Armitage Shah Family Travels

  Many parts of the world including Cambodia have been saturated with landmines. There are still 5 million landmines and other explosives that have not been cleared in Cambodia. During the years of conflict the Khmer Rouge and the Vietnamese army planted landmines to stop the advancement of the opposing army. Many years later landmines were found in Cambodia. Today children are victims of the leftover landmines. They step on them in fields and often lose limbs, their eyesight or their lives.  Aki Ra is the founder of the landmine museum. As a child, Aki Ra lost his parents to war and was forced to plant landmines for the Khmer Rouge. I was very fortunate to meet him at the museum. He explained to me that now as an adult he clears landmines.  He first uses a metal detector to locate the landmine.  Once he finds them,  Aki Ra has two methods of disarming them.  His first method is to explode them by sending electricity through a 80 foot cable .  His other method is to carefully take out

  Did you know that rats can learn to sniff out landmines in 12 months with the correct training. While in Cambodia we got to learn a lot of history about war and landmines.  My family and I went to a visitor center to discover the removal of landmines using giant african pouched rats. I was a bit skeptical on how rats could sniff out landmines but learnt that the rats are trained to smell TNT.  They are  rewarded from their trainers with food for finding them. They don't set off the mines because they are not heavy  enough. The rats are attached to a 10 meter leash  and can scan the size of a tennis court in 30 minutes. These rats have found over 2000 mines in Cambodia.  We continued our learning that day by going to the war museum. Since Cambodia has been a part of many conflicts there are a lot of weapons and war vehicles still in the country. One soldier from the Cambodian military has collected tanks, guns, landmines, a helicopter and a plane. Many of the tanks came from Russi

  Did you know that Siem Reap Cambodia has 91 temples. Angkor Wat is the largest Temple in the world. The Buddhist and Hindu temples represent places of worship. Most were built from the 9th to 14th century. I loved exploring these wonderful works of art. Angkor Wat is also the largest religious monument on earth. It took 5 million tons of sandstone to build and they had to use 6000 elephants to transport the stone from 50 km away. It is almost 900 years old but has been refurbished. The entrance to the temple is very large and the first thing you see are thousands of detailed hand done carvings. At the top of the temple you could see the whole property of Angkor Wat. After the Angkor Wat we went to the Bayon Temple. It was fascinating because there are 54 pillars. Each pillar has  4 faces, looking north, south, east and west. The Bayon Temple is very open and symmetrical. It has beams holding up the walls due to years of erosion. The temple is in the shape of a pyramid and there are m

  Did you know that Kuala Lumpur has the world's 2nd tallest building. We visited Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia at the end of April and saw many fantastic sites. We had an awesome view of the Merdeka 118 ( second tallest building in the world ) from the KL tower . The glass walk was my favorite because I could see how high off the ground I was. We walked up the 272 steps at the batu caves to see the monkeys and the sun peeking through the top of the mountain. The statue in front of the stairs is very tall and detailed      We went up a mountain by cable car at the Genting Highlands and where there was a very large mall and theme park. We were disappointed that we couldn't see the view of the mountains because all of the buildings were blocking it. We were trying to get a photo of the natural mountains but I had to settle for a photo of the theme park mountains. I liked going to the Pewter Museum because of all of the cool figures. Pewter is a metal made from tin, antimony, copper and

  Splash! As we felt the cold water soak into our shirts and cool us off. I quickly grab my water bucket and splash the people around me. This water party is a celebration for the Thai New Year on April 13th. I was very excited  to experience this celebration in Ao Nang, Krabi. The new year is called Songkran and people will splash you with water to wash away the bad spirits. My family and I spent the afternoon celebrating.  We were lucky to catch a ride in the back of a bus with a local family. The bus had 5 massive buckets filled with water. We were driven around town splashing everyone we could see. The roads were filled with families in the back of trucks, people on the sidewalk blasting music and smiling.  I'm so thrilled I was a part of this amazing celebration, Thailand has been my favorite place for cultural experiences.      

  Thailand is a beautiful place to snorkel and scuba dive. After seeing my dad having so much fun diving I wanted to try it out.  So off I went with my new mask in hand ready to explore life in the ocean. When we were heading to the dive site  my instructor showed me how to use all of the specialized equipment.  I wore a wetsuit, flippers  had 2 regulators and an air tank.  Once I got all suited up and in the water  my instructor tied a rope to the ocean floor. This would allow me to grab onto something while practicing recovering my regulator, breathing and getting water out of my mask. After practising a few times we slowly went down 11.2m while equalizing our ears every meter. Due to pressure change as you descend into the water, you need to equalize your ears so they don’t hurt The islands that I dove at were the same that I had snorkeled at so I was familiar with the area.  I did two dives that lasted 40 minutes each. For each dive  I reached a depth of  11 metres,  I saw many fis

