royby.com | Home

royby.com

Subscribe to Feeds

Browse by Category

Latest from - a weblog about weblogging

category - on the road again

Page 1 of 3 pages 1 2 3 >

flower of Shorea Robusta…

Posted 12/10/2011 under on the road again •

...which oddly grows directly from the tree trunk. This one is in the grounds of the Cambodian Royal Palace, Phnom Penh.

(1) Comments • Permalink

after many years of hard toil…

Posted 21/09/2011 under on the road again •

Click on the thumbnail

(0) Comments • Permalink

recent trip to Cambodia

Posted 23/08/2011 under on the road again •

We recently took a trip to Cambodia for a break from this city and to explore the south of that country, something I’d never done before. After being there I have to ask myself why haven’t I done this before?? It was just so good.

Originally we were going to travel first to Phnom Penh and then down to Sihanoukville, but ultimately we decided to go in completely the opposite direction. We flew from Sai Gon to the southern Vietnamese city of Rach Gia, caught a taxi into the market/bus depot and boarded a 25 seater local bus that eventually had around 35 persons on board. However, it was comfortable enough and for the 3 hour trip to Ha Tien on the border the princely sum of 38,000 VND (US$1.80) each was very reasonable.

The bus dropped us outside of Ha Tien and still 7 klms short of the border leaving us at the not too tender mercy of the local motorbike taxi drivers. Eventually we settled on 50,000VND each for them to take us to the border, which didn’t turn out to be a bad proposition really as they stuck with us and walked our bags through for nearly an hour in the very hot sun as we left VN and purchased a visa etc on the Cambodian side.

We paid them off on the other side and were besieged with individuals offering to take us to Kep for outrageous sums but Lan began talking to one guy in Vietnamese and he offered to take us in his car for $15. We accepted and he became our driver for the rest of the trip only ever scaring me once when, on the road to Phnom Penh he tried to overtake 3 trucks on a blind corner that was cresting a hill and we met an oncoming car half way. After a couple of expletives I asked him not to do that again

From Kep we drove to Kampot, then to Sihanoukville and on to Phnom Penh. From there to Sai Gon we caught a bus which is a manageable 6 hour drive. So actually we did a large circle with many pleasant stops on the way.

The pick of the places we stayed we both agreed was Kep closely followed by Kampot. Sihanoukville has better beaches but it also has a seedy feel to the place and too many children trying to sell stuff which turned me off. Phnom Penh of course is Phnom Penh, hasn’t changed too much over the years and I always enjoy being there.

I’ve put a lot of images up on Flicker and divided them into 4 sets, Kep, Kampot, Sihanoukville and Phnom Penh for your viewing pleasure. Please click on the images below to go to the slide shows on Flickr.

Kep

Kampot

Sihanoukville

Phnom Penh

(0) Comments • Permalink

Welcome!

Posted 14/08/2011 under mobile images • on the road again •

500 metres into Cambodia and the paved highway of Viet Nam is but a fond memory

(2) Comments • Permalink

Re-cycle, don’t waste anything!

Posted 08/04/2010 under on the road again • other stuff •

I came across a small re-cycling yard not far off the main street of Batu Ferringhi on Penang Island. It’s the first time I’ve seen toilet seats and lids being re-sprayed to extend their useful life. Things could get a bit sticky once the paint begins to peel.

(0) Comments • Permalink

NYC is the best

Posted 10/12/2008 under on the road again •

Now I know why so much has been written about New York City. This place pulses with so much energy and life it’s staggering. Images to come when I have time, meanwhile it’s time for a Greek breakfast in Queens then back onto the subway and downtown.

(0) Comments • Permalink

Hamish and Nang

Posted 29/06/2008 under on the road again •

Currently I’m in Vientiane in Lao where yesterday I was happy to watch as Hamish and Nang confirmed their commitment to each other in a traditional Lao ceremony.

(0) Comments • Permalink

bring on the heat!

Posted 05/07/2007 under on the road again •

After experiencing record low temperatures here in Brisbane, the last 2 or 3 days have been unusually warm with temperatures 7 degrees above normal. The days were so good that I took advantage of the fact and dusted the cobwebs off my bicycle and went for a ride. I was going to do the same today, but alas, the westerly winds have returned with a vengeance, in fact the weather bureau has issued a strong wind warning for today and it is truly miserable outside.

It’s fortunate then that tonight I depart for Bangkok en-route back to Viet Nam. The temperature is expected to reach 33 degrees tomorrow in Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City is about the same. Packing for hot weather while I’ve been feeling so cold has been very difficult as I haven’t been able to get the idea of including singlets and sweaters out of my head.

Ah, bring on that tropical heat!!

(0) Comments • Permalink

high speed down Borneo river

Posted 20/12/2006 under on the road again •

On our recent return flight to Australia from Viet Nam we stayed over in Brunei for a few days where our friends from the Royal Brunei Police took excellent care of us. Rather than let us go on a tour to Temburong National Park they provided us with an escort and a boat to travel across the open sea and up the Temburong River.

This high speed marine intercept craft was ably driven by a very experienced Staff Sergeant and his crew of three. The two guys in the front were lookouts for logs and other debris floating down the swollen, flooding river and it was exciting weaving in amongst all this stuff at high speed as they signalled go left or right.

Did I mention that the boat has three (3) 250 hp Mercury outboards - 3! That’s 750 hp. Unfortunately the video footage that I took doesn’t convey the speed that we were doing. Yee-hah

More on our stopover in Brunei when I get time (not sure when that will be).

(0) Comments • Permalink

welcome back to SE Asia

Posted 13/08/2006 under on the road again •

I do like Malaysia, it has that marvellous tropical laid back feel to it and KL seems to typify that. I have to admit that arriving at about 9pm local time and finding the temperature to still be hovering around 27 degrees centigrade with extremely high humidity was a bit of a shock to the system after the winter weather in Brisbane.

However that was not nearly as hot as the engine on the shuttle bus carrying several weary travellers along the brilliant Malaysian freeway system to our hotel for a nights stopover. The engine overheated and the driver turned off the air-conditioning and had to crawl along at about 40 Klms per hour which meant a long and very humid ride. It finally gave way literally as we rolled into the hotel driveway and the driver coasted to a stop with steam and very loud strangling type noises emanating from deep within the bowels of our vehicle. We treated the driver to a generous round of applause and rushed to get into the airconditioned foyer of the Grand Blue Wave Hotel at Shah Alam.

This is an old hotel but quite large. The rooms are in need of a bit of TLC but I have seldom had a larger room while travelling as my budget normally doen’t run to suites in hotels, but evidentially that is no problem for Malaysia Airlines and I felt a bit lost in the massive apartment. It even had a two showers, one in a seperate cubicle and another over the marble encased bathtub!! Another first for me.

The best part though was the view over the massive Blue Mosque, the largest mosque in Malaysia. although it was a bit optimistic of me to think that I coud get a sleep in with a mosque right outside my window. I had forgotten about the morning prayers which began in the pitch black of early morning at 5.30.

I would like to spend more time in Malaysia and I’m especially keen to go and have a look at Sarawak and maybe travel up one of the rivers in a small boat. So much to do, so little time to do it!

(2) Comments • Permalink

Page 1 of 3 pages 1 2 3 >