2 1/2 days old

Her eyes are open!

My new granddaughter, her big sisters and parents

3/4 day old

The photos are in reverse order to what I intended.

Monday afternoon

We had a delicious dinner last night at Fin’s – a southern Portuguese dish – cataplana- local seafood and potatoes poached in a saffron and star anise broth. We shared a lemon myrtle and native finger lime pannacotta and a chocolate dessert. The lemon myrtle taste was good. According to his recipe book, this chef uses lemon myrtle a lot – both as a substitute for lemongrass in savoury dishes and lemon in sweet. I did not know what a finger lime is. Apparently it looks like a finger and can be used in different ways. In the pannacotta we had, the insides of the lime were scrapped out and made into a syrup. It looked like pink fish roe but tasted a bit tart and sweet. It was lovely.

I have one more day before I go back to Brisbane. I am not buying any more time on the internet here.

Antidote to the Dinasaur – Friday evening

I decided, mid afternoon, that I wanted to do something different for dinner. Yesterday, at Salt, I checked out all the restaurants and made a booking for Sunday night when my son will be here, at Fin’s. This restaurant has several hats and a very good reputation. They have a vaguely Spanish influence at the moment. They open for a drink and tapas as well as just for a meal and they had a list of about 6 Spanish sherries up on a board. Last Thursday I had a glass of good Spanish sherry at a friends place and have been reminded how John and I often drank dry sherry in the 70’s and how in 2002 we spent 2 weeks in the south of Spain sampling sherries. Anyway, I thought I would go there. I drove to Salt at 5.30, parked, and walked slowly along the row of shops. I almost lost my nerve, and almost decided to have a gelato instead but, as I was walking past Fin’s for the second time, the lady who was getting Fin’s ready caught my eye and asked if she could help. We talked about sherry a bit, and she suggested the sashimi and then she said ‘sit down’ indicating the lounge seating area rather than one of the bar stooly things. I said – but there is one of me and this area seats a large group- or something to that effect. Her response was – they are not here and you are so you might as well be comfortable. So I spent a very enjoyable ¾ hour sipping , very slowly, my surprisingly large glass of delicious sherry and eating my delicious sashimi. The chef has written a cookbook and there was a copy of that available for browsing , which I did. I felt like I belonged – I had every right to be there - and I did not have leprosy, just no companion.

Finagal

The highlight of Saturday was my discovery of the Sheoak Shack at Fingal – about5km(as the crow flies) north of here. It is a shack that has been extended with the aid of temporary ( but permanent ) awnings , assorted tables, mismatched colourful chairs, hammocks, serving a range of different reasonably priced food and drinks. It has a vaguely Asian ( paper lanterns, sate sauce smells,) and South American ( large cacti, tables made from large slabs of timber) feel. There were assorted people from modern day hippies to a few people like me to young families. Several dogs with their owners. I just had coffee then but went back with following day with my son for lunch.

A Dinasaur in Murwillumbah

This morning I met a dinosaur. Although ‘met’ is not the right word – more like ‘I was accosted by ‘.

After my pleasant morning coffee, I set off via back roads for Murwillumbah. It was a very pleasant drive – through orchards, sugar cane plantations, lush bush – despite the longer than planned route that I ended up taking!. I stopped in Tumbulgum – a lovely old village on the edge of the Tweed ( a bit like Nelligen) and had a little potter. Next stop was the regional information centre on the edge of Murwillumbah. It was a large place. I hesitated an instant too long as I entered, trying to quickly work out where the info I wanted was and was approached by one of the over-zealous volunteers ( the dinosaur). I explained that I was staying in Kingscliff for a week and wanted info on the area in particular walks on Mt Warning and cruises up the Tweed. Somehow or other he asked who was travelling with me – I said I was on my own - he took 1 step back in amazement and then 2 steps forward. Oops I thought as I took 1 step back. He then asked ‘How did you get here from Kingscliff? Do you have a car?’ Yes, I replied – well derrh – what planet are you from? I thought. It only got worse. He said ‘The walk up Mt Warning would be too hard for you – it is 4.5km up and 4.5 km down and steep and you need proper shoes”. I did not know whether to laugh, walk out or see if he would dig himself into a bigger hole. I smiled sweetly, and said nothing. He went on to point out on a map ( well, he scribbled with circles and lines on the map – and I hate that) several ‘more suitable’ – his words – walks, none more than 2km in length. I changed the topic. I wanted to confirm that the art gallery was along a road that I pointed to. He said yes about 2 km then said ‘ Ah, I forgot you are a woman ‘ and he went on to give a very detailed description of the things I would pass on the way . Did he think I did not know what 2km was? Then I asked about cruises on the Tweed. ‘There are none’ he said . I told him I had seen a boat with people on it at Tumbulgum – that jolted his memory and he produced a brochure and proceded to extol the cruises merits. If I wasn’t on holiday I would have complained about him – but I can’t be bothered – and he was a volunteer.

