Land of the flightless bird....

Thanks Ryan! Who forgot to tell you all how awesome I am at surfing by the way!! We are the worst/latest bloggers ever!

After our short flight across the ditch we arrived in Auckland. Corinne (Ryan's sister) came to rescue us from the airport as we were staying with her and Shon (boyfriend). The countryside and scenary on the way to Te Awamutu (TA) was beautiful. As we had arrived on a Friday it would've been rude not to go out to Corinne and Shon local The Redoubt! Needless to say we had a great time and enjoyed catching up. The next day we went biscuiting in the Waikato river. To clarify this was nothing to do with edible biscuits! Attached to the back of the boat is an inflatable that is pulled along at high speeds and as you can imagine clinging on for your life is not optional! Absolutey loved it, until Shon tried all his tricks, and then some, to flip me off!! Such good fun! Afterwards we had a cheeky BBQ by the lake and this was a really nice day.

That Sunday Corinne drove us up to Hahei which is on the Coromandel Peninsular (incredibly beautiful) to meet our kiwi friends (who live in London) Alan and Rebecca. We were staying with their family and friends for a night before starting our road trip. We walked out to Cathedral Cove (used in the film Narnia) and went 4 a swim in the sea. That night we had a barbie and got on the beers (surprise, surprise)!

Monday was the start of our road trip to the south of the north island. The five of us (Alan's brother Malcolm decided to join us) jumped into Alan's Grandma's small car and headed down to Whangamata. On the way we stopped at Hot Water Beach where there are several hot springs under the sand and you can literally dig your own spa hole -or jump in someone else's. This was a very different experience and is a fine example of the variety of natural wonders in NZ.

We arrived in Whagamata at Alan's Dad's (Keith) batch in the arvo and were excited to check out the local beach. The beach at Whanga was yummy and we went straight in for a refreshing swim. We spent the following day on the beach and walked over to an islet off of the main beach. We tried to snorkel but the water was quite murky, when we returned to the beach the boys had a body surf/surf. Later that afternoon Alan, Malcolm and Ryan
set off on a mini fishing trip. A few hours later they returned with a few Snapper, Gurnard and Trevailly -que the fish BBQ! Yum! The next morning we said our farewells and headed south to Castle Point.

The road trip to Castle point was very cool, we stopped at Huka falls this was beautiful. The water was SO blue! We drove passed/around lake Taupo and along the desert road the scenary was so different! We could see Mount Ruapehu and I believe that this was used for some of the filming of Mount Doom in the Lord of the Rings movies. We stopped again in Taihape which is home of the Gum Boot throwing competition (held in March this year so we missed it)! We continued on for a few more hours through the countryside, past some wind farms, past Masterton and we finally arrived in Castle Point.

We were staying with Raewin and Curla (Rebecca's Auntie and Partner) in their village pub and hotel (The Whakataki Hotel) The village is tiny and there is a permanent population of 16 people! That night after sampling some really tasty food we went out to meet Rebecca's cousin Lindsey and friends who were having a bonfire. We drove around the coast past the deserted holiday homes to meet them. A few drinks (and hours) later the rain came so we went back to the hotel.

The following day we popped out to Castle Point beach and watched the boats negotiate their way out of a small cove -v clever. We walked around the cove, went for a refreshing (very cold) swim and then decided to walk up Castle Rock. On the way to the track we walked past a Seal which was fab but, they stink! The view from the very top of Castle Rock was stunning. Well worth the walk.

We returned to the Pub to help set up a Marquee for the Battle of the Babes (BotB) fishing competition weekend. The BotB is a local tradition, ladies from all around the area come along to compete and drag the men out to help them with the gross bits! Unfortunately we were leaving the next day so we missed out on the action! D'oh!

Later that evening we walked out to the lighthouse in Castle Point and read about the Maori legend/origins of Castle Point. I really enjoyed it here and if you ever get the chance you should visit -it's one of the nicest places we went to!

Reluctantly waving goodbye to Castle Point we were back on the road to Wellington, the final destination of our road trip with Alan and Rebecca. It didn't take too long to cruise through the small villages and countryside and before we knew it we were in Wellington. We said our farewells to Alan and Rebecca at the airport and we are looking forward to catching up with them when we get back to London. Thanks again to all for such a good trip!

We took a flight from Wellington down to Christchurch to catch up with our friend and former colleague from Forest Hill, Hayden. We took the bus into central Christchurch and as the city has been closed off it feels a bit strange and eerie walking around. It is so sad to see the damage that the earthquake caused there. That night we picked up Amber (Hayden's girlfriend) and Megs and we went out to Pegasus for the More FM Vineyard Tour gig. We saw Tiki Tane, Aloe Blacc and a little bit of the John Butler Trio before the gig was rained off. It was bloomin' cold so we were sad it finished early but we were greatful to be out of the rain. That night there was apparantly a tremor but we didn't feel it as we were either in the car, or had had too many beers!

Hayden had a cricket fixture on
the Sat so we borrowed his car and drove out to Hamner Springs. Hamner Springs looks a bit like a ski resort as it is surrounded by an Alpine forest and has a small little town. After spending the day lounging around in natural hot springs we returned to Christchurch to get ready to go out. Hayden and Amber's friend Candice was heading back to London, so we were out for farewell drinkies. We met quite a few of Hayden, Amber and Candice's friends and family who were all very lovely and made us feel very welcome. After too many drinks and late night nibbles we said goodbye before we went to sleep as we were on the 7am bus out! Ouch! It is important to add that Hayden went to bed before anyone else because he cannot handle his drink!!! Just kidding!!

