{"id":7753,"date":"2020-04-08T08:55:47","date_gmt":"2020-04-08T07:55:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.uk\/blog\/?p=7753"},"modified":"2021-08-03T16:44:06","modified_gmt":"2021-08-03T15:44:06","slug":"traveller-tales-laos-and-cambodia-unveiled","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wendywutours.co.uk\/blog\/cambodia\/traveller-tales-laos-and-cambodia-unveiled\/","title":{"rendered":"Traveller Tales: Laos and Cambodia Unveiled"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

No one can bring our tours to life better than those who have seen, done and experienced it all first-hand, so we’re opening up the blog to our wonderful customers who want to share their amazing Wendy Wu adventures!<\/p>\n

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Maureen & Alan<\/h4>\n

Laos & Cambodia Unveiled
February 2020

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Our compact group of eleven travellers recently enjoyed the Laos and Cambodia Unveiled<\/a> itinerary with Wendy Wu Tours. It was a fascinating trip packed with many insights into the day to day lives of these very friendly, mainly Buddhist, people.\u00a0 We always received a very warm welcome despite the fact that many of them were evidently very poor.\u00a0 It was a very humbling experience.<\/p>\n

A Real Insight into Local Life<\/h3>\n

We visited schools, were welcomed into local villagers\u2019 homes, enjoyed temples, stupas, pagodas, caves, waterfalls and museums.\u00a0 We learnt about rice paper making, weaving, making fishing nets by hand, paper making, pottery work, jewellery making, wood and stone carving.\u00a0 In addition, we visited many markets including food, flowers, handicrafts, etc., as well as a bear rescue centre and elephant sanctuary.<\/p>\n

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The architecture is absolutely stunning with an overwhelming amount of gold leaf symbolising the light of the sun, ornate stencils and tiles, vivid mirror mosaics, wood and stone carvings and many, many buddhas, of course.<\/p>\n

Giving something back<\/h3>\n

We were particularly impressed that a number of the restaurants we dined in were either vocational training restaurants, a training restaurant for marginalised youth, or helping sick children. The restaurants are part of the Tree Alliance whose profits are used to give students a helping hand into the hospitality industry.<\/p>\n

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We were honoured to participate in an early morning alms giving ceremony known as a Tak Bat ritual in Lao.\u00a0 It is a living Buddhist tradition for the people of Luang Prabang where we helped serve hot sticky rice to the local saffron-robed monks.\u00a0 There were over a hundred monks and we made sure they all received a fair share!<\/p>\n

The tragic history of Laos and Cambodia is well documented.\u00a0 We visited COPE (Cooperative Orthotic & Prosthetic Enterprise) an organisation helping survivors of land mines in Vientiane, Laos.\u00a0 We learnt about the thousands and thousands of unexploded ordnance (UXO) mainly cluster bombs many of which are still being discovered today.<\/p>\n

At the end of our trip we visited the Killing Fields in Cambodia<\/a> and learnt about the terrible atrocities committed during the Khmer Rouge regime.\u00a0 Whilst we were in Battambang we heard some loud bangs and were told they were controlled explosions as they had found some UXOs in the riverbed.\u00a0 Our guide said this was still a common occurrence.<\/p>\n

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Exhilarating Experiences<\/h3>\n

We enjoyed some fascinating boat trips on the Angkor moat and Tonle Sap Lake. On our last night in Phnom Penh we even experienced a beautiful sunset cruise on the Mekong, but the best fun was on the crazy Bamboo Train in Battambang and the exhilarating cyclo tour in Phnom Penh.<\/p>\n

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Of course, Angkor Wat was the highlight – it is the largest religious monument in the world.\u00a0 The view from the Central Sanctuary at the top was well worth the steep climb.<\/p>\n

A Treat for the Taste Buds<\/h3>\n

On several occasions we watched traditional dancers and musicians whilst dining.\u00a0 In fact, we enjoyed plenty of excellent fresh food in some stunning locations.\u00a0 It was a very well thought out and varied itinerary.<\/p>\n

In the markets, and even some restaurants, we saw some extraordinary food which was not for the faint hearted – such as fried crickets, barbecued rats and deep-fried tarantulas!<\/p>\n

As always, this Wendy Wu tour offered the unexpected plus lots of wonderful experiences whilst still caring about the local people and helping to contribute to their wellbeing.<\/p>\n

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Thank you to Maureen for writing this great review and sending her fantastic photos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n