The Art Gallery was terrific. Wonderful views, good food, pleasant staff. Most of the entrants in the Blake prize were on display and there was another exhibition that I think may have been in Canberra earlier this year about the Mekong. A couple spent a year travelling along the Mekong and nearby towns and the exhibition was a collection of photos, paintings, sculptures that they had done. There were some interesting paintings in their usual collection too.

The drive back was pleasant.

Kingscliff - view at dusk

Kingscliff Thursday

I am pleased at the location of this apartment. On the southern edges of Kingscliff there is a small river/creek that runs into the ocean and there are units along this water for several 100 metres. I took the photo from my verandah at 5.30 pm as the fullish moon was rising. The complex I am in has 28 units, some permanently occupied, and a swimming pool ( between me and the water). There is a boardwalk along the edge of the water into the main area. There are still lots of old buildings in Kingscliff- it is not all modern high rise. There is a fairly old caravan park in the middle of the shopping area and there are elderly normal ( i.e they look like they would belong more in Nimbin than the gold coast) residents wandering around.

The apartment is quite large – the living area is certainly bigger than my son’s apartment and much the same as my elder daughter’s. There are plenty of utensils and appliances in the kitchen – but the coffee plunger is broken – what a pity – I will have to wander into the shops for my morning ( and afternoon) coffee.

I slept in this morning - partly because my room is quite dark, there was no traffic noise and I had read in bed for quite a while the previous evening. I lay in bed listening to the different birds and there was another funny rythmical noise that I could not place. There was a swimmer gently swimming up the river. Over the next hour I saw a few more quite elderly looking swimmers. I also saw pelicans and , from my balcony, I could see fish in the shallows.

Later I walked to the bowling club which has a wireless network which seemed to work OK for me. The coffee was just OK . On the wall was a sign advertising their Sunday morning breakfast buffet. It cost $15 per person or $19 for the buffet and a ‘barefoot bowl’. I spent ages trying to think – does it cost more to have your breakfast in a bowl shaped like a bare foot? Is breakfast $4 more if you have no shoes on? I went and asked. Silly me – I had forgotten that I was in a bowling club – on Sunday morning after your breakfast you can have a bowl ( not a round shaped plate) on the bowling green with no shoes on for an extra $4.

I looked in the shops in Kingscliff but nothing in my size caught my fancy. I went to Salt – 1 ½ km south of here – a recently built suburb built in the middle of nowhere on the edge of the ocean with streets of huge homes and large apartment blocks with a central group of a few shops and a few restaurants. It felt weird, all the houses were the same – colour and very similar architecture - but the coffee in the coffee shop was nice. I had fish and chips for lunch in the bistro / pub.

I bought a few magazines yesterday and a book of Australian cryptic crosswords and I have sudokus on my laptop and I have several books to read and plenty of knitting – but I do not have to do any of it! The challenge will be not to worry about what I do not do.