We just about managed to get onto the bus armed with a sleeping bag and a couple of litres of water. We were taking the bus along the coast up to Picton. Although we did not see very much of the south island I thought that this part of the coast was stunning. I saw many Seals sunbathing on rocks and long stretches of empty beaches. We stopped at Kaikoura which is a beautiful little seaside town. After eating our pies on the beach we were back on the bus. Heading through the Marlborough region we saw heaps of vineyards that covered the hill sides and valleys.

After arriving in Picton and freshening up we took a hire car out to Blenheim to visit the wine region (hair of the dog)! We stopped at Framingham winery and tried their very tasty variety of wines. We learnt about the history of the region and a little about the winery. After finally choosing a bottle of Classic Reisling we ventured round to the Vines Village which is a small shopping area (like a converted barn) and also to a chocolate factory where the choccies are organic and hand made. Yummy! We took a brief road trip around Queen Charlotte Drive and checked out the stunning Marlborough sounds before returning the car. Loved our mini Rd trip!

We took the ferry over from the South island back to the North island to meet Ryan's friend Gary (Dave) in Wellington. Gary took us up to Mount Victoria view point and there wasn't any wind! Wellington is known as the windy city so we were all pleasantly surprised. Needless to say stunning views from here! We walked
around the Harbour before heading back to Gary's place. The following day we were flying up to Hamilton to stay with Corinne and Shon
again. We spent the day at Te Papa Museum of NZ. I really recommend visiting this museum to everyone. Very well thought out with fab displays and a great way to check out Maori history and culture.

We arrived back in Hamilton and the four of us went out for Valentines dinner. Yum! Corinne and Shon took us Zorbing in Rotorua which was so much fun! Absolutely loved it! Shon said that we were the fastest down! That arvo we all chilled out at the Polynesian Spa in Rotorua, the spa baths look out over Rotorua Lake. The lake has a high sulphur content which makes the water an odd colour not to mention that odd eggy sulphur frahrance!

Later that week we went to Waikato caves to black water raft. This was great fun -apart from the sexy cave wetsuits and boots you wear! Tubing along an underwater river in a cave looking up at glow worms (species native to Aus and NZ only) has to be one of my favourite experiences on this RTW trip. That night we went out to the Redoubt and drank too much!

That Saturday we went up to Mount Maunganui (The Mount) and dropped Corinne and Shon off at a wedding. We spent the day on the beach and the evening in the Salt Water Pools -natural hot spring baths before heading back to TA.

During the rest of our stay at TA, Ryan went Pig and Deer hunting with the boys (and he shot Bambi). I went to help out at the farm with the Milking and managed to escape relatively poo free!

We spent a day fishing at Thames on the Coromandel, we caught a King Fish and a few decent sized Snappers! I was the Yellow tail champ although we didn't keep them which was fine with me (caught a few Snapper too)! There were also a few Kingy's that got away.....

Ryan managed to sneak in a couple of games of Basketball and I played Netball for the first time in years! Such good fun!!

Ryan drove me out to Matamata to see Hobbiton -home of the Shire in the Lord of the Rings movies and the main set for the new Hobbit movie. As it was SO expensive I went alone, it was really cool to wander around listening to the soundtrack (Music Geek) and I enjoyed the stories the guide shared with us.

It was really nice to chill out wth friends and family, not to live out of our packs, stay in the same place and eat home cooked meals before hitting the road again. I really loved NZ, it is such an incredible place. I'm really looking forward to heading back one day to explore more! If you haven't been to NZ -get saving and get there!!!

Gday Gday!!

Well it's my turn to write the blog again, again I have delayed it as long as possible but as I sit on one of these long South American buses, I suppose it's time to write about it. Plus we did leave Aus almost two months ago!

We arrived in Sydney on December 13 to an unseasonal cold temp of about 19-20 degrees. This was freezing as we'd been used to 30 plus in SE Asia. We spent the first few days in Sydney with Mum and Bob. Went out for dinner and enjoyed our first steak in months! Also went up the road to the Beach Club and enjoyed a few schooners.

After a few days in Sydney we took Mum's car and headed up to Lake Cathie where we would spend the next two weeks. Was great to relax after 4 months on the road and finally put the backpacks in the cupboard for a while. Our clothes (and even ourselves) finally felt clean!!!

Spent the first weekend with my sister Corinne, her b/f Shon (who both flew over from NZ), Mum and my mate from Uni- Nick. Went out to the infamous local Port nite club- Smuts, always good fun! (rated the worst nite club in NSW- so it must be good!) Also caught up with my mates Jase, Leeroy and Jones and their wives and kids for beers in the following few days. Was to be the first of many over the summer! Mum's partner Bob joined us a few days after for Christmas and of course my big 3-0 party.

Mine was the first of five 30th's for the summer, and started out as a small gathering, but turned out to be quite a big night. Caught up with mates I'd not seen in years. Mum, Bob and Sam cooked up a storm, Bob making his awesome Pizza's and Sam making her yummy Banoffee Pie and Chocolate birthday cake. Of course I ended up having 1 or 2 too many and ended up in the pool! I definitely felt my age the next day, was a tad hungover.

