So we've finally caught up! All blogs up to date, bags packed, last game of gin rummy played (and won by me...) and so we're ready to leave. Here anyway.
The last 16 days of our holiday have been spent here, in Sihanoukville, Cambodia. And it has been very pleasant indeed. Sihanoukville itself seems to be a town made of a few reasonably close beaches, with hotels, restaurants and bars crowding round the seafront, all fairly busy. The main beach especially is, and that's where we stayed for the first few nights with our old pal Jonboy.
After leaving Mui Ne it was hard to imagine anywhere where we'd be as happy. Or anywhere that would have a beach as nice, seafood as nice etc. But time says you've got to keep moving on and we did. We arrived at night after 12 hours, so the first impression is never something to rely on completely, but easy enough we found a hotel to dump the bags and get changed.
The hotel was right on the beach and we payed $15 a night for all 3 of us, so $5 a night, for a raised bungalow. It had a view through low trees of the beach which started at the front of reception. So far, so good!
We went out for a bite to eat, and were happily surprised when we found all the restaurants offered BBQs for $3 a person, meat, chips, garlic bread and a salad! 35p a beer aint too bad either... We liked Sihanoukville from the off. We spent the first night drinking, smoking and playing pool (which seems to be a theme of our holiday...) And then, luckily! We bumped into our friend, the Doctor!
So the remainder of the night was spent laid out on our balcony, chilling and hanging around with him and ended magnificently with a good old fashion kotch. We were up til 6, just talking and listening to music. Kels went to bed at 4, which was clearly the sensible option, as by this time Jon and I couldnt see. But we struggled through another 2 hours, and climbed into bed jsut as the sun was coming up and the room was getting hot.
After a few hours of sweaty-betty sleep, we dragged ourselves up, jumped in a Tuk-Tuk and headed to a beach, just outside town, called Otres Beach. This beach was superb. White sand as far as you can see, a few beach bars along the coast and water so clear you could see the bottom at least 10 metres around you. We laid there all day just relaxing and eating fresh seafood.
Then we decided that we should massively go out. It was meant to be one of Jon's last nights and we didnt want to waste anytime. We started at a restaurant, i dont know which, and followed from there to a bar called JJ's. It's jsut an average little bar here, but apparently one of the only ones on the beach not to sell food, so there's more room for dancing. Now, when we went out on that night we were dressed in our best clothes, not thinking there would be UV paint everywhere (i know, you think we'd learn that in Asia there's UV paint everywhere). And after a couple of hours drinking and dancing in JJs our cloths were ruined. Now we were well on the way to being drunk, and we started playing with the little local kids and ended with Jon and I jousting with little kids on our back. Dont worry, they loved it!
We headed then into Utopia, which is the biggest club thing here in Sihanoukville, which isnt saying much. We did shots, were drinking heavily and playing pool, (as always!) with the game of the night being Kelsey vs. Prostitute, where the hooker started well and then Kels turned up the heat and saw her off. But all's well that ends well, Jon got a free night with her!
I'm so joking!
Kels and I left around about 4:30 and we thought Jon wouldnt be too late, but when i woke up at 9ish he wasnt there. Being the proactive person i am, i dragged myself onto the deck to wait. By 10 he hadnt come back and Kels was still asleep so i went out for a coffee, and to check my emails, and when i got back around 11 there he was in his bed. He'd been playing pool and drinking for the whole time! Good man! But it does show you that he's a bad influence...
The next day we decided that as last night was a big one, we'd just go back to Otres Beach, then come back to the hotel, look for a nice local meal, Jon would book his bus and we'd go to a little cinema in town.
We got to the beach again, and were walking along when we had the idea to stay on this beach instead of going back to town everyday. A lot of the places had little signs saying "room" so we decided to take a look.
The first one we looked at sold it for us completely.
It was the upstairs of a place called 'I Don't Know Bar'. When you first walked in to the room you knew it was basic, it had a double bed, standing fan, and the old fabric squares like you used to have in primary school for the floors. But we didnt mind one bit. Along with that, the room had two massive sheet iron windows, which had clearly just been cut out of a wall, but when they were open it was like having one wall as a window, and out of that window was the beach. Just sitting 15 foot below us. It also had a little table and 2 chairs, but we nicked another table so it was set up. We also were getting the whole room for $4 a night, for both of us. that's 120 pennies each for a night. we booked for the whole next week.
When Jon came back from booking his bus, he told us that instead of going tomorrow night, he was actually going to leave the day after (wehay!) so he was going to stay on Otres Beach too, and ended up in the same place as us.
We then made our way back into town, for the cinema, as it was Jon's last night. The cinema was like renting someones front room. Big comfy seats, table, mini fridge and a 52" TV with a selection of films. Bang tidy! We watched The Other Guys and Rise of Planet of the Apes. During which Kelsey saw the first 10 minutes of The Other Guys and the last 2 mins of Planet of the Apes. Typical! We ended up paying $3 a person for the night!
The next day was a sad one. We had to say goodbye, finally, to Jon.
We'd been together now for 19 days from Hoi An all the way to Mui Ne, Saigon and finally Sihanoukville. We were told that whilst travelling you would meet a few people on the same route as you who you'll probably see time and time again in different places. We just got lucky that it was a hero like Jon Forbes.
The remainder of our time here in Sihanoukville, has been one long, very happy, very chilled out holiday, with a few stand out bits to mention.
For a started Gin Rummy. We cant get enough.
It's a game i've always known how to play, as it's one of the only card games our family knows, and also Mum and Dad told me about when they were younger travelling through Europe they used to sit for hours and play Gin, and Kels and I took up that tradition happily!
Kels had just learnt at first so naturally it was a white wash... But now, with at least 30 hours of Gin in the last week and a half, it's an even game. Every now and again she'll put anything she wants down and just smile, to be reminded that 3,6,8, isnt a run. We've had a few brilliant nights with a bottle of red wine, 2 packs of Oreos and Adele's new album (dont judge us, she's an angel) and a 1001 game of Gin. It will probably be how i remember Sihanoukville. The sound of the beach through our window, playing gin by candle light and eating far too many Oreos.
One day that has to be counted though was the day we spent fishing. We booked a day (10-5) fishing trip from a bar owner named Joe (who coincidentally has the cutest Cambodian, english speaking 4 & 8 year olds in the world) for $13. Despite the name, Joe is a very friendly Cambodian rasta.
When the boat picked us up we didnt think much of it. It was clearly an older boat than some of the others, but it's fine! If Joe was happy to risk his life then so were we. The 3 of us waded out to the boat, chucked our bag in and just after i'd climbed up (with Kels going first) Joe shoved the metal steps onto the boat and waved us off. Good start.
He'd left us in the hands of what can only be described as an adolescent Mowgli from the jungle book, in not only speedos but a t-shirt now too.
But who were we to despair? This guys probably very experienced and not just Joe's 'free today' nephew. Hopefully.
Mowgli (who's real name is Ravi) pulled on the started cords and two engines spluttered into life. Now when i use the word 'engines' it's loosely. The two engines looked like one was from a lawnmower, and the other had been left here by the French back in nineteen hundred and ancient. They were connected to a piece of scaffolding, which in turn was joined to the inside of a washing machine in the way of a propellor. When it started up it sounded like someone had turned on a pneumatic drill and just let it run wild down the street.
Now our shoddy little boat happened to nicely coincide with the choppiest day in Sihanoukville yet. And it felt inevitable when both engined died in the middle of the sea, with waves crashing all around us. No worries! The captain will know a little trick! Nope. He pulled the starter cord for about 15 minutes, then gave up. We were just beginning to worry, and the look on Kels' face was priceless, but then as he decided to give it one more go, one coughed itself awake and carried us to Bamboo island where he was going to fix the engine and set up some fishing line! We hoped.
We stopped on the island for about an hour, bit of a snorkel, bit of Adele, the usual. And when Mowgli called us back, we jumped on the boat, started up our 1/2 engine and puttered out into the sea again. On closer inspection it turned out that the engine was being held together by Mowgli and a bit of fishing line!
Whatever works i suppose...
He then unveiled our fishing gear, which turned out to be 2 x 2 litre plastic bottles, wrapped in fishing line, with a couple of nuts and bolts as weights and a hunk of squid to attract the fishies. Well turns out they loved it.
We were pulling all sorts of fish up out of the water! After 30 mins, we'd caught about 8 fish. We sat there and every 10/15 mins we'd pull up another! Catch of the day goes to Kelsey, for pulling up the biggest of the bunch, a whopping 30cm ruler big!
After a few hours fishing, we headed back in to shore, still praying for the engines to last. We tried to go back to the place where Joe had dropped us off but the waves were too big and with much arm waving we were directed to go round the bay and pull in up the river... We did this, but now being a good 10 mins drive from where we started. Then as we're trudging up the sandy hill to the road (me with a bucket full of fish) we see Joe and a tiny little moped. We look at each other like you've got to be kidding me. Kels clambers on, Joe's driving, im hanging on for dear life, with my bucket of fish, going up a steep hill, all the while Joe (the pot-head) is wetting himself laughing at me riding side-saddle with the fish on my lap, "Just like a market wife Tom! Hahahaha!" Thanks Joe.
What started off as a bit of a hairy day, ended in us cooking the fish over a fire on the beach, Joe and Sandy (his wife) cooking us chips and garlic bread, and us playing with their kids all evening. Lovely day.
The one low-light of Sihanoukville has to be the market. Kelsey didnt mind it, i threw up in my mouth. We'd planned to get a Tuk-Tuk into town, get to the market, go to the post office, post Hannah's present (to get there in time for her birthday) and eat at a place in town more. We walked into this dark, dismal corrogated iron warehouse, type thing. And as you got more and more into the inside, the worse and worse the smell got. Combine fish guts with rotten meat, times by old vegetables and mix in someone dying in the corner under a pile of old bananas and you're coming close to how bad it smelt. Thing like that dont normally get to me, but i tell you what, it was rank. Kels was dawdling ahead, taken in by the whole thing, and there was me dry-heaving behind her, running for the exit for a fag!
And even after we'd left the market for the post office, it was shut. We looked up the prices and it wouldve cost us $40 to send it to San Fran, and as money's running a bit low (6 days to go!) we couldnt justify 10 nights accomodation. So all Hannah got was a "sorry" skype call for her birthday! Sorry H!
But one day out of 16 aint so bad...
All in all, Sihanoukville has been the place i've liked most. The people are friendly, the accomodation and food are amazing, and on a more personal level, Kels and I loved it because here's where we spent the most time feeling like we were alone on holiday together. We've obviously been together the whole trip, but when you're staying at Hostels and Hotels or going to bars everynight, you invariably socialise with a lot of people, and even though we've had a wicked time everywhere, here is the most we've relaxed together.
With 6 days until we're back in England, and a bus coming for us in two hours, Sihanoukville has been amazing. The travelling bit of travelling can sometimes be a bit knackering, or tedious, but 16 days in the sun, with fresh seafood and a good game of Gin Rummy can make you feel more relaxed than you have any right to be. Or thats how it has been for us at least...
Siem Riep here we come!
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Saigon- as quickly as possible to Sihanoukville
On the road again, I cant wait to be on the road again.
Yah right, painful leaving Mui ne, where you can get the nicest fresh seafood while overlooking the sea for cheap, you can rent a motorbike for the day hassle free, the omelets, the beach, the massive waves and the kites. Oh well, here we go.
The bus was painless, took a few hours and we were in the heart of a massive city going through tiny streets, near canals and Motorbikes, go figure.
We got dropped off next to a park and set off on a walk to find a cheap place to stay, this man led us down some very narrow alleyways, big enough for one motorbike to squeeze through where all the accommodation seemed to be. It was like a mini tini town filled with guesthouses.
We settled on a cheap 4$ a night room and shared with Jonboy and Olivia- who we met in Mui Ne. I think we were the only ones in this guesthouse and the man that ran it had very very small arms.
We walked around for the day, mainly only to book a bus out of the city as soon as we can. We also booked our bus to Cambodia and our tour the next morning to the Cu Chi Tunnels.
We ate, showered refueled and headed for a walk in the local park outside of our guesthouse town. It must have been fitness night because we sat amused for a good hour or so watching the aerobics class. It was brilliant, and everyone did it- pretty soon the whole park was just overfilled with aerobic doing people. We sat for a while before calling it a night and retired to watch Charlies Angels on tv. What a night.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Củ_Chi_tunnels
Our journey the next morning began at 8am where are bus was taking us to the Cu Chi tunnels. Our guide talked our ear off on the 3 hour drive before making our first stop at what troubled us a little bit.
Our guide was telling us about Agent orange, a chemical that during the Vietnam War, the United States military sprayed nearly 20,000,000 US gallons of chemical herbicides and defoliants in Vietnam, eastern Laos and parts of Cambodia, and where he was taking us was somewhere we can see the effects of this chemical as people are still today being poisoned.
The guide said the people affected get paid by the government to work, making art and we walked through watching as they made the most beautiful pieces.
We boarded the bus and headed another hour with the guide in our ear.
The Cu Chi tunnels were very interesting, and we were all ears when our guide was telling us of Vietnamese traps, mostly spikes hidden underground underneath trap doors, and spiked that you rolled through if you stepped on the wrong area, even spikes to come down on you if you open the door. We seen the whole layout of the tunnels, miles of tunnel dug with a small hand shovel and something resembling a dust pan. The tunnels were used by Viet Cong guerillas as hiding spots during combat with the Americans.
We got a chance to walk through bits of the tunnel which proved just how small and harsh these living conditions must be. It truly is an amazing thing. Doors in the ground you cant see, spikes, the lot.
One wicked thing- We shot a Carbine gun at the Cu Chi tunnels, they have a shooting range. You can shoot an AK 47 , and an M1 Garand but these are significantly more expensive so we took the Carbine. 10 bullets each, loud noise. Great feeling.
What a stress reliever, our guide showed us the kitchen, which yes is underground and the chimney runs to outside but the smoke fileters in to many different chambers on the way out making the smoke stay on thr ground and not rise in the air to show where they are, they fed as tapiocka and we are on our way back to our town of guesthouses.
Someone we met in Hanoi gave us drink vouchers for 50% off at a certain pub, so we went for a beer, cheersing to leaving tomorrow- we ate in a nice hotel and called in early as we knew tomorrow we were headed for a beach.
We woke up, our bus at 7am left promptly on time and the day is so far so good. We are off to Cambodia now, good thing as Jons visa is expiring tomorrow.
I slept the whole 9 hour journey it was- the border was absolutley painless thankfully as we heard there can be alot of corruption.
I thought our journey was going very well untill I look over and see Jon drenched and trying to hold the curtains over his head, turns out, his journey has been alot more painful then mine and had water leaking on him the whole ride. Shit.
Yah right, painful leaving Mui ne, where you can get the nicest fresh seafood while overlooking the sea for cheap, you can rent a motorbike for the day hassle free, the omelets, the beach, the massive waves and the kites. Oh well, here we go.
The bus was painless, took a few hours and we were in the heart of a massive city going through tiny streets, near canals and Motorbikes, go figure.
We got dropped off next to a park and set off on a walk to find a cheap place to stay, this man led us down some very narrow alleyways, big enough for one motorbike to squeeze through where all the accommodation seemed to be. It was like a mini tini town filled with guesthouses.
We settled on a cheap 4$ a night room and shared with Jonboy and Olivia- who we met in Mui Ne. I think we were the only ones in this guesthouse and the man that ran it had very very small arms.
We walked around for the day, mainly only to book a bus out of the city as soon as we can. We also booked our bus to Cambodia and our tour the next morning to the Cu Chi Tunnels.
We ate, showered refueled and headed for a walk in the local park outside of our guesthouse town. It must have been fitness night because we sat amused for a good hour or so watching the aerobics class. It was brilliant, and everyone did it- pretty soon the whole park was just overfilled with aerobic doing people. We sat for a while before calling it a night and retired to watch Charlies Angels on tv. What a night.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Củ_Chi_tunnels
Our journey the next morning began at 8am where are bus was taking us to the Cu Chi tunnels. Our guide talked our ear off on the 3 hour drive before making our first stop at what troubled us a little bit.
Our guide was telling us about Agent orange, a chemical that during the Vietnam War, the United States military sprayed nearly 20,000,000 US gallons of chemical herbicides and defoliants in Vietnam, eastern Laos and parts of Cambodia, and where he was taking us was somewhere we can see the effects of this chemical as people are still today being poisoned.
The guide said the people affected get paid by the government to work, making art and we walked through watching as they made the most beautiful pieces.
We boarded the bus and headed another hour with the guide in our ear.
The Cu Chi tunnels were very interesting, and we were all ears when our guide was telling us of Vietnamese traps, mostly spikes hidden underground underneath trap doors, and spiked that you rolled through if you stepped on the wrong area, even spikes to come down on you if you open the door. We seen the whole layout of the tunnels, miles of tunnel dug with a small hand shovel and something resembling a dust pan. The tunnels were used by Viet Cong guerillas as hiding spots during combat with the Americans.
We got a chance to walk through bits of the tunnel which proved just how small and harsh these living conditions must be. It truly is an amazing thing. Doors in the ground you cant see, spikes, the lot.
One wicked thing- We shot a Carbine gun at the Cu Chi tunnels, they have a shooting range. You can shoot an AK 47 , and an M1 Garand but these are significantly more expensive so we took the Carbine. 10 bullets each, loud noise. Great feeling.
What a stress reliever, our guide showed us the kitchen, which yes is underground and the chimney runs to outside but the smoke fileters in to many different chambers on the way out making the smoke stay on thr ground and not rise in the air to show where they are, they fed as tapiocka and we are on our way back to our town of guesthouses.
Someone we met in Hanoi gave us drink vouchers for 50% off at a certain pub, so we went for a beer, cheersing to leaving tomorrow- we ate in a nice hotel and called in early as we knew tomorrow we were headed for a beach.
We woke up, our bus at 7am left promptly on time and the day is so far so good. We are off to Cambodia now, good thing as Jons visa is expiring tomorrow.
I slept the whole 9 hour journey it was- the border was absolutley painless thankfully as we heard there can be alot of corruption.
I thought our journey was going very well untill I look over and see Jon drenched and trying to hold the curtains over his head, turns out, his journey has been alot more painful then mine and had water leaking on him the whole ride. Shit.
