The Boardman Family Blog

After our travels we returned to KL  eagerly awaiting the arrival of Helen,Lizzie  and Tom and The Taylors. After an anxious 48hours when we weren’t sure if we were going to have as many visitors as we’d hoped because of chicken pox our guests finally arrived . We were fully expecting Harriet to arrive dressed for winter but with a doctors note in hand Clare had allowed her to dress in more appropriate clothing for the weather.  Because I have left this so late I  thought I would write this part in edited as highlights ,those of you who were there feel free to add your thoughts too.

Having to move 5 immigration buses on Helen, Lizzie and Tom’s arrival in order to get the car out.

Banana leaf curry for 13

Negociating a group of 13 through markets mosques trains and taxis.

Drinking wine beer and then vodka until 4am the night before Lizzie Helen and Tom’s 12 hour flight home.

Meeting Mum and Dad in the rain in Langkawi after they had spent 3 days in the rain in Singapore.

The banana boat -”this is not as much fun as I thought it would be.” and “whoever’s idea it was to come on this banana boat is in big trouble.

The waves and the rain!

The rainbow shooter at 6.30 and the surprise the next morning when someone had a bad head.

Great food and wine at the Beach Garden

The ferry to Penang breaking down in the middle of the sea and the youngest crew member being sent into the water fully equipped with snorkel to remove the fishing lines from the propellar.

The walk down from Penang Hill, the adults knees didn’t stop aching for days.

The food courts. Chicken satay and Sushi need we say more Matthew!

The kissing of the king cobra -”What will you do if he bites this guy”

The bus to the Cameron Highlands- Andrew’s couldn’t hide his disappointment that it didn’t have a lower floor seating area or personal DVD.

Our plush pads at Tana Rata which appeared to be in the local housing estate.

Megan and Emily’s talkathon -it lasted all holiday although Rosie and Harriet gave them a run for their money.

What a fabulous 16 days we had, it was so hard to say goodbye but we loved catching up and seeing the children get on like they’d seen each other yesterday.

‘The best experience of our lifes’ in the cactus farm.

The view from Gunang Brinchang almost as good as our view from Penang Hill.

Today was a day of exploring Vientiane, a small city with at least two days sight seeing. Unfortunately the main road was under repair (the Japanese Government was paying for the improvements. Katharine had designed a walking tour. The temperature seemed hotter than KL and the poverty obvious. We climbed up the Arch de Triumph (no really), and walked around the Sisaket Musuem seeing clay Buddha’s. We stopped for coffee then headed back to the hotel. On our way out to lunch we found a quality bookshop and bought Ellen the latest Harry Potter (she had ploughed her way through the last one in double quick time). We also looked at some art by Stef, Andrew again regretting not buying any. We ate at Sticky Fingers Café and bar, Andrew returning to the Hotel (travelers tummy) and the girls headed for Pha That Luang and then took in the Yensabai Show (Rosie is still practicing the dancing weeks later). Andrew received the disappointing news that we wouldn’t be seeing Tim in HCMC after all.

In the evening Andrew met the girls in the Full Moon Café and then we all headed back to the hotel for an early night in preparation for our flight to HCMC

The next day our non-so-cheerful guide took us to Kuangsi  Waterfall, where we spent the morning. All family members with the exception of Rosie enjoyed swinging on a rope and dropping into the plunge pool below the waterfall.

In the afternoon we walked around Luang Prabang, in truth we had probably been there for long enough, but the chilled nature of the city is very hard not to fall in love with. Returning to Pac Luck Villas we were met by an EXOTISIMO guide who told us that our plane time had changed and we would now have tomorrow in Luang Prabang. Not the best news.