Despite the hangover, it was Chrissy eve which meant it was time to eat some concrete. We went into my mate Wayne's apartment for a few drinks and then out to the local for a few before retiring to bed. Chrissy day was gold as usual, ate too much and drank too much. We spent about 3 hours round the pool topping up the tans as it was around 30 degrees. Early to bed as it was Boxing Day the next day and of course- the Whoop Whoop Cup Wauchope races. We had a few beverages once again and back to Wayne's apartment for a massive BBQ and Spa time.

We relaxed for our last few days at Cathie enjoying the pool and nice weather before it was time to head to Sydney (Dec 30) to say goodbye to Corinne and Shon (who were flying back to NZ) as well as meet up with Wayne and Amy for our new years plans. Amy had organised for us to camp on Cockatoo Island.

We spent 2 nights relaxing on the island, enjoying a few drinks, as well as a tour of the island. We also enjoyed a day in the city, taking a ferry over to Circular Quay, enjoying lunch and a few beers at the Rocks. We returned to Cockatoo Island where we had an awesome view of the New Years fireworks and partied our way into 2012.

In the next few days we made our way down to Amy's parents' (Bruce and Carol Hawthorne) place in Wollongong via Penrith where we caught up with the Gauci's. Had a great couple of days in Wollongong with the Hawthorne's as well as a day trip to the SCG to watch Day 1 of the test match between Australia v India and the start of Michael Clarke's triple hundred.

From Wollongong we went on a road trip with Wayne and Amy down to their place in Geelong in Victoria. We spent the first few days checking out Geelong and meeting Wayne and Amy's friends the Brown's, Justin and Gnomesy as well as visits to the Bellarine wineries with dinner and beers on Pako street. The first weekend we took the train to Melbourne (an hour away) and checked out the sights as well as my awesome 30th present from Sam, Wayne and Amy- tickets to a Melbourne Victory game (Harry Kewell's team) and a Melbourne Tigers NBL game.

The next few days we spent exploring the Surf Coast- Torquay, Bells Beach, Anglesea and a more. We did swim, was a bit nippy to start with compared with SE asia but refreshing!! We also helped out a bit over the next few days with Wayne and Amy's renovations. Sam reckons I got a bit of 'man training' from Wayne, helping him put some plaster up in the hallways.

We also did another couple of trips into Melbourne, firstly to see good old Ramsey St from Neighbours and then for dinner and drinks in Richmond.

Saturday Jan 13 was an early start and up to drive the Great Ocean Road and out to the twelve apostles. What an awesome trip, such great scenery. It's funny, I've been a tourist in so many other countries and hardly seen my own!

The following day was breakky at local cafe with Wayne and Amy and their friends, the Browns. I decided it would be fun to try another eating challenge, I'll try to put a photo up of it. This one was worse then the Vietnamese burger one that I did and you had longer to finish it (63 minutes). I did finish it but have not been able to eat Chorizo since. It might be a while till the next eating challenge.

On our last day (16 Jan) in Geelong we spent a good few hours down in Torquay where we hired a surfboard and I gave Sam a few pointers. Was about 33 degrees so good to get in the water! Had a nice dinner at the local and then it was off to the airport to say our goodbyes and fly back to Sydney. It wouldn't be long before we'd see Wayne and Amy again as the following few weekends were 30th's up in Port and Newcastle.

Mum met us on our arrival into Sydney, and it was straight out to Orange to visit my Grandma and family. Had a nice couple of days before heading back up to Cathie for the next 10 days of 30th's and relaxing by the pool!

Leeroy's 30th was next up (21 Jan). He had hired out the green at Cassegrains winery in Port. Again another great night with mates (and their wives) with lots of silliness as usual!

Australia Day (26 Jan) came round before we knew it and of course BBQ and beers were in order out at Cathie. The following day was 30th no. 3- Jones' in Port. Again a great night and great stories. The following day was road trip time again with Wayne and Amy down to Newcastle for 30th no. 4-Wes. Of course we had to stop at a few wineries for the girls to sample a few! Again a great night at Wes' with lots of silliness and good to catch up with Govy.

The next day after saying our goodbyes it was time to head back to Cathie. We had a nice dinner at Jason and Zaneta's in Port before heading back to Sydney for our last few days in Australia.

In Sydney, we caught up with our mates from London- Garth and Heather. We stayed in Bondi at their nice new apartment and caught up with them over dinner and a few drinks.

The next day it was t20 Cricket time Australia v India and 30th no. 5- Keena's. Drinks flowed, we won and again a great night out!!

Our last day/night in Aus I spent relaxing with Mum and Bob whilst Sam caught up with a friend (Dan Baker) from London whom we used to work with. The next morning 3 (Feb) it was off to the airport with Mum and Bob (who were off to the US on a skiing holiday) and off to NZ.

So if you've got this far you're up to speed on our 7 weeks travel in Aus (and probably bored of my ramblings/asleep). I'm also getting a bit tired of writing this on my phone (I think I'm getting RSI). I'll hand it over to Sam who is gonna blog about NZ and our first few weeks in South America. We'll try and get some pics up soon of it all when we get to a PC.

Hasta Luego!!!

Selemat Pagi Indonesia!

