Travel Tales
Cambodia November 2019
Choeung Ek is 11 miles south of Phnom Penh & its known as being one of the The Killing Field sites, where the Khmer Rouge regime executed over one million people between 1975 & 1979.
Mass graves containing 8,895 bodies were discovered at Choeung Ek after the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime. Many of the dead were former political prisoners who were kept by the Khmer Rouge in their Tuol Sleng detention centre.
It was very disturbing to walk around the complex, particularly seeing a memorial glass tower at the centre of the square, with hundreds of human skulls piled on top of each other, these skulls had been recovered from the killing fields - shocking!
Tuol Sleng museum was formerly the Tuol Svay Pray High School. The five buildings of the complex were converted in March/April 1976 into a prison & interrogation centre. The buildings were enclosed in electrified barbed wire, the classrooms converted into tiny prison & torture chambers. All the windows were covered with iron bars and barbed wire to prevent escapes & suicides.
A very solemn experience, not to be repeated!
Vietnam November 2019
Tunnels of Củ Chi -Traffic was busy, it took us 2 hours to drive the 30kms to the tunnels.
On arrival we were allocated a guide & together we started a tour of the tunnels.
Before we started we were given a snack of tapioca root & sticky rice, followed by green tea.
We were able to creep though the tunnels, some were more challenging than others. Access to the tunnels were through trap doors in the jungle floor, which were camouflaged with leaves & other jungle vegetation. The tunnels were used by Viet Cong soldiers as hiding spots during combat. They also served as communication & supply routes, hospitals, food & weapon caches & living quarters for numerous north Vietnamese fighters. The tunnel systems were of great importance to the Viet Cong in their resistance to American forces & helped to counter the growing American military effort.
Mexico Yucatan Peninsular - February 2019
A bit of bad luck didn't realize this lady was in shot!
On arrival we made our way to the main gate, which was locked; a sign nearby stated the site was closed on Saturdays, guess what day it was today!
After trying to gain unsanctioned entry, we wandered a little further south, along a small path which led to Azul Centre, another cenote site. After paying the entrance fee we made our way to the water filled hollows, we met a young girl doing the same.
There were more than one pool, some larger than others, we couldn’t wait to get our swimmers on & experience swimming in a cenote.
Along with the young girl we were the only people here!
The first pool we arrived at was crystal clear but a little chilly.
We continued exploring & found two more larger pools. We were still the only visitors & we couldn’t believe our luck.
It didn’t take long before we were enjoying the clear warm waters of the largest pool. There were many huge jagged rocks at the bottom of the pool which made things a bit uncomfortable moving around. Plenty of fish here, some very small who seemed to enjoy sucking at our toes!
Many dragonflies were dipping in & out of the water.
A Heron stood in a nearby tree waiting for breakfast.
DUBAI - Stop off point on way home from
Sri Lanka 2018
On our way to Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, it stands very close to a huge Mall. We walked around & were astonished at the level of frenzied spending.
We found our way to the Buri Khalifa where there was a long queue to obtain tickets, we joined the hordes & eventually arrived at the paying desk, the advertised cost was £60:00 each but when we arrived we were told the price had just gone up to 205 USD due to the busy time of day, we tried to play the OAP card but no luck.
Caroline wasn’t keen on going & I wasn’t keen to go without her, however we set off to change some money & did so. It wasn’t till the money was in our hand did we decide the trip was not for us. What were we going to do with the drawn out money? Nothing but change it all back!
Burj Khalifa worlds tallest building as yet
Sri Lanka 2018
Meetiyagoda Moonstone Mine
Moonstone Mine –Meetiyagoda is known for its valuable gems and moonstones. Moonstones are part of the semi-precious category, but they are a significant part of the gem company. Located between Ambalangoda and Hikkaduwa, in the Southern Province of Sri Lanka. Meetiyagoda is one of the few locations where it stands at elevated levels. Villagers are of the belief that this area has the blessing of the moon. The normal moonstone is grey, but there are finer versions in hues of blue. Once the moonstone is polished it is cool and smooth to the touch.
Today we planned to visit the Moonstone mine which is north of Galle & north of the next city Hikkaduwa.
We used local buses, which by now we were pretty expert at!
At Galle we made our way to the bus stop for Hikkaduwa.
After finding out directions to the mine we headed out of the city north hoping to hale a Tuk Tuk. As we walked we stopped a couple of Tuk Tuks on the way & aggreed to pay the price of 3000 rupees. The journey took a half hour or so. It was fortunate we had the GPS with us to guide the way, as there was more than one Moonstone mine.
We were dropped off some 200 yds from the entrance to the mine.
After turning into the access road we entered a haven of wildlife. We were lucky to see water buffalo wallowing in a marsh, two types of kingfishers, a bird of prey, & a lapwing type bird.
Across a small lake we heard someone shouting & waving to beckon us over, it was the the mine owner.
After greeting us a young lady set about giving us a tour of the mine.
The shaft itself was 20-30 meters deep, at the bottom was an electric light burning, lighting up the entrance to an underground tunnel. Close to the shaft entrance, two lean looking miners were washing the chalky residue gathered from the mine to separate any Moonstone.
The miners were only allowed to work below ground for 20 minutes at a time due to the poor quality of the air.
The tour included visiting the nearby workshop where craftsmen & women were cutting & shining moonstone.
There was the inevitable shop adjoining the site where visiting tourists could purchase Moonstone jewellery. Caroline bought a pair of blue Moonstone earrings & necklace.
As we left we were given a ginger beer to see us on our way.
We reached the rural lanes where we enjoyed a stroll, enjoying the many plants & insects adorning the roadside hedges.