  Thailand is an amazing place to snorkel and scuba dive. A few days ago my mom and I went snorkeling while my dad went scuba diving. We went to Koh Haa to see coral and sea creatures.  The boat ride was 2 hours from Ko Lanta. On the boat we had breakfast, snacks, lunch and dessert. There were lots of different drinks to choose from. Once we got to Koh Haa  we had to put on our flipres, googles, snorkel and life jacket. Since my dad was scuba diving he had to put on a lot more gear. Kob Haa consists of 5 islands that have very clear water. For the day we went to 3 of the islands to snorkel. Close to the islands, there are a lot of colorful fish and coral. Getting back to the boat after our snorkel was tough sometimes depending on the current.   With a strong ocean current, my mom and I tried to swim back to the boat but we would take 10 strokes forward and get pulled back 5 strokes.   The boat had to come to us because we couldn't swim back. While we were snorkeling we saw many coo

                 Today I will share similarities  and differences that I have learned about Ko Lanta, Thailand and Prince Edward County, Canada. A few things I will talk about are the climate, vegetation and beaches.   Did you know that Ko Lanta is only a 13th of the size of Prince Edward County but it has a population of 27,103 people compared to Prince Edward County with 24,021 people.. In Prince Edward County it snows from mid November to the beginning of April and it’s +25 degrees Celcius from mid June to mid September. Since it's mostly under 10’ c for 8 months of the year that makes the average temperature 8.7’ c. Prince Edward County is much colder because of its relation to the equator compared to Ko Lanta. In Ko Lanta The temperature rarely drops below 25 degrees Celsius. The weather is mostly the same year round with an average of 6 inches of rain each month. Ko Lanta is much warmer than Prince Edward County because it's much closer to the equator.  I prefer the varie

  Throughout our trip I have had many different types of food. In all of the countries we have been to, the food has always been fresh, tasteful, and flavorful. Many of my meals have looked like a piece of art. I have noticed that food is an important aspect of the cultures of the countries that we have visited. I think that in North America there is not the same appreciation.   I do appreciate that I have had the opportunity to enjoy well prepared food.

       When I was in Dubai I got to do many fun activities. On the first day we walked through the Dubai mall and saw many different stores. The mall is very unique because it has multiple areas with different types of architecture. One part is a Chinatown and other parts look like a traditional gold souk with a lot of jewelry stores in it. On the Second day my family and I went to the Aquarium that's in the mall. I was amazed by all of the fish they had. I got to see crocodiles, freshwater fish, saltwater fish and turtles. Following the Aquarium we went to the Burj Khalifa which is the tallest building in the world. We had booked tickets for 2pm and thought we would only have to wait a few minutes to go to the top, but once we got there we had to wait for 45 min. At the top, the view was very nice but there was no glass walk and it was very crowded. On the third day we went to a go-kart track called Dubai Kartdrome.  I felt a little intimidated as the race course looked profession

  Mombasa south coast beach  A canon at fort Jesus. Fort Jesus was a military fort that was built in 1593 and owned by the Portuguese , then the Arabs , then the British and finally it's now owned by the government of Kenya.  A window used for shooting guns out of.  An old Portuguese anchor.

Nairobi is the capital city of Kenya.  It is a  bustling city with several attractions.   In Nairobi I had the chance to get a personal tour of my uncle's mattress factory. He picked me up from our hotel and showed me around a small part of the factory.  We continued the tour into his office and watched the CCTV of all of the parts of the factory. He told me that he has a factory in Kisumu (a city on the east side of Kenya) 10X & larger and I was so surprised because I thought the factory in Nairobi was large. My uncle drove me around the factory and I got to see the foam for the mattresses being made. It  looked like massive marshmallows. I also got to see lots of other things like plastic chairs, plastic  bowls and cloth shopping bags. After we were done at the factory I went go-karting and swimming at a restaurant  15 min away from the factory. The go-kart track was the longest track I've ever driven on, it's 1.4km long While we were in Nairobi we got to see lots of

  Throughout our safari our Maisa driver Ben taught us a lot of facts about animals and the landscape.  All wild cats need to eat every 3 days to survive.  A group of lions are called a pride  and the lions hunt in a group to take down their prey. We were able to see a pride of lions kill a buffalo and its calf.  Lions are very organized while hunting for prey. The lions were watching a buffalo and its calf very closely. The lions started to creep through the long grass and finally encircled the buffalo and calf that was separated from the herd. The mom was trying to protect its calf but it was no match for the lions. The lions would go back and forth hitting the buffalo. One lion was able to grab the calf and kill it first.  They jumped on the back of the buffalo to jump and  were successful in killing it, the process only took 2 min.   I noticed that there was a hierarchy in what order the lions ate. The males would eat, followed by the females and then the lioness would bring the cu

  On Feb 28th we drove from Nairobi to Masai Mara. The drive was 5 hours and we stopped in a small town to eat our sandwiches and get some tea. When we arrived at the park gate we had another drive take us in the park across the bumpy roads  to get to our camp.  On the way there we saw zebras, antalopes, buffalo, cheetahs, leopards, elephants and a hippo carcass. I was surprised how many animals we were able to see just driving to the camp. When we got to the camp our room wasn't ready so we had lunch.  All of the meals are buffet style with  plenty of options.  After lunch we went to our tent that had a full bathroom and 3 single beds. There was a porch attached to the tent where you could sit and listen to the hippos that are in the Mara river. On the first day I saw a hippo carcass that still had some  meat on it but when we returned the next day all that was left were the bones. We were lucky to see multiple giraffes eating leaves and grass and 3 other giraffes play fighting. W