After a day in transit at Singapore airport we arrived in Bali. I was really excited to be here as I was keen to check out some Gamelan music. I was really excited about our trip out the to the Gili islands as I have always wanted to go there. We had a Bintang beer on our balcony the first night in Bali and enjoyed a wander around the streets. Accommodation in Bali can be really cheap if you're not too fussy and usually includes breakfast so that helped us to keep the costs down. The next day we made our way to Padang Bai and took the local slow ferry out to Lombok during the crossing we saw a beautiful sunset. We arrived in Lombok late at night but we still managed to arrange a taxi up to Sengiggi. The next day we went to the beach in Sengiggi which was beautiful, the snorkelling was fun but the current was really strong so we didn't make it out to the reef just off the beach. We went for sunset beers and enjoyed some local food for dinner.

The next day we travelled up to Bangsal and took the local ferry over to Gili islands. The word Giili means island or islet in Bahasa Indonesian, this is a generic language spoken throughout Indonesia although there are many other local languages spoken you can get by with Bahasa. There are three Gili islands just of the northwest tip of Lombok, surrounded by reefs and beautiful turquoise seas they are a real Robinson Crusoe experience.

We headed to Air first and we were taken to beach bungalows by a cidomo (Horse drawn transport) as there are not motorised vehicles on the Gilis. The views were stunning and the beaches were beautiful. The snorkelling was incredible and I was fortunate enough to have an amazing birthday here, the hottest birthday I think I will ever have as it was in the high thirties early forties! We had a great day blowing the budget and enjoying cocktails and ended up singing along with the locals after our meal too! We walked around the island and generally enjoyed a slow pace of life sunbaking, eating the local food and fish.

The next stop was Gili Trawangan which is known as the party island, we spent about a week here partying, sunbaking, snorkelling and meeting great people. We went to check out the Turtle conservation places on the island but unfortunately we were too early to release any turtles, we did see some turtles that had hatched the day before my birthday. We hired bicycles and rode around the island and enjoyed soaking up the gorgeous scenery.

After a week of hanging out here we moved to Gili Meno which is the quietest island of the three. This was our favourite beach as there were trees to shelter from the midday sun, there was a really nice pineapple lady that we would buy fresh pineapple from and the snorkelling was the best here. We finally managed to see a couple of turtles and our last trip out was cut short as we saw the biggest Barracuda; it was about half the size of a leg! We ate most nights at a great little Warung (restaurant) called Ya Ya the guys there were really friendly and it was by far the best Nasi Goreng (fried rice) we had in Indonesia. We reluctantly left the islands and made our way back over to Bali. We spent a night in Padang Bai; we went to see the Black beach and enjoyed some local market food.

We were keen to get to Ubud as it has a lot of Balinese culture on offer so we left Padang Bai after one night. We arrived in Ubud mid morning and headed to the tourist information centre, this was really helpful. We asked if there were any ceremonies happening and the very helpful man pointed us in the direction of a cremation parade/ceremony. This was by far the most elaborate and energetic ceremony I have ever seen, the Gamelan groups that were a part of the ceremony were fascinating to watch and listen to. I was so pleased that we had seen this. We followed the procession along the streets to the Monkey Forest; this was where the cemetery and final part of the ritual took place. We left the ceremony there and went to have a wander around the town. We found out a few days later that the ceremony we had witnessed only happens once every five years, how lucky were we! Later in the afternoon we went to the Monkey Forest, wandered through the temples and watched the monkeys interacting with each other and the tourists that were feeding them. That night we went to the old Ubud Palace (Sareng Agung) to watch a traditional dance and gamelan performance. The setting for the performance was incredible as it was in the open air old palace court yard. Before the performance the 'stage' was lit by candles and decorated with flowers. The dance depicted a story involving Balinese gods and godesses which was easy to follow with the programme notes. I was completely bewitched by the dancing and I really enjoyed the Gamelan music. It was really nice to hear some live Gamelan music; the entire experience was really special. After a busy day enjoying Balinese culture we went for a beer and enjoyed a live cover band.

The next day we travelled to Kuta for a few days partying at the beach resort. There were many schoolies there and for those of you who have not yet encountered schoolies they are Aussie school leavers who go away to celebrate finishing school. We felt quite old when we went out but we didn't let that stop us! It was a real treat to have late night KFC and Macca's -although we did regret it after! We went to the Kuta night food market and ate at a small family restaurant that a father had passed on to his son; it was really cheap and delicious. Ryan was really excited during our stay in Kuta as we were on the countdown to our trip to Australia......

Apologies for not uploading photos for the last three blogs, I am on a time limit in the Geelong Library (which is running out quickly)!