Mui Ne
So here we are, maybe the last day of blogging we get before we are home so ready to read alot?
We are going to Siem Riep tonight on the night bus, but I guess we still have alot to tell you about how we got here.
We said goodbye to the Irish girls heading straight to Saigon and hopped on our bus the hell outa Nha trang headed for what we hear a very lovely place.
The bus only took a few hours, and when we get there, easily found accommodation as the bus drops you right outside on the one road full of guesthouses. I guess alot of Mui ne is all one long road anyway running along the coast and through the main town.
Our hostel was on the beach, we were sharing a room with Fiona and Darragh while Sam, Michael John and Jai shared the family room and Sophie and John in the dorms. We have now been together since Hue.
We dropped our bags and went to explore. As we stepped out onto the beach I was mesmerized at the amount of kites in the sky over the sea. Mui ne is a very well known area for kite surfing and some people were amazing.
We went next door to a highly recommended (lonely planet) seafood restaurant and had an absolute feast which cost us about 10$ for scallops, red snapper, barracuda and other wonderful sea things.
We went out to a bar far down the road called Pogo- played some more suckers at pool, won money and retired early.
We rented motorbikes the next day to get to the red sand dunes, so we ventured off around 10 and drove 50 ft down the road to play mini golf first. There were overall 10 of us, the loser has to have a shot.Poor Jai.
We jumped back on our bikes, Jai seemed to be struggling a bit as he had already run his bike in the back of Jon's and as we stopped for dinner managed to run over Fiona's toe when he got off the bike and tried to push it while the engine was running, Doesn't work very well when you have to turn the handle to give it gas, the bike went straight into Fiona and dropped on the ground just as the man who rented them to us drove by. Woops. Fiona was fine but Jai's wallet was alot lighter when he returned the bike after an hour and had to pay 1 million dong for damages, although Tom did save the day and brought the price down 1million dong. He jumped on the back of one of ours and we drove straight. Straight along the coast for ages, past the old fishing village where there one million and one fishing boats, straight through the town, round the round about left at the lights, stay to the right and all of a sudden swarmed by kids crowding your motorbike trying to see you a thin little piece of plastic with a string?
The dunes to the left, the kids in front we parked our bikes, paid 50cents for a thin piece of plastic and wondered on up the hill, all the kids followed. This kept everyone busy for ages, playing tag (its really quite difficult to run in sand isn't it). picking them up and twirling them and they carrying our slide to the top of a big hill and telling you the best way to sit to go down fast. Well, sliding down that hill was slower than molasses but still a great day. At the end we bought a coke for some of the kids and drove the same lovely way back. We stopped at the view of the fishing village, admired the boats, took photos and tried making conversation with who seemed to be the loveliest person of all lovely peoples a man with no teeth.
We lost everyone at this point and we had the bikes for another hour so we went past our guesthouse, yes straight again before rounding a corner and seeing the most beautiful sunset. I also bought a green puff ball from a man who was selling, one flavour coconut and the green one I got chicken. It was a very strange thing to eat and the closest thing to chicken it came was in the middle was a quails egg.
So that aside, we went to eat along the sea side at one of the many seafood restaurant's lining the streets. I had the best fried red snapper which has now been appointed my favourite fish.
We went to Pogo once again that night, moved on down the road and walked the 40 minutes it took to get back home. We spent the night on the beach playing word disassociation and the animal game- fun with 10 people and the assistance of the dr.
The next day we had breakfast (we ate breakfast there everyday which always was an omelet, very cheap) and lazed on the beach- we went to Pogo that night and got very drunk for the next day our friends are leaving us for Saigon and Tom Jon and Kelsey are going to stay. We drank the largest sand buckets we have seen yet, and Tom and Jon were playing pool for money while drinking Terminators- which is a glass full of seven different shots and topped up with pineapple. I think this threw off their game a bit. Jon won in the end.
Jai also bet on a game of pool, which came to a sad loss and Jai having to walk the 3km stretch in nothing but his pants. Very interesting.
We went back with everyone to say our goodbyes to Fiona, Darragh, Sophie, Bergen catch the bus to Saigon. Michael and John were supposed to be on the bus as well, but tickets got mixed up and the bus was full. So Jonboy, Tom and I had 2 overnight guests in our new two bed room across the way, not on the beach which was more expensive. I think we paid 3 dollars a night for the room which seemed honest as we had to change rooms once because we were paying extra for air con (oh yes, luxuries) and it wasn't working- so we were upgraded. That day we said goodbye to John and Michael.
And then there were 3. In a room with 3 double beds, a fan, air con and a bigger tv. Our tv exploded one night when we were watching it, we all made mad dashes for outside and the ?bathroom?.(Jon) I went running for the man who was sitting having a beer and a smoke with somelady's in very short shorts and shirts who came to our room.
Apparently after the tv was on fire- Jon ran to get water before thinking that through and Tom picked it up before the fire went out. The man brought us a big screen tv after that.
We went for what I would say quite a romantic meal on a top floor veranda overlooking the streets, with a free welcome drink, a whole bottle of red (Which we have found they always serve chilled.) and the best spring rolls ever we agreed. Full, sleepy and red wine drunk we (well the boys) watched movies while I fell asleep.
To rent a motorbike in Vietnam, its strange- there was a group of men with motorbikes parked outside our hostel who gave them to us, no questions asked, no passport or deposit required, pay at the end and drive off with the bike. Brilliant- we got 2 out and at 5pm attempted to make it to the white sand dunes for sunset- which we hear are much further but in the same direction as the red *(everything is straight right) so we past and carried on- It got dark and we were quite far away from the actual dunes so we pulled over with a wide open sea to our right and our left what looked like white sand to the boys- but looked like a construction site to me.
Now them being all cool and laid back just decide they want to go and climb this hill- oh yea great- leaving worrying ol me cursing my way up behind them. We get to the top only to find a massive quarry or pit and seeing alot of people walking off shift. It was an interesting place- I thought someone was going to come and arrest us but the boys very cooly assured me it was fine- but I still rushed them. Muaahha- It was dark now so we drove slowly back to town for a game of pool.
We stayed for a few more days before we booked our bus to Sai gon. We are already dreading leaving a beach for a city but the Cu Chi tunnels await.
Hue- Mui Ne, One of our favourites thanks to the wicked people we have met.
I guess we all have to leave sometime eh?
We are going to Siem Riep tonight on the night bus, but I guess we still have alot to tell you about how we got here.
We said goodbye to the Irish girls heading straight to Saigon and hopped on our bus the hell outa Nha trang headed for what we hear a very lovely place.
The bus only took a few hours, and when we get there, easily found accommodation as the bus drops you right outside on the one road full of guesthouses. I guess alot of Mui ne is all one long road anyway running along the coast and through the main town.
Our hostel was on the beach, we were sharing a room with Fiona and Darragh while Sam, Michael John and Jai shared the family room and Sophie and John in the dorms. We have now been together since Hue.
We dropped our bags and went to explore. As we stepped out onto the beach I was mesmerized at the amount of kites in the sky over the sea. Mui ne is a very well known area for kite surfing and some people were amazing.
We went next door to a highly recommended (lonely planet) seafood restaurant and had an absolute feast which cost us about 10$ for scallops, red snapper, barracuda and other wonderful sea things.
We went out to a bar far down the road called Pogo- played some more suckers at pool, won money and retired early.
We rented motorbikes the next day to get to the red sand dunes, so we ventured off around 10 and drove 50 ft down the road to play mini golf first. There were overall 10 of us, the loser has to have a shot.Poor Jai.
We jumped back on our bikes, Jai seemed to be struggling a bit as he had already run his bike in the back of Jon's and as we stopped for dinner managed to run over Fiona's toe when he got off the bike and tried to push it while the engine was running, Doesn't work very well when you have to turn the handle to give it gas, the bike went straight into Fiona and dropped on the ground just as the man who rented them to us drove by. Woops. Fiona was fine but Jai's wallet was alot lighter when he returned the bike after an hour and had to pay 1 million dong for damages, although Tom did save the day and brought the price down 1million dong. He jumped on the back of one of ours and we drove straight. Straight along the coast for ages, past the old fishing village where there one million and one fishing boats, straight through the town, round the round about left at the lights, stay to the right and all of a sudden swarmed by kids crowding your motorbike trying to see you a thin little piece of plastic with a string?
The dunes to the left, the kids in front we parked our bikes, paid 50cents for a thin piece of plastic and wondered on up the hill, all the kids followed. This kept everyone busy for ages, playing tag (its really quite difficult to run in sand isn't it). picking them up and twirling them and they carrying our slide to the top of a big hill and telling you the best way to sit to go down fast. Well, sliding down that hill was slower than molasses but still a great day. At the end we bought a coke for some of the kids and drove the same lovely way back. We stopped at the view of the fishing village, admired the boats, took photos and tried making conversation with who seemed to be the loveliest person of all lovely peoples a man with no teeth.
We lost everyone at this point and we had the bikes for another hour so we went past our guesthouse, yes straight again before rounding a corner and seeing the most beautiful sunset. I also bought a green puff ball from a man who was selling, one flavour coconut and the green one I got chicken. It was a very strange thing to eat and the closest thing to chicken it came was in the middle was a quails egg.
So that aside, we went to eat along the sea side at one of the many seafood restaurant's lining the streets. I had the best fried red snapper which has now been appointed my favourite fish.
We went to Pogo once again that night, moved on down the road and walked the 40 minutes it took to get back home. We spent the night on the beach playing word disassociation and the animal game- fun with 10 people and the assistance of the dr.
The next day we had breakfast (we ate breakfast there everyday which always was an omelet, very cheap) and lazed on the beach- we went to Pogo that night and got very drunk for the next day our friends are leaving us for Saigon and Tom Jon and Kelsey are going to stay. We drank the largest sand buckets we have seen yet, and Tom and Jon were playing pool for money while drinking Terminators- which is a glass full of seven different shots and topped up with pineapple. I think this threw off their game a bit. Jon won in the end.
Jai also bet on a game of pool, which came to a sad loss and Jai having to walk the 3km stretch in nothing but his pants. Very interesting.
We went back with everyone to say our goodbyes to Fiona, Darragh, Sophie, Bergen catch the bus to Saigon. Michael and John were supposed to be on the bus as well, but tickets got mixed up and the bus was full. So Jonboy, Tom and I had 2 overnight guests in our new two bed room across the way, not on the beach which was more expensive. I think we paid 3 dollars a night for the room which seemed honest as we had to change rooms once because we were paying extra for air con (oh yes, luxuries) and it wasn't working- so we were upgraded. That day we said goodbye to John and Michael.
And then there were 3. In a room with 3 double beds, a fan, air con and a bigger tv. Our tv exploded one night when we were watching it, we all made mad dashes for outside and the ?bathroom?.(Jon) I went running for the man who was sitting having a beer and a smoke with somelady's in very short shorts and shirts who came to our room.
Apparently after the tv was on fire- Jon ran to get water before thinking that through and Tom picked it up before the fire went out. The man brought us a big screen tv after that.
We went for what I would say quite a romantic meal on a top floor veranda overlooking the streets, with a free welcome drink, a whole bottle of red (Which we have found they always serve chilled.) and the best spring rolls ever we agreed. Full, sleepy and red wine drunk we (well the boys) watched movies while I fell asleep.
To rent a motorbike in Vietnam, its strange- there was a group of men with motorbikes parked outside our hostel who gave them to us, no questions asked, no passport or deposit required, pay at the end and drive off with the bike. Brilliant- we got 2 out and at 5pm attempted to make it to the white sand dunes for sunset- which we hear are much further but in the same direction as the red *(everything is straight right) so we past and carried on- It got dark and we were quite far away from the actual dunes so we pulled over with a wide open sea to our right and our left what looked like white sand to the boys- but looked like a construction site to me.
Now them being all cool and laid back just decide they want to go and climb this hill- oh yea great- leaving worrying ol me cursing my way up behind them. We get to the top only to find a massive quarry or pit and seeing alot of people walking off shift. It was an interesting place- I thought someone was going to come and arrest us but the boys very cooly assured me it was fine- but I still rushed them. Muaahha- It was dark now so we drove slowly back to town for a game of pool.
We stayed for a few more days before we booked our bus to Sai gon. We are already dreading leaving a beach for a city but the Cu Chi tunnels await.
Hue- Mui Ne, One of our favourites thanks to the wicked people we have met.
I guess we all have to leave sometime eh?
Friday, November 11, 2011
Nha Trang- Vietnam
Oh Nha Trang, what a good time you were. We arrived early morning on the overnight bus from Hoi an to the same usual asking if you want a tuk tuk and having brochures thrown in your face the second you get off the bus. We already booked our hostel so before debating on wether to take a motorbike taxi for 20 000 dong a person we decided better to walk. (We heard its not that big.) Turns out after walking in the wrong direction we took a taxi with a metre. Alot of people will try and convince you to pay big money and wont turn the meter on making the journey double the price. So we get in, went one street in the taxi and realized our hostel is about a 3 minute walk from the bus station and the taxi ahead of us paid 100 000 dong and we paid 12000 dong. Rip off. For them.
We arrived at our hostel, took advantage of some skype time and by 10am we were all floating on a boat heading to 3 differnt islands. Turns out you have to pay for the boat, and then pay to get on the island so we did 2/3. We went snorkeling, played beach football before jumping off the side of the boat and having shots of wine while floating. Luxury. After lunch our boat had a little band and they made us do Karaoke. ( not necessarily my idea of fun with a voice like mine on a little tiny boat full of people, but hay)
Our hostel allocated everyone a free shot from the bar out front and on the flyer a free drink for girls, or boys that dress up like girls. So... hehe being in a group of 10 girls and 10 guys we gave each one a dress, some earings, makeup and Tom blonde HAIR EXTENSIONS. Oh yes, I will be posting photos of them soon. And went out front to claim our free drinks. Now I would say this paid off very well for them and they seemed to get more than 1 free drink. We played pool at the red apple while drinking very strong buckets before moving on down the street.
Tom was on fire, he played Jai for money and won before a complete stranger came upto me and asked me where my friend was that was playing for money. The most intense game of pool, a large amount of money was on this and Tom was 5 balls ahead (still dressed as a lady) before missing the black ball a good 8 times before Jon had to have a quick word and he sunk quite a hard shot. He won 750,000 dong that night.
We'd been in a few different bars, along the one road, but now it was time to move on, there was one more place we were going to go, right down the street we had the whole group together. Tom and a few boys walking ahead, Fiona- her boyfriend Darragh and I walking in the middle and a few others in the group behind. So Darragh says hes going to wee and we kept walking. We were about half way between bars when 3 motorbikes pulled along side Fiona and I and then in front blocking our path and 3 people came up behind us- one of them grabbing Fiona from behind and shaking her saying ''you so beautiful lady'' and me frantically trying to push them away while 2 others went through her pockets. They let go and I grabbed Fiona and ran straight to the bar, thinking how odd because Darragh should have caught us up by now, I explained to Tom what happened and 3 of the boys ran back to find him. Everyone now was in a little panic but we stayed in a group and all walked back to the first bar together to find Darragh had just had a knife pulled on him in. But being a sound guy, headbutted the feller, punched another and ran away.
Now before coming here we heard stories from travellers saying that if you go through Nha Trang without getting anythign stolen you are considered quite lucky. They have a massive problem with prostitues on the beaches and streets who are the ones known to rob you. Anbd apparently it's one of the only towns left in Vietnam, mainly controlled by Mafia type people.
But we had a few drinks, took the same necessary percautions as always (pac safe under the clothes blah blah) but they got her camera. Could have been worse but Oh her camera.
T.
3 guys drove back up to us outside our hotel and waved us over, so Darragh and I went to see what they wanted, well he stormed over, and i was just trying to calm him down as much as i could, because as you can imagine by now, he was fired up!
They pulled out their camera, and started saying that they wanted a reward for being the good guys. I asked him where he got it, and why he was returning it, knowing full well that this guy isnt going to go out of his way to get a foreigners camera back. And if he was so nice, he'd would've given it over for free.
So after asking Darragh if that was their camera, i got it from him and chucked it to Darragh. The guy then started to say about his reward and i replied, OK lets wait for the police then you'll get it. To which he promptly started his banged up old bike and did one.
All that being said, we still had one of the best nights of our holiday in Nha Trang, all of us blokes dressed as women was priceless. We all had women's names, mine being Tina, and if you called one of the other draggers by their man name, you had to do a shot. We got hammered, and best of all for Kels and I we still went home with more money than we came out with! Happy days!
I will say one thing i learnt in Nha Trang. Jon Forbes is a bad influence, one minute he's going to bed, and the next it's 6 in the morning, i cant see, speak and am struggling to breathe but still playing pool and doing shots.
Steer clear of this man, because even though he's a legend, he'll rub off on you, and you'll be very drunk. As most of you know i lead a quiet life in England, but he ruined that. Him AND Michael Jorgensen. Michael just loves life far too much, it's infectious, and Jon is constantly on a mission to get me battered. Very unfair.
We'd intended to go to Dalat for trekking etc, through what we'd heard word-of-mouth. However reading it over in Jon's Lonely Planet, it said it's highlight was "A Long walk round a man-made lake", we decided to swerve it and go straight to Mui Ne. A coastal town, quite small, meant to be beautiful.
But then again, it was in Jon's book and as you now all know, he's on a mission.
Next stop Mui Ne! (well not really, next stop right now is Angkor Wat, but as it's known, we're a bit behind)
Peeeaaaace!
We arrived at our hostel, took advantage of some skype time and by 10am we were all floating on a boat heading to 3 differnt islands. Turns out you have to pay for the boat, and then pay to get on the island so we did 2/3. We went snorkeling, played beach football before jumping off the side of the boat and having shots of wine while floating. Luxury. After lunch our boat had a little band and they made us do Karaoke. ( not necessarily my idea of fun with a voice like mine on a little tiny boat full of people, but hay)
Our hostel allocated everyone a free shot from the bar out front and on the flyer a free drink for girls, or boys that dress up like girls. So... hehe being in a group of 10 girls and 10 guys we gave each one a dress, some earings, makeup and Tom blonde HAIR EXTENSIONS. Oh yes, I will be posting photos of them soon. And went out front to claim our free drinks. Now I would say this paid off very well for them and they seemed to get more than 1 free drink. We played pool at the red apple while drinking very strong buckets before moving on down the street.
