here. Also, there’s the map which you can zoom into and see the where we were when we took the pics.
We wish you all a very happy Christmas and hope you have a great 2008.
