Quick Stop in Sydney...

After a 14 hour drive (that was supposed to take 10) we arrived in Sydney in the evening and checked into a hostel, my first hostel since Vietnam, and Vietnam won hands down!
The place was pretty expensive considering how filthy and basic it was, and I was sharing a dorm with 7 others, along with a bathroom and kitchen shared with a hostel of over 100 people! Thankfully, there were enough of us that we had a dorm room to ourselves.
That night, I got my first taste of the Ozzy night life. We headed to a place called Side Bar, full of backpackers from all over the world. Considering it was a backpackers bar, drinks were still quite expensive, but as we'd had plenty of $15 wine from a carton before we came out, we didn't need much more! It was great to have a night of getting dressed up and dancing the night away to good music, which we hadn't done since Thailand. After we were kicked out at closing around 2am, we happily crashed out in bed after a long day.

Waking up hungover, we dragged everyone out of bed and drove to the famous Bondi beach. It was a scorchnig day and the beach was full, mainly with backpackers. The boys had a burst of energy and were playing ball games etc, while Keeley and I topped up our tans. It's amazing that despite the sun being so strong, the water in Victoria and New South Wales is so cold, like ice.

After the boys had had enough of being kids and tired themselves out, we decided to do the 2 hour walk from Bondi to Coogee, going round all the bays at the cliff top. The walk was beautiful, we went round loads of smaller beaches and saw amazing views out to sea. We also passed some of the most impressive sea view houses i've ever seen, they must have cost a fortune - oh how the other half live! Once we arrived in Coogee we rewarded ourselves with a few beers at the Coogee Palace Hotel.

That evening while most of the others crashed out hungover and exhausted, me, Sander and Tom went back into the city for a night out. In Sydney they have loads of 'Responsible Drinking' laws, such as, no entering a bar/club after 2am. Also, after midnight, for 10 minutes every hour they stop serving alcohol. So anyway, we were in a cool place called World Bar which closed at 2. At quarter to, we hailed a taxi and made a mad dash to the next bar before they stopped letting people in. This bar was pretty empty for a Thursday night, so we left to find somewhere else, but by now it was past 2. The three of us ended up in a rough bar in the middle of Sydney's gay district, where we stayed til about 6am. I found out the following day that we were in one of the roughest bar in the area! It was pretty crap, like a cheaper version of Wetherspoons, but we had a laugh and there was no trouble.
The next morning after a crap night's sleep because of the boys' snoring, I packed my bags and went to meet my mate from home, Louise, who has relocated to Oz.
Louise lives in the trendy Oxford street in a lovely apartment. After lunch at hers, we walked to the main tourist part of Sydney, the harbour. After taking the compulsory photos of Harbour Bridge and the Opera House, we spent the afternoon sitting in the glorious sunshine at Opera Bar, overlooking the harbour.

A little while later the others came to meet us with the good news that they'd bought a stationwagon, including camping gear, ready for our road trip, for only $500 each.

I stayed at Lou's after a Mojito-fuelled night on the town, then went to meet another friend who lived in another part of the city across the Harbour bridge, Collaroy, about 50 minutes away.
I met Becky and her boyfriend Tim in 2007 when i spent the summer working in Portugal.
By the time I got there and we'd spent hours catching up on the last year or so, it was time to get ready for a gig her boyfriend was doing with his band 'Ninjaz with Attitude', back in the city. The band was great, they didn't take anything seriously and spent the whole gig taking the micky out of themselves in their songs whilst dressed as ninjas. Really entertaining!
Back at Becky's later it was like a Portugal reunion, with all the guys who I worked with in Portugal who lived nearby round for drinks, like the good old times!
On what was supposed to be my last full day in Sydney, Becky was showing me the sites around where she lived. First was Palm Beach, aka Summer Bay, the beach where Home & Away is filmed. Apparently all of us 'Pommies' love Home & Away - I don't know anyone who watches it, but that's what the Ozzies think, that, and Neighbours! After the lovely Palm Beach, where I stood outside the surf club (if you don't watch Home & Away you probably won't know what that is) we got a bus to Manly. Manly is opposite Sydney Harbour and a really smart area that reminds me a bit of London's Docklands.
The Wharf bar, Manly, was packed full with all sorts of people from beach babes, to those dressed to kill for a Sunday afternoon in this trendy bar. It was a great way to spend a lazy, sunny, Sunday afternoon with a good crowd.
In the morning, when Becky and her housemates had gone to work, it was time for me to head back over the bridge to meet the others. Rather than get the bus, I jumped on the ferry for a ride back to the city, a much better journey seeing all the views of both Manly and Sydney Harbour.
I got back to the hostel in time to meet the others loading up our new (old) car, ready for the road trip to properly begin! Only a quick few days in Sydney, but I fit loads in and had a brilliant time catching up with friends. There is so much more to do and see there, so I will definitely go back at some point. But now was time to hit the road!

Melbourne Madness

The cheapest flights I could get from Kuala Lumpur to Australia meant i first had to fly into Perth and spend the day there. Keeley and Paddy were already there so i jumped on a bus to the city centre to meet them for a few hours.