Thailand the sequel; Bangkok

We arrived in Bangkok in the early hours of the morning and took a cab to our hotel on Khao San Road; apparently our taxi driver was falling asleep on the way -eek! We made it safe and sound. Ryan was particularly excited to be in Bangkok as we were off to see the Socceroos and I was excited as we were off to see my friend Pippa for a day of home comforts at her flat in Bangkok. We tried to go to the stadium to get our tickets but it was Sunday and the ticket booths were closed. We went to Tesco Lotus and headed round to Pippa's. Pippa made delicious Lasagne and Garlic Ciabatta for lunch and spoilt us with some yummy Lychee cakes! I went to visit her school and enjoyed seeing where Pippa worked and lived.  We went for a beer by the river side and decided to go for a curry at Pippa's favourite place for dinner. Absolutely delicious! We had a great time and were pleased that we would see Pippa again at the Footie. The next day we went to visit the Grand Palace and although this was spectacular it was no Buckingham Palace! That evening we met up with my friend from home Scott and his girlfriend Yam. We had loads of beers and ended up a very messy evening with street Pad Thai for dinner. We learnt a few useful phrases in Thai that Ryan practiced that night on everyone, this was very funny! The next day we spent the morning completing our Christmas shopping and then went to the post office to send our gifts to England. We then got changed into our Aussie shirts and made our way to the stadium. We met Pippa there and enjoyed a meal of street fish cakes and other random stuff, all delicious. The atmosphere within the grounds was amazing and the Thai supporters were in high spirits (fuelled by Chang beers). The match was a world cup qualifier that Thailand needed to win to stay in and Australia needed at least a draw to qualify. There were quite a few spectacular dives and some interesting decisions and the Thai side spent a lot of time on the turf Christiano Ronaldo style. Jing Lor!!! This made Pippa change sides and support Australia! Finally after 78 minutes of drama and near misses Brett Holman scored the first goal. The green and gold army went bonkers and it was such fun to join in! That was the highlight of the match and after a few great saves from Mark Schwarzer the Aussies had their win. I felt bad for Thai supporters as this was the end of their 2014 world cup campaign. At the end of the match some of the Socceroos came over to the Aussie fans and Luke Wilkshire and Neil Kilkenny threw their boots to the fans -we didn't catch them. Then Schwarzer threw his gloves into the crowd. After the game we ended up waiting at the players exit and Ryan met; Mark Schwarzer, Brett Holman, Bret Emerton. Holman is much prettier in real life and Schwarzer was the nicest and is actually a giant. Because of a weird camera setting I took poor photos and was in the dog house for a bit (sad times). We said our goodbyes to Pippa for a while (not too long we hope) and made our way to get sorted to leave early the next morning. I really enjoyed Thailand and I am really looking forward to the next visit there.

Photos to come soon...

Viet Nam; South to North in three weeks

Viet Nam is actually two words but they have been joined into one word in the west.  Viet means the people and Nam means the South, so Viet people living in the south. We had heard great things and were really excited for the next part of our trip.

We took the coach from Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) this was by far the nicest coach we had travelled on we were given complimentary water and a movie was shown for the journey! We arrived in HCMC late afternoon and wandered around the small laneways looking for a place to stay. The first thing we needed to do was to check out bia hoi, a local draught beer served to customers sat on small plastic chairs and tables in the street.  It cost us 10,000 dong at the first place and the people watching was great. The next day we went to see Reunification palace which was the former presidential palace in South Viet Nam, this was an important victory for the Communists whose tanks broke through the gates in 1975 and marks the fall of Saigon. After this we wandered around the city looking at other famous landmarks such as the Notre Dame Cathedral. Crossing the roads in Viet Nam should be an Olympic event!  It is such a challenge! The trick is to keep walking at a consistent pace so that the traffic can pre-empt your movement. If you think about running or stopping chances are you will be hit! My map reading skills are shocking and I had us wandering off the tourist track through the local streets. This resulted in us having to cross a major road which had about 8 lanes of crazy traffic, scary times. I held Ryan's hand and closed my eyes and with the help of a local we made it. That night we found a cheaper bia hoi place for 6,000 dong -such a bargain as it was 33,000 dong to one pound! The next day we went to the Cu Chi Tunnels, about 30km outside of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon).  The tunnels were a key role in the Viet Cong offensive during the Viet Nam war; a 200km system of tunnels stretching from Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) to the Cambodian border housed the Viet Cong and their families. The tunnels were complex and well thought out including rooms for sleeping, cooking, making weapons, making shoes and clothing, medical rooms, air holes disguised like termite mounds and well systems for water.  Not forgetting the essential escape routes out to the river if the tunnels were breached.  We enjoyed crawling through the tunnels, having a look at the home made bamboo weapons, eating tapioca and drinking tunnel tea.  We also had the opportunity to fire guns, we paid for the bullets and fired an M30 and I think a K74. It was fun, although I never want to fire a gun again as it was a bit scary.  Walking around the tunnels with to the sound of gun fire added to the atmosphere and helped us to imagine war time there. We met a fab English couple Jay and Louise who were on their honeymoon and we all went to watch the Rugby World Cup Final together (New Zealand vs France), naturally I was cheering for the Kiwi's (Shon has asked me to remind you all that New Zealand won). We had a great evening full of drinks and the tastiest Italian food we had found on the road.

We then went to Mui Ne which is a quiet little backpacker beach spot.  We stayed there for 5 nights, sunbaking, catching up with emails and enjoying the sunsets with Saigon (beer) from the spa. We went to a great seafood restaurant (Bi Bo) there and I got over my fish fear by eating fish made into fresh DIY spring rolls using rice paper, mixed greens and water -yum. The scallops there were my favourite and we went back a couple of times just for them! Ryan took part in the Mui Ne Phat Burger challenge, this was a burger that was pretty much the size of a cake, the challenge was to eat it and the side of chips within 20 minutes to get it for free and as much beer as you could drink. After a few motivational comments from me and a bit of space making belches, Rads completed the challenge within 18 minutes as far as we know is still the current record holder! Shame that Ryan could only manage one free beer after all that!