 Andrew and Katharine treated themselves to a massage in celebration of our wedding anniversary. The girls went to bed and we ate at l’elephant across the road – a wonderful French meal.  In the morning we realized we had been overly pessimistic about our extra day and decided re-visit the waterfalls. This time we arranged our own tuc-tuc (he drove us the 40km to the waterfall and then waited for over 3 hours for us). This time Ellen jumped from the top of the waterfall. She was on her own in this respect. Deciding to explore further up stream it became clear that our guide had been less than helpful yesterday. There was a further mightily impressive waterfall ten minutes walk upstream. Sometimes things are meant to be and we would never have seen this grand sight had it not been for our flight change.

Returning again to Luang Prabang we ate a leisurely lunch and wrote our journals. The journey to airport and the flight to Vientiane were uneventful. We checked into Chanthapanya Hotel, out the girls to bed and shared a curry in the hotel restaurant. The saga surrounding booking a hotel for HCMC continued via email much to Katharine’s annoyance and stress.

After breakfasting at Le CAFÉ Ban Vat Sene (again) we caught a bumpy tuc-tuc for forty minutes to the Elephant Sanctuary. Once again our accommodation was super. We crossed the river and rode on two elephants – huge beasts that seemed happy to be there and their Mahouts seemed committed and fair. Both elephants had been saved from Thailand logging areas. The kids were delighted to see them do what elephants have to do (toilet humor eh?) We ate back at the lodge with a wonderful view up the valley over the Nam Khan and over to the mountains. After lunch we caught a very narrow boat up the river to the Tat Sae waterfalls for a great afternoon amongst picnicking locals of pool swimming and waterfall jumping.

Late afternoon turned into a games afternoon on our balcony and then an evening meal before an early night.

We got up with the sun. Our guide had expressed concern that we would struggle to cope with the walk he had planned. But as the walk was through the jungle to track a baby elephant we were determined to try. The night before we had asked him what we should wear, he had replied that we would be swimming with the elephant. So obviously we all had swimming stuff on. Luckily as an after thought Andrew offered his swimming shorts to Katharine instead of her skimpy bikini. Good job as she may have turned a few Mahouts’ heads hacking through thick jungle in her pick bikini. Our young Mahout takes his baby elephant deep into the jungle each night as there is not enough food for it near camp. He then has to track it (at pace!) in the morning. After a couple of minutes of tearing through inconceivably thick jungle, our accompanying, young French couple gave up. Ten minutes later and Team Boardman was struggling. It was decided that we should remain where we were (in fact we couldn’t find our way back if we had wanted to), and wait for the Mahout and the elephant’s return. Ellen the intrepid was determined to go on, and she did, badly cutting her toe in the process. But the look on her face when she returned with the baby elephant will stay with us for years.

The next few hours were spent bathing, swimming with and for the girls riding on the elephant – an unforgettable experience and worth every penny (and injury).

In the afternoon we were driven by tuc-tuc to a point on the river half way back to Luang Prabang. The next few hours were as comical and surreal as we had experienced since we have been in South East Asia. Firstly our guide Lah had brought along a friend as he didn’t think we would be able to row back to Luang Prabang on our own. He was right. Secondly, foot-pumping a 10 seater dingy that would have taken an hour to blow up with an electrical one, in the middle of a village which only has one stand pipe for water, bordered on the ridicules. It was clear the locals could see the funny side, though I doubt if any of them would have been laughing had they been asked to join us in the half pumped, slowly deflating dingy. With Rosie in a life-jacket meant for an adult and Andrew sat knee deep in water we paddled for the next two hours. Both Lah and his friend could hardly keep their laughter to themselves. Did I mention the tropical downpour? All three girls ended up curled up in the boat. The final craziness occurred when we passed whole families dredging for stones. The father would literally push the son/daughter under using his feet, where they would fill a bucket with rocks from the bottom and then surface after interminably longtime and pour them into the boat to be sorted and taken ashore. Payment by weight. Our looks of incredulity at this activity were justifiably returned.

Its journeys like this that bond people for life and so it was that we felt like Lah and his willing friend were part of the family by the time we reached Luang Prabang. We ate and shivered in the back of the tuc-tuc and then traveled back to Pac Luc Villas where we said an extremely fond farewell to our fellow ‘dingy-iers’. After a ward(ish) shower we walked up 328 steps to the top of Mount Phousi for some great panoramic views of the city. A hearty meal and Christmas shopping ended a bizarre and memorable day.

