Yum Yum or is it Tom Yum Gung

Our days in Bangkok are going quickly, but they are also giving me plenty of opportunity to try out some Thai cooking. We have some good shops nearby, not to mention a TESCO, which was a complete surprise!! They call their stores Tesco Lotus. As well as some familiar products, there are, of course, the amazing fish counters with every kind of fish and sea food - some smelling very strong (we avoid those), but we love to get squid, octopus, prawns and Basa, along with a good selection of vegetables and a variety of gorgeous mushrooms.

The prickly things are Rambutan, a bit like a large lychee.

Experimenting a bit with Thai pastes and lots of coconut cream/milk, I've managed to create Tom Yum Gung, a Thai green chicken curry, and a Gang Massaman!! It's all much easier than I thought and with some glass noodles, very delicious!

Whilst we are talking about food, Ken found a rather interesting restaurant in his (very thick and heavy) guide book to Thailand - the name made us feel it was worth a visit - "Cabbages and Condoms" - intriguing to say the least!!

Speaks for itself

What an interesting place - quite unusual. The founder is obviously a strong supporter of  the anti-abortion campaign.  At the end of your meal, instead of a mint crisp choc, you are given (wrapped, thankfully) a condom to take home!! Interesting. Even the menu has a comforting slogan!!

There were other things to photo but you get the gist

His outfit is made of condoms

It was a lovely meal - we sat in a garden with others eating there too and with pretty trailing plants.

Bangkok is full of surprising places as we discovered when we went out yesterday - suddenly we were looking at Big Ben!! More investigation made us feel very homesick - had to have a quick photo shoot there!  Turns out it is all for Japanese tourists as it’s also full of Japanese restaurants.

Bangkok's Big Ben

Here's Morden!

Heather waiting for the tube to Morden

No, she's decided to go by bus instead.  

ECB, the Evangelical Church of Bangkok, is the church through which we are doing some English teaching.  We went to the service on Sunday morning. It was lovely to meet Marcia and Roger (two of the teachers) and also Emma and Jane, the Chinese girls (our students) there.  A lovely service - we were made to feel very welcome.

We are really enjoying having a small swimming pool on the complex where we are living - the temperatures are in the high 30's so it's a real joy to be able to get cool at the end of day! We did hear that there has been rain in Delhi!! Hallelujah, at last!!

Talking of Delhi. Please have a look at my Facebook page 'news feed' as there are pictures and some news about the books they have been collecting. We are still hoping to get ALL the books sent to Delhi that the children at St.Mary's and St.Peter's School in Teddington donated. It's taking a while to sort a courier - poor Simon has now the job of weighing them all, but we are hoping to make progress soon. If you would like to contribute to the cost of transporting the books as well as provide bookcases for them in the slum centres, please send me an email, and I will give you details of how you can help. 

Back to Bangkok!

We went to the National Museum this week. We have never seen so many Buddhas in one place - all different too. (Well, Heather, hasn’t, but Ken has! Yes, in the Angkor National Museum in Siem Reap. Ken went to the museum one afternoon, while Heather stayed by the pool with others from the tour. The museum has a gallery called, ‘The Gallery of a Thousand Buddhas’. Sorry about that Thailand.) Our lovely guide Joyce, (she regularly gives English guided tours free!!!) was able to explain clearly the history and evolution of the different Buddhas over centuries - Ken and I are now able to date and place a Buddha (you never know when that might come in useful). It is an amazing museum housed in beautiful buildings. The air conditioning made it even more delightful!

The Buddhist Chapel. 

The walls of the Buddhist Chapel are covered in murals depicting the life of Buddha. For it to be a temple it would have to have resident monks.

The Buddha in the Chapel

One of the Royal funerary chariots

Perhaps my new towel folding class will be able to help me fold one as a buddha

Buddhas everywhere, but mixed in are statues of the Hindu gods: the two big ones in the photo are Shiva (on the left), standing on a yoni and Vishnu (on the right).

