Cambodia & Thailand

Our first stop in the Kingdom of Cambodia was the capital city, Phnom Penh.

Temple near our hotel in Phnom Penh

Local monks

Phnom Penh's Grand Palace

We celebrated Amanda’s birthday at the famous Foreign Correspondents Club (or FCC) with sunset cocktails overlooking the confluence of the Mekong and Tonle Sap rivers.

Amanda opens her birthday card at the FCC

Kathie, Amanda & Emma celebrating Amanda's birthday

Sunset from the FCC

The next day was less cheerful, but involved learning about an important, if sad, part of Cambodia’s history. First we were shown around the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, in the former S-21 prison, after that we visited the infamous Choeung Ek ‘Killing Fields’, where thousands of the victims of the Khmer Rouge regime were murdered and then buried in mass graves between 1975 and 1979.

Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum

The memorial stupa at Choeung Ek killing fields

We then had a day and a half in which to see the sights of Phnom Penh – the Grand Palace, the riverfront, various Buddhist temples and streets of old colonial buildings – or to relax, before we moved on to the town of Battambang.

Central Market in Phnom Penh

The Grand Palace

National Museum

Wat Ounalom

It was only half a day’s drive to Battambang so we arrived in time to explore this pleasant town by the Sangkae River. There is plenty of well-preserved French colonial architecture to admire, several impressive temples, an old railway station, and even a circus! There are also some nice food stalls along the riverside for dinner.

En route to Battambang

Jonathan practices his "cyclo" skills with Louise as passenger

Battambang's central market

Battambang streets

The old railway station

Wat "Damrey Star" (White Elephant Pagoda)

The Governor's Residence

Local monks

Wat Sangker

The Sangkhae River

Riverside dining

Central market

There’s a lot to do in the countryside outside of Battambang too. Apart from being the main rice-producing area of Cambodia, there are also ruins and temples to explore (including one on a hill top with a cave full of bats underneath) and the unique ‘bamboo railway’. We got to hurtle down a rickety rail track on a motorised wooden platform-on-wheels, which had to be dismantled if another cart came in the opposite direction!

Dave & Christine enjoy a tuk tuk ride

Emma & Amanda on the Bamboo Train

Ruth, Lindsay, Kim & Steven aboard their personal train

Wat Ek temple near Battambang

It's Louise's turn to drive Jonathan around!

Emma, Kathie & Amanda at a crocodile farm

Macaque monkeys at Phnom Sampeau

The golden temples on top of Phnom Sampeau

Sunset from the hilltop

We left Battambang for Siem Reap not by road but on the water. The already interesting boat trip up the Sangkae River and across Lake Tonle Sap, was made even more exciting by a broken steering cable that left us drifting into some trees and then a big rain storm that reduced visibility so much that we got temporarily lost as we tried to cross the lake – all part of the adventure!

Boarding our boat up the Sangkae river

Mark & Louise on the roof of the boat

We had a brief stop to fix the steering cable (with a piece of rope!)

A local longboat

The storm approaches behind Juan, Christine & Angela

The traffic got heavier as we approached our destination

Arriving at the jetty near Siem Reap

Jodie & Ruth in a tuk tuk on the way to Siem Reap

The main reason for going to Siem Reap was to visit the world famous Angkor Wat and surrounding temples, so we spent our first day here exploring this incredible place. We toured around the complex in tuk tuks in the company of a guide, visiting Angkor Wat for sunrise, Angkor Thom and the Bayon with its many carved faces, and the amazing tree-covered Ta Prohm temple that was featured in the ‘Tomb Raider’ movie.

Angkor Wat at dawn

The group at Angkor Wat

Enna gets a blessing from a monk

One of the resident monkeys

The Bayon at Angkor Thom

Our guide explains the carvings of dancers...