In the morning we caught a boat up the impressively large Mekong (I can’t imagine what it must look like after a flood). We stopped at the Pak Ou Caves (with scores of others), to look at the 4000 Buddha statues. After 2 hours we arrived at Kamu Lodge, an eco-style lodge of 20 canvas tents with thatched roofs. Once again trip organizer Mrs. Katharine Boardman had come up trumps. We were the only people there and were treated superbly the whole time. On arrival we ate on a raised, covered platform in the middle of the villagers’ paddy field. The food was all local, and excellent. The afternoon was spent visiting the village, trying out archery (dead eye Katharine winning), fishing (catches – none) and for Andrew a local herbal bamboo steam room.

The village visit was particularly interesting. The lodge is attached to the village and is home to a Kamu tribe who the government has persuaded to come down from the mountains as they feel they can better provide for them there. Conditions in the village were extremely basic and needless to say the glaringly obvious differences between our accommodation and theirs somewhat embarrassing. Anyone who travels and stays in countries that have such poverty must be left with the same confused moral and ethical questions. However the whole set up left us feeling positive; the village has a new school, the Kamu children, after initially being reticent, interacted with our 3 and seemed to gain something from the interactions and we felt we left with a better understanding of the lives of the people who live on the Mekong in Laos. We had also supported the village by staying at the lodge, surely a positive thing?

 In the evening we were served a wonderful local meal and then retired to our tents and mosquito nets (if camping was always like this we’d go for it every time)

Next morning we had a hearty breakfast then set off on a jungle trek with our wonderful guide Tuaha and his friend. The climb up the hill was tough, though the kids coped admirably. On reaching the top Tuaha’s friend showed us his hill top farm and its multitude of crops – mangoes, yams, and lemon grass, fast growing chili, sweet corn and all sorts of spices and herbs, on the way down the views down the Mekong valley were superb. Back at the Village we showered at changed ate lunch and then boarded a boat for our return trip down the Mekong to Luang Prabang. The journey downstream taking half the time. We ate a fairly western meal (kids had the ubiquitous Hawaiian pizza at the Luang Prabang Bakery), sleeping again at Pak Luc Villas.

After breakfasting at Le CAFÉ Ban Vat Sene (a place we would get to know very well!) we met our guide and went on a tour of the town. In truth we could have walked the tour, and indeed we did over the next week. During the day we visited a number of temples (Wat Xieng, Wat Mai, Wat That Luang, Wat Suwannaphumaham) and the Royal Palace Museum. All of them were interesting in their own way, but in reality ‘’we were all-Watted-out’’ and after Ankor Wat it was difficult for the kids to concentrate for any length of time. ‘Wat-fatigue’ and a poor guide aside, over the next few days we all fell in love with Luang Prabang, its wonderful architecture, restaurants and lazy pace of life. Our accommodation (Pak Luc Villas) was homely and the kids made a really bond with the staff who were just desperate to speak English to us as much as they could (one even inviting us to his graduation and village – ‘’6 hours away!’’).

In the evening we ate at Nasim’s – super curry and then walked around the Handicraft Market, Katharine promising to begin Christmas shopping!