The city is small, you can walk around it in no time at all. And also it's so expensive. The guys were paying a fortune for a crappy hostel, and pub meals were about $30 dollars each, so lunch was a sausage roll sitting on a park bench!

After our gourmet meal, we got on a train to the nearest beach, Cosstletoe. The sun was shining and the beach was beautiful, but after a few hours there i had to leave to make my way back to the airport for my flight on to Melbourne. That was the most i've seen of Perth, and unless i hear anything spectacular in the next year, that's probably all i'll see!

Before leaving Kuala Lumpur i had got in touch with all of my Ozzy mates from Melbourne, and one of them, Beau, from a suburb called Frankston and who i'd met in Thailand 2 years earlier, offered to pick me up in the early hours of a Monday morning, and also offered me a place to stay for as long as i needed....result!

Beau was late picking me up, and so i waited at the side of the road in the middle of the night with my backpack, and a bag of over 1000 cigarettes which i'd not knowingly smuggled into Australia! (The limit is 250 - ooops)!

The next day, in the near 40 degree heat, i went to Long Island beach, where i fell asleep and burnt my eyelids! Despite nearly 4 months in Asia, i wasn't used to the sun being so strong. In Oz you can't buy sun tan lotion below a factor 30, and now i know why!

Beau gets sent home from work if the heat exceeds 35 degrees, so he came and met me at the beach, then showed me the sights of Frankston (not a great deal, but i now know the best places for a night out)! Then in true Ozzy style we went to the supermarket for beers and meat for the BBQ he was having for me later, inviting all his friends to welcome the 'Pommy chick'to Oz!

The week that i stayed at Beaus was pretty much the same - me at the beach or by the pool in the day when everyone was at work, then in the evening all his mates would be round for drinks in the unbelievable bar that he'd had built in his back garden. It was great being surrounded by a new group of people, and they all wanted to hear stories about my travels which of course i was happy share!

On the Saturday, a big group of us got the train to Richmond, in the city, to watch the Australian Open. I also invited along a few of the guys who we were travelling with in Asia. By the end of the day there were probably over 30 of us.

It was a great day out; Melbourne was in the middle of a heatwave so the sun was beaming and the beers were flowing! We only ended up watching one game, afterall, no one goes to watch the tennis (that's what i think and i'm sticking to it), and i can't even remember the names of the players! I'm not really a tennis fan, and so we ended up spending the majority of the day in the Heineken tent, along with most other people who were there!

After a long day, we'd all drunk enough and spent enough, so we headed back to Frankston. As usual, we stopped at the 'bottle shop' (off licence) for another night in at Beau's bar.

I couldn't have arrived in Oz at a better time. First was the Australian Open, then 2 days later was Australia day, an Ozzy bank holiday where they spend the day, traditionally, knocking back beers and having a BBQ.

Every year Beau has a house party on Australia day. His garden was decorated ready for about 150 people to turn up at 10am ready to celebrate and drink the day away! Most people don't last long after dark, and by about 10.30pm there were only a few of us left, even Beau and his girlfriend had gone to bed! I'd had plenty of practice in Asia, so I was one of the last ones standing!

Another great day in Melbourne, but i'd still barely seen the city itself! And after a 'recovery day' the following day we were leaving for Sydney.

I will go back at some stage, maybe to settle and find work and an apartment, so that at least i can see why everyone loves it there. But my days were spent catching up with old friends and enjoying the festivities, so i couldn't have had a better start to Australia.

On our last day, 3 of my mates from our group in Asia hired a car and picked me up from Beau's at 6 am to make our way to Sydney where our road trip began!

Malaysia

We arrived on Langkawi island at midday, and i could not wait to catch up with our two friends who were already there. We checked into our crappy budget bungalow resort then tracked them down by screaming their names until they finally heard us and came to the door! They'd already been on the island a few days, and had mopeds rented, so straight away we jumped on and did a bit of a tour round the island.

Langkawi is beautiful but not at all what i was expecting. We'd come from the southern islands of Thailand which are also beautiful, but full of backpackers and are known worldwide for being party islands and pretty lawless. This could not be more different.... Malaysia is a predominantly Muslim country, and so you can't drink beer freely during the day (something which was standard in Thailand)! In fact you can't even buy alcohol in most shops or restaurants...randomly the only place i could find to buy a few beers was a fruit and veg shop!
So anyway, riding round the island, covered up rather than just in our bikinis, we started off by visiting a secluded beach called Tanjung Rhu, where we sat around drinking from coconuts and, as usual, enjoying the sunshine.

In the evening we drove to the top of a mountain where we sat, with a few cans of beers the boys had managed to buy somewhere, and watched the sunset over the whole island. (i love a sunset)!

The following day, Sander, Pablo and I went on a ride round the island to the waterfalls and hotsprings. First stop was Durian Perangin waterfalls which was at the top of a steep mountain with hundreds of steps, but completely worth it. The view was spectacular across forests as far as the eye can see. The water was freezing but fresh and crystal clear. Even better was that we were pretty much the only people there so we got to enjoy it in peace.

