On the road from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap

I have to say that this wasn’t my favourite road trip. There is one main reason for that.

On the road from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap it’s common for tours to stop at Skuon to tantalise (or,more likely, taunt) tourists with “delicacies” of fried insects such as scorpians, crickets and tarantulas.

From Vietnam to Cambodia by road

Our package tour gave us the option to travel from Ho Chi Minh City to Phnom Penh by either bus or plane.

We chose the bus because we wanted to see the countryside and we’re glad we did.

It was interesting to see how the country changed and quite amazing how obviously different things were almost as soon as we crossed the border.

A VERY long weekend … chalk it up

A girls’ weekend in Paris that turned into a 7 week holiday

Wherever we travel we like to investigate war history, even if we have no personal connection to the area. Over the years we’ve found some quirky little museums and cemeteries as well as visiting some of the well-known memorials.

A VERY long weekend … Salisbury, not so plain

A girls’ weekend in Paris that turned into a 7 week holiday

I’ve been to the Salisbury area before, but only for a night or two. This time I had 5 nights and no definite plans. This was a relaxed few days and really enjoyed the few things I did. I would go back and spend the same amount of time – or even more – again.

Something to write home about … Singing his praises.

Something to write home about … seal of approval.

Cobwebs and cobbler’s pegs

 

 

I think I should have titled my blog “First day: mostly driving”.

And, indeed, on this 4 day break, my first day was mostly driving. 6 hours from home to Lake Monduran where I had a cabin booked. A cabin that, according to the brochures, sleeps 5. But let me tell you that if there were more than 2 adults in there it would be very, very cosy indeed.

When I originally took a couple of extra days off work I didn’t have any particular plans. And, yes, I could have vegetated at home and been quite happy.  But with 5 days off I just felt like going somewhere.

I priced flights to Tokyo, which were very reasonable but the return flight times didn’t work well for me.

I priced a trip to Uluru, which was not very reasonable. I can fly to Europe for less than the price of the flights to Uluru. And people wonder why we don’t travel in Australia.

***

Last year we were supposed to spend a few days catching up with a childhood friend and her husband. We’d had a cabin booked at Lake Monduran but we had to cancel. The cost was non-refundable but we did have a credit. I’d been trying to work out how  to use it and decided that this was the time. 4 nights alone  in a lakeview cabin sounded just lovely to me.

And it was.

After the first day of mostly driving I arrived in the early afternoon and settled in. That’s it. I didn’t go for a walk or do much of anything except start a new book. My first ever Maeve Binchy novel – Whitethorn Woods. I quite enjoyed it as light reading though I felt some of the loose ends could have been tied up a little better.

And then there was  the sunset over the water.

It wouldn’t be quite true to say that I didn’t leave the cabin on the 2nd day. But almost. I went as far as the car. But mostly I spent it on the little porch soaking up the winter sun and reading. And maybe having a little wine.

And then there was another sunset.

Day 3 was a whirl of frantic activity compared to yesterday. On the map they gave me when I checked in there is a walking track leading from the lookout to a lava flow. This sounded like it might be interesting so I walked up to the lookout via the road and admired the view. I then spent an unnatural amount of time looking for the walking track but gave up and headed back down the road. Then I saw some rough steps going off into  the trees and decided that must be it. And I suppose it was but it had been a long time since anyone had walked it.

After battling orb weaver webs and cobbler’s pegs for more time that was really sensible I gave up and headed back. If I’d been dressed for a scrub-bashing hike and had been wearing some decent boots I might have pressed on but not today. I’d only wanted to go for a walk.

Cobbler’s pegs, in case you don’t know, are irritatingly clingy. Almost as clingy as cobwebs.

And orb weavers, though harmless, do tend to spin large webs across places you want to walk. Webs that will definitely make you do  the spider dance if you walk through them.

On the way back, a pretty-faced wallaby sat and watched as I walked past. I took out my camera to get an up close and personal shot, only to discover that I’d left the SD card in the computer. I didn’t know until then that wallabies can laugh. But I’m pretty sure this one did. It didn’t even bother to hop away as I walked past.

But I think it did feel sorry for me because it brought its whole family down in front of the cabin late in the afternoon and I managed a few shots.

Oh, and look, another sunset.

Day 4: After yesterday’s frantic exertions I thought I’d better rest up  and read another book. I got up early to take a photo of the sunrise (just for something different) only to discover the camera battery was dead. I could only laugh. Never mind, there’s always tomorrow.

So I had breakfast and started on “The Little Breton Bistro”. It’s pretty depressing  at the beginning but gets better as it moves to Brittany and a few places near where we’ve stayed.

I was determined to leave the cabin again today. So I went out to the car again. And I took some photos of the window awnings which I think would work very well on some of our windows. But I didn’t want to overdo it so it was back to  the porch to look at the lake through the trees and listen to the barramundi splashing in the lake and to the birds.

It was a bit cooler today – only 23° at 11am with an expected top of 24° and a slight breeze off the water, so I didn’t discard my dressing gown until 10am and sat in the sun in my nightie and Ugg boots until the breeze got too cool and I put my dressing gown back on again.

A couple of visitors came to say hello.

My last morning and, having promised myself I’d take a sunrise photo, I opened the door and was greeted by fog. Some things are not meant to be.

The fog followed me quite a way on the drive home,

but lifted slowly

and eventually cleared.

What a lovely few days. I think I must do that again sometime.

US in the US … and in conclUSion

You can always tell when I wasn’t thrilled with a part of a trip because it takes me a long time to post (if I ever do).

To say I didn’t enjoy our half day Grand Canyon outing wouldn’t be quite true, but I was a little disappointed. I had been before and I didn’t feel that this one gave a sense of the size and, well, grandness of the canyon. But it was Stu’s first visit and he was suitably impressed.

US in the US … incongruoUS art

Today was the final day of our road trip. Our last port of call before heading to Las Vegas was Rhyolite – a gold mining ghost town on the edge of Death Valley.

As we approached, we saw a small museum, which was sadly closed that day, and some really weird-looking art that is so out of place it becomes interesting. As interesting as … well … a penguin in the desert.

US in the US … it’s sabuloUS

No, that’s not a typo in the title. And yes, I know no one’s ever heard of the word “sabulous”. When I started writing up this road trip it seemed like a good idea to use words in the titles that contained “us”. Sometimes I’m too clever for my own good.