We got up on the 23^rd raring to go; we had arranged a fairly late pick up, 8.30am, so we all felt well rested.  Bun collected us and took us to go and get our 3 day passes for the temples. After what seemed like an age (bringing our own photos to speed up the process, only seemed to confuse matters) we set off for our first view of the temples at Angkor.  We spent the morning visiting the oldest group of temples, the Roluos group. Preah Ko unsurprisingly as the oldest was in the most ruined state, followed by Bakong a great one to explore. The girls listened to Bun as much as possible over the 3 days but really enjoyed just being able to climb all over the temples. At the top of Bakong we watched some school children playing elastics the girls were entranced, mainly at how high they were jumping.  Our final stop of the morning was Lolei but we were all hot and tired by then so it was a bit of non event for all of us.  We were revived by lunch and Ellen discovered her love of the Cambodian national dish Chicken Amok (a coconut curry) she was to eat this for lunch and dinner for the next 4 days, Bun thought it was hilarious. We started the afternoon by visiting the south gate of Angkor Thom, Rosie fell asleep in the minibus so we left her with the bus driver. The rest of us viewed the 54 gods and demons that flanked the causeway and Bun started his testing of our listening skills Andrew’s retention of Hindu gods was poor to say the least!  We then went The Bayon a beautiful temple with 54 towers each with the 4 faces of Lokesvara; it was to be my favorite of the day. We then went to the Terrace of Elephants which we walked along before a quick visit to Baphuon which was under restoration.

We then made our way to Phnom Bakheng to watch the sun set, unfortunately to avoid the rush Bun took us there at 5.30 we got elephants up to the top much to the delight of the 3 girls but at 6.30 we decided that waiting for the another hour to watch the sunset was too much so we headed back down feeling somewhat disappointed although after passing the hundreds of people walking up as we walked down we felt it might well have been a bit too crowded to have felt all that special, it had already been busy when we left. Back at the hotel we had a quick swim. Where Megan almost passed out in her determination to swim a length of the pool under water, she did it eventually. We had dinner at the FCC after some miscommunication but it was lovely even if we hadn’t intended on eating there.

The second day we got up at 4.30 to see the sunrise over Angkor Wat, we had already prepared ourselves for how busy it was going to be , but perhaps because it’s a far larger temple than Phnom Bakheng it didn’t seem to bad and the sunrise was spectacular. We went back to the hotel for breakfast then went to Srah Srang (the pool viewing point) Bantrey Kdei (hall of dancing girls) Ta Prohm (covered in creepers and fig trees) and Thommanon (our new favorite, if only because of the 5 windows which led to a great photo opportunity!)

We had lunch outside Ankgor Wat (chicken Amok again) and then spent the afternoon exploring Angkor Wat.  It was far quieter than it had been that morning and just magnificent. Andrew and I like to read the guide books after we have visited the temples as we find they are far easier to digest, however it may have been prudent to have read up a bit before we reached the third level of Angkor Wat.  The steps to the top were steep and narrow Bun decided to wait for us at the bottom.  We decided to take all 3 girls to the top. Ellen and Megan climbed themselves Andrew carried Rosie.  It was only as we approached the top that we realized that getting back down was going to be a bit of an issue! I can’t remember the views just a rising sense of panic and dread at the prospect of our descent.  Andrew says the only thing that made him to step over the edge to start the descent was Megan going and him realizing he had to go with her to help her down. By the time we reached the bottom we were visibly shaken.  That night we read the guide book “sadly this level (the third one) has now been closed to visitors following a number of injuries and fatalities suffered by tourists losing their footing on the steep steps”! Well it’s not shut any more and we now have a family saying ‘after Angkor Wat… anything.’ Another late afternoon swim and dinner at the Jasmine where we watched traditional dancing.

Our last day at the temples of Angkor took us to some of the less known and visited ones. Pre Rup (men climbing up the towers to clean vegetation from them with no safety equipment), Banteay Srei (pink sandstone) and Banteay Samre (doors) in the morning. Despite having seen some of the supposedly most wonderful temples on the first two days, even Bun was dismissive of the temples we saw on the third day when I asked why they were not so popular he simple replied ‘they are not as good’ Andrew and I loved them.  They were some of our favorites possibly because you had them to yourselves but also the shear scale of them Preah Khan that we saw in the afternoon was huge and fascinating , fig trees roots embraced the walls as in Ta Prohm but without the mass of tourists and therefore sellers, which by the end of 3 days had become draining. We got back late afternoon for another swim and then headed to the Blue Pumpkin (a recommendation from my friend Clare) a haven of air conditioning away from the heat and hustle of the streets.  After a fab dinner Ellen and I scoured the art galleries, Andrew, Meg and Rosie went to the market for another Meg purchase (money burns a whole in her pocket) and we found the main drag of bars and restaurants, called pub street you might have thought the name would have given it away but we failed to find it until the end of our last night.

