Cam and Nam- Tuk tuks and temples to bikes and beaches.

The majority of my December was spent in Cambodia and Vietnam with the rest of the teaching volunteers from Malaysia, jumping from place to place, having a nice holiday from work back in Sabah (although describing it as work seems odd because I'm not sure you're supposed to enjoy work quite as much as this, but there you go). Tuk Tuks and temples actually sums up Cambodia pretty nicely for me. Unfortunately I have no decent pictures of me on a tuk tuk, mainly because I was sticking my head out the edge and panting like an excited dog the majority of the time, but I can tell you they are a lot of fun. Our journey starts in the capital city Phnom Penh, where we were able to meet up with two other Project Trust volunteers who could show us around and give us advice on where to stay. Many hours were spent at the rooftop bar in the Mad Monkey Guesthouse, playing pool and having free shots (it's up there as one of my favourite places in the world for sure), but more hours were spent being good little tourists, lapping up the cultural and religious history and being ripped off for guide books and rubbish musical instruments (actually that bit was just me). Culture in Cambodia came in the form of temples. Many many temples. I really enjoyed it but there's only so much you can pretend to be utterly fascinated in all the facts and the background, so inevitably sophistication was swiftly abandoned and Temple hide and seek ensued, followed by a live game of Temple Run. Angkor Wat was particularly spectacular I have to admit. We arrived there at sunrise to get some striking photos of the sun coming up directly behind it, but of course we were stuck behind probably the tallest man in Cambodia at that moment in time, so our perfect picture taking was thwarted somewhat. We also had to pretend like we couldn't see the scaffolding at the entrance, not the finest aspect of the 7th wonder of the world. But it was certainly incredible and I'm glad I can say I've done it.
We also had the opportunity to visit the Cambodian volunteer's project in an orphanage. In the 2 hours I was there, I managed to hit an 8 year old, blind, deaf, HIV positive orphan in the back of the head with a football. Not sure how that could be any worse really. Other than that it was a great day playing with the kids. I found it remarkable that these children who are all orphans and all HIV positive could be running around, playing, laughing, looking seemingly happy. It certainly made any problems or difficulties in my life seem incredibly insignificant, and that I have no reason not to be smiling all day long if those children were able to be so happy despite their situation.
Unfortunately, genocide plays a prominent role in Cambodia's recent history, so to in-keep with our good little tourist approach, learning about the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge Regime of the 1970s was also on our agenda. We started at the museum site, S21, once a school, but was turned into a prison where thousands of innocent Cambodian civilians were tortured and killed. As you walk through it, there are hundreds of pictures on the wall of the people who were brutally murdered, staring at you from all angles. As if this did not trouble me enough, our trip to the Killing fields had me close to tears. There were pits wherever you turned that were once the graves of hundreds of Cambodians, and if you looked closely enough you could still see the occasional tooth or fragment of bone lying in the dust. It was one of the most appalling sights I've seen, a deeply moving experience.
I've probably given off the wrong impression with my description of Cambodia so far- do bare in mind that these were all day times activities and that night time was a completely different ball game, but I wouldn't describe it as blog material. All you need to know is that we had lots of fun.

Me, Helena, Ellie and Jay's minuscule pony tail. Oh and an ancient temple! 

You're never beating these guys at tug of war (despite the fact some of them lack heads).

Number 47- a bat of some sort. This temple was home to many a bat. After taking the picture with flash I ran for fear of the bats waking and coming after me. Looks like only one of them made the effort, and even that was quite tame.

A giant root came loose but it's okay because Josh managed to catch it and push it to safety.

At the orphanage. When I wasn't hitting helpless children with footballs, I was a climbing frame.

Prime spot for live Temple Running.

Angkor Wat- one of the 7 wonders of the world. Worth getting up at 5 in the morning for, sunrise was spectacular. This is one of the few pictures I got where the massive bald guy at the front decided to crouch down. Honestly, some people. 

Hugo having fun inside Angkor Wat.

Oh how me and that temple had some laughs!

This temple was the setting for Lara Croft's Tomb Raider. I've never seen it but I'll be gutted for that tree if it didn't get a feature. The kid deserves it, outstanding growth.

Bit of a sinister picture. These are the killing fields in Cambodia. Every pit in the ground was a ditch filled with hundreds of dead bodies, murdered on the edge and thrown in during the Khmer Rouge rule from 1975-79. The remnants of bone can still be found in the ground. 

A lake on the sight of the Killing Fields. There are hundreds of bodies still in the water that have been left in peace.