Our next stop was Nha Trang, we spent a few days on the beach here and on Halloween we took a boat trip out to the smaller islands off the coast. We stopped for snorkelling, sunbaking and a floating bar at Mun Island, Mot Island and Hon Tam Beach. We met some great people and drank far too much; the boat entertainment was pretty special. The best shanty musical instruments I have ever heard! We all met up later that night and continued to drink ourselves silly; I also made a rather drunken birthday call to my uncle -sorry about that! We spent the following day nursing our hangovers at the Mud bath and Hot Springs. Quite simply the best hangover cure ever! We made our way up the coast to Hoi An by an overnight bus, this was not the most comfortable journey.

We arrived in Hoi An at 7am and after a few hours of being messed around by a hotel we found a great place to stay which included free bike hire. We cycled 5km out of town to the beach which was stunning and we enjoyed a day there. Whilst in Hoi An we took a cooking lesson, shopped for a few Christmas pressies in the old town market and found the cheapest bia hoi for 3,000 dong a glass! Hoi An is the capital of tailor made clothes in Viet Nam so there were lots of great fabric shops and tailors everywhere, had we been on a shorter trip or holiday we would have had clothes made for us.

The next day we took the bus further up the coast to Hue, which was the political capital of Viet Nam from 1802 to 1945. We hired bicycles and rode around the town and around the outside of the old Citadel. Quite a few of the roads and streets here were flooded but that didn't stop us from exploring. We managed to catch the Viet Nam vs Myanmar (Burma) football game as part of the South East Asian games, after a few near misses the score finished up 0-0 but the Vietnamese were really animated with their support. We didn't stay very long in Hue as we wanted to get out to Cat Ba island in Halong Bay and to do that we had to get up to Hanoi.

We took another overnight bus up to Hanoi but this time paid the extra dollars to take the Sinh Tourist bus, this was well worth the money and was the best bus we took in Viet Nam. The seats recline on all of the tourist buses so that you can sleep during long journeys, there are a floor level and a raised level and the views on the bus journeys were fab. After a comfortable ride up the coast we arrived in Hanoi around 8am, we took a moto taxi out to the bus station and booked our travel out to Cat Ba Island.  Many guidebooks and internet accounts make it sound impossible to get out to Cat Ba Island but we found it really easy! After a trip on a minibus and a small boat we arrived in Cat Ba Island and began the hunt for a place to stay. We found somewhere and in the room opposite us were another backpacking couple who had been on the same journey out there. We had a chat and then ended up in a great routine of drinkies on our balcony each night with Laura and Damien. We went on a walk around the island to check out the beaches and some of the cliff side walks were spectacular and I instantly fell in love with Halong Bay! We took a boat trip out to Lan Ha Bay and Halong Bay for $18 each and Damien and Laura joined us.  We met Greg and Claire from Melbourne on the boat trip and the six of us were inseparable for the rest of the day.  Swimming in Halong bay was good fun, the stop at Monkey Island was nice, we stopped at the 'surprising cave' and its size and beauty more than lived up to the name. The highlight for me was Kayaking through the caves and quiet lagoons within Halong Bay and enjoying the stunning views. On the return trip to the port the sunset was beautiful and we decided to all meet up for dinner and drinks later. We had a great night together and this was probably fuelled by the two litres of Vodka for two pounds! Our last day in Cat Ba island we wanted to go and see the national park and the Hospital cave as recommended by Greg and Claire.  We hired motorbikes and followed Damien and Laura out along the road.  Our trip was cut short by a small bike crash that left Ryan and I a little worse for wear, especially as we were on a dirt/gravel road. Damien and Laura helped us out as did many Vietnamese people who came to see if we were ok. We went straight to the beach and cleaned ourselves off but this was the end of our exploring for that day. We took it easy for the rest of the day and were grateful that we didn't hit anyone else, that we were wearing helmets and that we didn't break anything. After a final night of hanging out with our new friends we travelled back to Hanoi the next day.

It is worth mentioning that travelling out to and staying for five nights on Cat Ba island to take the Halong Bay trip is cheaper than most of the day trips and is a lot more relaxed! After a few jokes from the mean moto taxis we got a ride into the old town and found the hotel that had been recommended. We found a great bia hoi place and ended up drinking with some locals -who shouted all of our beers. The next day we went into the city to complete our Christmas shopping, we checked out the Ngoc Son Temple on Hoan Kiem Lake which houses a preserved giant tortoise, took a xe-om (a cycle taxi similar to a tuc tuc) around the old city and checked out more bia hoi. We would have liked to have gone to visit Uncle Ho but he was in Russia for yearly maintenance work. We both really enjoyed Viet Nam; the people are really kind and mostly helpful.  The food is delicious especially the Pho (noodle soup), various street foods and spring rolls (Viet Nam is the home of Spring Rolls) and I still can't get over the fact that I could have had 11 draught (bia hoi) beers for one pound.

Photos to be added soon......

A week in Cambodia...

So I've been held to gun point to finally write another blog..... Not really, but I said I'd do it, so here goes Cambodia. Writing this from Hue, in central Viet Nam by the way!