Tom was on fire, he played Jai for money and won before a complete stranger came upto me and asked me where my friend was that was playing for money. The most intense game of pool, a large amount of money was on this and Tom was 5 balls ahead (still dressed as a lady) before missing the black ball a good 8 times before Jon had to have a quick word and he sunk quite a hard shot. He won 750,000 dong that night.
We'd been in a few different bars, along the one road, but now it was time to move on, there was one more place we were going to go, right down the street we had the whole group together. Tom and a few boys walking ahead, Fiona- her boyfriend Darragh and I walking in the middle and a few others in the group behind. So Darragh says hes going to wee and we kept walking. We were about half way between bars when 3 motorbikes pulled along side Fiona and I and then in front blocking our path and 3 people came up behind us- one of them grabbing Fiona from behind and shaking her saying ''you so beautiful lady'' and me frantically trying to push them away while 2 others went through her pockets. They let go and I grabbed Fiona and ran straight to the bar, thinking how odd because Darragh should have caught us up by now, I explained to Tom what happened and 3 of the boys ran back to find him. Everyone now was in a little panic but we stayed in a group and all walked back to the first bar together to find Darragh had just had a knife pulled on him in. But being a sound guy, headbutted the feller, punched another and ran away.
Now before coming here we heard stories from travellers saying that if you go through Nha Trang without getting anythign stolen you are considered quite lucky. They have a massive problem with prostitues on the beaches and streets who are the ones known to rob you. Anbd apparently it's one of the only towns left in Vietnam, mainly controlled by Mafia type people.
But we had a few drinks, took the same necessary percautions as always (pac safe under the clothes blah blah) but they got her camera. Could have been worse but Oh her camera.
T.
3 guys drove back up to us outside our hotel and waved us over, so Darragh and I went to see what they wanted, well he stormed over, and i was just trying to calm him down as much as i could, because as you can imagine by now, he was fired up!
They pulled out their camera, and started saying that they wanted a reward for being the good guys. I asked him where he got it, and why he was returning it, knowing full well that this guy isnt going to go out of his way to get a foreigners camera back. And if he was so nice, he'd would've given it over for free.
So after asking Darragh if that was their camera, i got it from him and chucked it to Darragh. The guy then started to say about his reward and i replied, OK lets wait for the police then you'll get it. To which he promptly started his banged up old bike and did one.
All that being said, we still had one of the best nights of our holiday in Nha Trang, all of us blokes dressed as women was priceless. We all had women's names, mine being Tina, and if you called one of the other draggers by their man name, you had to do a shot. We got hammered, and best of all for Kels and I we still went home with more money than we came out with! Happy days!
I will say one thing i learnt in Nha Trang. Jon Forbes is a bad influence, one minute he's going to bed, and the next it's 6 in the morning, i cant see, speak and am struggling to breathe but still playing pool and doing shots.
Steer clear of this man, because even though he's a legend, he'll rub off on you, and you'll be very drunk. As most of you know i lead a quiet life in England, but he ruined that. Him AND Michael Jorgensen. Michael just loves life far too much, it's infectious, and Jon is constantly on a mission to get me battered. Very unfair.
We'd intended to go to Dalat for trekking etc, through what we'd heard word-of-mouth. However reading it over in Jon's Lonely Planet, it said it's highlight was "A Long walk round a man-made lake", we decided to swerve it and go straight to Mui Ne. A coastal town, quite small, meant to be beautiful.
But then again, it was in Jon's book and as you now all know, he's on a mission.
Next stop Mui Ne! (well not really, next stop right now is Angkor Wat, but as it's known, we're a bit behind)
Peeeaaaace!
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Hue -> Hoi An... Shotgun being Ewan Macgregor.
Alright lovelies!
Seems like ages since i pulled my sorry behind off the beach and bothered to do this... but seeing as it's not as blue in the sky as usual, i dont begrudge it (i can see one little cloud atm, and even that looks so small, like someone's cigarette smoke), much.
We're backtracking, so forgive me the minor details in some parts, and the exaggeration in others. What we did was so awesome that there are bound to be a few embellishments along the way.
Hue
We arrives in Hue after a pretty effortless journey, we got on a bus, watched Planet Earth in Dutch, ate a sleeping pill and crashed the whole way. We got into Hue at around 7AM, just in time for the free breakfast (MORE ROLLS! FREE!) If i'm honest, towards the end, i dont think Kelsey appreciated the rolls for breakfast, rolls for lunch thing quite as much as i did. But i've discovered that a full belly tastes better than not. She can have her omelettes, im happy just being stuffed.
After putting our bags down in another shared dorm, we went out to see Hue.
There's not too much to do in Hue. We wandered over the imitation San Fran bridge, into the old town. Not all people know, but we - the world learned experienced travllers - know is the first place to look for old things. And for some reason, travellers in general love looking at old things.
So as was the story of most towns on our travels, we headed for the standard combination of 'how big is it' combined with 'how old is it'. Turns out Hue Citadel was massive, i mean hooge, and very old. Score.
We wandered around there, marvelling at the little ponds and old vases. And chatted until we thought we'd seen the majority of it.
After wandering back to Hue Backpackers Hostel, we went for a spot to eat and a game of pool, with our new pal Sam. Who'd gotten on the previous night bus with us from Hanoi.
We walked up and down the street working out which happy hours coincided with which, and after a certain amount of beers, we went back to the hostel, who's very own happy hour was just beginning.
This still didnt prepare me to meet the cracking geordie lads we did that night, who would later become our mates for a good couple of weeks.
I might point out that after about 2 hours of talking to them, kels and I were both a bit gutted as we thought we were meeting Ant and Dec.
We all went together to the bar with the pool table, and in the space of about 30 mins, Michael and John had persuaded us to ride a motorbike from Hue to Hoi An the following day, as they were doing it and it looked fun.
This for me was the perfect moment of a plan coming together.
Kels and i had wanted to ride a bike down Vietnam, but didnt like the look of it from Hanoi, so this would give us a chance to scratch that particular itch, whilst keeping the worried parents at bay. As we had a guide.
Later that night we went back to hostel, (another happy hour - spirits and shots this time)
And made friends with a whole bunch of Irish girls, and played drinking games until the sun came up. Brilliant.
Ohh, actually, wait. I've gotta drive a bike for the first real time tomorrow. Let's see how that goes. At least Kelsey wasnt as battered as me... Oops, yeah she was. This is gonna be fun.
The Most Epic Journey Of Journeys, Journied.
We awoke from our 3 hours hibernation, as bears with very sore heads.
We went down stairs and someone shouted 20 mins until bikers leave! We were ''like ahhhhhhhhhhh man' grabbed a roll and a coffee, packed our bags, and smoked 12 cigarettes in a row.
Now to those of you that have ridden bikes before you'll know what i mean when i say, there is no room for a hangover on a motorbike. We started a bit shakey (that dehydrated who could blame us) but after a while really settled in to the whole driving malarky. It was class. Pure brilliance.
In our group, there was John and Michael, who you will absolutely hear more about later in the blog, Hanoi Sam, a big bunch of irish girls, who the only reason im not writing their names down is that i dont want to offend them by spelling names like Groinaie, Groanyer.
But all in all there was 14 who started. After an hour, there was 11. After an hour and a half, there was 8, and by the time we reached Da Nang, there was 6. But im jumping.
-PARENTS LOOK AWAY-
Although this sounds like a pikey budget horror film, it was actually because we split from the guide, he stopped when the first bike broke down, we'd heard it was one road to Hoi An, and decided - maybe not too wisely mind you - to go it alone! And we had so much fun
The hightlight for me was without a doubt, a stretch of road called the High Mountain Pass. And dear lord, was it spectacular. It started as a gentle incline up a mountain road, and after an hour of the deserted winding road, it started to get chilly. We stopped and took a few photos, and looked up and saw the road leading on further, into a whole cloud of mist.
The next hour, up to the summit and down the other side at 30 mph, was one of the coolest things i've ever done. We were puttering along and out of the mist would come a little truck, bursting with pigs, or a bunch of teenager Vietnamese kids on their bikes, whooping as the overtook you. It was incredible. We stopped at the top as we were changing drivers, and peered over the top of the world, to see a gorgeous coastline, stretching as far as you can see.
When we got to the top, the remainder of the group all stopped to take some group photos, and it was obvious that a couple of girls were seriously struggling, so being the gentleman i am (and the fact that it was now Kelsey's turn to drive and i wasnt done enjoying it!) i offered to drive one of them on the back of their bike, and kels took the other on ours.
But i didnt think the next 3 hours would be so crazy.
We arrived at Da Nang (a big industrial sort of town) at rush hour. And i still stand by the comment that weaving through the traffic then, is the coolest videogame i've ever played. It felt surreal, and after 3 hours of driving well in our comfortzones, and got to point of exhillerating. We were in Da Nang for about 2 hours, being lost a little and also trying not to get hit by the 1000 bike hoard, that we found ourself a part of.
The next 2 hours were plain sailing and revelling in the survival of Da Nang, we hammered it down the road towards Hoi An.
Now the arrival in Hoi An was very odd. The whole group got massively seperated but somehow, all turned up within 30 mins of each other! We'd checked out a place called Sunflower hotel, and once we arrived, we chucked our bags down and went for a beer. Much needed, much deserved.
That night i fell in love with Michael and John, but also met a complete class act, the Welsh demon that is Jon Forbes. The guy is a pure legend, and getting to know him that night was one of the highlights of my holiday. The big group together rampaged through this little town from bar to bar, and all the while everyone was having a great time dancing, drinking, and in mine and Jon's case, playing a little pool. Well a lot of pool. We took on everyone we could meet and have to say did very well. But more inportantly we got battered. So drunk that we ended up all back in mine and Kelsey's room, with a couple of cheap bottles of Vodka, prowling round the pitchblack hotel looking for the hotel's free Oreos in other unlcoked rooms. All in all it was a brilliant way to end a superb day.
The rest of Hoi An passed in a blur. We stayed for 2 nights at the sunflower, and during this time, was the rugby world cup semis, so our own Welshman was very excited about that (who knows why, they got beaten by the French), we played pool, talked sports, drunk too much. And by the end of Hoi An, what started as a group of 14 or so decent individuals, became the group that would stick together for next week and a half, and have the best time.
Roll on Nha Trang!
Seems like ages since i pulled my sorry behind off the beach and bothered to do this... but seeing as it's not as blue in the sky as usual, i dont begrudge it (i can see one little cloud atm, and even that looks so small, like someone's cigarette smoke), much.
We're backtracking, so forgive me the minor details in some parts, and the exaggeration in others. What we did was so awesome that there are bound to be a few embellishments along the way.
Hue
We arrives in Hue after a pretty effortless journey, we got on a bus, watched Planet Earth in Dutch, ate a sleeping pill and crashed the whole way. We got into Hue at around 7AM, just in time for the free breakfast (MORE ROLLS! FREE!) If i'm honest, towards the end, i dont think Kelsey appreciated the rolls for breakfast, rolls for lunch thing quite as much as i did. But i've discovered that a full belly tastes better than not. She can have her omelettes, im happy just being stuffed.
After putting our bags down in another shared dorm, we went out to see Hue.
There's not too much to do in Hue. We wandered over the imitation San Fran bridge, into the old town. Not all people know, but we - the world learned experienced travllers - know is the first place to look for old things. And for some reason, travellers in general love looking at old things.
So as was the story of most towns on our travels, we headed for the standard combination of 'how big is it' combined with 'how old is it'. Turns out Hue Citadel was massive, i mean hooge, and very old. Score.
We wandered around there, marvelling at the little ponds and old vases. And chatted until we thought we'd seen the majority of it.
After wandering back to Hue Backpackers Hostel, we went for a spot to eat and a game of pool, with our new pal Sam. Who'd gotten on the previous night bus with us from Hanoi.
We walked up and down the street working out which happy hours coincided with which, and after a certain amount of beers, we went back to the hostel, who's very own happy hour was just beginning.
This still didnt prepare me to meet the cracking geordie lads we did that night, who would later become our mates for a good couple of weeks.
I might point out that after about 2 hours of talking to them, kels and I were both a bit gutted as we thought we were meeting Ant and Dec.
We all went together to the bar with the pool table, and in the space of about 30 mins, Michael and John had persuaded us to ride a motorbike from Hue to Hoi An the following day, as they were doing it and it looked fun.
This for me was the perfect moment of a plan coming together.
Kels and i had wanted to ride a bike down Vietnam, but didnt like the look of it from Hanoi, so this would give us a chance to scratch that particular itch, whilst keeping the worried parents at bay. As we had a guide.
Later that night we went back to hostel, (another happy hour - spirits and shots this time)
And made friends with a whole bunch of Irish girls, and played drinking games until the sun came up. Brilliant.
Ohh, actually, wait. I've gotta drive a bike for the first real time tomorrow. Let's see how that goes. At least Kelsey wasnt as battered as me... Oops, yeah she was. This is gonna be fun.
The Most Epic Journey Of Journeys, Journied.
We awoke from our 3 hours hibernation, as bears with very sore heads.
We went down stairs and someone shouted 20 mins until bikers leave! We were ''like ahhhhhhhhhhh man' grabbed a roll and a coffee, packed our bags, and smoked 12 cigarettes in a row.
Now to those of you that have ridden bikes before you'll know what i mean when i say, there is no room for a hangover on a motorbike. We started a bit shakey (that dehydrated who could blame us) but after a while really settled in to the whole driving malarky. It was class. Pure brilliance.
In our group, there was John and Michael, who you will absolutely hear more about later in the blog, Hanoi Sam, a big bunch of irish girls, who the only reason im not writing their names down is that i dont want to offend them by spelling names like Groinaie, Groanyer.
But all in all there was 14 who started. After an hour, there was 11. After an hour and a half, there was 8, and by the time we reached Da Nang, there was 6. But im jumping.
-PARENTS LOOK AWAY-
Although this sounds like a pikey budget horror film, it was actually because we split from the guide, he stopped when the first bike broke down, we'd heard it was one road to Hoi An, and decided - maybe not too wisely mind you - to go it alone! And we had so much fun
The hightlight for me was without a doubt, a stretch of road called the High Mountain Pass. And dear lord, was it spectacular. It started as a gentle incline up a mountain road, and after an hour of the deserted winding road, it started to get chilly. We stopped and took a few photos, and looked up and saw the road leading on further, into a whole cloud of mist.
The next hour, up to the summit and down the other side at 30 mph, was one of the coolest things i've ever done. We were puttering along and out of the mist would come a little truck, bursting with pigs, or a bunch of teenager Vietnamese kids on their bikes, whooping as the overtook you. It was incredible. We stopped at the top as we were changing drivers, and peered over the top of the world, to see a gorgeous coastline, stretching as far as you can see.
When we got to the top, the remainder of the group all stopped to take some group photos, and it was obvious that a couple of girls were seriously struggling, so being the gentleman i am (and the fact that it was now Kelsey's turn to drive and i wasnt done enjoying it!) i offered to drive one of them on the back of their bike, and kels took the other on ours.
But i didnt think the next 3 hours would be so crazy.
We arrived at Da Nang (a big industrial sort of town) at rush hour. And i still stand by the comment that weaving through the traffic then, is the coolest videogame i've ever played. It felt surreal, and after 3 hours of driving well in our comfortzones, and got to point of exhillerating. We were in Da Nang for about 2 hours, being lost a little and also trying not to get hit by the 1000 bike hoard, that we found ourself a part of.
The next 2 hours were plain sailing and revelling in the survival of Da Nang, we hammered it down the road towards Hoi An.
Now the arrival in Hoi An was very odd. The whole group got massively seperated but somehow, all turned up within 30 mins of each other! We'd checked out a place called Sunflower hotel, and once we arrived, we chucked our bags down and went for a beer. Much needed, much deserved.
That night i fell in love with Michael and John, but also met a complete class act, the Welsh demon that is Jon Forbes. The guy is a pure legend, and getting to know him that night was one of the highlights of my holiday. The big group together rampaged through this little town from bar to bar, and all the while everyone was having a great time dancing, drinking, and in mine and Jon's case, playing a little pool. Well a lot of pool. We took on everyone we could meet and have to say did very well. But more inportantly we got battered. So drunk that we ended up all back in mine and Kelsey's room, with a couple of cheap bottles of Vodka, prowling round the pitchblack hotel looking for the hotel's free Oreos in other unlcoked rooms. All in all it was a brilliant way to end a superb day.
The rest of Hoi An passed in a blur. We stayed for 2 nights at the sunflower, and during this time, was the rugby world cup semis, so our own Welshman was very excited about that (who knows why, they got beaten by the French), we played pool, talked sports, drunk too much. And by the end of Hoi An, what started as a group of 14 or so decent individuals, became the group that would stick together for next week and a half, and have the best time.
Roll on Nha Trang!
Hanoi
So, we are in Hanoi *(not really, to be honest we are in Cambdoia and about a month late and really rubbish at blogging- but we are trying).
So Hanoi, what a city- we were thrown into a world wind of a city that took me one hour to cross the street, the amount of motorbikes coming at you is incredible, I cant explain how many there were and how they all got on so breezly, its a sea.
We are exhausted but its the early morning, we got the day started by taking advantage of the Free breakfast which included stale buns, butter and a coffee( We also took Free buns upto our room for lunch with us everyday- I'd be happy to never see one again) which was an absolute treat and booked ourselves onto a city walking tour which took us around the old Quarter and showed us the best local places to eat and all the markets.
The first thing our guide told us was to never run across the street- just walk across slowly and the motorbikes will go around you.- Fair enough but easier said than done when 10000000000 motos are flying past you, the only thing you hear is horns.
In the end you don't even look really (How bizarre) and just walk and hope for the best.
We did a lot of lazing, hanging out on the 5th floor of our hostel which had a pool table, books and movies and men with guitars that made for great sing songs until the wee hours of the night.
Now remember us toying with the notion of buying motorbikes and going all through Vietnam, well we walked and walked and walked and walked one day through the rain to find the shop that was recommended to us- with no map and no ideas of where we were going we stumbled upon the nicest man who made us jump on his motorbike and took us straight there. We left with no bikes after carefully debating on how the hell we were going to drive in Hanoi, let alone out of it.