After this, they took me to see 'Snake Man', who is in the Guinness Book of Records for being crazy enough to stay in a house for 35 days with 250 poisonous snakes! He is also the man the islanders call when they happen to find a 10 foot python in their back garden! Thankfully, i'm not fazed by snakes at all, so i went to each cage and held all the different kinds that i was allowed to.

Next, the 5 of us went to Telaga Tujuh, 'Seven Wells'. These were even higher up a mountain, up even more steps. In fact i had to stop about 5 times just to make it to the top! Right in the middle of the forest, full of loads of monkeys which of course we fed peanuts to, the seven wells are natural freshwater rockpools, running into a huge waterfall. It was so beautiful it was hard to believe they weren't man-made. We stayed here for hours, sliding down watery slopes and diving around in the pools. We were there so long that we got to see yet another beautiful sunset!
After a few days of glorious sunshine at the beaches and riding around the island feeding monkeys, as you do, we were ready to all fly together to Kuala Lumpur, where again, we were going our seperate ways. Although....we couldn't leave the island til Pablo had conquered his fear of heights and gone up the Langkawi cable car which takes you 700 metres above sea level to the top of MaChinchang mountain. Keeley, also afraid of heights, refused to come!

Once arriving in Kuala Lumpur, our first flight in 4 months of travelling, and after an emotional farewell, seeing Sander off to Sydney and Pablo back home, Keeley, Paddy and I headed into the city late at night and found ourselves a cheap hostel right in the centre, ready for a good nights sleep. They stayed for a day, and so the three of us, along with a French girl called Flo that we met in the hostel, headed to the Petronas Towers, the tallest twin towers in the world.

After Keeley and Paddy left that evening, i stayed with Flo and we went into the city to see China town at night, and it was just like a market in Thailand, selling the same old useless crap and the same market traders hassling you to buy it.

The next day we got up early to buy our tickets to get up the to bridge joining the 2 towers together, on the 44th floor. You only get a few minutes up there but it's enough time to see across the whole city for miles, and was completely free which was an added touch!

After we did this, we headed to the Orchid and Hibiscus Gardens....not something i'd normally be interested in but Flo wanted to go so it was something to do! To be honest it was something i think my mum and dad would enjoy more! But it took up some time when otherwise i'd be wandering aimlessly around the city. Other than this Flo and i just messed around in the city, trying not to spend much but still having a good time!

I'm still not quite sure what a Malaysian person looks like.... KL is so multi-cultural, you see all nationalities from English to Indians and everything inbetween. I know i say this about every country in Asia, but the people here were really friendly and helpful. And they speak the best English of all the other countries i visited.

KL was so expensive in comparison to Langkawi, and all other countries i went to. I spent a few days there just doing the general touristy things, and with different company which made a nice change to spending the previous 2 months or so with the same group. As i was now on my own i decided i wanted to see Singapore, but i then heard it is so expensive and not backpacker friendly in relation to cost, so i decided to leave after 3 and a half days and instead flew to Melbourne to stay with an old friend Beau....more on that when i have the patience to write another entry on my blog!!

Thailand - Full Moon, Christmas and New Years

Oooops..... it's been a while since i've updated this. Where to start....
We arrived in Ko Phangan after a quick stop for a few hours in Bangkok to do a spot of shopping. Bangkok is the same as ever, it smells, it's dirty and the people still try to rip you off!
We were in a massive rush to get to the islands, not only for the sun, sea and sand, but to be back with the group of people we met in Laos.
We arrived in the morning, with accommodation already arranged for us thanks to them, and then the mayhem began! Ko Phangan is the party island of Thailand, and probably in the whole of SE Asia too. We spent far too long there, about 4 weeks altogether, not including the few times we went over to visit other islands on the east coast for a few days at a time.
By 12 noon on our first day we'd taken a small boat to a secluded beach, ordered Sangsom (Thai whisky/rum) buckets and from that point onwards life was a blur! This explains why i am so late in updating my blog, not because i was so busy i didn't have the time, moreso that i was so drunk/ hungover that i wasn't capable!
As i've been to Thailand twice before we weren't really interested in doing anything cultural, it was all party party party, staying out on the beach til sunrise and not waking up til sunset each day!
After a while this got too much and so we stayed on the island but moved to another resort, about a 20 minute drive away from Haad Rin, which is the main backpackers place. Once we moved it was a different story...life was calm and chilled! We saw daylight and caught the sun, ate proper food again, and saved ourselves a fortune by not drinking all the time. I'm sure my liver and kidneys were pleased too!
The resort we moved to was a family run place, with bungalows by the sea. The people there were great, the accommodation was cheap and cheerful, and our group took over the entire resort, so I couldn't have asked for more!
Skipping forward to xmas as there's not a great deal to report before then.... We came across a proper English pub, set right in the heart of the island surrounded by nothing but woods. The place was surreal; it had a beer garden with Guinness umbrellas and proper benches. Inside was a pool table and darts board and beer on tap! It was the most surreal feeling, as though we'd come across a mini- England, and once inside that's exactly where it felt we were. And then.... as soon as we stepped outside in the tropical heat, got back on the mopeds and turned a corner we were in Thailand again! It made me realise how much i miss a glass of wine in my local on a Friday after work!
So this is where we decided to have our Christmas dinner, the Mason's Arms. We had prawn cocktails followed by a traditional turkey roast with all the trimmings, i couldn't have asked for more! They even had a christmas tree and played all the xmas music. It definitely beat our dinner on Christmas Eve.... a BBQ on the beach around a bonfire, not quite the festive feel, not that i can complain, i can think of worse ways to spend Christmas Eve!