We decided to make the long journey from Don Det in the 4 Thousand Islands to Siem Reap in Cambodia. So we booked our bus tickets all the way through to Siem Reap for $30 US. Due to leave at 8.00am in the morning, and arrive in Siem Reap at 9.30pm that night. We initially took the boat across the Mekong where we waited for an hour or so in a travel agent, before heading off to the Cambodian border. We'd heard all sorts of scams involving Cambodian borders so when the travel agent offered us to get our visas for $30 US and the official rate is supposed to be $20, we politely declined. So off we went through the border thinking we'd saved a bit of cash but little did we know we'd be giving money away left right and centre as we went. Stamped out of out Laos, with a $2 stamp fee, a $1 health check as we crossed no man's land (basically a lady pointing a thermometer gun at your head and then yelling at us 'you pay $1 now!!!'), $23 for the actual visa (above the official rate) and then $2 to put a stamp in it for a total of $28 which wasn't too bad considering we'd heard a few horror stories that sounded a lot worse. So now in Cambodia where we were directed to a restaurant. Here we sat for a couple of hours, waiting for other passengers who'd left Don Det two hours after us! We could have had a two hour longer sleep in! So eventually the bus got going and you could tell we were very late. A tyre blow out and numerous stops for food etc didn't really help things and eventually we arrived in Siem Reap at 3.30am, only about 6 hours late. After a few friendly negotiations with agressive tuk-tuk drivers telling us our guesthouse was shut, flooded and an expensive ride away, we eventually made it to bed at around 4.30am.



Sam in a flooded Siem Reap



After a bit of sleep in, the next morning we set off through a flooded Siem Reap centre to Pub Street where we were joined by loads of Aussies and Kiwi's watching the World Cup semi. Had a great time, despite the result and partied the night away in a flooded Pub St with our new mates, including a 4pm round of tequila's that set the mood for the rest of the evening. Sam ran into Pippa, (her mate from the UK) who was in Siem Reap with Paul and Grace whom we spent a lovely evening the following night catching up and eating some awesome Khmer food.

The party after the Rugby

Our third day in Siem Reap and decided to get up early and do a day tour to the temples of Angkor. We were lucky enough to have an awesome sunrise as it had mostly been cloudy/rainy as it was nearly the end of monsoon. Angkor Wat was absolute quality, as were the rest of the temples. Favourite was Ta Promh, the jungle temple which literally has a jungle growing inside the ruins.

Angkor Wat at sunrise

Me at the temple of Angkor

Me at Ta Promh

Sam at Ta Promh

Following our long day of templing, we decided to head down to the capital, Phnom Penh to get our Vietnamese visas and see the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek and the S-21 Tuol Sleng prison. We'd heard some not so nice things of the capital but we actually enjoyed it, despite the shocking history and things that we learnt and saw. We made a day trip out to the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek and S-21. At Choeung Ek, we listened to to an audioguide of some horrific stories of some of the victims of the Khymer Rouge, one of whom was killed because a guard accused a her of stealing two bananas. We then went to S-21 which was an old school that had been converted to a prison during the Khmer Rouge regime. There were shocking photographs of the thousands of prisoners who had been held there before being transported out to Choeung Ek. It was here we ran into our Irish mates from the slow boat, Jerry and Jill with which it was decided a beer was in order later that evening to cheer us up. Had another great night out and woke the next morning with a bit of a hangover. Went off to pick up our passports and visas, then straight on to a bus to Ho Chi Minh City in Viet Nam.....

Tuol Sleng S-21 Prison

Tuol Sleng S-21 Prison

  

Map of Cambodia at Tuol Sleng

Tuol Sleng Prison rules

Memorial Pagoda at Choueng Ek

Victims skulls inside the memorial Pagoda at Choueng Ek

Lovely Laos

 
So our adventures in Laos started in Chiang Mai where we booked the slow boat tickets. We were part of a small group that travelled to Chiang Khong, on the way to CK we stopped at Chiang Rai which is famous for it’s white ghost temple. This was beautiful and we were really pleased that we got to see it! When we arrived in Chiang Khong we were taken to our guesthouse for the night which was ok. There was a rather plump man shouting orders at his wife (usual thing in Asia) and a strange Japanese bar next door. We went for a wander down the very small high street, bought some cuyshions for the boat and Rads had a shave in the local barbers (because he was looking like a hobo). We met some really nice people within our group, a nice Northern couple, an Aussie named Brendan and a nice Scotty called Neil. We sat around drank some beers and traded travelling war stories which was great.  The next day we were driven to the Thai side of the Mekong river to catch a long tail boat over to the Laos border.  However, we couldn’t find anywhere to stamp out of Thailand and the boat people hurried us along. Of course we were all plonkers and ended up having to pay to cross back over to stamp out etc… it must be a tourist trap to make extra cash. After this we successfully got our Laos visas and ended up on a bus, in a tourist shop where the man tried to make us change our minds and take the bus instead (another quick cash scheme I expect) but we all said no etc.  We eventually made it to the Mekong to board the boat (after stopping at the bus drivers mates shop etc this happens everywhere in Asia) and got on the boat.

The White Temple at Chiang Rai

The boat was quality and there was a large group of us –a mixture of tourists and locals.  There was a bit of party atmosphere on the boat and we had our first BeerLao –delicious (much better than Thai beer). So your probably wondering what this slow boat malarkey is?1 You travel from the Laos border down the mekong river with an overnight stop off in Pak Beng and then on to Luang Prabang.  The Mekong was rather big due to all of the monsoon etc but it was truly beautiful.  There would be nothing other than jungle for ages and then a small village where the kids would run down and wave, or we would stop to drop someone or something off or pick something up (like a motor bike one day).  The night stay in Pak Beng was incredible, this village has only built up because of the boat stop off and is really tiny.  We found a great hotel and a great family restaturant where we tried traditional Laos dishes.  We tried the Buffalo Laap which ia a meat salad with coriander, mint and chillies, this is eaten with sticky rice that you roll into a ball shape and dip into the laap, it was delicious. On the boat the next day we spoke to more people on the boat and met a really fab Irish couple (Jerry and Jill) and we continued to bump into them all over Laos and again in Cambodia!  The second day the boat trip was longer but just as beautiful.  I highly recommend this to anyone! 