Our last day we booked ourselves in for a one day Halong bay tour. We were recommended to do the 1 night 2 days through our hostel but its 80 dollars which is a little over our budget so for 15 dollars we climbed aboard a lovely boat, opened our cheeky bottle of rice fermented vodka and sat floored at some of the views of Halong bay. http://www.halongbay-vietnam.com/photos/index.htm
The tour also took us to a large cave where Tom and I were so drunk and having a debated conversation about what our lives are coming to we missed the whole thing. It was dark though.
We stayed much longer than we intended but we loved it. We are catching a night bus down to Hue tomorrow.
So Hanoi, what a city- we were thrown into a world wind of a city that took me one hour to cross the street, the amount of motorbikes coming at you is incredible, I cant explain how many there were and how they all got on so breezly, its a sea.
We are exhausted but its the early morning, we got the day started by taking advantage of the Free breakfast which included stale buns, butter and a coffee( We also took Free buns upto our room for lunch with us everyday- I'd be happy to never see one again) which was an absolute treat and booked ourselves onto a city walking tour which took us around the old Quarter and showed us the best local places to eat and all the markets.
The first thing our guide told us was to never run across the street- just walk across slowly and the motorbikes will go around you.- Fair enough but easier said than done when 10000000000 motos are flying past you, the only thing you hear is horns.
In the end you don't even look really (How bizarre) and just walk and hope for the best.
We did a lot of lazing, hanging out on the 5th floor of our hostel which had a pool table, books and movies and men with guitars that made for great sing songs until the wee hours of the night.
Now remember us toying with the notion of buying motorbikes and going all through Vietnam, well we walked and walked and walked and walked one day through the rain to find the shop that was recommended to us- with no map and no ideas of where we were going we stumbled upon the nicest man who made us jump on his motorbike and took us straight there. We left with no bikes after carefully debating on how the hell we were going to drive in Hanoi, let alone out of it.
Our last day we booked ourselves in for a one day Halong bay tour. We were recommended to do the 1 night 2 days through our hostel but its 80 dollars which is a little over our budget so for 15 dollars we climbed aboard a lovely boat, opened our cheeky bottle of rice fermented vodka and sat floored at some of the views of Halong bay. http://www.halongbay-vietnam.com/photos/index.htm
The tour also took us to a large cave where Tom and I were so drunk and having a debated conversation about what our lives are coming to we missed the whole thing. It was dark though.
We stayed much longer than we intended but we loved it. We are catching a night bus down to Hue tomorrow.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Oh what a Journey part 2
After we crossed the boarder we were so releived to be in Vietnam and got back on our bus who drove us 5 minutes up the way to drop us in a minivan which will take us to Dong Ha- now we have already given them our ticket and they wont give it back so we just figured it was all sorted. There was Tom and I and 6 locals who all insisted we all squished in the front, we got to Dong Ha and had to for out another 15 dollars the bastards ( always always keep a reciept, which we have done upto this point, go figure the one time)
Where two men on motorbikes took us and our giant bags down the road where we had to pay another 15 dollars each to get a local bus ( you can pay 15 dollars and get a luxurious bus) but our options at the time were limited and jumped on a packed bus- Tom and I the only foreigners and we were celebrities. People always wanted to talk to us but our conversations were vague through our phrase books and we just smile and laugh when they do. They could be saying anything but it was a really good time. We got picked up at 11 am and the bus was to take 12 hours to Hanoi city. Well low and behold we wake up at 2am, the ONLY people on the bus except for a Vietnamese couple, all the lights turned out and in the middle of a deserted street, which turned out to be 40 km outside of Hanoi city. It was completely pitch black- our flashlight battery was running out so we had to turn it on every 30 seconds to point to words in our phrase book to figure out where the hell we were.
We were shitting ourselves. We were panicking and both very worried. We put our faith in this couple who somehow after 3 hours of pointing at words in the phrasebook she said 2 hours and a bus will come, so we waited and about 4am the OLDEST bus I have ever seen pulls up and all of a sudden there are a load of people, stuffing there motorbikes on the bus and coming on with very large baskets- After pondering what they were for a second, as they seemed to be jiggling very strangely the people with the baskets began to hang raw beef all around our heads and everywhere on the bus, soon the bus was packed with Tom and I squished between a motorbike, pounds of raw meat and people looking at us curiosly. A lady got on the bus and handed me a bag of her raw plucked headless chickens. This was a wonderful bus ride.
What was a scary experience was also the best of our lives.
We took a taxi to Hanoi backpackers hostel (thankgoodness for you Jack for giving us the card with the map) and checked in at 5am.
WE ARE IN HANOI!!
Where two men on motorbikes took us and our giant bags down the road where we had to pay another 15 dollars each to get a local bus ( you can pay 15 dollars and get a luxurious bus) but our options at the time were limited and jumped on a packed bus- Tom and I the only foreigners and we were celebrities. People always wanted to talk to us but our conversations were vague through our phrase books and we just smile and laugh when they do. They could be saying anything but it was a really good time. We got picked up at 11 am and the bus was to take 12 hours to Hanoi city. Well low and behold we wake up at 2am, the ONLY people on the bus except for a Vietnamese couple, all the lights turned out and in the middle of a deserted street, which turned out to be 40 km outside of Hanoi city. It was completely pitch black- our flashlight battery was running out so we had to turn it on every 30 seconds to point to words in our phrase book to figure out where the hell we were.
We were shitting ourselves. We were panicking and both very worried. We put our faith in this couple who somehow after 3 hours of pointing at words in the phrasebook she said 2 hours and a bus will come, so we waited and about 4am the OLDEST bus I have ever seen pulls up and all of a sudden there are a load of people, stuffing there motorbikes on the bus and coming on with very large baskets- After pondering what they were for a second, as they seemed to be jiggling very strangely the people with the baskets began to hang raw beef all around our heads and everywhere on the bus, soon the bus was packed with Tom and I squished between a motorbike, pounds of raw meat and people looking at us curiosly. A lady got on the bus and handed me a bag of her raw plucked headless chickens. This was a wonderful bus ride.
What was a scary experience was also the best of our lives.
We took a taxi to Hanoi backpackers hostel (thankgoodness for you Jack for giving us the card with the map) and checked in at 5am.
WE ARE IN HANOI!!
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Oh what a Journey!
How many journeys have we all taken in our lives? Good journeys, bad journeys, crazy, silly, wonderous, journeys. All get us to where we are today!
The good ones we never want to end and the bad ones we can never see an end coming.
Well I tell you, you may have heard of us complain about our previous journeys but the bus's that have taken us from the South of Laos upto North Vietnam were something else.
To begin, this whole trip we have been going from East to West to North to South to just to go back North again, so the beginning of our 40 hour bus ride started off in Paxce Laos (South) to travel all the up to Hanoi (North Vietnam)
So we got on a local bus that went from Paxce to the border of Vietnam and then onto Dong Ha where we were to catch a second local bus upto Vietnam, this bus had about 10 seats- 7 Vietnamiese, Tom, another foreigner and I. It started off wonderous, how cool is this experience? The bus was filled with cigarette smoke and had insence burning the entire ride. We sat at the front so we had leg room to stretch out and sleep as this was an overnight bus leaving at 7pm and should arrive in Dong Ha early the next morning.
Well we woke up on some street outside of shop in the middle of the pitch black with men coming on the bus asking to take our passports so he can stamp them- now we just woke up, were still foggy, its still late and dark, and scary men are wanting to take our passports! What the F*ck? We have crossed a few boarders now in our time and decided to wait untill we got to the boarder and have an official stamp our passports. 2 Hours later we were still parked, its still dark maybe 6am in which we barely slept a wink and another man came on the bus saying the same thing, this time holding about 16 Vietnamise passports and said this is how they did it, we also had to give him 20000 kip.The other foreginer who was on the bus with us as well said he would give it to him, we were still skeptical- surely this isnt procedure, is it? WHY ISNT THIS IN THE LONELY PLANET ANYWHERE? So he said he will go with the guy who is taking our passports to see what happens- I was sick to my stomach, hoping to no ends he would come back than instant, thankfully no sooner than it took me to walk on the bus and walk off again he was back with a large grin and told us very happy news.
The border is 2 minutes away and he took our passports straight to the window to be stamped and we pick them up from the same man who took them. Thank you for delivering what could be some of the best news possibly ever.
So the bus starts moving- drives us two minutes down the road to drop us off at the Lao Bao border where you have to walk about 10 minutes to get to a desk that scans your forehead, and then stand in another line to have your passport stamped? woah woah- isnt that what we just did? Okay, dont panic I now have my passport in my hand with a stamp its all okay. So we waited in two different lines just to get someone sitting behind a large glass window to take your passport, look at it for about 20 minutes as if they didnt beleive you are who it says before they let you through. We also needed to pay another 10000 Kip for them to stamp us and hopefully our journey across the boarder is finished, only to hope and pray our bus comes through with all our bags. Fingers crossed - we waited about ten minutes before we seen it pull into view, thank you, thank you thank you. In Vietnam. After the weirdest boarder crossing in all the land?
Wait untill you hear about the second journey- its a doozy but we are catching a bus down to Hue in about 40 minutes so will update you there.
Love and miss you all XO
The good ones we never want to end and the bad ones we can never see an end coming.
Well I tell you, you may have heard of us complain about our previous journeys but the bus's that have taken us from the South of Laos upto North Vietnam were something else.
To begin, this whole trip we have been going from East to West to North to South to just to go back North again, so the beginning of our 40 hour bus ride started off in Paxce Laos (South) to travel all the up to Hanoi (North Vietnam)
So we got on a local bus that went from Paxce to the border of Vietnam and then onto Dong Ha where we were to catch a second local bus upto Vietnam, this bus had about 10 seats- 7 Vietnamiese, Tom, another foreigner and I. It started off wonderous, how cool is this experience? The bus was filled with cigarette smoke and had insence burning the entire ride. We sat at the front so we had leg room to stretch out and sleep as this was an overnight bus leaving at 7pm and should arrive in Dong Ha early the next morning.
Well we woke up on some street outside of shop in the middle of the pitch black with men coming on the bus asking to take our passports so he can stamp them- now we just woke up, were still foggy, its still late and dark, and scary men are wanting to take our passports! What the F*ck? We have crossed a few boarders now in our time and decided to wait untill we got to the boarder and have an official stamp our passports. 2 Hours later we were still parked, its still dark maybe 6am in which we barely slept a wink and another man came on the bus saying the same thing, this time holding about 16 Vietnamise passports and said this is how they did it, we also had to give him 20000 kip.The other foreginer who was on the bus with us as well said he would give it to him, we were still skeptical- surely this isnt procedure, is it? WHY ISNT THIS IN THE LONELY PLANET ANYWHERE? So he said he will go with the guy who is taking our passports to see what happens- I was sick to my stomach, hoping to no ends he would come back than instant, thankfully no sooner than it took me to walk on the bus and walk off again he was back with a large grin and told us very happy news.
The border is 2 minutes away and he took our passports straight to the window to be stamped and we pick them up from the same man who took them. Thank you for delivering what could be some of the best news possibly ever.
So the bus starts moving- drives us two minutes down the road to drop us off at the Lao Bao border where you have to walk about 10 minutes to get to a desk that scans your forehead, and then stand in another line to have your passport stamped? woah woah- isnt that what we just did? Okay, dont panic I now have my passport in my hand with a stamp its all okay. So we waited in two different lines just to get someone sitting behind a large glass window to take your passport, look at it for about 20 minutes as if they didnt beleive you are who it says before they let you through. We also needed to pay another 10000 Kip for them to stamp us and hopefully our journey across the boarder is finished, only to hope and pray our bus comes through with all our bags. Fingers crossed - we waited about ten minutes before we seen it pull into view, thank you, thank you thank you. In Vietnam. After the weirdest boarder crossing in all the land?
Wait untill you hear about the second journey- its a doozy but we are catching a bus down to Hue in about 40 minutes so will update you there.
Love and miss you all XO
Friday, October 7, 2011
Vientiane to 4000 islands
Now all the way through Northern Laos, Kelsey and I wanted to get down to 4000 islands. It is the very edge of Laos, and meets Cambodia by a waterfall. Have a look!
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/travelblogs/1076/57742/Don+Det+and+the+4000+Islands,+Laos?destId=356944
We'd been told about 4000 islands by a few people on the way, Jack and Kulvin being the main ones (original Jack not Laos Jack!) and we'd heard it was a great place to chill out, relax and generally just put our feet up again.
It's a collection of islands (as the name suggests) and in fact there are only 4000 when its the height of the dry season, and every sandbank is visible. We came just towards the end of monsoon season, so there was only about 100! But it was cool to see the tops of trees appear into view day by day.
We arrived after the long-ass journey from Vientiane, which Kelsey has hopefully written about before this entry (we're simulataneously blogging and she's refusing to do anymore...) and after we'd dragged Jack here with promises of sunbathing, fishing and tropical islands, we arrived into the rain and a little rickety boat took us the final mile to Don Det. I felt bad. I was the main one harping on and on about it, but in fairness lonely planet decieved me. It was the one who put the descriptions into my head, the ones that i may have embelished slightly, but none-the-less we were expecting a little more sunshine.
But this turn of events actually worked to our favour.
Let me start by saying we adored Don Det. It was the edge of the world, where no-one can touch you, and you've got no way of communicating with the outside world. From teh moment you wake up you're surrounded by wildlife. Whether it be the buffalo grazing below your window, massive butterflies landing on the end of your table, or kittens running up and down the path, you cant escape the feeling that you aren't in a city anymore and it's so hard not to get carried away with the whole vibe of the place. Which we did wholeheartedly.
The islands is split into 2 main drags, the sunrise and sunset side (for obvious reasons) and they are connected by a small path running through the middle of the islands, surrounded by rice fields. Now, the island is only 14km in perimeter, so everything is only ever a 5 minute walk away.
We stayed in a place for the first night for 20,000 kip ($2.50!) which was a little bungalow with a balcony, all on the river, on the the sunset side. Then again for the second and third nights, at the Happy bungalows. Man were the guys who owned that place hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh.
On teh second night we met a Brazilian couple called Chiago and Mari. They were cooler than cool. Life loving, samba dancing, moment drinking stereotypes, and we had a blast just being around them.
They were staying at a place called 'Mr Nois That Bang Bungalows' which was closed to the public but because they'd been there 4 times before (well Chi had- probably with a few different ladies... the fox) they family who ran it had opened a bungalow on the river just for them. We decided that if it was ok with the family we would get the bungalow next door to them (now on the sunrise side) and as it happened our luck was in.
We spent the next few days having adventures. Swimming across the Mekong to an uninhabited island, wandering the length and breadth of the island to see the French colonial bridge, playing with the children, doing flips off from other bars, fishing with borrowed rods (and homemade bamboo ones!) and generally just having fun!
Not forgetting the casual throwing ourselves off the balcony into the Mekong to cool off every hour (or whenever necessary)
The river is also where we took our showers, our hygeiene habbits were quite poor here as we washed ourselves in dirt orange water but it was amazing and who cares?
The evenings were slightly different. The balcony was lit up by a solitary red bulb and we had a whole PA stack from the restuarant, which meant our own music all the time!! (Well Chi and Mari's ridiculously cool music, i couldve listened to it all night, every night). We all had individual hammocks (which were huge) a big bench and chairs, and a table in the middle.
We passed the nights in smoke, listening to the Brazillian themed music, in the red light and cool river nights. Oh yeah and eating the massive and fantastic portions that the family's Mama was cooking us and delivering to the balcony. Drinking far too many 'Beer Lao' and Lao Lao (the homebrewed whisky, which really knocks your socks off) All in all it was heaven. And without meaning to, we had been there 8 days. And had loved every second of it.
It's often said that it's the people that make moments good, but in this case it was the people, the place, the food, the atmosphere that made it unbelievable.
Oh and i cant forget the coffee, thick as mud, made with fresh Laos coffee beans, mixed with condensed milk. Sweet as you like and chased away the hangovers... which seem to be a recurring theme with this holiday.
We then booked a bus to Vientiane, as we had to get our Vietnamese visas sorted out before heading to our next country. But after having booked it found that there was in fact a Vietnamese embassy in Paxce (the closest town to the 4000 islands - still 4 hours away) and successfully changed our tickets, meaning we didnt have to go back to Vientiane, thus dodging another 14 hour bus journey, we could spend a day somewhere new, and we'd saved a lot of money and all was right with the world!
Bring on Vietnam!
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/travelblogs/1076/57742/Don+Det+and+the+4000+Islands,+Laos?destId=356944
We'd been told about 4000 islands by a few people on the way, Jack and Kulvin being the main ones (original Jack not Laos Jack!) and we'd heard it was a great place to chill out, relax and generally just put our feet up again.
It's a collection of islands (as the name suggests) and in fact there are only 4000 when its the height of the dry season, and every sandbank is visible. We came just towards the end of monsoon season, so there was only about 100! But it was cool to see the tops of trees appear into view day by day.
We arrived after the long-ass journey from Vientiane, which Kelsey has hopefully written about before this entry (we're simulataneously blogging and she's refusing to do anymore...) and after we'd dragged Jack here with promises of sunbathing, fishing and tropical islands, we arrived into the rain and a little rickety boat took us the final mile to Don Det. I felt bad. I was the main one harping on and on about it, but in fairness lonely planet decieved me. It was the one who put the descriptions into my head, the ones that i may have embelished slightly, but none-the-less we were expecting a little more sunshine.
But this turn of events actually worked to our favour.
Let me start by saying we adored Don Det. It was the edge of the world, where no-one can touch you, and you've got no way of communicating with the outside world. From teh moment you wake up you're surrounded by wildlife. Whether it be the buffalo grazing below your window, massive butterflies landing on the end of your table, or kittens running up and down the path, you cant escape the feeling that you aren't in a city anymore and it's so hard not to get carried away with the whole vibe of the place. Which we did wholeheartedly.
The islands is split into 2 main drags, the sunrise and sunset side (for obvious reasons) and they are connected by a small path running through the middle of the islands, surrounded by rice fields. Now, the island is only 14km in perimeter, so everything is only ever a 5 minute walk away.