A few days later, Anna came out for her holiday and i couldn't wait! I needed a bit of normality back in my life after the craziness of the previous month! And to top it off she came with christmas presents from home!! Including my new camera, as i lost my other one doing the bucking bronco whilst drunk in Ko Samui, but that's another story!
Having Anna with me changed everything. It was good to spend some quality time with someone from home who i've missed so much. And to hear her stories about normal life and what people are doing at home, a bit of reality.
New Years Eve was brilliant, we were raving on Haad Rin beach with about 30,000 other people from all over the world, it was the busiest i've ever seen it. Fireworks were going off all night and everyone was in good spirits. It was the last night i had in Haad Rin and it was a good way to end my stay on Ko Phangan.
The day after, Anna and I and who was left of the group moved on to Phi Phi island, my favourite island and also the most beautiful of them all. We checked into a lovely hotel, far too expensive for my backpackers budget but well worth the treat.
Phi Phi has changed a lot since i was last there, which was right after the Tsunami. In fact it changed so much i barely recognised the place, except the beaches were the same and as amazing as ever, same white sand and crystal clear water.
Finally we were in a place where i didn't feel the need to go out all the time or drink loads... i was content eating good food, sitting reading my book on our balcony, or chilling out on the beach with Anna.
One day Anna and I booked ourselves onto a boat trip, and it was by far one of the best days i had in Thailand. We went snorkelling in clear blue sea; we visited monkey beach where we watched the monkeys terrorise tourists and eachother! We went to an uninhabited island called Bamboo island which was just paradise. And finally we visited 'Maya Bay' which is where the film 'the Beach' was filmed. Then on the way home we watched the sunset over the island from our longtail boat. It was a great day and we got loads of briliant photos (all of which are on Facebook)!
After having a brilliant week or so in Phi Phi, and spending far too much money yet again, it was time for Anna to leave. So, with the group even smaller now, (down to 6 of us) we got the boat over to the hellhole that is Phuket to take Anna to the airport. We checked ourselves into an Israeli guesthouse, with a room to sleep 6, and headed into Patong to see the usual sights... ladyboys and go go girls harrassing every man that walked past, whatever the age. People lining the streets selling all sorts of crap, anything they think tourists will buy ranging from trinkets to fake Gucci watches to DVDs, hammocks and so on.
By the time it was evening it was time for Anna to go, so we put her in a cab and i cried my eyes out for the next half an hour! The group we were in was getting smaller and smaller as everyone was going off to do their own thing, and then my best friend from home was leaving...an emotional day!
Keeley and i still had over 2 weeks left on our 60 day Thai visa. In the time we'd spent in Thailand we'd been to Bangkok (briefly), Ko Phangan, Ko Samui, Phi Phi and Phuket. I wish we'd visited more places, as i didn't go anywhere i hadn't been before and there are loads of places i still want to see. I also wish i had more will power to not go out and instead to concentrate on getting my scuba diving license, which i'm really disappointed that i never did.
So anyway, a few of our friends had moved on to Malaysia. Keeley and i were happy with the time we'd spent in Thailand with the people that we became really close to since Laos. I loved it but with the exchange rate being so bad i spent much more money than intended, and so we cut Thailand short to head to Malaysia to meet the others. It wasn't planned, but Thailand is exhausting sometimes, and there's no rest for the wicked!
So on to the next adventure, completely unplanned and spontaneous, which is what i love about the freedom of travelling!

Laos Chaos

This entry into my blog is going to be a bit vague as I’m a bit behind and we actually left Laos 10 days ago but here goes!
Compared to every border crossing so far the Cambodia/ Laos was really straightforward, with no nightmares for a change! The only downside was that the police on both sides of the border are completely corrupt and wanted us to pay them for leaving Cambodia and entering Laos. It’s not official but we had no choice other than to pay them.
We got a bus and then a boat to Don Det, one of the 4000 islands south of Laos, right on the Mekong river. The island was completely secluded and so untouched by tourism aside from a few small family run bungalow resorts and restaurants.
After arriving the 2 of us and 5 others that we met along the way booked out 4 bungalows and went for dinner to get straight on the beers after a long journey. We had a lovely meal on the riverside, aside from the fact that the Mekong river is not pretty to look at at all! After that it was back to the bungalows for a few more drinks until it was lights off at 10! The whole island’s electricity is run on a generator which shuts down every night at the same time, which wouldn’t be a bad thing except that without electricity we had no fans and so had to suffer in the morning heat in our tiny bungalow!
The following morning we booked ourselves onto a day trip to see the Khan Phapeng waterfall, which is the largest waterfall in South East Asia…but as it’s on the Mekong river it’s hardly nice to look at but it was worth the visit. After that, the 7 of us squeezed onto the tiniest boat, which barely fit us all in, to a tiny deserted island for a BBQ and drinking games, with only us and our Lao tour guide around. It was so deserted the island had no facilities which meant no toilets! Overall it was a great day spent with a great bunch of people.

