Cambodia - We arrived at Phnom penh after a quick visa check. The frenzy of Tuk Tuk drivers at the bus station was controlled by 12ft high sheets of metal, i guess this is to protect the westerners??? We grabbed the bags and a Tuk Tuk to Angkor International - yet another cheap and clean place to stay. Our driver (Sam) spoke almost perfect English which was strange, I even had to ask if he was Cambodian.
We met Sam again the next day and asked if he could drive us to the killing fields to continue the native learning. A 20 minute ride and we arrived, wow! Sam told us the story of the Khmer rouge killing members of is family which really made us stop ad think. We visited the fields and local detention centre, not the nicest of trips and we had been warned that it was very graphic but we felt we needed to do it.
That night we went out and got on it - shock! We ate like kings again and drank Angkor beer for 30p. We moved from bar to bar and bumped in to a group of Hawaiian's we had met in Na Trang and spent the night getting smashed with them. Myself and Skip ended up in what we thought was a local bar but soon realised it was the local prostitute hide out. Both of us being so smashed we stayed for a bit as it was so funny, Olly and Dale caught up with us and a quote from Olly made the night "i entered the bar to find Skip with 3 local (very good looking women) surrounding him and Steve sat at the bar having the time of his life playing mini pool and connect 4 with Cambodian prostitutes". We soon realised they can't have been prostitutes as they weren't very forward, either that or they were very bad.
The next day we chilled before an 8 hour bus ride to Sihnookville, this was soon to be the best place i think i have ever been to date. We arrived at a $2 guest house which was ok bar the 2 beds we had to share between the 4 of us - hey, you get what you pay for.
The break down of the day goes like this..... Wake up at 11:00 and head for the beach, sit outside "Small but Sweet" bar and chill out to the sound of crashing waves, eat fresh sea food and the best battered chips, then chill before 30p beers and more food, get drunk with Dara (the owner) and repeat for 6 days. I can honestly say this was bliss and both myself and Dale are thinking of going back and working there on or return from Oz.
Dara is a small fat Cambodian with a soprano style tash, he spoke great English but even better was his western style banter. He totally understood our jokes and joined in at any opportunity.
Next day we took another 10 hour bus to Siem Reap where we had been told to visit Angkor What - the most famous temple in SE Asia and built by the Khmer Rouge a while ago. We woke up at 5am to watch the sun rise over the temple from a hill in the distance which we all said was worth getting up for. We chilled in Temple Bar for the next few days playing endless games of pool and drinking local beer. Angkor What bar is crazy and they give you pens to write your name on the wall, at this point i jump on Olly's shoulders to try and get pole position as high as we could, this then turns out to be a war between us and another bunch of lads - a male show of character in front of a group of Aussie girls! We won!!!
We head back to Phnom Pen for a day as we have a flight the next day back to Bangkok, goodbye Cambodia, you have been amazing!
Sunday 29 November 2009
Tuesday 17 November 2009
Vietnam
Right here we go, deep breath.............
We had planned to take the epic bus from Vientiene to Hanoi but after chatting to a few people we decided to take the more expensive option and fly like high rollers. We booked the tickets and within 2 hours we were 30,000ft above Laos and heading for Vietnam.
It seems like a lifetime ago that we were deep in the Thai jungle trekking but that thought was soon brought back to reality when in the seat in front of us were the dutch couple Leoni and Martjin. We now understood that we would bump in to the same people again and again so we traded stories and enjoyed the easiest flight ever.
Gooooooooooooood afternoon Vietnam!!! (yes I actually said that as we landed) We scrambled in to a minibus full of tourists and headed for Central Hanoi.......... Honk Honk bllody Honk! That was the first and last memory of Hanoi, well most of Vietnam it seems. There doesn't seem to be any logical traffic system in place in Vietnam and Hanoi clearly displayed this. The traffic was something to just sit back and embrace, hundreds of motorbikes scream past with inches to spare. We just sat in amazement and watched with our mouths wide open.
We were dropped off at St Andrews church and walked for 2 minutes when we bumped in to another couple we met (Orrin and Emily - an Aussie couple who traveled with us in Laos for about a week). We dived in to Hanoi Central Backpackers and raced to find the best bed in a 16 bed dorm.
Hanoi is crazy busy but amazing to watch which is what we did from the roof of a bar overlooking one of the main junctions in the city center. The following night we hit the water puppets, yes this does sound as strange as it actually was to sit there for an hour and watch puppets race around a pond. The following day and we started the first of our many 13 hour night buses, fist stop was Hue and this was soon to be one of the funniest places so far.
We stopped at Hue early morning and headed straight for a guest house that had been recommended to us. We dropped off the bags and decided this is where we would hire out mopeds - this has got danger written all over it!
Bikes arrive and everyone shotguns the one's with the cool racing stripes, this left Dale with the rather large flower print girls bike. We have a quick lesson and then head off in to the danger zone. Not more than two seconds have past and Dale is in the middle of the road with half the bike on one side looking back at us. Not far off a Jeremy Clarkson lookalike this had to be the single most funny experience we all had since going away, ok we dodged snakes and took on dog season but this was hilarious! The rest of the day was fine bar some minor petrol station crash (Olly) but we all survived and can't wait for the next session of moped madness.