We stayed in a place for the first night for 20,000 kip ($2.50!) which was a little bungalow with a balcony, all on the river, on the the sunset side. Then again for the second and third nights, at the Happy bungalows. Man were the guys who owned that place hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh.
On teh second night we met a Brazilian couple called Chiago and Mari. They were cooler than cool. Life loving, samba dancing, moment drinking stereotypes, and we had a blast just being around them.
They were staying at a place called 'Mr Nois That Bang Bungalows' which was closed to the public but because they'd been there 4 times before (well Chi had- probably with a few different ladies... the fox) they family who ran it had opened a bungalow on the river just for them. We decided that if it was ok with the family we would get the bungalow next door to them (now on the sunrise side) and as it happened our luck was in.
We spent the next few days having adventures. Swimming across the Mekong to an uninhabited island, wandering the length and breadth of the island to see the French colonial bridge, playing with the children, doing flips off from other bars, fishing with borrowed rods (and homemade bamboo ones!) and generally just having fun!
Not forgetting the casual throwing ourselves off the balcony into the Mekong to cool off every hour (or whenever necessary)
The river is also where we took our showers, our hygeiene habbits were quite poor here as we washed ourselves in dirt orange water but it was amazing and who cares?
The evenings were slightly different. The balcony was lit up by a solitary red bulb and we had a whole PA stack from the restuarant, which meant our own music all the time!! (Well Chi and Mari's ridiculously cool music, i couldve listened to it all night, every night). We all had individual hammocks (which were huge) a big bench and chairs, and a table in the middle.
We passed the nights in smoke, listening to the Brazillian themed music, in the red light and cool river nights. Oh yeah and eating the massive and fantastic portions that the family's Mama was cooking us and delivering to the balcony. Drinking far too many 'Beer Lao' and Lao Lao (the homebrewed whisky, which really knocks your socks off) All in all it was heaven. And without meaning to, we had been there 8 days. And had loved every second of it.
It's often said that it's the people that make moments good, but in this case it was the people, the place, the food, the atmosphere that made it unbelievable.
Oh and i cant forget the coffee, thick as mud, made with fresh Laos coffee beans, mixed with condensed milk. Sweet as you like and chased away the hangovers... which seem to be a recurring theme with this holiday.
We then booked a bus to Vientiane, as we had to get our Vietnamese visas sorted out before heading to our next country. But after having booked it found that there was in fact a Vietnamese embassy in Paxce (the closest town to the 4000 islands - still 4 hours away) and successfully changed our tickets, meaning we didnt have to go back to Vientiane, thus dodging another 14 hour bus journey, we could spend a day somewhere new, and we'd saved a lot of money and all was right with the world!
Bring on Vietnam!
Luang Phabang
On the road again.
Hello everyone, It seems we have fallen much behind in the blogging, which makes things difficult as unless we write everyday we forget of little things to tell you. For instance we are in Vietnam at the moment in Hanoi Backpackers and are still writing about tubing which was 3 weeks ago. We are frantically chipping away at it and will try and step up our game. I guess the things you don't read about here- will have to be told at home ( although I am sure we will talk your ear off anyway and you may say ya ya--- but we will).
So back to the blog ( 3 weeks ago)
After Vang Vieng we packed back into a mini bus and embarked on what would be one hell of a long and high drive. We sat in the back, knees upto the armpits- no air let alone any oxygen to breathe in this van and we were going up a mountain. Now this was beautiful, but one minute were driving down straight flat land and then ascending into the very tops of a mountain range- we were above the clouds- now there is no barriers and the drivers here are a little loopy, passing on corners and going up hills so on top of being high up, our nerves and breath seemed to be a little air hungry but it was beautiful and we passed through a number of villages, its amazing to see the way they live. Kids everywhere, some with shoes, some without, looking at you like you are an alien through a glass window. It is amazing.
We all came together, Nico, Sebastien, Jack, Tom and I and two Laos girls at the front of the mini bus who played atrocious music out of their cell phones. ( This seems to be normal in Laos as most people we have journeyed with tend to do this)_--- even on an overnight sleeper bus. Bastards. No not really they are very very lovely people, just WHY?
So we got to the bus station- which are always ten miles out of town requiring you to be desperate and allowing the tuk tuk drivers to charge you whatever the want to bring you to a guesthouse. We negiotiated and negotiated and got it down as low as possible and went and stayed at (this is where the forgetting comes in) - I forget the name but it was okay.
We stayed two nights- walked around the town which is very quiet and much nicer paced and quiet than the party town of Vang Vieng, good resting time. We also took a tuk tuk about an hour outside of town to visit a very mad rushing waterfall which was beautiful. It had swimming holes at the bottom and a rope swing which dropped you into the small part of the falls. It was a lovely walk, because this was going to be our last night we went to watch football (on behalf of Tom and Jack of course) and played pool at a local bar.
Laos is a very relaxing country, something as soon as you enter just tells you to slow right down- this may be because of the early curfew- government states everyone should be in their registered places by midnight meaning all bars close by 11 30. Now the bar where we were playing pool at closed except Tom and Jack were playing pool with a local so we got to stay in and enjoy some Laos line dancing- quite simple but great fun and great experience.
Being this our last night together (Jack Tom and I were planning on some relaxing time while Nico and Sebastien were staying North to Trek) we werent ready for bed, but what to do?
We heard of a place, a special place you can go after 11 30 or midnight, you just need to ask the tuk tuk driver to take you- so we all piled in and headed out to the middle of nowhere to the bowling alley. Yes, a bowling alley- a proper one, ten pins, old school music, so smokey you can barely see and horrendous toilets. It was such a laugh.
The next morning the group said our goodbyes and Tom, Jack and I went our seperate way to Nico and Seb to make the what would be two day journey all the way down South to 4000 islands.
Tom -
We spent the next day in Vientiane, traipsing around markets, going back and forth to the police station (to get an incident number for Jacks insurance company - blackout buckets in Vang Vieng) and generally jsut relaxing as and when we could. We had an overnight bus with beds on (touch!) so went for a shared slap up meal to fill our bellies to help the attempt to sleep.
The first leg was 14 hours and to be honest it wasnt too bad at all. The beds were comfy, they fed you well, and the music (FOR ONCE) was quiet. We all got some sleep and woke up to pass the remaining few hours in a book, or on Championship Manager on my ipod (god i love that game on buses). All in all pretty effortless.
The next few hours were a little worse, back into a minivan for the 3 hour drive to Paxce, but nothing that we hadnt done before, finally a boat to Don Det.
By this time time we were done with boats, buses and the lot and just wanted to chill.
Luckily we'd just reached the end of the world, and there was not much to do but chill. And man would we.
Hello everyone, It seems we have fallen much behind in the blogging, which makes things difficult as unless we write everyday we forget of little things to tell you. For instance we are in Vietnam at the moment in Hanoi Backpackers and are still writing about tubing which was 3 weeks ago. We are frantically chipping away at it and will try and step up our game. I guess the things you don't read about here- will have to be told at home ( although I am sure we will talk your ear off anyway and you may say ya ya--- but we will).
So back to the blog ( 3 weeks ago)
After Vang Vieng we packed back into a mini bus and embarked on what would be one hell of a long and high drive. We sat in the back, knees upto the armpits- no air let alone any oxygen to breathe in this van and we were going up a mountain. Now this was beautiful, but one minute were driving down straight flat land and then ascending into the very tops of a mountain range- we were above the clouds- now there is no barriers and the drivers here are a little loopy, passing on corners and going up hills so on top of being high up, our nerves and breath seemed to be a little air hungry but it was beautiful and we passed through a number of villages, its amazing to see the way they live. Kids everywhere, some with shoes, some without, looking at you like you are an alien through a glass window. It is amazing.
We all came together, Nico, Sebastien, Jack, Tom and I and two Laos girls at the front of the mini bus who played atrocious music out of their cell phones. ( This seems to be normal in Laos as most people we have journeyed with tend to do this)_--- even on an overnight sleeper bus. Bastards. No not really they are very very lovely people, just WHY?
So we got to the bus station- which are always ten miles out of town requiring you to be desperate and allowing the tuk tuk drivers to charge you whatever the want to bring you to a guesthouse. We negiotiated and negotiated and got it down as low as possible and went and stayed at (this is where the forgetting comes in) - I forget the name but it was okay.
We stayed two nights- walked around the town which is very quiet and much nicer paced and quiet than the party town of Vang Vieng, good resting time. We also took a tuk tuk about an hour outside of town to visit a very mad rushing waterfall which was beautiful. It had swimming holes at the bottom and a rope swing which dropped you into the small part of the falls. It was a lovely walk, because this was going to be our last night we went to watch football (on behalf of Tom and Jack of course) and played pool at a local bar.
Laos is a very relaxing country, something as soon as you enter just tells you to slow right down- this may be because of the early curfew- government states everyone should be in their registered places by midnight meaning all bars close by 11 30. Now the bar where we were playing pool at closed except Tom and Jack were playing pool with a local so we got to stay in and enjoy some Laos line dancing- quite simple but great fun and great experience.
Being this our last night together (Jack Tom and I were planning on some relaxing time while Nico and Sebastien were staying North to Trek) we werent ready for bed, but what to do?
We heard of a place, a special place you can go after 11 30 or midnight, you just need to ask the tuk tuk driver to take you- so we all piled in and headed out to the middle of nowhere to the bowling alley. Yes, a bowling alley- a proper one, ten pins, old school music, so smokey you can barely see and horrendous toilets. It was such a laugh.
The next morning the group said our goodbyes and Tom, Jack and I went our seperate way to Nico and Seb to make the what would be two day journey all the way down South to 4000 islands.
Tom -
We spent the next day in Vientiane, traipsing around markets, going back and forth to the police station (to get an incident number for Jacks insurance company - blackout buckets in Vang Vieng) and generally jsut relaxing as and when we could. We had an overnight bus with beds on (touch!) so went for a shared slap up meal to fill our bellies to help the attempt to sleep.
The first leg was 14 hours and to be honest it wasnt too bad at all. The beds were comfy, they fed you well, and the music (FOR ONCE) was quiet. We all got some sleep and woke up to pass the remaining few hours in a book, or on Championship Manager on my ipod (god i love that game on buses). All in all pretty effortless.
The next few hours were a little worse, back into a minivan for the 3 hour drive to Paxce, but nothing that we hadnt done before, finally a boat to Don Det.
By this time time we were done with boats, buses and the lot and just wanted to chill.
Luckily we'd just reached the end of the world, and there was not much to do but chill. And man would we.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Vang Vieng- Tubing
Tubing Tubing Tubing.
After a long cramped mini bus ride a whole 7 hours to Vang Vieng we met Jack, Nico and Sebastien ( who convinced us driving a motorbike through Vietnam is a good thing to do and this is what we spoke of the whole 7 hours) while going over the worst roads in the world (Laos not Vietnam!). We arrived to find our guesthouse and went out to give Jack (the bucket virgin) his first taste of strong mixed spirit, who knows what percent Sangsom whisky, redbull and coke, all mixed together nicely in a sand bucket- that you have heard of before.
Now all us pro's knowing how it is going to effect us knowing not to bring any valuables, things you can take out and lose quite easily... poor Jack somehow managed to lose his phone, camera and wallet, and also managed to get in morning (daylight) when everyone else got in early morning (still night fall). Ouch, the next morning he woke up HANGING. Such a trooper though, for this day was the day we were to TUBE. DUN DUN DUN!!!
Tubing- an inner ring of a tractor tire, a large floating device in which you sit in, float leisurely down the Mekong River. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mekong ( The worlds 10th largest river) while Laos men are shooting pepsi bottles filled with water attached to long strings to pull you against the fast moving current into their bar.
Now earlier I said leisurely, I would say it is anything but. Every 5 meters there is another bar with exciting activities like a bucket hanging on a string in the middle of the river and you have crawl our on the wire rope, to reach the bucket and come all the way back to get a free bucket, Tom didnt quite understand, tried to bring the bucket back. He made it there but fell in half way back but got us a free bucket!
Massive water slides (with a 20 foot drop the other side!)-- which was AWESOME, card games and drinking games galore.
I'm not sure if you can tell from this, but by the 3rd bar we were pretty drunk, yet thinking and wondering how anyone can get hurt by doing this ( we have heard horror stories) but as long as you keep your wits about you, can swim easy peasy. Then it got dark. More dun dun dun's.
For some reason we went past THE LAST BAR as the man said we can tube all the way back to Vang Vieng, okay, trust a local, yes, but this isnt the same - the river bends and fast moving rapids (Probably not) but the water began to move much faster, it was pitch black with no bars around and we all lost sight of one another.
I think we all had a moment of sheer panic, trying to get to the side was impossible, I was alone and quite frightened at this point, I even imagined crocodiles were coming to get me in the water. I finally met a girl along the way who has been tubing the last 5 days and had also lost her friends EVERYTIME, and kept telling my whole panicky self that it happens. Well shit no it should NOT happen- especially five times in a row you silly so and so. Shouldnt you have some wits? Maybe not go after dark? This was our lesson.
I climbed out of the water as soon as the water slowed down to climb up a steep mountain with a rickety old ladder made of twigs. At this point I am the only one, screaming for Tom, and everyone to keep floating until they can see the ladder, I dont think they heard a thing- but finally Nico showed up missing Sebastien and we panicked together. ( I think me more than him). Eventually Sebastien showed, then Jack and 20 minutes later to be my most happiest moment I heard Tom who eventually came into my very wonderful sight. Relief.
Tom's account of tubing..............................................
So! All was well in the world of tubing, we were swinging off rope swings, playing drinking games, climbing on wires (should've listened to the damn rules!) and generally having a good time.
As you can read from Kels' account above, tubing was a great laugh.
Right up until the last half hour.
Now we werent drunk drunk by the time the end came, but we'd heard from a few reliable sources that you can float back into town only 10 minutes later and trying to save money, we lost a bit of sense.
The others raced around a bend ahead, through no fault of their own, but the piece of river that i was on was moving a bit slower. In hindsight i was a little too close to the edge, but nothing prepared me for what was about to happen....
As i turned the corner my tube got snagged on an overturned tree and to my horror i was flipped upside down, in the dark, and the undercurrent pulled me to the tree's centre. I was underwater for about a minute all in all but it felt like a bloody eternity.
I could see my tube above me caught on the tree, so i kept on swimming and swimming, trying to reach the surface. After about 30 seconds of this futile effort (i got nowhere and everytime i stopped i was dragged back to the centre) I told myself that this was NOT how i was going out, drunk under a tree on holiday.
I'd never seen Blink live, i'd never watched West Ham win a league, all in all i just dug a little deeper, and hand over hand i pulled myself up and around towards the surface. Branch by branch.
I got to the top and air. Sweet bloody air. (i wouldve traded it for a cigarette but air would have to do!)
I grabbed my tube and swam 30 foot to the closest bank. I was in the middle of nowhere.
I could hear Kelsey literally screaming my name (we all know how she loves a panic) and tried to shout back but she couldnt hear me. I walked on the bank to catch my breath and thought to myself i can either get in a Tuk-Tuk now, or i can get back in the goddamned river and go to her. So i got back in the tube.
By this time i could hear where the group was, Jack was guiding me in by voice as i couldnt see a thing. I reached the group and walked to Tuk-Tuk where i promptly collapsed and waited 10 minutes before saying anything.
Apart from a slight hitch towards the end, the day was fantastic and now we had a story to tell and beers to drink.
We went out later that night to a few bars, got back on the buckets, and the earlier drama became a distant memory, but i hope you agree, a wicked story!
We all woke up the next morning, and having realised how much money we'd spent, cashed in a travellers cheque and hotfooted it out of Vang Vieng on the next available bus. On to Luang Phabang, the group intact and everyone ready for the next experience.
After a long cramped mini bus ride a whole 7 hours to Vang Vieng we met Jack, Nico and Sebastien ( who convinced us driving a motorbike through Vietnam is a good thing to do and this is what we spoke of the whole 7 hours) while going over the worst roads in the world (Laos not Vietnam!). We arrived to find our guesthouse and went out to give Jack (the bucket virgin) his first taste of strong mixed spirit, who knows what percent Sangsom whisky, redbull and coke, all mixed together nicely in a sand bucket- that you have heard of before.
Now all us pro's knowing how it is going to effect us knowing not to bring any valuables, things you can take out and lose quite easily... poor Jack somehow managed to lose his phone, camera and wallet, and also managed to get in morning (daylight) when everyone else got in early morning (still night fall). Ouch, the next morning he woke up HANGING. Such a trooper though, for this day was the day we were to TUBE. DUN DUN DUN!!!
Tubing- an inner ring of a tractor tire, a large floating device in which you sit in, float leisurely down the Mekong River. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mekong ( The worlds 10th largest river) while Laos men are shooting pepsi bottles filled with water attached to long strings to pull you against the fast moving current into their bar.
Now earlier I said leisurely, I would say it is anything but. Every 5 meters there is another bar with exciting activities like a bucket hanging on a string in the middle of the river and you have crawl our on the wire rope, to reach the bucket and come all the way back to get a free bucket, Tom didnt quite understand, tried to bring the bucket back. He made it there but fell in half way back but got us a free bucket!
Massive water slides (with a 20 foot drop the other side!)-- which was AWESOME, card games and drinking games galore.
I'm not sure if you can tell from this, but by the 3rd bar we were pretty drunk, yet thinking and wondering how anyone can get hurt by doing this ( we have heard horror stories) but as long as you keep your wits about you, can swim easy peasy. Then it got dark. More dun dun dun's.
For some reason we went past THE LAST BAR as the man said we can tube all the way back to Vang Vieng, okay, trust a local, yes, but this isnt the same - the river bends and fast moving rapids (Probably not) but the water began to move much faster, it was pitch black with no bars around and we all lost sight of one another.
I think we all had a moment of sheer panic, trying to get to the side was impossible, I was alone and quite frightened at this point, I even imagined crocodiles were coming to get me in the water. I finally met a girl along the way who has been tubing the last 5 days and had also lost her friends EVERYTIME, and kept telling my whole panicky self that it happens. Well shit no it should NOT happen- especially five times in a row you silly so and so. Shouldnt you have some wits? Maybe not go after dark? This was our lesson.