After spending a few days on the lovely island of Don Det we moved on to head up to Vang Vieng to go tubing…. The moment we’d been waiting for in the whole trip! It took us a while to get there, and when we finally arrived at lunch time we dropped our bags off and headed straight for the river to tube! For those of you who have never heard of tubing, it’s the strangest concept… You pay a deposit for a rubber ring, you get on the river (not the Mekong!) and float down it, stopping off at the loads of makeshift bars en route. The river runs through the middle of the mountains and the scenery is absolutely beautiful, not that many people take any notice of the surroundings!

The bars start filling up at about 11am, when everyone is already drinking whiskey out of buckets and raving to the music blaring out all day. One day we were there at about 9.30am, and were some of the first people out. At every bar there are rope swings or zip slides where people are doing flips into the water and so on…probably not the safest thing to do when you’ve been drinking, but in the 7 or 8 days we ended up staying there, we only actually saw one injury!
In the time we were there we had 2 days off where we spent the day by the pool. We met a cool bunch of guys from London who we’ve actually ended up staying with till now, 3 weeks later. Our whole time in Vang Vieng was pretty much a blur…. up early every day to go tubing, and then drinking all day till the early hours (don’t worry mum we were safe and well looked after)!
As soon as the sun goes down in Vang Vieng, the weather turns ice cold, which we were not expecting at all! Why does the Lonely Planet guide not mention this?! We were completely unprepared for the weather, and only had one pair of jeans each and one thin hoody which we ended up having to wear every night we were there! Gross, I know…
I would love to write more about Vang Vieng but I just don’t remember that much, and every day was pretty much the same! After a week it came to the point where our poor bodies could take no more and we all decided to leave. The boys headed straight to Bangkok; Keeley and I went up to Northern Laos to go to Luang Prabang, our last stop in Laos.
The journey to Luang Prubang was the worst by far. I know I always mention bus journeys, and it can’t be interesting to read, but this one is worth writing about…The roads in Laos are notoriously bad, although apparently they have been greatly improved in the last few years which makes me wonder what on earth they used to be like! We drove even higher up into the mountains on roads with giant holes in, not potholes, actual holes the size of a bus. Next to the giant hole would be a sheer drop straight down the mountain side. The bus would have to move in a way that made it sway from side to side, so much so that everyone on the bus (the girls) were screaming for their lives! It wasn’t just the thought of falling from the side of a mountain, the thought alone that the bus would topple over was bad enough. It got to the point where I thought I was going to have to make a phone call to my friends and family!
After surviving that ordeal we arrived in the even more beautiful city of Luang Prabang, even higher in the mountains and even colder! We met up with a Dutch couple we met back in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, and went bowling! The bowling alley is the only place open late in Luang Prabang as there’s an 11.30 curfew. Most people at the bowling alley are completely drunk but needing a detox, I didn’t touch a drop. We had a great and random night bowling, where I unfortunately lost every game! It seems bowling just isn’t my thing!
The next day we went with the Dutch couple to visit the Kuang Si waterfalls which are spectacular! We climbed all the way to the top which was hard work, but we got great views of the waterfall and of the mountain tops. Afterwards we dived into the waterfall into freshwater pools, which of course were freezing cold, but it was the nicest water we’d been in, even nicer than what comes out of the shower in our crappy guesthouses!
After the waterfall we visited the bear sanctuary. We were also told part of the trip was to visit a tiger sanctuary, but were then told the only tiger actually died ages ago and so we were conned out of that part!
We got back into town just before sunset, in time to climb the 400 steps to the top yet another mountain to a temple, where everyone goes to watch the sunset over the mountains. Another great sunset to add to the collection!
From Luang Prabang we needed to arrange a way to get to Bangkok without going back the way we came… and without flying due to the problems at the airport. After going into every travel shop it seemed the only way to get there was to go back the dreaded route along the mountain side, only this time for the 9 hour journey we were on a locals bus, which meant being surrounded by no Westerners, and instead, bags of rice, vegetables and live chickens! I suppose at least it made our journey that bit more entertaining.
And so we arrived at Vientiene, ready for yet another border crossing into Thailand. We spent just over two weeks in Laos; I absolutely loved it but could take no more of the crazy culture, although coming to Thailand has been no different! I will update again soon when I feel normal again…

Cambodia - best place so far!