It's always so nice to find a lovely  park in the middle of big, hot, noisy, busy cities - we discovered Lumphini Park this afternoon and in spite of a quick down pour (not refreshing at all sadly, just added to the humidity), we had a picnic and made a couple of new friends!!

Our two new friends - mr and mrs monitor lizard

Tonight we had our English lesson with our Chinese students. We were helping them with interview techniques, and after they helped us choose some delicious Chinese food - good to share our strengths!! And a lovely way to end our day.

Supper - Chinese style!

Noodling around!

Last week we left you wondering whether we were pushed or did we jump into the pool - neither (as you had probably guessed - far too sensible!!!), but we did have an extraordinary adventure in Battambang (pronounced ‘Battambong’), which was our last city before crossing the border into Thailand.

Battambang is the home town of our tour guide, Jay - it was lovely to see his joy at being back in his 'happy hunting ground'!  He knew all the best places to eat and little alleyways to nip down to see the 'real' life.

Battambang suffered much the same as the rest of the country under the Khmer Rouge - the city was evacuated as the population was moved to the countryside where many people died. The city was liberated by the Vietnamese a week after the fall of Phnom Penh on 13th January 1979, but the Khmer Rouge continued to fight on in the north west of the province only suspending hostilities in 1996. During this period the city was off limits to most visitors as it was on the front line in the war against the Khmer Rouge. Typically the government forces would push the Khmer Rouge back towards Pailin in the dry season only to lose most of the gains once the monsoon rains came.

After 1996 Battambang was at peace for the first time in decades and experienced some growth. However, it is not until very recently that tourists have come to the city in any numbers - most of the minefields have now been cleared (thankfully!!) and the main roads have been rehabilitated.

Battambang  is also famous for its 'Bamboo Train' - we had no idea what this was, but definitely wanted to go on it.  I have to say though, that Ken had visions of sitting in a nice carriage made of bamboo and sipping a cup of tea as we rattled gently along a railway line to somewhere!! Sorry Ken, it wasn't quite as he had expected!! We arrived at the station to find bamboo boards on rollers (bogies)  powered by an outboard motor, 4 cushions for 4 people to sit crossed legged on ( no tea in sight!!) ready to rock and roll!! We climbed on and off we went speeding through jungle and small villages - it was incredible, such good fun, exhilarating and completely beyond the pages of any 'health and safety guide book'!!

"Where's the restaurant car? I'm dying for a cup of tea"

On the journey, we had to suddenly stop, jump off, lift the bamboo platforms off the bogies as well as taking the bogies off the tracks, and wait for the oncoming 'trains' to pass, then build our trains again and head off for our destination, which was a small farming village.  Wow!! Loved it!!

Paul and Jay dismantle the train

The journey back was speedy and without stops, but we had to make sure we kept our mouths shut as there were many flying insects and although we had tasted some from the market,  this was not a time to be beetle tasting!!

Jay helps to put the train back together. No sign of Paul!

When the road to Phnom Penh was upgraded, making it a five-hour or so ride, the 16-hour (on a good day) train services more or less ceased operating, but locals continued to use the existing tracks for goods and passengers as a means of accessing Battambang town and its markets from outlying villages. Locals quickly caught on that they had an excellent, ready-made tourist attraction but plenty of villagers do still use it. 

The locals using the train to move goods to the market 

As you arrive in Battambang (‘the City of the Lost Stick’) there is an enormous statue of a mythical villain now affectionately known as Ta Dambong (grandfather stick) and revered by locals, who sometimes place incense at the foot of the large statue.

Ta Dumbong with his stick!

See the link for the full story if you're interested - could be where our saying 'stick in the mud' comes from? - It' a good one!

http://battambangbuzz.blogspot.in/2011/05/city-of-lost-stick-battambang

Jay took us to a beautiful temple where the monks were working, children playing and many, many dogs barking and giving us a bit of a fright ( never quite sure about stray dogs!! We were all behind you Helen!!)