Day 7 Tonle Sap Lake.

A late start 9.30 gave us time to give Ellen the one birthday present we had carried around. Bun then drove us to the floating villages, as we got on the boat a 12 year old girl took our photos, were they expecting to lose us?  The villages were fascinating ,a temporary settlement the houses and schools etc are pulled up the river towards the mountains as the Tonle Sap rose to its peak in November. Although touristy in some ways, seeing the practicalities of living on a river were great, after a quick drink stop we headed back to our bus, as we disembarked the point of the photos became clear as we were shown the tackiest, distasteful plates with our faces emblazoned on them.  Obviously we bought one for Ellen. It was her birthday! But despite it being the best photo I have ever seen of me I couldn’t bring myself to buy another horrid plate.

We made our way to the airport, had lunch, we could have eaten in the blue pumpkin deli, but resisted. and flew to Luang Prabang via Pakse.  On the way to Pakse Andrew told the air hostess it was Ellen’s birthday and asked if the pilot could say happy birthday to her. We landed at Pakse half the plane got off and the rest of us had a 40 minute break.  As we got back on the plane the Pilot came over to Ellen and wished her a happy birthday, very kind we thought, but more was to come.  As we took off the pilot came onto the tanoy.’ Today we have a very special girl with us, she is called Ellen and she is 9 today so let’s all sing happy birthday to her. 1…2…3.. .’ now bearing in mind he couldn’t hear if the rest of the plane were singing (they were) he sang a hilarious rendition of happy birthday before adding , how wonderful Ellen was.  The gentleman in front of Ellen was so excited to be sitting in front of her that he almost hyperventilated and then made Ellen an origami swan. Ellen took it all in her stride she has many more years of being embarrassed by her parents to come.

Our arrival in Luang Prabang started badly with us being given the wrong passport. Luckily the guy realized just  before we had left the airport.  We were picked up by our new guide and taken to Pack Luck villas a great little guesthouse. We had the whole bottom floor.  I had asked if they could make a cake and so we were handed a huge chocolate cake on our arrival which we shared with the receptionist and his dog after a fairly average meal in the town.

We had arranged to meet Dah mid-morning, which gave us a few hours to explore Phnom Penh ourselves. We caught a tuc-tuc to the gardens at the foot of Wat Phnom Hill and walked in the early morning heat with the usual mix of tourists, tourist-vendors and locals. A twenty minute walk past the American Embassy brought us to Hotel Le Royal (a branch of Raffles). For all our misgivings about entering into such opulent surroundings given the extent of poverty outside, we set a theme for the holiday – the necessity to escape from the heat and shear assault on the senses. Le Royal is a very impressive Art Deco hotel with wonderfully lush gardens and coffee and cakes with prices to match. We ate at the patisserie whilst the kids filled in their journals – we are increasingly finding that these provide a focus for them when they are becoming restless or bored as well as a wonderful record of their travels.

Meeting Dah back at the hotel we visited Wat Phnom Hill and then had lunch at the restaurant he had tried to take us to yesterday – it proved to be worth the wait with a buffet-style offering. An hour later and we were taken to Central Market; it was a shame that it was post-lunch as there was fried cockroach and tarantulas on offer! Next stop The Russian Market (Psar Toul Tom Poung), a steamy, bustling Aladdin’s Cave of everything. Purchases included a fan (Rosie), Cushion covers (Katharine), fake Birkenstocks and DVDs (Andrew), book marks (Ellen) and cokes al-round.

It is strange yet pleasant how the kids seem to get attached to our guides. So it was that with some sadness we said farewell to Dah at Phnom Penh airport. A few hours later, we arrived in Siem Reap courtesy of a very small Bangkok airways plane. Luggage collection consisted of a hole in the wall through which they passed bags. Again we were met by a guide (Bun) and drove through the darkness and madness that are the roads in Cambodia to our hotel in Siem Reap. The Royal Crown Hotel was bright and clean. Really we were all a little too tired to eat and so struggled through a half-eaten meal before collapsing in bed.