We then endured our next night bus to Hoi An which is the world capital for suit shops. We only spent the day there and headed on the next 13 hour bus ride down to Na Trang.
Na Trang - We checked in to our guest house at 9ish so had most of the day to explore. The beach was no more than 30m from our reception so we stayed stuck on the beach working on our super tans for 7 days - the dream! The local night life was amazing and we mingled with the locals and danced the night away at Sailors Club with hands full with buckets (buckets for anyone that doesn't know (mum) are a small sandcastle like bucket filled with Vodka and a tiny dash of orange). We met Bret and Beth an Aussie couple and hung out with them for most of the night - good laugh, and hope to meet them again in Oz.
Our second to last night at Na Trang was the highlight as Sailors Club were throwing a big beach party. Hands full of beer - we spent the night dancing with a group of Aussie girls we met, Clare, Dee (pole dancer- get in) and Carla. It wasn't long before a dance off broke out but was soon dominated with the Russian Dance, and for good measure a quick tea pot to finish it off, 1-0 to England!
Sigon - Another epic 12 hours on the bus and we hit the busy city of Sigon (HCM) where we chilled for 3 days and did the touristy stuff. We spent the best part of one day at the War museum learning about the Vietnam war which was a real eye opener. Next stop is Cambodia and a quick 4 hour bus ride to the border for visas took up most of the day, bring on Cambodia!
We had planned to take the epic bus from Vientiene to Hanoi but after chatting to a few people we decided to take the more expensive option and fly like high rollers. We booked the tickets and within 2 hours we were 30,000ft above Laos and heading for Vietnam.
It seems like a lifetime ago that we were deep in the Thai jungle trekking but that thought was soon brought back to reality when in the seat in front of us were the dutch couple Leoni and Martjin. We now understood that we would bump in to the same people again and again so we traded stories and enjoyed the easiest flight ever.
Gooooooooooooood afternoon Vietnam!!! (yes I actually said that as we landed) We scrambled in to a minibus full of tourists and headed for Central Hanoi.......... Honk Honk bllody Honk! That was the first and last memory of Hanoi, well most of Vietnam it seems. There doesn't seem to be any logical traffic system in place in Vietnam and Hanoi clearly displayed this. The traffic was something to just sit back and embrace, hundreds of motorbikes scream past with inches to spare. We just sat in amazement and watched with our mouths wide open.
We were dropped off at St Andrews church and walked for 2 minutes when we bumped in to another couple we met (Orrin and Emily - an Aussie couple who traveled with us in Laos for about a week). We dived in to Hanoi Central Backpackers and raced to find the best bed in a 16 bed dorm.
Hanoi is crazy busy but amazing to watch which is what we did from the roof of a bar overlooking one of the main junctions in the city center. The following night we hit the water puppets, yes this does sound as strange as it actually was to sit there for an hour and watch puppets race around a pond. The following day and we started the first of our many 13 hour night buses, fist stop was Hue and this was soon to be one of the funniest places so far.
We stopped at Hue early morning and headed straight for a guest house that had been recommended to us. We dropped off the bags and decided this is where we would hire out mopeds - this has got danger written all over it!
Bikes arrive and everyone shotguns the one's with the cool racing stripes, this left Dale with the rather large flower print girls bike. We have a quick lesson and then head off in to the danger zone. Not more than two seconds have past and Dale is in the middle of the road with half the bike on one side looking back at us. Not far off a Jeremy Clarkson lookalike this had to be the single most funny experience we all had since going away, ok we dodged snakes and took on dog season but this was hilarious! The rest of the day was fine bar some minor petrol station crash (Olly) but we all survived and can't wait for the next session of moped madness.
We then endured our next night bus to Hoi An which is the world capital for suit shops. We only spent the day there and headed on the next 13 hour bus ride down to Na Trang.
Na Trang - We checked in to our guest house at 9ish so had most of the day to explore. The beach was no more than 30m from our reception so we stayed stuck on the beach working on our super tans for 7 days - the dream! The local night life was amazing and we mingled with the locals and danced the night away at Sailors Club with hands full with buckets (buckets for anyone that doesn't know (mum) are a small sandcastle like bucket filled with Vodka and a tiny dash of orange). We met Bret and Beth an Aussie couple and hung out with them for most of the night - good laugh, and hope to meet them again in Oz.
Our second to last night at Na Trang was the highlight as Sailors Club were throwing a big beach party. Hands full of beer - we spent the night dancing with a group of Aussie girls we met, Clare, Dee (pole dancer- get in) and Carla. It wasn't long before a dance off broke out but was soon dominated with the Russian Dance, and for good measure a quick tea pot to finish it off, 1-0 to England!
Sigon - Another epic 12 hours on the bus and we hit the busy city of Sigon (HCM) where we chilled for 3 days and did the touristy stuff. We spent the best part of one day at the War museum learning about the Vietnam war which was a real eye opener. Next stop is Cambodia and a quick 4 hour bus ride to the border for visas took up most of the day, bring on Cambodia!