Friday morning
I walked to Salt this morning for my morning coffee – a very pleasant walk along a bike path in the coastal scrub. Plenty of birds and flowers. I stopped to talk to some council workers having their morning tea. They said that there were only a few permanent residents in the huge houses and mentioned some famous Australian business identities who had holiday homes there. I said – the nearest airport is at Coolangatta isn’t it. One of them replied – yes, but many fly in in helicopters. There is a helipad over there ( pointing away from the water)

more photos

Mr DW up close and personal with a very old Buddha image

Ta Prohm

Angkor Wat

Local delights!

Photos

National museum in Phnom Penh

main wat in Luang Prabang

Hmong children in Phonsovan

Day 18 Siem Reap to home

We all had, at different times, a leisurely breakfast. This hotel has the best range of food for breakfast that I have ever seen in my life I think. I started , at 7am, with a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice ( I watched him squeeze the oranges ( which are slightly mandariny)) , then had a plate of pawpaw, pineapple, rockmelon, then after a while, I had some bircher muesli and delicious yoghurt and chopped up fruit salad. After a while, I had some delicious prawn dumpling things, then a cup of coffee and a freshly made crepe and a small Danish and a small croissant.. After a bigger while ( by this stage is was 8.45 ish, ) I decided to have some of the delicious looking blue cheese and a little bread roll to accompany the half glass of champagne ( it was our last breakfast after all). There was a huge array of cold meats, hot savoury food, little cakes etc

Some of us did yet more shopping and had our last fruit drinks, had an afternoon doze and left the hotel at 6.30pm to start our way home. We arrived in Canberra airport at 4.45pm ( 12.45 pm Cambodian time) All went smoothly.

Day 17 Siem Reap

We drove about 60km to visit Beng Mealea. This is reputed to be a prototype for Angkor Wat and is largely destroyed by the jungle, tho’ enough has been cleared that you can walk around / climb over piles of large rocks. It was surprisingly peaceful.

We then went to Banteay Srei, a Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva. It is built out of a lighter stone than the others and has lots of very detailed carvings.
Dinner at yet another good local restaurant.

Day 16 Siem Reap

A bit of history : the Khmer kingdom from 802 to 1432 AD was one of the great powers of SE Asia. There were a series of powerful kings, the first being Jayavarman II who proclaimed himself a god-king, the earthly representative of the Hindu god Shiva. He built a ‘temple mountain’ which set a precedent for the following kings who all tried to outdo each other and build a bigger and better temple dedicated to their preferred Hindu god or Buddha or both. Angkor Wat is the best known but there are many others. Henri Mouhot, in 1868 brought the decaying and overgrown temples to the public’s attention. A few were still in use.

We visited Angkor Wat first – quite breathtaking. Angkor Wat is the best preserved because it was never abandoned. It is a huge building which seems to go on and on. There are many carvings of apsaras ( heavenly nymphs) on the stonework. Angkor Wat, like others is surrounded by a moat.

Then we went to Ta Prohm , originally a Buddhist temple, now in ruins. It is quite atmospheric– large trees growing through ruins, complicated root systems seem to hold up buildings, light comes through trees in strange ways, dark shadows of crumbling decaying moss covered buildings

Angkor Thom is huge walled city. We visited 2 of its gates, a few buildings and the central monument Banyon.

It sounds like lots of buildings and things – which it was but they all were a bit different.

Dinner at yet another delicious place. Our hotel is about 2kn from the centre of town - $2 for a tuktuk. Beats walking in the heat.

Day 15 Phnom Penh to Siem Reap

Another interesting day.

Today we spent most of the day driving from Phnom Penh NW to Siem Reap. A large part of the road was only built 4 years ago with Japanese aid. It is a major highway, 2 lanes, 1 in each direction shared by trucks, tourist buses, motorbikes, few cars, tractors, bullock- drawn drays pilled precariously high, motorbike pulled carts pilled precariously high, pedestrians, animals etc. It takes a while to get anywhere – but that is OK because there is plenty to see. The style of housing changes, the wares in the roadside shops change, the vegetation changes. For a large part of the time we drove along the edge of the Tonle Sap river which flows into the Mekong at Phnom Penh ( except when the Mekong floods and it flows the other way) . The houses along the roadside are mostly on taller stilts than we have seen but the area is very poor. We drove past several brick factories and stone quarries, saw many rice fields and lotus ponds. One of the road side places we stopped at specialised in spiders – alive and dead – and assorted other revolting looking insects.