 Deciding to leave a few days between the end of term and our flight out to Phnom Penh meant we started the holidays in relaxed mood. This was helped further by our social departure time of 15.15. Again Mr. Chen ran us to the airport, not before Rosie fell down a drain outside our condo (losing a crock), and a quick return home to get Ellen’s forgotten Harry Potter book (we ‘lost her’ for a few weeks because of this).The flight was uneventful aside from the usual protracted visa-form filling. On arrival at Phnom Penh we were met by our guide Dah and were taken to our hotel. The Hotel Cara had a boutique feel to the foyer and the rooms were small, but adequate. We arrange to meet Dah in the morning after breakfast and wandered out for our first taste of Cambodia. After the modernity of KL, Phnom Penh was a shock to the system. We got a tuc-tuc to the Sisowath Quay, the centre of Phnom Penh’s night-life. After a stroll along the front (where the Tonel Sap meets the Mekong), we decided to eat at the Bali Café.

On our way home the disparity between KL and Phnom Penh became even more apparent, though the street scenes were challenging and engaging in equal measures. Just like in Vietnam Cambodians tend to live their lives on the streets; food, shopping, drinking, socializing, all done on the pavements and in the front of shops and houses.

Breakfast was in the restaurant next door (Hollywood), and the choice was somewhat limited, no matter though since we were all looking forward to the day ahead. In the morning we visited the National Museum, housing a huge collection of Cambodia’s heritage. As we exited the museum we entered one of the biggest downpours we have ever seen since living in SE Asia. This was further exacerbated by the inability of Phnom Penh’s infrastructure to cope with the intensity of the rainfall. Soon the streets were rivers and traffic and pedestrians did their best to carry on. We braved the rain and visited the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda, both impressive structures.  

Lunch proved to be a protracted affair as everywhere Dah wanted to take us was full. We ended up at a large, bustling, open-fronted Chinese restaurant called Por Khorn. Access to the pavement in front of the restaurant was along hastily erected planks over the now knee deep water and mud. Lunch was super (as we have found is the case in most Chinese restaurants in SE Asia), though did nothing to prepare us for the afternoon’s sights. 

One thing both Katharine and I find incredibly difficult is the very difficult balancing act one is faced with when visiting harrowing and heart-rending sights and related issues. So it was on our visit to the Toul Sleng Genocide Museum and Choeung Ek (better known as the Killing Fields). Some of the displays and testimonies that attempt to put into context the suffering of the Cambodian people and the Khmer Rouge era were extremely challenging, and, we decided too much for the girls. So we both took turns in accompanying Dah into the prison whilst the girls played in the bus. The most touching and difficult aspect of the visit was Dah’s own story’s and views. One cannot begin to empathize with how the younger generation of Cambodian’s must feel about their recent history and the people, their people involved in the genocide, however there was a stalwart, idealistic tone to much of Dah’s interpretation of the events.  

Again tuc-tuc was our chosen form of early-evening transport to the waterfront. We walked along the river front again (and again were struck by the extremes of wealth apparent in this capital city). We stopped for a drink at one of the many bars and from this vantage point we watched Phnom Penh in all its shapes and sizes. A vibrant city with much to offer. Andrew chose the FCC (Foreign Correspondence Club) for evening meal. It is a superb colonial-era building, which was and is a favourite meeting place for expats and travelers. Many journalists drank here in the post-Pol Pot, UNTAC era and it really is a great place to soak up the river-front’s atmosphere.

We had clearly made an impression on the local tuc-tuc drivers (this seems to happen traveling with three young western children), as when we re-appeared from the FCC at least two of them shouted the name of our hotel. The journey back provided the opportunity for experiencing more of the sights (and smells!) of Phnom Penh.