I climbed out of the water as soon as the water slowed down to climb up a steep mountain with a rickety old ladder made of twigs. At this point I am the only one, screaming for Tom, and everyone to keep floating until they can see the ladder, I dont think they heard a thing- but finally Nico showed up missing Sebastien and we panicked together. ( I think me more than him). Eventually Sebastien showed, then Jack and 20 minutes later to be my most happiest moment I heard Tom who eventually came into my very wonderful sight. Relief.
Tom's account of tubing..............................................
So! All was well in the world of tubing, we were swinging off rope swings, playing drinking games, climbing on wires (should've listened to the damn rules!) and generally having a good time.
As you can read from Kels' account above, tubing was a great laugh.
Right up until the last half hour.
Now we werent drunk drunk by the time the end came, but we'd heard from a few reliable sources that you can float back into town only 10 minutes later and trying to save money, we lost a bit of sense.
The others raced around a bend ahead, through no fault of their own, but the piece of river that i was on was moving a bit slower. In hindsight i was a little too close to the edge, but nothing prepared me for what was about to happen....
As i turned the corner my tube got snagged on an overturned tree and to my horror i was flipped upside down, in the dark, and the undercurrent pulled me to the tree's centre. I was underwater for about a minute all in all but it felt like a bloody eternity.
I could see my tube above me caught on the tree, so i kept on swimming and swimming, trying to reach the surface. After about 30 seconds of this futile effort (i got nowhere and everytime i stopped i was dragged back to the centre) I told myself that this was NOT how i was going out, drunk under a tree on holiday.
I'd never seen Blink live, i'd never watched West Ham win a league, all in all i just dug a little deeper, and hand over hand i pulled myself up and around towards the surface. Branch by branch.
I got to the top and air. Sweet bloody air. (i wouldve traded it for a cigarette but air would have to do!)
I grabbed my tube and swam 30 foot to the closest bank. I was in the middle of nowhere.
I could hear Kelsey literally screaming my name (we all know how she loves a panic) and tried to shout back but she couldnt hear me. I walked on the bank to catch my breath and thought to myself i can either get in a Tuk-Tuk now, or i can get back in the goddamned river and go to her. So i got back in the tube.
By this time i could hear where the group was, Jack was guiding me in by voice as i couldnt see a thing. I reached the group and walked to Tuk-Tuk where i promptly collapsed and waited 10 minutes before saying anything.
Apart from a slight hitch towards the end, the day was fantastic and now we had a story to tell and beers to drink.
We went out later that night to a few bars, got back on the buckets, and the earlier drama became a distant memory, but i hope you agree, a wicked story!
We all woke up the next morning, and having realised how much money we'd spent, cashed in a travellers cheque and hotfooted it out of Vang Vieng on the next available bus. On to Luang Phabang, the group intact and everyone ready for the next experience.
Monday, September 26, 2011
Another iehfiohf[iofhriohf day in Bangkok
Yes, you will never believe it. To our despise we are in sdijffjdfi[gjiogj[ijg Bangkok again. Its 4am we just arrived from an overnight bus from Koh Tao and we just spent an hour debating on whether or not we are going to get accommodation or not. We decided with not- we are catching a bus to Laos in 15 hours, its 4am may as well save some money. We have parked ourselves in an Internet cafe which killed an hour, then on to make our way to sleep in Subway for 3 hours only after buying a bottle of water. Lets just say the walk out of there was Awkward.
This time wasn't so bad, we were hot and sweaty but the tour agency let us keep our bags there which was a massive weight off our shoulder and target off our backs.
We decided it was about time we seen the Grand palace and finally got there so you know what they say 3 times a charm.
7 pm rolled around and not just in time because we weren't prepared to tell the 15 hundredth person we do not want a bloody suit. We got on the bus which had 5 people and we departed on the road again as happy as can be.
We are on our way to Laos and quite excited, now everything so far has always seemed to be amazing but there is always some sort of glitch. We got to the Thai- Laos border only to be taken from the massive line, walked straight through thinking 'how great is this' only to be brought into border control as we overstayed a day of our visa and were fined 500 baht each. (good thing we used subway as our accommodation eh)
Finally, got the bus into Laos' capital city Vientiane (which is where we are now, but haven't been the whole time) We spent 2 nights here at Mixay guest house- the feeling in this town, there is something that clicks in your head that makes you move 10 times slower than normal, the people are much friendlier than in Thailand we have noticed but will rip you off. Can we complain when we are still only spending the equivalent of about 20 American dollars a day and their wages is less than 1 dollar a day. We have to remind ourselves sometimes as when spending kip your money goes fast.
We exchanged 100 American dollars into Kip and got the fattest wad of cash I have ever held in my hand, it was great.
We are heading tubing tomorrow, in Vang Vieng- Wait until you hear.
This time wasn't so bad, we were hot and sweaty but the tour agency let us keep our bags there which was a massive weight off our shoulder and target off our backs.
We decided it was about time we seen the Grand palace and finally got there so you know what they say 3 times a charm.
7 pm rolled around and not just in time because we weren't prepared to tell the 15 hundredth person we do not want a bloody suit. We got on the bus which had 5 people and we departed on the road again as happy as can be.
We are on our way to Laos and quite excited, now everything so far has always seemed to be amazing but there is always some sort of glitch. We got to the Thai- Laos border only to be taken from the massive line, walked straight through thinking 'how great is this' only to be brought into border control as we overstayed a day of our visa and were fined 500 baht each. (good thing we used subway as our accommodation eh)
Finally, got the bus into Laos' capital city Vientiane (which is where we are now, but haven't been the whole time) We spent 2 nights here at Mixay guest house- the feeling in this town, there is something that clicks in your head that makes you move 10 times slower than normal, the people are much friendlier than in Thailand we have noticed but will rip you off. Can we complain when we are still only spending the equivalent of about 20 American dollars a day and their wages is less than 1 dollar a day. We have to remind ourselves sometimes as when spending kip your money goes fast.
We exchanged 100 American dollars into Kip and got the fattest wad of cash I have ever held in my hand, it was great.
We are heading tubing tomorrow, in Vang Vieng- Wait until you hear.
Koh Tao
Hello everyone! Now I know we have been falling behind and we have so much to tell so this could potentially be a long one.
At the moment we are sitting in an Internet cafe outside of our Guesthouse in the Capital of Laos, Vientiane. Lots to get us here and we will update you on Laos as soon as we finish with Thailand.
Koh Tao is where we found our paradise, and thankfully so as we got off that wonderful fishing boat journey at 7am with no sleep, both tetchy, sweaty and the last thing we want to do is set off with our big bags in the scorching heat to find a place to put our feet down.
We walked around for ages with Katerina and Tadej to find a place to stay, we ended up in Triple B bungalows for 300 baht a night (6 pounds) for a lovely bungalow made of completely bamboo. This was a place to relax, close to the beach but we didn't even need to leave the premises and sat in the sky bar in hammocks with a wonderful view and of course a few Chang.
This was also the place our problems started, both of us having dodgy belly's, not having gone to the toilet in quite a few days despite trying, and me growing a massive mountain on the side of my thigh.. thigh bad enough but also on my face and this was no little thing. We went to the doctor who was a little Thai lady who was sitting in her nighty selling us pills for 500 baht and we had no idea what they were, just told us to eat them if we want 'big boom boom' AHH okay. Luckily enough these rabbit pellets worked only for me to end up being sick outside of every restaurant we seemed be in, lovely few days, I was in bed by 7 30 or 8 every night while the others were playing pool and having a jolly time, my mountainous face still growing.
We rented motor bikes with Kat and Tad and to my delight Tom had to sit on the back hehehe. We took them around the island and went to the most beautiful places for snorkeling, the coral, the colours and the fish were wonderful to see. We also went to shark bay which to our disappointment we didn't see any sharks (or to my happiness). This is the bay http://stophavingaboringlife.com/shark-bay-koh-tao-thailand-is-paradise/
''F dem sharks''
Now our trip to Koh Tao is split up by the full moon party which in itself is a whole different story and will be the next thing you hear about. Knowing this was the next day we had to return our motorbikes, with no scratches and returning it exactly the same we needed to go and exchange money to pay, Tom took the bike a few feet down the road to the bank and came back just as it started pouring rain. We were all awaiting in the enclosed bit where the bikes are kept watching him come up and watching him what seemed like in slow motion BAIL!! Right in front of the shop, first thing we thought was Tom are you okay, rushing over picked him up, had a sore ankle but okay. Our next port of call was how much money this is going to be,8000 baht and she cut us a deal but 160 quid is still a massive imprint when your paying 6 quid a night.
Tom had to go back to the bank accompanied by a staff member ( again on the back)---- I think the best place for him ;) hah shh..
While we were waiting the lady was really nice, let us use her Internet for free, offered us lunch and thank goodness for Tadej who bought us our first of many rounds of Chang.-- This was the same morning we went to the doctors and she charged us 1550 baht for medicine and now 8000baht for damaged goods it was quite an expensive and stressful morning considering it wasn't even midday yet.
T.
The wallets were feeling it, and to right any wrongs said before i shouldn't be on the back.
It was raining, slippy, i was going too *cough*fast*cough*, so all in all a learning curve. Albeit an expensive one.
We were then faced with a dilemma. We'd really wanted to do the scuba diving course on Koh Tao (the scuba training centre of the world) but after the bike we weren't really sure if we could. I said to Kels that she should do it because i was the one who spangled the bike, but she knew how much i wanted to do it, and of course being bloody lovely offered the same.
In the end we decided to just forget the bike. It had happened. We were poorer because of it, but dammit it wasn't going to ruin our holiday and stop us having fun.
So we both did it, and man are we glad we did.
We registered at a place called Buddha View which we found out about at the full moon (story continues after a brief overview of the full moon party)
Full moon party (in a nutshell)
The full moon party is a massive beach long rave that happens once a month. Loads of bars, dancing, drinking and loads of tourists crammed onto the beach.
Got ridiculously drunk (tadej, kat, kels and i)
Skinny dipped (first time for me!)
Jumped a fire rope (kels)
Jumped through a fire hoop (me)
Danced with Indian guys (at first Kels, then me. Bloody hilarious. They were all down on one knee etc!)
Drunk too many buckets of whiskey and rum
Fell asleep on the beach.
Woke up the next day.
Back to Koh Tao.
So Buddha View...
As i've said, we found out about Buddha View from a couple of guys who were leafleting for it on Koh Phangan and with hotel included they did the best deal. (170 quid each which 4 nights accommodation and lunches).
Now firstly if you could imagine a private beach, with a bunch of people who are all there just to have a good time, you still wouldn't come close to the awesome feeling that this place kicked out. Everyone was happy to see you, the bar was cheap and regularly had a guy jamming with an acoustic guitar (if not Jack Johnson was being played) and in the night times the bar men/women were picking their favourite songs which ranged from Led Zeppelin all the way to some really chilled out acoustic, a bit of country and back to Zepellin.
Heaven.
We started our four day course in the classroom and once things like buoyancy and weight distribution had been explained to us by our instructor (James- also what a dude. Had lived on Koh Tao for 8 years, in East Ham for 4 before that) we headed out to the swimming pool.
Having mastered the basics, and learned some skills (taking your mask off and the clearing it. Mastering your buoyancy by hovering, that kind of stuff) we headed out on the second morning to the sea.
The water was crystal clear and had a visibility of about 25m at some points. We started with a basic dive where the instructors helped our group of 6 (3 instructors) to feel comfortable in the water and just get accustomed a little bit more to the feel of being 12m under the sea.
By the end of the fourth day, we were all scuba-ing like pros. We'd seen some brilliant stuff, stingrays, massive groupers, (oooooh) barracuda and shoals of over a thousand fish. It was just breathtaking. The whole experience made us really want to do it again. And to be a part of this community.
We toyed with the idea of doing the divemaster course which takes a month, but after realising what it would've been at the expense of, thought better of it.
So now we were headed up to Laos, the end of our Thai adventure.
We'd had a fantastic time in Thailand and if people were ever thinking of doing it but were unsure... DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT!!!!
We would happily go back, but first we'd have to endure another day in Bangkok....
I think Kelsey wants the microphone now, so i'll let her tell you about Bangkok (again)
At the moment we are sitting in an Internet cafe outside of our Guesthouse in the Capital of Laos, Vientiane. Lots to get us here and we will update you on Laos as soon as we finish with Thailand.
Koh Tao is where we found our paradise, and thankfully so as we got off that wonderful fishing boat journey at 7am with no sleep, both tetchy, sweaty and the last thing we want to do is set off with our big bags in the scorching heat to find a place to put our feet down.
We walked around for ages with Katerina and Tadej to find a place to stay, we ended up in Triple B bungalows for 300 baht a night (6 pounds) for a lovely bungalow made of completely bamboo. This was a place to relax, close to the beach but we didn't even need to leave the premises and sat in the sky bar in hammocks with a wonderful view and of course a few Chang.
This was also the place our problems started, both of us having dodgy belly's, not having gone to the toilet in quite a few days despite trying, and me growing a massive mountain on the side of my thigh.. thigh bad enough but also on my face and this was no little thing. We went to the doctor who was a little Thai lady who was sitting in her nighty selling us pills for 500 baht and we had no idea what they were, just told us to eat them if we want 'big boom boom' AHH okay. Luckily enough these rabbit pellets worked only for me to end up being sick outside of every restaurant we seemed be in, lovely few days, I was in bed by 7 30 or 8 every night while the others were playing pool and having a jolly time, my mountainous face still growing.
We rented motor bikes with Kat and Tad and to my delight Tom had to sit on the back hehehe. We took them around the island and went to the most beautiful places for snorkeling, the coral, the colours and the fish were wonderful to see. We also went to shark bay which to our disappointment we didn't see any sharks (or to my happiness). This is the bay http://stophavingaboringlife.com/shark-bay-koh-tao-thailand-is-paradise/
''F dem sharks''
Now our trip to Koh Tao is split up by the full moon party which in itself is a whole different story and will be the next thing you hear about. Knowing this was the next day we had to return our motorbikes, with no scratches and returning it exactly the same we needed to go and exchange money to pay, Tom took the bike a few feet down the road to the bank and came back just as it started pouring rain. We were all awaiting in the enclosed bit where the bikes are kept watching him come up and watching him what seemed like in slow motion BAIL!! Right in front of the shop, first thing we thought was Tom are you okay, rushing over picked him up, had a sore ankle but okay. Our next port of call was how much money this is going to be,8000 baht and she cut us a deal but 160 quid is still a massive imprint when your paying 6 quid a night.
Tom had to go back to the bank accompanied by a staff member ( again on the back)---- I think the best place for him ;) hah shh..
While we were waiting the lady was really nice, let us use her Internet for free, offered us lunch and thank goodness for Tadej who bought us our first of many rounds of Chang.-- This was the same morning we went to the doctors and she charged us 1550 baht for medicine and now 8000baht for damaged goods it was quite an expensive and stressful morning considering it wasn't even midday yet.
T.
The wallets were feeling it, and to right any wrongs said before i shouldn't be on the back.
It was raining, slippy, i was going too *cough*fast*cough*, so all in all a learning curve. Albeit an expensive one.
We were then faced with a dilemma. We'd really wanted to do the scuba diving course on Koh Tao (the scuba training centre of the world) but after the bike we weren't really sure if we could. I said to Kels that she should do it because i was the one who spangled the bike, but she knew how much i wanted to do it, and of course being bloody lovely offered the same.
In the end we decided to just forget the bike. It had happened. We were poorer because of it, but dammit it wasn't going to ruin our holiday and stop us having fun.
So we both did it, and man are we glad we did.
We registered at a place called Buddha View which we found out about at the full moon (story continues after a brief overview of the full moon party)
Full moon party (in a nutshell)
The full moon party is a massive beach long rave that happens once a month. Loads of bars, dancing, drinking and loads of tourists crammed onto the beach.
Got ridiculously drunk (tadej, kat, kels and i)
Skinny dipped (first time for me!)
Jumped a fire rope (kels)
Jumped through a fire hoop (me)
Danced with Indian guys (at first Kels, then me. Bloody hilarious. They were all down on one knee etc!)
Drunk too many buckets of whiskey and rum
Fell asleep on the beach.
Woke up the next day.
Back to Koh Tao.
So Buddha View...
As i've said, we found out about Buddha View from a couple of guys who were leafleting for it on Koh Phangan and with hotel included they did the best deal. (170 quid each which 4 nights accommodation and lunches).
Now firstly if you could imagine a private beach, with a bunch of people who are all there just to have a good time, you still wouldn't come close to the awesome feeling that this place kicked out. Everyone was happy to see you, the bar was cheap and regularly had a guy jamming with an acoustic guitar (if not Jack Johnson was being played) and in the night times the bar men/women were picking their favourite songs which ranged from Led Zeppelin all the way to some really chilled out acoustic, a bit of country and back to Zepellin.
Heaven.
We started our four day course in the classroom and once things like buoyancy and weight distribution had been explained to us by our instructor (James- also what a dude. Had lived on Koh Tao for 8 years, in East Ham for 4 before that) we headed out to the swimming pool.
Having mastered the basics, and learned some skills (taking your mask off and the clearing it. Mastering your buoyancy by hovering, that kind of stuff) we headed out on the second morning to the sea.
The water was crystal clear and had a visibility of about 25m at some points. We started with a basic dive where the instructors helped our group of 6 (3 instructors) to feel comfortable in the water and just get accustomed a little bit more to the feel of being 12m under the sea.
By the end of the fourth day, we were all scuba-ing like pros. We'd seen some brilliant stuff, stingrays, massive groupers, (oooooh) barracuda and shoals of over a thousand fish. It was just breathtaking. The whole experience made us really want to do it again. And to be a part of this community.
We toyed with the idea of doing the divemaster course which takes a month, but after realising what it would've been at the expense of, thought better of it.
So now we were headed up to Laos, the end of our Thai adventure.
We'd had a fantastic time in Thailand and if people were ever thinking of doing it but were unsure... DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT!!!!
We would happily go back, but first we'd have to endure another day in Bangkok....
I think Kelsey wants the microphone now, so i'll let her tell you about Bangkok (again)
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
The boat bus boat trip to Koh Tao
So we booked our ticket, the taxi boat was to take us to the mainland pier at 2pm, where a bus was to pick us up, drive us 4 or 5 hours to Chumphon where we were to catch an overnight ferry at 11:00pm to arrive on the Island of Koh Tao.