We stopped at a place called Sambor Prei Kuk where there are many ruins of temples built in the 6th and 7th centuries, pre-Angkor. It was nice wandering around the jungle looking at these structures built of small bricks (hopefully I’ll sort some photos out this evening). The area is off the main road and very poor – no electricity, very few cars in sight, dirt tracks, small houses with bamboo walls.

We arrived at our hotel – Ross has saved the best till last. This hotel is described in a book as French colonial. Nice wood, tiling, courtyards, wide verandahs, seating, little nooks and crannies, beautiful flowers everywhere, huge swimming pool.

I had a swim and then we all had dinner here. Delicious.

Day 14 Saturday Phnom Penh

This morning I went for an early walk along the waterfront. There were quite a few groups of locals out doing their exercises – a vigorous looking form of tai chi. There were several groups of blokes playing a game with a volleyball size net. They used heads or feet, no hands and had 3 on each side of the net. I have a photo that may ( or may not, more likely) turn out of a group of 8 monks walking earnestly along in their orange robes and sandals all carrying briefcases . They were passing a group of about 15 kids between about 10 and 16 all dancing to some hip hoppy discordant ( to my ear) Asian music. This was at about 6.45 am. Also in the photo are a team of women sweeping the path, emptying bins and watering the grass.

After breakfast we went first to the Royal Palace complex. Behind high walls is a quiet place with well-tended lawns and assorted buildings. We went into the throne hall where official dignitaries are received. It was surprisingly pleasant – distinctly Asian but with a European feel. Within the complex we also visited the Silver Pagoda, so named because of the silver floor. There is a gold Buddha – 90kg of gold.

Then we went to Tuol Sleng Museum, otherwise known as S-21. In 1975 Pol Pot took over a school and it became the largest centre of detention and torture in the country for the 3 1/2 years of Pol Pot’s regime. I took no photographs. The Khmer Rouge took detailed records of the inmates and there were many photographs of the 3 years. It was particularly chilling and aweful but necessary to see, I think, to understand the history of the country.

We then went to the National Museum which was a delightful building, very peaceful ( which it needed to be – we were all very sombre) . We were shown a large array of things, mostly statues from the Angkor period, by a lady with a terrible voice. She spoke in a high-pitched montone, like a robot that needed oiling, and was very hard to understand.

We walked back to our hotel and some of us had lunch at a pleasant café on the way. I had 1 remaining postcard on my ‘absolute minimum list’ to send, so bought one of the museum, found out that the post office was about 1 km away and set off. I reckon you almost walk double the distance by the time you dodge street stalls, motor bikes, cars, tuk tuks, people, beggars, piles of junk, builders etc etc. Once I saw the building I went in search of a coffee and found a place whose main purpose was to sell coffee beans, but they had a few tables. I had a nice cappuccino for $1US. As an aside, most prices are quoted in US$ but the official currency is real – there are 4000 real to 1 US$. It appears that reals are only used for change of less than $1. Many things on menus are, e.g. $2.80 – so you leave $3 and the change becomes the tip. I came back from the post office mostly via back streets, pocked my head into a covered market, passed some food stalls selling completely unrecognisable things, looked for a place to have another snack, decided to by-pass the restaurant that had 4 large black 4WDs outside and double the usual number of security guards ( someone more important than me must have been inside) , found a nice little place, had a lovely pineapple juice and was just started on my crepes when a large truck parked outside and started very noisily pumping out sewage. Ah well, I wasnot far from my hotel – time for another bath. Trouble is the bath is surrounded by 3 full walls of mirrors – I found yesterday it was a bit offputting.