Onto Vietnam, a place I've wanted to visit for quite some time. We started on Nam's biggest island in the South, Phu Quoc (pronounce it as you will). Me and Jason had been plotting to rent out some motorbikes in Cambodia, but we thought we'd seize our chance on the island so we could see as much of it as we could. Without question it was one of my favourite days of my year so far. It was an incredible way to see the island, and the bikes were great fun. We went along the coast, crossed bridges you wouldn't be comfortable walking across for fear of it breaking, stopped and clambered on some rocks, saw a snake on the road, got lost and enjoyed the scenery. There were minor mishaps (i.e me falling off on more than one occasion), but it all added to the experience. We were on our bikes all day and didn't get to enjoy the beautiful beaches, so we made the most of that the next day. In the evening we tried some sunset fishing on a boat, followed by night squid fishing when the sun finally disappeared (I've decided that sounds nicer than it is, I'm sure it's great fun if you catch something, but fishing is not my strong point).
Next stop was Ho Chi Minh City, and my historian antennae were twitching like crazy! Once again, the facts and pictures in the museum did not make pleasant viewing, however our trip to the Chu Chi Tunnels was incredible. We had the chance to crawl down into the Vietcong tunnels and to witness the various traps the Vietcong used in warfare. I remember learning all about it in class back in Finchley, but to see it up close like that was a remarkable experience. The entrances to the tunnels were made bigger for big boned Westerners like myself to get into, but they used to be just 30cm by 40cm in size. It's impossible to imagine anyone living in such conditions, let alone while there's a war going on above your head. We even had the chance to shoot a semi machine gun, so I can officially say that I've shot a gun in Nam which I'm pretty happy about.
We then travelled up to Dalat, or "little Paris" as it is also known. For the first time in 4 months, it was jumper weather! We were up in the mountains so the temperature dropped to a comparatively freezing 20 C. We visited a couple of beautiful waterfalls, went on something like a rollercoaster, and visited a seriously Crazy house, designed specifically to be crazy. It's essentially a house that breaks every Health and Safety regulation in the book, but that was the fun of it, and when Nick Platypus Brown ran into a pond we knew visiting there was the best thing we'd ever done.
After Dalat, we finished in Nha Trang, Asia's answer to Magaluf. Except it wasn't that at all. There were a few bars yes, and a substantial amount of white people, but it didn't quite carry the same stench of chunder that Magaluf had, and it's beaches are far too nice to be considered in quite the same way. Even the "Booze Cruise" we went on was far too beautiful- we went snorkling and were jumping into the sea surrounded by beautiful mountains and drinking cocktails while floating on rings. But I loved Nha Trang just because it was lovely to just have some time to relax for our last few days and enjoy the beach and watch the sun go down.
All in all, it was an incredible holiday, spent with a great crowd, and has confirmed the fact that whatever happens in the future, I'll be returning to this part of the world to do it all again and more.  

The beautiful beach on Phu Quoc, Vietnam's biggest island.  

I astound even myself with some of my camera work. Well done me!

Lads and their motorbikes on Phu Quoc island. A beautiful National Park on one side, the sea on the other.  Easily the most fun way to get around, until you fall off. Pros and cons.

Out on our boat ride to do some sunset fishing and night squid fishing. I think it would have been really fun if I had caught something, but being spontaneously good at fishing unfortunately doesn't happen. 

Even if I'm no good at fishing, I'm really good at enjoying the sunset.

Me pretending I actually caught something. It was as close as I was ever going to get.

One of my favourite parts of Vietnam. This is me in the Cu Chi tunnels; since the Americans decided to destroy every tree standing, the Vietcong decided to go underground and built this quite unbelievable tunnel system that stretched for miles and miles.

Shooting an M25 like a boss.

This could have been the first picture where I decided to produce a smile, only to be ruined by these chumps. This is the gang at the Vietnam War Museum, Ho Chi Minh City.

All the gang by the Elephant Waterfall in Da Lat, also known as "little Paris". I bet Paris doesn't have a waterfall like that! Dalat 1-0 Paris.

At one point I was standing on a rock and the rainbow arched round at both ends and finished at my feet. I completed the rainbow. I was momentarily a leprechaun. I bet Paris doesn't have rainbows like that. Dalat 2-0 Paris. 2 goal cushion is never safe though.

This is the Crazy House Hostel, without question the craziest house I've ever seen. It's just against every Health and Safety regulation known to man. I bet Paris doesn't have a Crazy House like this. Dalat 3-0 Paris. Game over.