Ok, first things first, they dropped us off at a massive long pier which took 15 minutes to walk down where there was 3 buses waiting in which none are ours and all the other people climbed onto and carried on leaving us in the dust in the middle of a nowhere road.
After almost giving up hope our deluxe air con van pulled up with only the two of us jumping in- now a bit skeptical we picked up another passenger Matt and he took us all the way to the pier.
Now the traveling bit of traveling is always a little bit tougher than anything else but this was luxurious, the 3 of us cruising in the back watching Minority report all the 4 hour way to Chumphon where we were to catch a night ferry over to Koh Tao.
Now we thought we had it made, our night ferry was going to be the sweetest thing ever, only to our surprise turned out to be taking off again from the middle of nowhere, not even a pier and it was a dinky old fishing boat/ tug boat that was green white and blue with a layer of thin mattresses for us to sleep.
Now we had a laugh to begin with, because hey- this is pretty cool, however Matt then told us we could potentially be robbed or chucked to sea or something horrible. When travelling you generally tend to be wary of your things ( all our money/ passports) always kept in our packsafes on our body at all times but this was a 6 hour night ferry departing at 11pm and going all through the night with the only passengers being us, another couple ( Katerina and Tadej) and Matt who were all asleep within 5 minutes of the journey. Tom and I wary that 7 Thai men were walking around us all night and barely slept at all. Quite the ride, we eventually fell asleep cuddling our big bags and awoke at the pier safe and sound with our bags and packsafes in tow. Phheeeuuuff!
Ok, first things first, they dropped us off at a massive long pier which took 15 minutes to walk down where there was 3 buses waiting in which none are ours and all the other people climbed onto and carried on leaving us in the dust in the middle of a nowhere road.
After almost giving up hope our deluxe air con van pulled up with only the two of us jumping in- now a bit skeptical we picked up another passenger Matt and he took us all the way to the pier.
Now the traveling bit of traveling is always a little bit tougher than anything else but this was luxurious, the 3 of us cruising in the back watching Minority report all the 4 hour way to Chumphon where we were to catch a night ferry over to Koh Tao.
Now we thought we had it made, our night ferry was going to be the sweetest thing ever, only to our surprise turned out to be taking off again from the middle of nowhere, not even a pier and it was a dinky old fishing boat/ tug boat that was green white and blue with a layer of thin mattresses for us to sleep.
Now we had a laugh to begin with, because hey- this is pretty cool, however Matt then told us we could potentially be robbed or chucked to sea or something horrible. When travelling you generally tend to be wary of your things ( all our money/ passports) always kept in our packsafes on our body at all times but this was a 6 hour night ferry departing at 11pm and going all through the night with the only passengers being us, another couple ( Katerina and Tadej) and Matt who were all asleep within 5 minutes of the journey. Tom and I wary that 7 Thai men were walking around us all night and barely slept at all. Quite the ride, we eventually fell asleep cuddling our big bags and awoke at the pier safe and sound with our bags and packsafes in tow. Phheeeuuuff!
Friday, September 9, 2011
Railay and Jackulvin
We left Phi-Phi completely relaxed and with two new wicked mates on board.
Jack and Kulvin were briefly touched upon by Kelsey in the last blog (steady now...) but i just wanted to give them as much mention as they deserved.
It's strange to come to the other side of the world and meet people who you think you would genuinely go out of your way for straight away. Normally you do the whole, "oh hey where are you from? What do you do? Blah blah" But by the end of our 8 days together these boys could have a kidney of mine each.
They were chilled as hell, (which isn't too hard in paradise) but hugely switched on. Their friendship for each other was infectious. And massively down to them, our transition from Bangkok stress to Phi-Phi horizontal happened almost instantaneously.
They had already been to Railay but because we were getting on so well, they decided to come back with us for a day (at first).
We will definitely make the effort to see these guys back in England. So boys, if you're listening, unfortunately you've made mates to stay.
THAT'S BETTER! Brighton New Year. Done.
We'd never heard of Railay before, and without them we wouldn't have gone. Railay (http://www.railay.com/railay/intro/intro.shtml) is part of mainland Thailand, but because of it's location, is only accessible by boat. We got a ferry from Phi-Phi and it dropped us off in the middle of the sea, to jump in a little rickety long-tail boat (a water tuk-tuk) which carried us the rest of the way to the East Railay beach.
Now to be honest, when we first pulled in i thought, 'we left Phi-Phi for this?!'. Muddy sand, building work and to be honest not much to look at.
But our belief In our fellow man (Jackulvin) made us stick it out.
And man, are we glad we did.
We booked into a fantastic resort, a/c, TV, a swimming pool, for about a tenner a night, and already we felt right at home.
The boys showed us their favourite places on the island. Skunk bar, Lucky restaurant... you'll hear about more as we speak to you. But it was amazing.
We walked through the island, to the West beach and honestly, hands down, the most beautiful beach i think i will ever see.
Golden sand, water more blue than the eyes from that guy in Eastenders (Martin Kemp i think), and rocky craggy outbreaks all over the horizon. Jealous yet? It was amazing.
We swam, snorkeled, frisbee'd and smoked the days away.
We played pool nearly every day, and by the end of it we were getting half decent. Jack and I finally accepted that our unbeaten run was going to come to an end, but not before seeing off 3 more Thai pairs.
The guys were originally only there for one night, but we persuaded them/they persuaded themselves to stay for one more, which we didn't say at the time but we were so happy they did, because in all these situations you never know when you are going to see each other again.
They guys left, and we stayed in paradise for another couple of days. And then begrudgingly we also had to leave, after so much relaxation, we prepared ourselves for the next leg of our journey. Up and east to Koh Tao. The place we always wanted to see.
But if you take one holiday destination away from this blog, then so far, please let it be Railay.
They know they want to be fairly touristy, so there are bars, restaurants, water sports etc. But they don't have the tourists in Railay, to charge too much yet, and if I'm honest, Kels and I saw 10 other tourists during the duration of our 5 days there.
We booked the boat, bus, boat journey to Koh Tao, and now we we wait and see.
Love to all. Next update soon!
xx
Jack and Kulvin were briefly touched upon by Kelsey in the last blog (steady now...) but i just wanted to give them as much mention as they deserved.
It's strange to come to the other side of the world and meet people who you think you would genuinely go out of your way for straight away. Normally you do the whole, "oh hey where are you from? What do you do? Blah blah" But by the end of our 8 days together these boys could have a kidney of mine each.
They were chilled as hell, (which isn't too hard in paradise) but hugely switched on. Their friendship for each other was infectious. And massively down to them, our transition from Bangkok stress to Phi-Phi horizontal happened almost instantaneously.
They had already been to Railay but because we were getting on so well, they decided to come back with us for a day (at first).
We will definitely make the effort to see these guys back in England. So boys, if you're listening, unfortunately you've made mates to stay.
THAT'S BETTER! Brighton New Year. Done.
We'd never heard of Railay before, and without them we wouldn't have gone. Railay (http://www.railay.com/railay/intro/intro.shtml) is part of mainland Thailand, but because of it's location, is only accessible by boat. We got a ferry from Phi-Phi and it dropped us off in the middle of the sea, to jump in a little rickety long-tail boat (a water tuk-tuk) which carried us the rest of the way to the East Railay beach.
Now to be honest, when we first pulled in i thought, 'we left Phi-Phi for this?!'. Muddy sand, building work and to be honest not much to look at.
But our belief In our fellow man (Jackulvin) made us stick it out.
And man, are we glad we did.
We booked into a fantastic resort, a/c, TV, a swimming pool, for about a tenner a night, and already we felt right at home.
The boys showed us their favourite places on the island. Skunk bar, Lucky restaurant... you'll hear about more as we speak to you. But it was amazing.
We walked through the island, to the West beach and honestly, hands down, the most beautiful beach i think i will ever see.
Golden sand, water more blue than the eyes from that guy in Eastenders (Martin Kemp i think), and rocky craggy outbreaks all over the horizon. Jealous yet? It was amazing.
We swam, snorkeled, frisbee'd and smoked the days away.
We played pool nearly every day, and by the end of it we were getting half decent. Jack and I finally accepted that our unbeaten run was going to come to an end, but not before seeing off 3 more Thai pairs.
The guys were originally only there for one night, but we persuaded them/they persuaded themselves to stay for one more, which we didn't say at the time but we were so happy they did, because in all these situations you never know when you are going to see each other again.
They guys left, and we stayed in paradise for another couple of days. And then begrudgingly we also had to leave, after so much relaxation, we prepared ourselves for the next leg of our journey. Up and east to Koh Tao. The place we always wanted to see.
But if you take one holiday destination away from this blog, then so far, please let it be Railay.
They know they want to be fairly touristy, so there are bars, restaurants, water sports etc. But they don't have the tourists in Railay, to charge too much yet, and if I'm honest, Kels and I saw 10 other tourists during the duration of our 5 days there.
We booked the boat, bus, boat journey to Koh Tao, and now we we wait and see.
Love to all. Next update soon!
xx
Monday, September 5, 2011
Koh Phi Phi
Ahh Bliss, absolute Bliss,. http://beachthailand53.blogspot.com/2010/04/ko-phi-phiisland-phi-phi.html
After our adventures in Bangkok this is absolute heaven. We took a very rough boat ride from Krabi over to Koh Phi Phi and checked into our deluxe bungolow. We were in love, hammock outside, pool and our own place to call home for a few days. It felt so good to get our bags off and just settle our feet into some ground for a decent amount of time. We didnt know how long we were going to stay at this point, maybe 3 days or so and move on.
Our first night we met Will '' The machine/ the Wizard'' who was staying in a room around ours and Tom excitedly dragged us to an English bar in hopes of seeing West Ham against Nottingham Forest which to his dissapointment they couldnt get.
Oh yes, IT WAS POURING RAIN when we arrived. I guess that is what we get for coming in the middle of Monsoon season, I dont think I have ever seen rain like it.
We stayed in and witnessed the amazing photgraphy skills of Will and we were entertained for hours drawing pictures of stick men and houses with a flashlight when the camera was on a very slow shutter speed.
The rain quickly subsided and the next day it was beautiful. The sun had totally transformed the Island, water as blue as blue can be, long beaches on all sides, beach bars, long boats, sand and what would soon to be some great friends.
We met Jack, Kulvin and James playing frisbee and as the tide was going out we headed to another beach which the tide was heading out there as well so we ended up sitting in the much in which should have been the middle of the sea.
That night we hiked up to viewpoint number 3 ( let me tell you I barely made 1) and James doing it SHOELESS!! We were all going up for what would be a beautiful romantic sunset- Me and the 5 boys. It was wonderful except the trek back after a few cheeky Chang's through a pitch black jungle with no torch and a million paths. Luckily we made it down and headed on to the Stones bar which would become our second home for the next 7 days.
We then went out to dinner in the back of the market, a place where not alot of tourists will go and had amazing Pad Thai, it was run by Samee Soda the man who survived the .9 Tsunami and he had sad down to tell us all about his experience December 26 2004.
We were in awe, he had taught us no matter what happens the best thing to do is dust the sand from your ears, heal your wounds and get back on your feet, which is what he did and is now quite a successful resteraunt owner.
I don't think since being here I have ever been so relaxed, to do nothing yet do everything is the most wonderful thing.
We everyday were at Stones bar except for our Kayak renting experience when we took out 3 double kayaks and made our way out into the big ol ocean to find monkey beach. We arrived with James and Will the wizard still trying to get their rhythem. Haha. We went for a swim in the sea to see a massive school of fish which were swimming in a big swarm and another large fish trying to eat them. We turned around to our amazement a wild monkey sitting on our Kayak and drinking our water. Cheeky bugger, and then there were loads. Just strolling their beach inspecting us strangers who dared to tresspass.
It was an amazing sight to see.
We then took off back towards the bay which seemed to be a struggle and we were in the middle of the deep DARK blue ocean thinking about sharks and scary things underneath us. We got to some clearer water a little outside of our bay and decided to tie our kayaks together and just lounge. We had a few laughs and couldnt get our kayaks untied so Kulvin and Jack on the left and Tom I on the right made attempts to get us moving back to shore ( took us a a few hours)
In Koh Phi Phi they sell you alcohol in sand buckets, you can buy them from a street vendor for 120 baht for the cheapest rum/ whisky/ mixed spirit and you get redbull and a coke, (they sell Vodka and more but quite an expense) all in one bucket that one would make a sandcastle with.
We have been to the reggae bar twice which is a popular place where the undefeated Jack and Tom wagered 100 Baht on a game of pool against two Canadian's and WON!!!!! They also have Muay Thai which you can volunteer and get a free bucket which we all highly considered.
These buckets did us well on all occasions we had them and ususally would end up in bed before midnight, except Will's last night in which he was the only one.
We had made will a Wizard stick- we drank cans of Chang and used all our surgical first aid tape to tape them togeteher to make him a staff he needed to carry around. It was great, such a good laugh, we once again went to the reggae bar with our buckets and Will and his wizard stick to play pool and watch the muay Thai when Will's stick went missing- the deal was for every can that was missing he had to drink double which led to him downing his bucket, and Jack, Kolvin, Tom and I all turned around for two seconds and Will was sleeping on the bench, bless him.
Taking him home was exciting with Tom and Kolvin carrying Will who was deadweight. Jack and I followed closely behind but somehow got stuck at the bottom of our hill as Jack fell off the deck sideways taking plants with him and all, fell straight into a bush.
The next day we went on a tour of the islands which started off with snorkeling at Mosquito Island( Not a nice name for a tourist attraction) here we saw loads of 'Nemo' and rainbow fish it was beautiful.
We then went snorkeling at SHARK point but we were unlucky and didnt spot any ( Or really lucky) although other people on the boat had.
We also went to MAYA BAY, the filming spot if the film the beach. It sparked many conversations about Leonardo DiCaprio and even Will Smith- Great Genes. It was stunning, just as in the film which we then carried onto the banana rooftop bar to watch the film.
The banana bar with cushions all over the floor and the only place with a roof terrace. Was a great place to chill and opne of our faves.
Phi Phi has been amazing, the longest time we had stayed in one place so far and it was longer than expected because of the wonderful people.
Our next plan was to leave Phi Phi but were not sure where to go, other then the full moon party on Koh Phangan on the 12th we have no plans so we said goodbye to James( one day early as he had to go back home to work) and Will and Kolvin, Jack, Tom and I headed for Railay (their second time and our first).
The next part of our adventure begins.
After our adventures in Bangkok this is absolute heaven. We took a very rough boat ride from Krabi over to Koh Phi Phi and checked into our deluxe bungolow. We were in love, hammock outside, pool and our own place to call home for a few days. It felt so good to get our bags off and just settle our feet into some ground for a decent amount of time. We didnt know how long we were going to stay at this point, maybe 3 days or so and move on.
Our first night we met Will '' The machine/ the Wizard'' who was staying in a room around ours and Tom excitedly dragged us to an English bar in hopes of seeing West Ham against Nottingham Forest which to his dissapointment they couldnt get.
Oh yes, IT WAS POURING RAIN when we arrived. I guess that is what we get for coming in the middle of Monsoon season, I dont think I have ever seen rain like it.
We stayed in and witnessed the amazing photgraphy skills of Will and we were entertained for hours drawing pictures of stick men and houses with a flashlight when the camera was on a very slow shutter speed.
The rain quickly subsided and the next day it was beautiful. The sun had totally transformed the Island, water as blue as blue can be, long beaches on all sides, beach bars, long boats, sand and what would soon to be some great friends.
We met Jack, Kulvin and James playing frisbee and as the tide was going out we headed to another beach which the tide was heading out there as well so we ended up sitting in the much in which should have been the middle of the sea.
That night we hiked up to viewpoint number 3 ( let me tell you I barely made 1) and James doing it SHOELESS!! We were all going up for what would be a beautiful romantic sunset- Me and the 5 boys. It was wonderful except the trek back after a few cheeky Chang's through a pitch black jungle with no torch and a million paths. Luckily we made it down and headed on to the Stones bar which would become our second home for the next 7 days.
We then went out to dinner in the back of the market, a place where not alot of tourists will go and had amazing Pad Thai, it was run by Samee Soda the man who survived the .9 Tsunami and he had sad down to tell us all about his experience December 26 2004.
We were in awe, he had taught us no matter what happens the best thing to do is dust the sand from your ears, heal your wounds and get back on your feet, which is what he did and is now quite a successful resteraunt owner.
I don't think since being here I have ever been so relaxed, to do nothing yet do everything is the most wonderful thing.
We everyday were at Stones bar except for our Kayak renting experience when we took out 3 double kayaks and made our way out into the big ol ocean to find monkey beach. We arrived with James and Will the wizard still trying to get their rhythem. Haha. We went for a swim in the sea to see a massive school of fish which were swimming in a big swarm and another large fish trying to eat them. We turned around to our amazement a wild monkey sitting on our Kayak and drinking our water. Cheeky bugger, and then there were loads. Just strolling their beach inspecting us strangers who dared to tresspass.
It was an amazing sight to see.
We then took off back towards the bay which seemed to be a struggle and we were in the middle of the deep DARK blue ocean thinking about sharks and scary things underneath us. We got to some clearer water a little outside of our bay and decided to tie our kayaks together and just lounge. We had a few laughs and couldnt get our kayaks untied so Kulvin and Jack on the left and Tom I on the right made attempts to get us moving back to shore ( took us a a few hours)
In Koh Phi Phi they sell you alcohol in sand buckets, you can buy them from a street vendor for 120 baht for the cheapest rum/ whisky/ mixed spirit and you get redbull and a coke, (they sell Vodka and more but quite an expense) all in one bucket that one would make a sandcastle with.
We have been to the reggae bar twice which is a popular place where the undefeated Jack and Tom wagered 100 Baht on a game of pool against two Canadian's and WON!!!!! They also have Muay Thai which you can volunteer and get a free bucket which we all highly considered.
These buckets did us well on all occasions we had them and ususally would end up in bed before midnight, except Will's last night in which he was the only one.
