THE INDOCHINEEX BLOG
An Angkorian Paddle
Background The rise and fall of the Angkorian Empire, which lasted nearly 600 years from the 9thto the 14th century, was centered in what is now Siem Reap Province, around its greatest religious monument Angkor Wat. The metropolis of Angkor comprising nearly a million...
A Spanish Sojourn
Spain May 2019 Panic on the M23, it was shut, Gatwick terminals are panic at the best of times. The plane left on time for my cycling adventure / Spanish sojourn. Pink Prosecco fueled the flight, the stuff of 3rd division footballers wives. Premier league would drink...
Hydrology Made Sexy; the story of Angkor’s water works
HYDROLOGY MADE SEXY Introduction Angkor is an amazing place. You cannot fail to be impressed even stunned by the grandeur, detail and scale of the monuments. The true wonder of the Angkorian Empire and what it had achieved only started to dawn on me in the last few...
The finfoot is Hatched
finfoot 1. The finfoot is Hatched finfoot was born in Prek Toal and conceived in the myriad of marshy waterways that come and go with the flood and ebb of the lake across the floodplain. The Tonle Sap Lake during the ebb and Prek Toal Core Bird Reserve (below) The...
Christmas Lunch with Jayavarman IV
Christmas Lunch in Prasat Pong Keou Temple In the glory days of our romance with Amansara* we had helicopters and oxcarts to and from the Tamarind Temple in the city of Angkor as a standard trip. Last year Apsara, the temple authority built a road and put an end to...
The Bill Bensley Boat Races by Indochine Exploration
The Bill Bensley Boat Races by Indochine Exploration ‘Nick I’ve got an amazing booking for you,’ said Christian the GM of Shinta Mani. ‘That’s great, what?’ I replied a little apprehensive knowing Christian. ‘Kayak,’ ‘Ok how many?’ ‘120’ ‘We can’t do it.’ ‘Why are you...
A Rwenzori Ramble
A Rwenzori Ramble Uganda April 2018 Summary Saturday 28th Depart London Sunday 29th Arrive Nairobi and onward flight to...
Hydrology Made Sexy – A Detective Story
Introduction Angkor is an amazing place. You cannot fail to be impressed even stunned by the grandeur, detail and scale of the monuments. The true wonder of the Angkorian Empire and what it achieved has only started to dawn on me in the last few years. It was when the...
A Kulen Mountain Bike Odessy
A Kulen Mountain Bike Temple Odyssey Phnom Kulen lit Kulen Mountain or Mountain of The Lychees is our mountain bike playground, bisected by the Kulen super highway (in fact a red earth road), which climbs the mountain at the Western end. Runs to the central tourist...
The Road to Nowhere
The Race to the Middle of Nowhere – The Scramble for Kulen About a thousand years too late but then it wasn’t for the first time, the Angkorians had been here before. And anyway the British, French, Germans and Italians took it in turns to claim large chunks of...
A Family Get Together
An Audience with a Northern Buff Cheeked Crested Gibbon Etiquette is important in the ape world, or are they monkeys? It all depends on how long the arms are – long, so apes like us, which makes us relatives and our meeting a family call. We invited the Northern …....
The Mobileiron Mekong Challenge
The Mobileiron Mekong Challenge The Setting The Mekong, its islands, public ferries and the East Bank, the antidote to a frenetic Phnom Penh on the other side of the river. Areykhsat on the East Bank of The Mekong Phnom Penh on the West bank of The Mekong The...
The Sangke River Kayak
The Sangke River Kayak This is the story of 5 men and their boats as they paddled across the floodplain of The Tonle Sap Great Lake from Battambang to Angkor. We couldn’t let our muscles go to waste so despite we’d 3 days ahead of us and an unknown quantity of...
A Water Hyacinth Workout
A Water Hyacinth Workout Heang was waiting at the Maichrey Boat Station with what looked liked the oldest wooden boat Bo the owner could find. The Team sprang into action, had the kayaks out the car, inflated and up on the roof of the relic that was taking us into The...
The Story of Jayavarman VII as told by his temples
JVII (Aka Jayavarman VII) with apologies to The Angkorian Empire It gets confusing, 26 kings all ending in – varman, building thousands of temples and ruling for 500 years. So today’s story is going to concentrate on just one...
My Holiday
Land of a Thousand Hills – or was it lakes Drinking Tusker overlooking the valleys of Kigali City shrouded in wisps of dissipating cloud, the city appeared bottle green after flying across the brown plains of Africa. The Virunga Volcanoes The Embraer to Kigali was...
An Angkorian Paddle
An Angkorian Paddle Background The rise and fall of the Angkorian Empire, which lasted 500 years from the 9th to 14th century, was centered in what is now Siem Reap Province, around its greatest monument Angkor Wat. A population of a million in an area of 1000 km2...
A BeTreed Adventure
A BeTreed Adventure Waived away by the staff, who’ve sort of got used to my bizarre behavior. Legs aside my trusted steed. In this case a new 125cc Honda Dream. Gloves, scarf, helmet, a hat in the front basket and most importantly an incredibly complicated set of...