Day 13 Friday Vientiane to Phnom Penh

The usual – bus to airport, wait around, plane trip, wait around, bus to hotel. Our Cambodian guide talked to us about Cambodia and its recent history in the bus. The hotel we are staying in is in a great location right on the water front – Tonle Sap River which joins the Mekong 500m south . I have a little balcony that looks along the river. The room is very opulent. Some of us wandered up the street and found a café for a late lunch, then it was back to the hotel for a bath before going to the Foreign Correspondent’s Club for a drink and then dinner. The tuk tuk drivers are not pushy and the few beggars I have seen are not pushy either but I have not wandered far.

Day 12 Thursday Vientiane

Today we went to 4 different places. Firstly a lovely wat – Wat Si Sakit. It was built in the early 1800’s. The temple is surrounded by cloisters with many images of Buddha. It had a really peaceful feel. Hah Pha Kaeo followed – an ex-temple, now a museum, then Pha That Luang. This was not to my taste! It is the national monument of Laos, and is supposed to be a symbol of both Buddhism and Lao sovereignty. It is a goldy coloured stupa surrounded by concrete. It doesnot have, for me, a good peaceful feel.

After that we drove to a funny thing that looks like the Arc de Triomphe. We climbed to the top and had a good view of the city. Vientiane is built on the edge of the Mekong but there seems to be a lot of construction along the waterfront and the view of it from the top of the Arc was all I have seen.

Mrs MW and I did some shopping in the afternoon, ignoring the protestations of Mr DW who is well known for his opposition to spending money.

Tomorrow we are off to Cambodia.

Day 11 Wednesday Phonsovan to Vientiane

This morning we drove from our hotel to the third of the 3 main sites to view the unexplained large stone jars. On the way we stopped twice – firstly to take some photos of 3 little Hmong girls dressed up in the traditional clothes. Today is the first day of the 3 or 4 days celebration of the Hmong new year and we passed a family walking along the street. They were happy to be photographed. A little later we drove passed a larger group of about 20. They were playing a ball game and were , once again, happy for us to take photos. There were 2 lines of girls facing each other throwing a ball back wards and forwards to each other in pairs using only 1 hand. Apparently it is traditionally played with a boy and a girl but we saw only the girls. There were some boys watching but when we passed they were not taking part.

Yesterday we were the only tourists at the 2 sites of jars that we went to, so today it was a bit of a let down to have other tourists looking around with us. There was an adult Hmong woman dressed up a singing – without apparently wanting money. Maybe it was a new year thing.

Back in Phonsovan we had hoped to visit the office of MAG (Mines Advisory Group) to see their display of the clearing of UXO’s and watch a video, however the office was closed for the new year celebrations. We had a leisurely lunch then short drive to airport, wait, short flight, wait for bags, bus to hotel. Usually stuff – waiting.

Vientiane , the capital of Laos , has a population of 600,000. It is the only city in Laos to have traffic lights. It took 15 minutes to drive from the airport to our hotel. It has a peculiar feel. Old French buildings , usually in a sad state of disrepair, new office blocks built in a style that I think is meant to be Laotian – the roofs look like temple roofs but the rest is a rectangular boring box, often white with goldy coloured decorations and many old buildings. Brand new large 4WD alongside tuk tuk’s and street sellers. Modern coffee shops next to a local Asian restaurant – ingredients on a table in the front with the wok on a burner and a few simple tables - , massage places, restaurants of all different cuisines, next to a shop selling, eg, tyres.

Mrs MW and her husband and I went to a ‘French’ restaurant where we had ravioli for dinner. It was delicious.

Labels for more photos

Sorry - the photos got out of order

Typical Hmong house on edge of Phonsovan
A few of the unexplained jars
Wat Xieng Muan, Luang Prabang
Bombed Buddha image at Muang Khoun
Monks at Luang Prabang

More photos

Labels for photos

View of Mekong at Sunset from my bedroom at Pak Beng lodge
Khamu village on Mekong
Mekong
Lao village children
Half our group on boat from Thailand to Laos
A couple from our group on an elephant ( sorry K not me)