Kids got onto the boat to sell beer Lao

Cave near Luang Prabang that houses many Buddhas

When we arrived in Luang Prabang it was stunning, a little French colonial town with all french style buildings, bakeries, cake shops, cafes, bicycles and baguettes –everywhere!  We tried some noodle soup, this was delicious and hired a couple of bicycles.  This was great fun and we rode around exploring the town and checked out some temples.  We only paid to go into one and that is because it is the most magnificant temple in Luang Prabang –Wat Xieng Thong.  We then pedalled to the Royal Palace Museum which was great and we saw a small gold buddha that gave Luang Prabang it’s name.  There were also gifts from other countries displayed, we liked the Australian gift of a boomerang that had inscribed ‘made by Torres Strait islanders or Queensland Aborigines! We went to the night market for dinner and that was really tasty.

The tree of life mosaic at the temple

We took a bus to Vang Vieng, the scenary was stunning, the mountains were so beautiful we stopped many times on the way, passing fresh landslides and passed through random hill top villages. Towards the end of the bus trip the roads were terrible, generally the roads in north Laos are a bit poor. Vang Vieng is a backpacker party spot famous for River Tubing. Basically you hire a Tractor inner tube and float 4km down the river, along the first 2km there are bars and they chuck a rope into the water and fish you into their bars!  The first day we went early and it was really mellow and we were the only few people there, we ended up with some people from the slow boat, drinking, using the swings and slides into the river and generally partying!  The next day we went again after the Wallabies Springboks game and it was like a spring break scene from a movie! I should say that Whisky shots are free and compulsory at every bar but water is expensive! Both days Rads and I were so pissed that we had to paddle 2km down the river to get our tubes back in time.  The scenary along the river is stunning and tubing was great fun, we had to get out after a weekend …..

Amazing Scenary at Vang Vieng

The end of the Tubing

One of the many hill top stops

We travelled to Vientiene with terrible hangovers and thank gosh the roads were a bit better!  Vientiene is the capital of Laos and we weren’t really to fond of it there so we only stayed one night.  There was a big festival coming up in a few days time and the entire seafront road was set up with stalls, stages and there was a big party atomsphere. The festival is to celebrate the end of the rain season and to celebrate the river and is basically a big boat race, but everyone makes their own long boat especially for the race. Sadly we missed the race and the festival.

Rads at Kong Lor Cave

We left Vientiene and took the local bus out to Ban Nahin so we could go to Kong Lor Cave which is inland and off the beaten track. This bus ride was ok and the roads weren’t too bad.  As soon as we arrived we found a guesthouse, hired a bike and rode the 40km out to the cave.  The journey was incredible driving through small village communities, rice paddies and all the kids would wave and shout Sabidee (hello) as we passed them by.  Kong Lor Cave is a real Indiana Jones experience, a 7.5 km cave that can only be accessed by boat and leads to a village on the other side mountains.  Our torch is rubbish so it was really eerie because the only light was coming from the front and back boatmen’s headtorch. Scary times!  Every now and again we would pass bats and you could here them all squeeking and chattering away to each other!  At one point you are stopped and get off the boat and walk through some magnificant stalagmites and stalactites.  The boatmen only light these up when you’re near them and it is stunning.  By far the creepiest and most beautiful caves I have ever seen!

We travelled about one third of the length of Laos in one day trying to make our way down to Siphon Don or the Four Thousand Isalnds.  However we only made it as far as Pakse and stayed there for a night before we continued on the next day. When we left Pakse we took a Songtheaw (like a bus version of a tuc tuc) and it eventually left with 35 people crammed in, including a nice Canadian couple and Ryan and I were squashed up to some monks and a rnadom girl pretty much sat on my knee the entire journey! It was coming to the end of the rainy season so the Mekong was pretty dirty and you couldn’t see many of the four thousand islands.  We found a great place to stay and met up with the Canadian guys for dinner, a great first night in Don Det. The island was incredibly muddy and it was better to walk around with no shoes on! We hired bicycles and rode around to the other island Don Khong, we got caught in a monsoon and that was hilarious.  We ended up passing a small family somewhere out near long beach (muddy/sandy beach on the river) and they offered us Laos Laos –home brew.  It’s rude to say no so of course we drank the Laos Laos and it was strong I was glad that they only gave me a little lady glass! We bumped into Jerry and Jill again and got on the beers which was good craic!! We only stayed there a few nights because the weather was a bit grim and there was sooo much mud.  We decided to book a bus trip from the islands to Siem Reap in Cambodia (it’s quite difficult to make your own way as there are no direct roads to SR).  We were excited to be heading off to Cambodia but we were sad to leave Laos as the people were so nice, it’s such a beautiful country and it is still mostly unspoilt by tourism (apart from Vang Vieng). Over to Rads for the Cambodia blog!!

My new school in Don Khong

Rads at the waterfall in Don Khong

Bridge between Don Det and Don Khong