Kids lazing about in the temple grounds

Monks preparing the vege patch with menacing guard dog! 

Sunday saw us crossing the border of Cambodia and Thailand and travelling on by bus to Bangkok.   

Our last hotel on this tour was lovely, with a swimming pool and a beautiful room with these pretty swan folded towels - wondered whether we were in the honeymoon suite and then spotted the 'elephant' towels in another room - does anyone know where the 'school for folding towels' is?   I would like to enroll!!!!  (Well, we have got 4 weeks in Bangkok, and I'm sure a new skill will come in handy somewhere!)

Love is in the air...da da da da da

A sneaky peek revealed other guests had elephant towels 

We celebrated our last night together in the Roof Top Bar on Khao San Road listening to and singing along with two brilliant musicians. 

Brilliant musicians playing golden oldies

We have now moved to our Airbnb flat - it's quite a way out of the centre so we are going to be getting to know a new area.  The rail links to the centre are excellent and we have a nice walk to the station.

In Indian speak, this is our 'backside' canal

Already exploring, we went looking for a recommended restaurant called Sud Yod Kuay Teow Reua in Boat Noodle Alley where they apparently sell the best 'Boat Noodles'.

They are porky, rich, full of succulent flavour and most of all, they are fun to eat.

Boat noodles got their name from originally being served from boats floating in Bangkok’s former extensive network of canals.

In Boat Noodle Alley they still stay true to serving small bite sized bowls of food – a practice that was formerly used so the noodles wouldn’t spill out of the bowl on the choppy canal. The idea is that you keep ordering small bowls of noodles and pile the bowls up.  When you can't eat any more, the bowls are counted and you pay for what you have had.  We managed 12 bowls, approx £3 (including two bottles of cola)!!! Some tables had 20-30 bowls piled up (bigger appetites than us!!). We will be back for more though.

A modest number of bowls this time!

We have made contact with a group called 'Spotlight' through a church in Bangkok. They are running English conversation classes for University students.  Yesterday we went to meet 3 of the teachers and some students to join in their class and see how it is run etc.  We met at a coffee shop and 3 Chinese students joined us (it's holiday time at the moment so many are away). It was also Buddha's Day yesterday (Buddha’s birthday), so again some students were off at the temples.  We had a lovely time talking with the girls, sharing our travels and hearing about their lives.  We watched part of a movie and used that to discuss and extend their English language.  It was a good experience and we will definitely be involved in more classes.  In fact, we are in charge of next Friday's lesson as a couple of the teachers will be away!! (Jumped in at the deep end I think - a bit of pushing involved this time too perhaps!!).

Emma, Karen and Jane, the Chinese students 

At the end of our day we met up with Graeme (V/C tour guys, you'll be glad to hear he and Michele are fine and had a great time in Mayamar). Great to see you Graeme and share some delicious ice cream. Ken had hoped for a beer, but as it was Buddha’s Day no beer was allowed to be served.

We've heard it’s been 45C+ in Delhi - it’s 37C here in Bangkok - London 15C…We are thinking of you all and praying for our friends in Delhi living with the heat, power cuts and water shortage!

Love and best wishes

Heather and Ken xx

P.S. Just off to fold a towel or two – now, what shape will they be…? Hmm. I could manage a square, I think!!

Yummy grub (literally, a grub, plus other unusual snacks)! Not for the squeamish.

A letter from your correspondents travelling through Cambodia.

Dear Reader

Still in the singing mood of last week, we are now humming: 'Yummy yummy yummy, we've got bugs in our tummies and we feel like …'

It's true. We’ve been experimenting with 'new’ food in Phnom Penh. I wonder whether Jamie would add these to the school menu? Very nutritious! Many thousands of Cambodian children had to eat this type of food during the war. There was no rice or basic food, so they were forced for forage in the jungle, rivers, forest and their farm lands for spiders, water beetles, crickets, silk worms, frogs, snakes, rats etc. and consequently they are still widely eaten, as our photos prove. 