... which Christine tries to recreate

Steven & Dave try out the old-fashioned way of moving stone blocks

One of the gateways and bridges of Angkor

Paul at Ta Prohm

Ta Prohm temple ruins

Ruth & Lindsay in front of the famous "Tomb Raider" doorway

More temple exploring

Jodie at Preah Khan

Angkor Wat in the afternoon sunshine

With two more days in Siem Reap the group were free to spend more time exploring the many temple ruins, visit museums, look around the town itself, or to get out into the local countryside. We also had Kathie’s birthday to celebrate!

The hotel pool

Siem Reap streets

Pub Street

The Landmine Museum

Kathie at Banteay Samre

The ornately carved Banteay Srei temple

The amazing ruins of Beng Mealea, still buried in the jungle

Jonathan & Louise have a go at planting rice...

... and fishing

... and, er, playing with tarantulas!

The girls all dressed up for Kathie's birthday

Happy Birthday Kathie!

Everybody wants a piece of Kathie's cake!

Christine, Mark, Juan & Vai enjoy last night drinks

Crossing into Thailand we travelled to its big, bustling capital, Bangkok. We had two nights here in a hotel close to Khao San Road, within easy reach of many of the sights of the city. People took boat trips on the Chao Phraya River, visited the Grand Palace and various Buddhist temples, went to the floating market and, of course, enjoyed the notorious nightlife!

Into Thailand!

Emma with her exciting "border game" prize

Driving into Bangkok

Khao San Road

Street food - Pad Thai

Jonathan & Louise found a snake farm in Bangkok

The Chao Praya River

Wat Pho

The reclining Buddha

Bangkok's Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew

Lindsay & Ruth at the Grand Palace

The floating market

Jodie finds a combi van bar

A short drive in vans took us to Kanchanaburi. The town and the area around it became (in)famous during the Second World War, when the Japanese conscripted prisoners of war and local civilian workers to build a supply railway between Thailand and Burma. Due to the harsh conditions and the resulting number of fatalities it became known as the ‘Death Railway’, and it was immortalised in the movie ‘The Bridge on the River Kwai’.

Many of us took a train ride on the part of the railway that is still open, some went to the infamous ‘Hellfire Pass’, and there were museums and memorials to visit in Kanchanaburi itself. Some of the group also went to a nearby national park.

The Bridge on the River Kwai

Steam train by the bridge

Chinese temple

Dave considers a massage

The local public transport

The allied forces war cemetery in Kanchanaburi

Mark, Christine, Angela, Vai & Juan enjoy sunset drinks by the river

Sunset of the River Khwae

Kanchanaburi station

The train to Nam Tok

Crossing one of the trestle bridges on the "Death Railway"

Hellfire pass

Heading back into Kanchanaburi over the bridge

The old city gate, Kanchanaburi

Wat Thewa Sangkharam

Returning to Bangkok, we had a bit more time in the city before catching a night bus south to Surat Thani. From there we were transferred to Don Sak pier to hop on a boat to Koh Samui.

Leaving Bangkok on the night bus

Angela & Vai ready for bed 

Kim, Steve, Chris & Dave

Boarding our boat to the islands

Arriving on Koh Samui

“Beach Week” was finally here! - something that many people had been looking forward to for a quite a while. Everyone was free to go wherever they wanted on the islands for a week of relaxation before we continued on to Malaysia and Indonesia. Most of us stayed on Koh Samui but a couple went to Koh Tao. Some chose hotels or fancy resorts, some hostels and others beach bungalows or private chalets.

Time for Beach Week!

Some of the group rented a villa with a pool overlooking the ocean

Others got chalets by the beach

Paul on Bang Po Beach

Jodie at Chaweng Beach

Louise & Jonathan went rock climbing on Koh Tao

And had some flying trapeze lessons

Kim, Steve, Ruth & Lindsay meet up for drinks by their beach

Dave & Christine at Grandfather & Grandmother rocks

Eventually we all had to drag ourselves away from the islands and get back on the road, looking forward to new adventures as we headed back to the mainland to catch a bus to Malaysia then a flight to Indonesia.

The catamaran ferry

Boarding the ferry to sadly leave the island...

... but happily head on to new adventures