We had made will a Wizard stick- we drank cans of Chang and used all our surgical first aid tape to tape them togeteher to make him a staff he needed to carry around. It was great, such a good laugh, we once again went to the reggae bar with our buckets and Will and his wizard stick to play pool and watch the muay Thai when Will's stick went missing- the deal was for every can that was missing he had to drink double which led to him downing his bucket, and Jack, Kolvin, Tom and I all turned around for two seconds and Will was sleeping on the bench, bless him.
Taking him home was exciting with Tom and Kolvin carrying Will who was deadweight. Jack and I followed closely behind but somehow got stuck at the bottom of our hill as Jack fell off the deck sideways taking plants with him and all, fell straight into a bush.
The next day we went on a tour of the islands which started off with snorkeling at Mosquito Island( Not a nice name for a tourist attraction) here we saw loads of 'Nemo' and rainbow fish it was beautiful.
We then went snorkeling at SHARK point but we were unlucky and didnt spot any ( Or really lucky) although other people on the boat had.
We also went to MAYA BAY, the filming spot if the film the beach. It sparked many conversations about Leonardo DiCaprio and even Will Smith- Great Genes. It was stunning, just as in the film which we then carried onto the banana rooftop bar to watch the film.
The banana bar with cushions all over the floor and the only place with a roof terrace. Was a great place to chill and opne of our faves.
Phi Phi has been amazing, the longest time we had stayed in one place so far and it was longer than expected because of the wonderful people.
Our next plan was to leave Phi Phi but were not sure where to go, other then the full moon party on Koh Phangan on the 12th we have no plans so we said goodbye to James( one day early as he had to go back home to work) and Will and Kolvin, Jack, Tom and I headed for Railay (their second time and our first).
The next part of our adventure begins.
Trains, Tuk Tuk's and Boats
After an exciting 3 day Jungle trek- which was just absolutely amazing, the second day we had stayed at a waterfall camp, where we played the most hilarious game where we had to save our village form being attacked by werewolves ( hard to explain by typing) and watched Nat cook frogs, Tom tried rice whiskey, I cooked our Curry (It was pretty amazing).... although I am hesitant to tell everyone all I did was stir.
We got back to Chang Mai, and a shower and clean clothes was amazing!
We went out to the city centre with our group for one more night out before we said goodbye, all except Meike who had to fly off to Chang Rai, slightly further north.
We took everyone, and when i say took i mean walked for an hour and a half in vague directions, to the bar we'd been to the first night in Chang Mai, the Zoom Bar. Now we'd been bigging up the zoom bar massively all the way there, and from our memory it was fantastic. 2 big screens, free pool tables, reaaaally friendly staff (watch out).
We got there, and it was a brothel. No word of a lie, a brothel. And with this knowledge the little things started to make sense... The ugly old English guys witting with beautiful Thai girls on their laps, the disappearing and reappearing of staff members....
How did you miss it first time, i hear you cry. Well... we were battered...
We left Chang Mai at 2pm Friday afternoon to catch the train departing for Bangkok which would arrive 12 hours later, now after thoroughly enjoying the ride up there we were quite looking forward to this train only to our disappointment had the worst 'lady boy' waiter and the worst meal we had eaten since we have been here, we arrived in Bangkok stressed with no sleep due to uncomfortableness and the thought of having to spend the day in Bangkok with our bags on once again we walked off the train a little disheartened and exhausted.
Tom -
So after another 12 hour train we arrived in Bangkok again, only to find we were 4 hours early. For everything.
We met another couple who apparently had missed the memo too, and shared a cab to the MBK centre.
The only things open were a McDonald's and an Internet cafe, and by the time we'd used the cafes bathroom as our own, and had 2 breakfasts each in McD's... Bangkok started to wake up.
We took a quick look round the MBK centre (a huge shopping mall in the city centre) realised that there was nothing we wanted and jumped on a bus supposedly bound for the Grand Palace.
We got off the bus where it was meant to be (or so the ongoing disagreement stands...) and had a good old mooch around. We ended up stumbling across the Golden Mount, an amazing Buddhist shrine overlooking Bangkok, and a fair few breathtaking temples, photos coming soon i promise, promise promise.
We then started a second attempt at finding the Grand Palace.
Sweaty, knackered and lost, we walked around Bangkok for a further 2 hours with our big bags on. Needless to say we were pretty fed up!
We then met the first nice person in Bangkok, and to our knowledge the only nice person in Bangkok. Now I'm sure there are lots of nice people somewhere in Bangkok, but just not the length and breadth that we walked.
Looking very much the hapless, hopeless tourists he took us to a Tuk-Tuk driver and arranged every sight that we wanted to see for the equivalent of 75p. Lovely Jubbly!
Or not, as the case may be.
I'm just gonna put it out there, we aren't fans of Bangkok.
After showing us some truly stunning sights (a massive 50 foot Buddha being the jewel in the crown) he took us to a fashion outlet. Now, he'd pre-warned us that one stop would be here and because he'd been so lovely we didn't begrudge it at all. We went in, had a look, but as you can imagine didn't need/buy anything. Unless the boys decide ska is the new route, write 15 new tunes, get massive and i have to fly home to play Wembley, what use am i going to have for a suit for the next 3 months around Asia?
We got back into the Tuk-Tuk, whose final destination was still the Grand Palace. Then! The cheeky schmuck tried to take us to another fashion outlet.
Now normally, as i hope you all know, we are fairly patient people. Well Kelsey is, and even the lovely Kelsey had had enough of the hard sale we'd just endured for the last 30 mins. So we weren't going to go to another one. And i told him as much.
Now i know it's probably his cousin's sister's brother-in-law's shop, but we want ballgowns as much as we want 13 genuine leather belts for the price of 12.
He then kicked us out in the middle of nowhere, in the rain, and demanded his money. After gently moving Kels behind me, i told him to stick it. Once he realised that there was no way he was getting his money, he wheeled away cursing us under his breath.
We then took the next logical step which was get to our final destination (Hua Lampong Train Station) and jumped in another Tuk-Tuk to get away from where we were.
We thought we'd be at the station ridiculously early, but thanks to the torrential rain, Bangkok's one way system and bus deciding to ignore it, at rush h
Don't do Bangkok for too long.
We got back to Chang Mai, and a shower and clean clothes was amazing!
We went out to the city centre with our group for one more night out before we said goodbye, all except Meike who had to fly off to Chang Rai, slightly further north.
We took everyone, and when i say took i mean walked for an hour and a half in vague directions, to the bar we'd been to the first night in Chang Mai, the Zoom Bar. Now we'd been bigging up the zoom bar massively all the way there, and from our memory it was fantastic. 2 big screens, free pool tables, reaaaally friendly staff (watch out).
We got there, and it was a brothel. No word of a lie, a brothel. And with this knowledge the little things started to make sense... The ugly old English guys witting with beautiful Thai girls on their laps, the disappearing and reappearing of staff members....
How did you miss it first time, i hear you cry. Well... we were battered...
We left Chang Mai at 2pm Friday afternoon to catch the train departing for Bangkok which would arrive 12 hours later, now after thoroughly enjoying the ride up there we were quite looking forward to this train only to our disappointment had the worst 'lady boy' waiter and the worst meal we had eaten since we have been here, we arrived in Bangkok stressed with no sleep due to uncomfortableness and the thought of having to spend the day in Bangkok with our bags on once again we walked off the train a little disheartened and exhausted.
Tom -
So after another 12 hour train we arrived in Bangkok again, only to find we were 4 hours early. For everything.
We met another couple who apparently had missed the memo too, and shared a cab to the MBK centre.
The only things open were a McDonald's and an Internet cafe, and by the time we'd used the cafes bathroom as our own, and had 2 breakfasts each in McD's... Bangkok started to wake up.
We took a quick look round the MBK centre (a huge shopping mall in the city centre) realised that there was nothing we wanted and jumped on a bus supposedly bound for the Grand Palace.
We got off the bus where it was meant to be (or so the ongoing disagreement stands...) and had a good old mooch around. We ended up stumbling across the Golden Mount, an amazing Buddhist shrine overlooking Bangkok, and a fair few breathtaking temples, photos coming soon i promise, promise promise.
We then started a second attempt at finding the Grand Palace.
Sweaty, knackered and lost, we walked around Bangkok for a further 2 hours with our big bags on. Needless to say we were pretty fed up!
We then met the first nice person in Bangkok, and to our knowledge the only nice person in Bangkok. Now I'm sure there are lots of nice people somewhere in Bangkok, but just not the length and breadth that we walked.
Looking very much the hapless, hopeless tourists he took us to a Tuk-Tuk driver and arranged every sight that we wanted to see for the equivalent of 75p. Lovely Jubbly!
Or not, as the case may be.
I'm just gonna put it out there, we aren't fans of Bangkok.
After showing us some truly stunning sights (a massive 50 foot Buddha being the jewel in the crown) he took us to a fashion outlet. Now, he'd pre-warned us that one stop would be here and because he'd been so lovely we didn't begrudge it at all. We went in, had a look, but as you can imagine didn't need/buy anything. Unless the boys decide ska is the new route, write 15 new tunes, get massive and i have to fly home to play Wembley, what use am i going to have for a suit for the next 3 months around Asia?
We got back into the Tuk-Tuk, whose final destination was still the Grand Palace. Then! The cheeky schmuck tried to take us to another fashion outlet.
Now normally, as i hope you all know, we are fairly patient people. Well Kelsey is, and even the lovely Kelsey had had enough of the hard sale we'd just endured for the last 30 mins. So we weren't going to go to another one. And i told him as much.
Now i know it's probably his cousin's sister's brother-in-law's shop, but we want ballgowns as much as we want 13 genuine leather belts for the price of 12.
He then kicked us out in the middle of nowhere, in the rain, and demanded his money. After gently moving Kels behind me, i told him to stick it. Once he realised that there was no way he was getting his money, he wheeled away cursing us under his breath.
We then took the next logical step which was get to our final destination (Hua Lampong Train Station) and jumped in another Tuk-Tuk to get away from where we were.
We thought we'd be at the station ridiculously early, but thanks to the torrential rain, Bangkok's one way system and bus deciding to ignore it, at rush h
Don't do Bangkok for too long.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Chang Mai Jungle Trek
Well, where did we end- oh yes, Garden view hotel. Jungle trekking... Absolutley amazing, one of the coolest experiences ever.
The guide came and picked us up at 8:30 in the morning, and we drove the hour and a half to a market to pick up final supplies for the trekking.
I didnt have any long trousers so i picked up a pair that were bright purple, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air styley, btw flex, if you're reading this, i hope to buy two more pairs, one for you and one for sharoozle, as they are the best kotch pants in the world. Plus being super cool...
Sorry for the sideline!
We arrived an hour later up in the mountains, having had a breakneck driving experience (40kph the hour time.... yawn) but the scary bit is that we're not sure if they understand the line down the middle of the road, and instead of slowing for corners, they just honk the horn a few times to tell people to get the hell out of the way.
Obvious problem is that if someone else comes the other way dfoing the same thing, you have to quickly swerve. Adn we were sitting in an open top van. It was another bum clenching moment, but we lived to tell teh tale!
The first port of call was elephant trekking. And it was, Un. Be. Lievable.
Kels now realises that elephants are her favourite animal in the world, and to be honest, i have to say they're up there for me too.
They are huge but so gentle, they have an intelligence in their eyes that you wouldnt expect to find from such a big animal, and compared to a few we'd previously seen chained in previous cities, to see them have a free reign of where to go, was a nice touch.
We climbed onto the back in a sort of 2 man seat with a bar across it and a guide sat on it's head directing where to go. We were the third elephant of 6 and as we lumbered through the jungle, you really got a feel for how awesome and majestic the animals are.
You buy food along the way, because if you dont, your elephant doesnt move! Petrol - car. Banana - elephant!
The guide got off at one point, and being a bit cheeky (shock horror i know) i asked if i could sit on it's head and do the guiding. He said yes, and so me and kelsey sat on our own riding the elephant like a horse.
After 45 minutes we had returned to the starting point, and i had a bruised right arm.
Not from the Elephants, but the worried little bear next to me kept on squeezing as she was worried about the elephant falling (it was bucketing down by this point). In my opinion she should have been more worried about me falling off of it's head, but i think as long as i didnt hurt it in the process, she wouldnt have minded...
After the elephant stop we began our trek into the jungle. And this again was spectacular.
Walking for 3 hours amongst 50ft bamboo trees, sleeping plants (you touch them and they curl up!) and misty jungle tops was our idea of perfect.
The walk wasnt easy and you really felt a sense of achivement when we got to the top, to stay with our hosts, the Karen Tribe.
However the trek was via a Waterfall which was incredible to swim in and see, and after a humid hike, much needed.
The locals came round and sold some of their wares but didnt really appear apart from that. Except for one local called Tip who drank all mine and kelsey's whiskey. I got a Tip for you, bugger off! We think it would've been nice to see more of them, but by 10 pm everyone was in bed. Except for me and one of the German guys i'd been drinking with, Lars.
The local guide, Nat, beckoned me closer (we'd been playing guitar earlier in the night, and made a little gesturing relationship. He knew 'snake' 'monkey' and 'slippy, slippy' but not much else...)
He then led me and Lars into the jungle, and taught us how to catch crickets. I mean big, f*ck off crickets!
We caught about 12 (of which i think Nat caught 10...). After he took us both back to his hut and proceeded to cook them!
We moved then to the river and ate them under the moonlight (i'm now beginning to realise that we might've been on a 3 man date, but i dont care, he was gentle...) and we drank the remainder of our Vodka.
Now, im not sure if Nat's used to the strength of our spirits being from a little tribe, but i think not, seeing as he fell over 6 times on the walk back, and hadnt so much as stumbled all day long! But it was bloody funny.
Second Day in the Jungle
Waking up with yet another hangover, wasnt fun. But being in the jungle you kinda forget about it, and teh 3 hour trek to the next waterfall made it easier to sweat out than ever before. It was a kind masocism, but as the old saying goes, 'it's self inflicted you'll get no sympathy from me....' and Kelsey just loved that i was feeling rough and she was as bright-eyed and bushy tailed as ever.
Once again we seem to be out of time, as we have our second 12 hour train journey today, to catch. We'll finish the jungle trek story in Phi-Phi, as we're in Bangkok at the moment. Update you all as soon as we can!
Peace and Love. (a very tired) T & K
xxx
The guide came and picked us up at 8:30 in the morning, and we drove the hour and a half to a market to pick up final supplies for the trekking.
I didnt have any long trousers so i picked up a pair that were bright purple, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air styley, btw flex, if you're reading this, i hope to buy two more pairs, one for you and one for sharoozle, as they are the best kotch pants in the world. Plus being super cool...
Sorry for the sideline!
We arrived an hour later up in the mountains, having had a breakneck driving experience (40kph the hour time.... yawn) but the scary bit is that we're not sure if they understand the line down the middle of the road, and instead of slowing for corners, they just honk the horn a few times to tell people to get the hell out of the way.
Obvious problem is that if someone else comes the other way dfoing the same thing, you have to quickly swerve. Adn we were sitting in an open top van. It was another bum clenching moment, but we lived to tell teh tale!
The first port of call was elephant trekking. And it was, Un. Be. Lievable.
Kels now realises that elephants are her favourite animal in the world, and to be honest, i have to say they're up there for me too.
They are huge but so gentle, they have an intelligence in their eyes that you wouldnt expect to find from such a big animal, and compared to a few we'd previously seen chained in previous cities, to see them have a free reign of where to go, was a nice touch.
We climbed onto the back in a sort of 2 man seat with a bar across it and a guide sat on it's head directing where to go. We were the third elephant of 6 and as we lumbered through the jungle, you really got a feel for how awesome and majestic the animals are.
You buy food along the way, because if you dont, your elephant doesnt move! Petrol - car. Banana - elephant!
The guide got off at one point, and being a bit cheeky (shock horror i know) i asked if i could sit on it's head and do the guiding. He said yes, and so me and kelsey sat on our own riding the elephant like a horse.
After 45 minutes we had returned to the starting point, and i had a bruised right arm.
Not from the Elephants, but the worried little bear next to me kept on squeezing as she was worried about the elephant falling (it was bucketing down by this point). In my opinion she should have been more worried about me falling off of it's head, but i think as long as i didnt hurt it in the process, she wouldnt have minded...
After the elephant stop we began our trek into the jungle. And this again was spectacular.
Walking for 3 hours amongst 50ft bamboo trees, sleeping plants (you touch them and they curl up!) and misty jungle tops was our idea of perfect.
The walk wasnt easy and you really felt a sense of achivement when we got to the top, to stay with our hosts, the Karen Tribe.
However the trek was via a Waterfall which was incredible to swim in and see, and after a humid hike, much needed.
The locals came round and sold some of their wares but didnt really appear apart from that. Except for one local called Tip who drank all mine and kelsey's whiskey. I got a Tip for you, bugger off! We think it would've been nice to see more of them, but by 10 pm everyone was in bed. Except for me and one of the German guys i'd been drinking with, Lars.
The local guide, Nat, beckoned me closer (we'd been playing guitar earlier in the night, and made a little gesturing relationship. He knew 'snake' 'monkey' and 'slippy, slippy' but not much else...)
He then led me and Lars into the jungle, and taught us how to catch crickets. I mean big, f*ck off crickets!
We caught about 12 (of which i think Nat caught 10...). After he took us both back to his hut and proceeded to cook them!
We moved then to the river and ate them under the moonlight (i'm now beginning to realise that we might've been on a 3 man date, but i dont care, he was gentle...) and we drank the remainder of our Vodka.
Now, im not sure if Nat's used to the strength of our spirits being from a little tribe, but i think not, seeing as he fell over 6 times on the walk back, and hadnt so much as stumbled all day long! But it was bloody funny.
Second Day in the Jungle
Waking up with yet another hangover, wasnt fun. But being in the jungle you kinda forget about it, and teh 3 hour trek to the next waterfall made it easier to sweat out than ever before. It was a kind masocism, but as the old saying goes, 'it's self inflicted you'll get no sympathy from me....' and Kelsey just loved that i was feeling rough and she was as bright-eyed and bushy tailed as ever.
Once again we seem to be out of time, as we have our second 12 hour train journey today, to catch. We'll finish the jungle trek story in Phi-Phi, as we're in Bangkok at the moment. Update you all as soon as we can!
Peace and Love. (a very tired) T & K
xxx
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