And so we arrived in Cambodia, and yes you've guessed it, we had another disastrous journey! We arranged to go on a 2 day boat trip up the Mekong delta from Ho Chi Minh City to Phnom Penh, thinking it might be a nicer alternative to yet another awful bus journey. We could not have been more wrong! On day one after 3 hours on a bus we reached our tiny motorboat to see some sights on the river. First of all was the floating market where all the Vietnamese buy and sell fruit and veg in the morning, however this had already finished so there were just a load of empty boats and some old fruit floating in the water.
Next they took us to a little village where we had to ride old bicycles with flat tyres and no brakes to a restaurant where they served lunch. The food was so expensive and with no other choice we decided to go without. After this, back on the boat to a bus where we spent the next 5 hours. This was not on the schedule, so as you can imagine everyone on the trip who was expecting a nice relaxing tour was fuming. We were dumped in a hotel in Chau Doc, on the Vietnam-Cambodia border, which had no electricity throughout the night, and nothing in the area to see or do. The following day they had us up at 6am to get back on the bus to see more pointless sights, such as a fish farm and tribal people who were obviously putting it on for the tourists. Eventually, after more drama involving a slow boat with a broken engine, and yet another bus journey, we arrived in Phnom Penh $34 lighter and in a foul mood!
Thankfully Phnom Penh was great. We arrived at a really good time, Independence day followed by 3 days of water festivals to celebrate the end of the rainy season. The city was buzzing and the atmosphere was brilliant, we couldn't have been there at a better time. We jumped on a tuk tuk to the lakeside where we checked ourselves in to a floating guesthouse. It was actually built over the lake and flooded every night when, like clockwork, there was a torrential downpour!
After a massive lie in the next day we strolled along the riverside to watch all the provinces of Cambodia compete in boat races. The streets were full of locals who were all having a great time cheering on their teams and getting involved in the festivities. The moment we arrived here we noticed the difference in the people, they are all much friendlier than in Vietnam and China.
That night we sat at a roof top bar, treated ourselves to a bottle of sangria, and watched the fireworks displays and general hustle and bustle on the streets below.
The next day, feeling recovered and ready for some culture, we headed to the S21 museum, which is where people were held prisoner during the Khmer Rouge takeover in the 70s. The 4 buildings were originally a school, which they turned into torture chambers, which has now become a museum. You can walk around it and go in the tiny cells, and even see the scratch marks in the walls, whether these are real or not i don't know. The whole thing was pretty horrific; they had photos up of all the people that were taken there during that time, too many to look through properly, but there were men and women of all ages, including young children. After the S21 museum we were taken to the killing fields, which is were people were taken by the truck load to be killed. In the middle of the field is a memorial building containing items of clothing and human skulls that were found over the years in the field. As you can imagine it was an emotional day, much like the War Remnants museum in Ho Chi Minh.

We left Phnom Penh after a few days to beat the crowds down to Sihanoukville, with no such luck. Sihanoukville is a lovely beach resort on the south coast of the country, a popular holiday destination for Cambodians, especially during the festival. Unfortunately, it is also a popular destination for sex tourists, but thankfully they go to another beach so it wasn't too obvious to us. With loads of backpackers hostels dotted along the beach we managed to find one with free accommodation, no catch, completely free! Completely understandable when we went into the dorm and saw where we were expected to stay! It was fine for 2 nights until Keeley woke up with a cockroach crawling over her and we decided to find somewhere else to stay, and when we found somewhere and saw we had sheets, a clean towel and a bathroom that wasn't outside, we thought we'd found heaven!
Sihanoukville was amazing, we had beautiful sunshine everyday and the beaches were perfect, white sand and lined with palm trees. It really did feel like paradise. My favourite part of the day was at about 5.30, when we'd plonk ourselves into a bucket chair, order an ice cold beer for 50 cents, and watch the sunset over the islands in the distance. And then... once the sun went down, the music was pumping and the bars that lined the beach would start the happy hours! The nightlife here was brilliant, and thankfully we met so many people, every night was better than the one before.
One day we booked a booze cruise. Leaving at 10am and having a Jagerbomb for breakfast on the crammed boat, we headed to an island for cliff jumping, then to Bamboo island where they fired up a BBQ, mixed the cocktails and blared out the reggae! We met some really cool people that day who we ended up spending all our time with. For the first time since we've been away we stayed put for 8 days and relaxed in the sunshine, feeling like we deserved it after spending so long living by our alarm clock.

One day when the weather wasn't great us and a few others rented motos and went on a ride along the coast, going to all the beaches that we hadn't seen before. Along the way, we randomly came across a load of monkeys sitting on a fence, they were hilarious! They stared at us and came over until we gave them all the food we had....we had to throw crisps to get them away. Then the big mamma came and that was when we freaked out, jumped on the motos and sped off! I didn't really want to get on the wrong side of her, she was huge! We then went to a snake and crocodile farm... it was pretty small and pretty crap, a waste of $3, but Keeley and i got to hold a Burmese python! Didn't even flinch...