Thursday 5 November 2009
Laos
Not sure where I left off but we were in Thailand and heading towards the border at Chaing Kong. We spent the night in some plush villa style sheds and then set off for the epic 2 day slow boat down the Mekong river.
We met some great people on the boat, 2 girls called Tracey and Rachel and a couple, Orren (Aussie) and Emily. The slow boat was great and the views from the vally were like something out of Jarassic Park - epic! We stayed in Pakbang for a night then hit the Thai Wisky on the boat for the second day - very wrong but verry funny.
We hit the shore of Louang Pabang (spelling is wrong) and drank with the girls and played pool by the river, very peacefull town and the Laos people really take care of you. We chilled out here for a couple of days and took a trip to the local waterfall, what can I say...........amazing! (starting to overuse this word now)
The waterfall spring is located 60m above the lime stone cliff and drops in to a series of plunge pools which act as a cool spa. Hours were spent here diving from a smaller 5m cliff (rock) and swinging from the rope swing.
Vang Viang -
After a 5 hour bus ride (which is nothing now as we are hardened travellers) we hit the crazy town of Vang Viang!!!
This is the tubing capital of the world (please youtube it) and it's the most fun we have had so far. You are given an old tracktor innertube and take a short tuk tuk ride 4km up the river to the first bar. You drop your tube at the side and set down the river. We had been warned of horror stories from locals about drinking and tubing (sounds strange i know) but that didn't stop us from getting smashed on Beer Lao and Thai whisky. We swang from the trees with beers in hand and hit the warter with force. Lao locals swing ropes out in to the river and pull you in to their bar. You drink, dance, dive back in the river and off to the next one. Dale is still covered in bruses and I swear the cannonball from the 30ft dive board has broken my coxix. It hurts soooooooo much!
We loved tubing so much that we cancelled our bus ticket and stayed another night and did it again the following day, hung over but still game. Myself and Olly decided to just swim thistime, how hard can it be if you have a beer in your hand???
I found out the hard way and consumed about my body weight in Mekong river water. Thankfully Eve, a northern stranger from the drak saved me. Oh when i said saved me I kind of dominated her tube and kicked her out. She made the final part of the day as I had almost thought it couldn't get much more entertaining.
Note= drinking and tubing adfter dark results in river snakes swiming no more than 10ft past you! - shit!
We now deserve a break from the beers so end up chilling in Vientiane which is the capital but not much to do, avoid coming here if you don't want to shop.
Next stop is Vietnam, we are moving quick and covering a lot of ground but so far it is working out ok.
Oh did i mention we have a 24 hour bus ride to takle first....... it's fine we are hardened travellers! fingers crossed the bandits don't demand money!!!
We met some great people on the boat, 2 girls called Tracey and Rachel and a couple, Orren (Aussie) and Emily. The slow boat was great and the views from the vally were like something out of Jarassic Park - epic! We stayed in Pakbang for a night then hit the Thai Wisky on the boat for the second day - very wrong but verry funny.
We hit the shore of Louang Pabang (spelling is wrong) and drank with the girls and played pool by the river, very peacefull town and the Laos people really take care of you. We chilled out here for a couple of days and took a trip to the local waterfall, what can I say...........amazing! (starting to overuse this word now)
The waterfall spring is located 60m above the lime stone cliff and drops in to a series of plunge pools which act as a cool spa. Hours were spent here diving from a smaller 5m cliff (rock) and swinging from the rope swing.
Vang Viang -
After a 5 hour bus ride (which is nothing now as we are hardened travellers) we hit the crazy town of Vang Viang!!!
This is the tubing capital of the world (please youtube it) and it's the most fun we have had so far. You are given an old tracktor innertube and take a short tuk tuk ride 4km up the river to the first bar. You drop your tube at the side and set down the river. We had been warned of horror stories from locals about drinking and tubing (sounds strange i know) but that didn't stop us from getting smashed on Beer Lao and Thai whisky. We swang from the trees with beers in hand and hit the warter with force. Lao locals swing ropes out in to the river and pull you in to their bar. You drink, dance, dive back in the river and off to the next one. Dale is still covered in bruses and I swear the cannonball from the 30ft dive board has broken my coxix. It hurts soooooooo much!
We loved tubing so much that we cancelled our bus ticket and stayed another night and did it again the following day, hung over but still game. Myself and Olly decided to just swim thistime, how hard can it be if you have a beer in your hand???
I found out the hard way and consumed about my body weight in Mekong river water. Thankfully Eve, a northern stranger from the drak saved me. Oh when i said saved me I kind of dominated her tube and kicked her out. She made the final part of the day as I had almost thought it couldn't get much more entertaining.
Note= drinking and tubing adfter dark results in river snakes swiming no more than 10ft past you! - shit!
We now deserve a break from the beers so end up chilling in Vientiane which is the capital but not much to do, avoid coming here if you don't want to shop.
Next stop is Vietnam, we are moving quick and covering a lot of ground but so far it is working out ok.
Oh did i mention we have a 24 hour bus ride to takle first....... it's fine we are hardened travellers! fingers crossed the bandits don't demand money!!!
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