Anyone for crabs?

Crispy fried frogs - they were crunchy

Ants - yummy!

Helen one of our group eating a frog. Well done!

Jay our guide eating a spider - Heather and Ken had a leg each. Not bad really.

Ken looking happy before eating a small water beetle, peeled for him by Jay. There is 'flesh' in the beetles.

Ken looking rather more thoughtful after eating the water beetle

Rambutan - like a large lychee

Spiders and bats. We didn't try the bats.

A selection of bugs etc - Monty Python might call it a 'cockroach cluster'. But no cockroaches!

Large water beetles. Hmm. Didn't fancy them.

At the end of each day, we are always totally amazed at how much we have packed in - it has been brilliant finding a swimming pool at most hotels to relax in, unwind and digest all the sites and stories as we gain more insight into the culture, history and life of the Cambodian people.

Our guides have been fantastic at keeping us up to date with political issues as well as past events in their country. Both guides who took us to visit the Killing Fields and S21 prison (Tuol Sleng), were young boys during the war and so were able to relate their experiences during that dreadful time. We all gained so much from their honest stories and their knowledge. As you can imagine, the visit to the Killing Fields and S21 prison, was a moment in our trip of total horror and shock - a place I would never choose to go to, but so glad we did. It is presented honestly, without over exaggeration (it's bad enough on its own anyway) and such a place to honour the lives that were lost there and despair at the tragedy of EVIL.  It was a very 'quiet' half day - there was time for us to be alone, ponder man’s inhumanity to man, feel the essence of hope again for the Cambodian people and take away a very personal experience and try to make sense of it in our present lives. I have made many notes since being there and am hoping to express my feelings and reaction to all we saw in some poems, prose, or (given a guitar again) perhaps a song - that's my way of dealing with things that are incomprehensible. Some of us reading this will remember where we were and what we were doing during those years - '75-'79 – the years of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge.  I was just finishing my teacher training and then began my first teaching job in Ladbrook Grove and Ken was about to start Law at Cambridge. Strange to compare how exciting and normal our lives were then with the lives of our two guides, Ling, Jay and their families.

Two survivors of the prison S21, Chum Mey and Bou Meng, were at the site during our visit, talking to visitors and signing their books. It felt very special to see such brave survivors of that war!

One is quoted as saying, "I have forgiven them, the torturers, they were victims too ... would I have killed to save my own life"?  How amazingly honest and humbling to express these thoughts.

It seems that he is exercising the principle 'forgiveness redeems the past and unblocks the future'. 

Chum Mey, one of only two living survivors of Tuol Sleng (Prison S-21)

Our last three days in Cambodia are in Siem Reap. We have had a wonderful time visiting the 12^th century Angkor Wat, Bayon, Lady Temple (Banteay Srei) and Ta Prohm (the ‘Tomb Raider’ temple).

A small part of Angkor Wat - it's huge and impressive

We got up at 4 am to see sunrise over Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat just after sunrise

Bayon's moat with a beautiful dragon boat

The many faces of Buddha - or is it Vishnu?

The headless Buddha waiting for the headless kangaroo - if you've read our blog from Australia you'll know what we mean.

Ta Prom - the Tomb Raider temple - over grown by the jungle - nature merging with the the temple

Tomb Raiders find each other at last

And what can we see through the rectangular door?

Tomorrow we travel to Battambang and on Sunday we drive to Thailand and finish our tour in Bangkok. It will be sad to say goodbye to all our friends. Experiencing all we have during these last 17 days has brought us close and we hope we will keep in touch wherever we are in the world.

It's one more step (on our journey) for Ken and I and a big splash for us all into the pool!!

Did we jump? Were we pushed? Or is it just pretend? You will have to guess!

Love from Vietnam and Cambodia.

Heather and Ken X