  A few days ago my family and I got to see the Giza pyramids. We had a taxi driver take us in the morning. He parked his car on a side street then walked us to the gate. At the entrance it was madness, there were at least 100 people shoulder to shoulder pushing their way to  get tickets. There was no way we were going to get tickets so we paid a guy to get them. He pushed through everyone to get to the front of the line 1 minute later he had the tickets and brought us to the gate. When we got in he said we should take a horse carriage. He kept on insisting, but eventually left us alone so we could explore ourselves.  Once we started looking around we were amazed by how big the sphinx was. You are not able to get close because there is a large pit surrounding it. The sphinx is an Egyptian god that is the protector of the pyramids. As we walked around the pyramids I noticed that this area was a large tourist trap. Locals were selling everything from camel rides to souvenirs, and yes we

  On February 21 we left Tanger on a bullet train to Casablanca. The train ride was nice because it was surprisingly smooth for going 308 km/h, some bullet trains can go up to 400 km/h. When we arrived we checked into the hotel and planned our next day.  My mom and I decided to go to the Arab league park but when we got into the taxi the driver said you should go to the ANFA park because it's better for kids and it's newer. We took his suggestion and he drove us there.  When we arrived we wandered and saw a large  play structure  and I played on it for a long time.  I met a boy named Adam and I played tag with him for 2 hours. It was fun to play with someone my own age because I have been with my parents for 3 weeks straight. Adam was able to speak English, French, Arabic and German which I thought was cool !  The playground was amazing because it had lots of ropes and one large slide. The slide was made from barrels that were welded together. The ropes were attached to trees t

Me standing in a hollow rock. light house overlooking where the Mediterranen and Atlantic meet.  Cutout in the Hercules caves in Tanger. Beautiful mural in the town of Asilah  near Tanger. Skyline of old  Tanger.  Massive fruit dish I got for dessert.  

  On February 16 we went to Chefchaouen for the day. We left Tangier at 10 am and took a taxi to Chefchaouen. The drive was 2h20min but we stopped to take some pictures of mountains. There are always people selling things on the side of the highway. Where we stopped there was a guy selling peanuts. We got a large bag for $2 usd, they tasted smokey like they just came off a fire. There was a kid selling olive leaves and since we had so many peanuts we gave him a handful.  When we arrived we got some lunch then explored the city. In the medina all of the buildings are painted blue because it represents the color of the mediterranean sea that is only an hour away. The square was interesting because there were lots of women at small stalls selling the same large Moroccan bread. Others were selling many different cables, remotes and phone cases. I think Morocco must be the place where all of our random cables and t.v. remotes end up.  While wandering around we stumbled across a market that

                   Agadir                                              Marrakesh                          As we travel through Morocco we have noticed how each city is different from one another. The first city we went to was Marrakesh. Marrakesh is very dry with a lot of dessert and not a lot of vegetation. The second city  we went to was Agadir.  Agadir has a very different landscape than Marrakesh with the Atlas mountains to the north and the desert to the south. Agadir is on the coast in the middle of Morocco. Tangier is different from Agadir and Marrakech. The city is in the north across the mediterranean sea from Spain where there is a lot more vegetation. Tangier also is more of an economic city being very close to Europe. It has a large port to receive and trade goods from. Transportation is unique in each one of the cities we went to. In old Marrakech lots of the locals have motorbikes or donkeys pulling carts. Agadir is more developed so most people drive cars, vans or motorc

  This was the first travel blog ever made. Its in the Kasbah museum    in Tangier. His travels were over before he was able to carve a   second one.  This blog was made by  جونسون in 1458. Blogging never took off again until the invention of the internet. 

      On Sunday it was my birthday and I got to go to the crocodile park just outside of Agadir. When we arrived we couldn't believe how many crocodiles they had.  While we were at the park we learned a lot of facts about crocodiles. Did you know to find out the gender of the baby croc before it's born you need to measure the temperature of the egg. If the temperature is 32' c or higher it's a male but if it's 30’ c or lower it's a female.  Another fact is crocodiles open their mouths to regulate their body temperature. After laying in the sun all morning the crocodiles started moving around and swimming in the water.   Also in the park they had a lot of different animals like monkeys, pythons, turtles and iguanas. The monkeys and pythons were in an enclosure whereas the lizards and iguanas moved freely around the cactus garden. For the lizards/iguanas that are less than one year old they stay in a cage so they don't get eaten. Also in the garden there's

As we continue our travels in Morocco we drove from Marrakesh to Agadir. The drive was about 4 hours but we stopped half way thorough to eat lunch in a small town. We drove thorough the spectacular light brown Atlas mountains.  The landscape is immaculate because of the rich desserts sands.

                                                                                                       Here are some tasty food that we had on  from Day 2-4. My favourite meal so far has been The Caesar salad that I had on a roof top for lunch.