From Sihanoukville we decided to arrange our Laos visa..big mistake. It cost us 54 dollars and was due to be back at the travel agency in 3 days, so we thought instead we would collect it when we got the next bus... So, when we eventually decided it was time to move on we reluctantly left Sihanoukville and took a 10 hour bus to Siem Reap. But beforehand, we had to collect our passports, but were they there?! The guy told us the taxi had broken down the previous day and so our passports were stuck in Phnom Penh. Thankfully our bus to Siem Reap stopped in Phnom Penh en route. But... we had no idea where we had to go to meet the guy who had them. Eventually we agreed that a little Cambodian guy would come on the bus with us and help us pick them up in the 20 minute stopover between buses. We were not at all satisfied with this but had no choice as we had no passports and were in the completely wrong place to do anything about it. When we arrived in Phnom Penh it was all go... i left Keeley with the bags stopping the next bus from going anywhere and followed this little guy who spoke no English to a petrol station, where we found another guy sitting on a moped waving our passports in the air! I love how they have no concept of our important these things are, but as always, it all worked out in the end!

When we arrived we absolutely loved it, it wasn't at all what we were expecting. The main part of town where we were staying was really pretty, with loads of bars and restuarants that were lit up at night in a way that would make you think you somewhere a million miles away, not somewhere as poor as Cambodia. The plan was to stay just long enough to see the temples. but instead we decided to stay an extra night.
There are markets galore in Siem Reap, selling all sorts of crappy souveniers and trinkets. I did buy a few things made of Cambodian silk for a few dollars, and although i could have bought more i just don't have the space in my backpack. Also in the market was a place where you can have a 'fish foot massage', where you put your feet in a pool of water full of tiny fish and they eat the dead skin off your feet! It was completely gross but i gave it a go before it freaked me out so much i had to get out... i only lasted a couple of minutes. What a wierd experience! One thing i wish i had done was got a 'seeing hands' massage by blind people, but by this point we'd spent too much in Siem Reap so i had to give it a miss, although now I've heard the massages in Laos are just as good.
There were enough restaurants here that we could have gone to a different one 3 times a day and been there for weeks. Also the nightlife was booming; the bars were packed full of backpackers all night long. We actually bumped into one of our mates who we met in Beijing and then again in Hong Kong, which was an added bonus!
Last day in Siem Reap we headed to the temples of Angkor for sunset, which was really impressive. The temples are really beautiful, but after 4 hours i think we'd had enough. Some people get a week pass to see them all, but there are just so many you'd be walking for 12 hours a day, everyday. We got our tuk tuk driver to take us to the main temples, which are Angkor Wat, and Ta Prohm where one of the Tomb Raider movies was filmed.
Overall i've loved Cambodia, it is my favourite place so far. It is so chilled out and there is so much to see and do. To top it off we've met some brilliant people who i expect we will be meeting up with along the way.
As usual i could go on typing forever, but at the moment we are in a place called Kratie en route to Laos and the electricity goes off in most places at night, so i have to stop myself!

Good Morning Vietnam...

And so after 31 long and exhausting hours of switching countless trains/ buses and taxis and going through border control we arrived in Hanoi, the capital of the north. It was hot and muggy and as usual we were so tired after yet another painful journey! We headed straight to a backpackers hostel that we'd heard about, booked ourselves into a mixed dorm, showered and got downstairs in time for happy hour! We had a few drinks and got chatting to the other backpackers before giving into an early night.

The following day we thought we deserved a treat and so we went to a spa where we had aroma therapy massages, facials, manicures and pedicures. It was the perfect cure after a stressful couple of days! To make sure we didn't completely waste the day away being pampered, we went to the 'Hanoi Hilton', Hoa Lo Prison. This has now been turned into a museum, so you can walk through it and see the conditions in which the Vietnamese prisoners were kept by the French, it was pretty horrendous stuff.

With not a lot else to do in Hanoi (aside from loads of drinking) we booked our boat trip, which is 3 days visiting the surrounding islands. Every backpacker in Hanoi does this trip, and we were lucky to have such a good crowd on ours. We headed to Halong Bay which is a beautiful collection of islands (i think just under 1900 altogether) and visited the caves which are apparently natural but looked like giant water features! Back on the boat we had the first of many tasteless and boring Vietnamese meals (these were all included in the price of the trip so were very basic) and sailed through the islands, generally chilling out, having a few beers on the top deck and taking in the surroundings. We arrived at Cat Ba island that evening where we were spending our first night in a hotel (again, very basic). Our guide took us round the local bars on the island where we stayed for a few, but being hungover from the night before we thought it best to save ourselves for the night on the boat! We spent the next day on the back of a motorbike being taken around the mountains on this lovely little island while the others went trekking (didn't fancy it)! Back on the boat it all began and the group of us started drinking til the early hours, ignoring the 10.30 curfew from the captain and then taking our quilts up and sleeping on the top deck rather than our rooms. Downside though was that we had to be up for 06.30 to go kayaking, which isn't the best thing to do with a hangover! I think Keeley and I only lasted about 20mins before we'd had enough, along with everyone else!

They took us to floating villages where people actually live. They have their little shacks and washing lines and even pet dogs - at least i hope they were pet dogs. They came up to our boat on their rowing boats selling us fruit, god knows where they got it from as we were so far out at sea.

After a day of jumping off the side of the boat into the sea and messing around we had to shoot straight back to the hostel to get changed and ready for our night bus to Hue... we don't like to waste any time!