We eventually arrived at a small hamlet where we tried to negotiate a ride back in a Tuk Tuk to Hikkaduwa, however negotiations didn’t go too well, we ended up catching a local bus which conveniently arrived out of nowhere.
New Zealand April 2017
Fox Glacier
In a rush of adrenalin the helicopter lifted off, banked & we were on our way to the Glacier,
We made our way up a very deep gorge
The experience was very exhilarating, flying over Franz Josef glacier.
There was massive cracks in the snow below, this was the result of the glacier slowly moving towards the coast.
We eventually touched down on the neighbouring Fox Glacier, its surface was frozen solid, so no chance of any snowball fights!
The views were crystal clear & we enjoyed sightings of Mt.Cook (New Zealand’s highest mountain) & Mt.Tasman. We spent about a half hour enjoying this rare treat.
Moeraki Boulders
These boulders are said to have formed due to the hardening of Paleocene mudstone which was buried in the mudstone cliffs.
Over time the sea's waves have gradually eroded the softer stone to reveal the spherical formation beneath.
We made our way to the sandy beach where we were faced with an amazing sight - huge spherical boulders littered the area, they were half submerged in the sand. There were many tourists (mainly Japanese) here enjoying this very odd spectacle.
Hokitika was founded as a gold mining town back in the gold-rush days 1866.
As we wandered around the town, Ian managed to find a local gold shop where he was treated with handling gold nuggets weighing a half pound & with collective value of over a £100,000.
MYANMAR (Burma) 6/4/2016 - 17/4/2016
Next we set off to try & find the Ywa Twit Monastery – where there was supposedly a geocache. Instead of keeping to the road we walked on small tracks between houses – all very close to each other.
Eventually we arrived at the Monastery & were shown upstairs to meet the chief monk.
We spent about 45mins or more listening to him & looking at all his photos which had been sent to him from all over the world by previous visitors.
We were offered a plate of rather nice bananas. He had a very good sense of humour & command of the English language. Before we left he insisted on a “selfie”. What a character – he was known phoneticly with the name Mr.Earring he was 76 years old & had been a monk for 56 of them.
We stopped off at a road side community where there was much activity including the harvesting of palm sugar, which involved climbing to the top of the very high palm trees. Their means of getting to the top was with the aid of homemade bamboo ladders, the higher section of which is left tied to the tree, for the next harvest later in the day.
Another very interesting activity was the distiliation of the palm sugar into a very strong alcohol; we were invited to taste some, we only managed to sample a little, which was rather rough & bought tears to our eyes!
PORTUGAL 14/9/2015 – 6/10/2015
Cromeleque dos Almendres is an archaeological site consisting of a large area which had of some 95 rounded granite monoliths spread down a rough slope - some were engraved with symbolic markings . They were erected over different periods of time, perhaps with basic astronomical orientations. They were probably used for social gatherings or sacred rituals back in the dawn of the Neolithic period.
A mile down the road we went to see a lone Menhir some 10' high.
Valentine's Stone - A huge natural rock. Legend has it if a single woman should toss a stone with her left hand & manage to pitch it on top of the 12' high rock, the number of tries she had would be the number of years before she would marry.
Caroline tried once but failed; I tried & managed to knock four of the resident stones to the ground.
CROATIA May 2014
Bosnia & Herzegovina has only one point of access to the coast; our route meant we had to drive through a 20 mile section. Our passports were checked in & out.
Fortunately we had a packed lunch with us as the local curency of Bosnia-Herzegovina was either euros, or Fenings, locally abbreviated KM., both of which we didn’t have.
We arrived in Dubrovnik at 2:30pm.
Hundreds of tourists were cramming the streets, being led by their tour guides, all ferried here by fleets of coaches. We joined in & enjoyed a unique tour of this spectacular old city.
It was only a short bus ride to Skradinski, the nearest village to the Krka National Park.
The highlight of the day was to visit the Skradinski Buk water falls.
We crossed a footbridge at the base of the falls & picked up a walking route which had been devised to take an hour or so, the track encompassed the whole area.
We climbed alongside the falls & could feel the spray from the water on our faces, being so close to such a raging torrent was truly amazing.
CUBA November 2013
We chose the wrong day to visit Che Guevara's Mausoleum. Monday is the day the museum is closed, however we were able to wander around the complex taking photographs of the huge bronze statue of Cuba’s hero.
Seems the mausoleum is a sensitive area & we were asked to leave -because it was officially closed.
Che Guevara became part of Fidel Castro’s efforts to overthrow the Batista government in Cuba.
In 1967 Che Guevara & a couple of dozen of his Cuban comrades were killed while fighting for revolution in Bolivia and buried in situ in an unmarked grave. His remains were identifiable due to, among other things, his hands; they were missing, having been amputated from his corpse 30 years prior & sent to Buenos Aires for fingerprint identification to verify that the executed rebel was indeed the famous Che Guevara.
The streets of Cuba are filled with old American cars e.g. Chevrolet, Pontiac & Plymouth’s, all left behind after the Revolution some 50 years ago. All are fuelled with leaded petrol, hence there is a huge amount of pollution. All credit to their owners though, keeping them running.
Our return to Havana on the train, we joined fellow passengers in the Victorian waiting room until it was time to board.
We pulled out of the station spot on time.
The train seemed to stop at every station along the way.
One of the "passengers" was a dead pig on its way to market
In time the inevitable happened – the train broke down, the driver, mechanic, engineer, & ticket collector were all under the train banging with hammers & scratching their heads.
Our fellow passengers did not appear to be concerned – they just took out bottles of rum!