It was on this bus journey that Vietnam decided to show we were still in the rainy season. The heavens opened and we had the scariest 12 hours driving in the dark on bumpy roads in the torrential rain. Unfortunately it was so bad that when we arrived in Hue the raincoats had to come out and the place started to flood so we moved on straight away. Jumping on the next bus we arrived in Hoi An later that night, still pouring down and still in our raincoats. Hoi An is 'the place to go' to get tailor-made everything! Whatever you want just show them a photo and they'll make it to fit you like a glove! It's meant to be the cheapest place in SE Asia for this. Not wanting to carry anymore than we already had in our backpacks we had our measurements taken. They then keep these on file for 5 years, so i can then send them pics of things i like and they will make it and deliver it to me wherever i am in the world... good or what?! I did get some sandals made there... i couldn't leave with nothing! Hoi An is a beautiful place (mum i think you and dad would like it). They have an old town that's really quaint and peaceful, but there's also cool restaurants and a nice beach and plenty to do and see.

Next stop and another overnight bus later we arrived in Nha Trang...this is the party town of Vietnam and we got there just in time for Hallowe'en! They really overdo it here, purely for the tourists sake. Everything was decorated and the staff in every restaurant and bar were in fancy dress offering all sorts of drink deals. So Keeley and I, and an English girl and a Canadian girl we'd met went for dinner in a restaurant where the drinks are served in jam jars and are completely free!! After a couple of jars of stupidly strong rum and coke we headed straight for the bars where I had my face painted like a big kid. Everyone was in costume so we felt a bit unprepared but it was a good night out (from what i remember)! Our hotel in Nha Trang (called Nice Hotel, and that it was) was in a central location and we managed to get the price of a seaview room knocked down a few dollars, so we stayed in real comfort and even had a bath! (You really take the luxuries for granted at home)!

On someone's recommendation, the next day we got the chairlift (the longest chairlift across the sea in the world) over to 'Vin Pearl land' which is quite possibly the most ridiculous waterpark i've ever known. None of the flumes were open at the same time, so after going on one we had to wait at least an hour before we could go on one more and so on. The place was empty and the whole time the likes of the Spice Girls, Boyzone and Ricky Martin were blaring over the loud speakers. It was funny stuff, and i'm convinced the girl who recommended it was doing it for a laugh. A good day for an amazing (man made) beach for catching some rays, but i wouldn't go back in a hurry!

We went on yet another boat trip, this time to the islands around Nha Trang. A bit worried that we woke up to rain, it ended up being a day of beautiful sunshine and great entertainment from our tour guide Loc aka 'Funky Monkey'. This guy was brilliant, he got everyone on the boat of all nationalities to introduce themselves, and then spoke to them in their language. At the end of the day he even sang a song for each country, and these included France, Oz, New Zealand, Argentina, Canada and Israel. He was so funny and really made the day for us. On the trip we went snorkelling and visited all the islands. Then to finish it off they had a floating bar in the sea that we swam out to for Pineapple vodka shakes. It was a perfect day, and our last day in Nha Trang before moving on to Ho Chi Minh City, aka motorbike city.

We met a Vietnamese guy called Qui who's home doubles up as a guest house. He took us in to live with his wife and son! The room is cheap and has everything we need. On our first day here he took us on the back of a motorbike (risky in this city) for a city tour. We just got started, going to Independance Palace and Notre Dame (whick looks exactly like the one in Paris) when we decided it was too hot to be driving through the city, and not wanting to risk our lives anymore, we decided to go to a waterpark instead. Why didn't we learn from the last time?! This place was even worse than the one we went to before! It was so small that we were over and done with in about 20 minutes, and then it started to rain! Stuck there without Qui to take us back we had to stick it out for the whole day in the pouring rain...not the best way to spend the afternoon when we could have been somewhere having a beer! That night we met up with the girls from Nha Trang for dinner at a local Vietnamese market which was an experience. It's not somewhere tourists go, and so we really got to see how these guys live, and i love it! The people down south are much friendlier than the north. Everything is said with a smile and they are so much more polite and genuinely helpful. You really can notice the divide.

Today, we got up early and the 4 of us went to the Cu Chi tunnels, which is quite a moving place. During the war the Vietnamese built tunnels over 220km long with 3 levels underground where they spent most of their lives for nearly 30 years. They cooked down there and even had their children there. We got a chance to go in, but i only lasted 20 metres before i had to get out. They are only just over a metre high so it was so difficult to walk. There's no air and it's so claustrophobic that i couldn't go any further. The other girls couldn't even go down there because the passages are so dark and narrow. I braved it, but never again! It was an experience though. After the tunnels we went to the War Remnants Museum, which was much much worse than the museum in Hanoi. All i can say is i'm dreading the museums in Cambodia, they are all yet to come.

Anyway, i've left the girls getting ready for our last night in Vietnam. We have chosen an alternative route to Cambodia as we cannot face another night bus, and so we are spending 2 days sailing up the Mekong river to Phnom Penh, i can't wait!

Will update soon.