The Finn of all Things...

Back to Ko Lanta to resume the beach bum position

2010-03-28T07:20:00.000+01:00

We headed back to long beach on Ko Lanta and have set up for some luxury in Thai House Bungalows seeing as we are comming to the end of our trip and our funds are going ok. Plan is to continue our perfected beach bumb poses of sunbaking and reading on the sand, with the occassional movement to the crystal clear water for a swim and to cool off. no return date yet.... but it isnt far off.

We are enjoying some yummy food at the beach front bars and restaurants, and the entertainment of watching others fall vicitim to the high tide river that forms very quickly at night and comes between them and their beds.

We also went for one last dive out to Ko Hai and it was stunning, with amazing coral covered underwater cliffs, thousands of bright tropical fish, and some more firsts to add to our list of sea creatures. Saw some ghost flute fish, smashing shrimp, spearing shrimp, an octopus, crayfish, more little eels, and some things i cant remember the names of.

Secluded beaches in Ko Kradan

2010-03-28T07:07:00.002+01:00

We wanted some secluded beaches, and we found the perfect ones on Ko Kradan. It was another stunning place with only a handful of accommodation options and places to eat. everything closed at 9pm and electricity only was on between 6pm and 3am. we had a cute little bungalow on the beach front. 3 days were spent wasting away the day on the stunning beaches. one included a couple of hours of the best off shore snorkeling we have done so far. life cant get better than this, i thin professional beach bum is a perfect future career. Only problem is the little sea lice to love to eat me.... but thanks to my new diving outfit of socks, leggings, long sleeve top and wollen gloves i'm safe.

The perfect island, Ko Lipe

2010-03-28T07:00:00.000+01:00

On advice from fellow travellers, we headed as far south as possible to the little Island of Ko Lipe. One of our fav's in all of thailand, it had the perfect mix of beautiful chalky sand beaches, crystal clear water, stunning coral reefs, cheap accommodation options and good restaurants, whilst not being over touristy. we could have stayed there for ages but were curious to get in a few more islands before we head home.

We spent our 6 days chilling out reading, swimming, drinking beer, sun baking and snorkeling as we alternated between beaches. We stayed on sunrise beach which was the nicest of the beaches, at gypsy bungalows. we even dragged ourselves out of bed on the last day to watch the beautiful sunrise (we slept through our alarm the day before). There was some great snorkeling straight off the shore of sunrise as well, but some strong currents made the swim back to shore a bit interesting. Sunset beach had stunning views but was a little smaller. the views from Mountain view restaurant were stunning over the island and surrounding sea as we had breakfast one morning, then we made our way across the rocky points to some of the small secluded beaches. Pataya beach was a bit busy but beautiful, and we spent a couple of nights having drinks at the beach front bars watching fire twirling and some lightening storms off in the distance.

We also spent 2 days out scuba diving, inspiring us to organise a few future holidays based on diving. We did 4 dives and each was awesome thanks to the beautiful soft coral in the area and abundance of tropical fish. One pinnacle looked like a huge underwater christmas tree as it was covered in white flowery corral. we had some firsts, like seeing a sea snake, moray eels, box fish, scorpion fish, porcupine fish, heaps of lion fish and the usual bat, butterfly, angel, and banner fish all covered in bright colours. we also stopped on monkey island for lunch and had fend off the resident group of monkeys that were keen on our food.

Oh, and kev gave up on trying to grow a beard after 3 months. he contemplated leaving the moustache.... but in the end it all came off. i was getting used to his scruffy look

the long stretch at perfect sunrise beach

the long tails just added to the perfect views

bungalows on the beach

look at that water

views from mountain view restaurant

a little secluded beach in the background where we spent the arvo with the beach all to ourselves

sunset beach.... need i say more

ohhhh, how romantic

its hard to get more beautiful

kev looking all fury and worried that he is going to get a tanline from beard (well closest thing to a beard that he can grow)

contemplating whether he should just leave the mo,

back to his boyish cleanly shave look.... oh well he tried to be a man and grow a beard

sunrise beach again

My birthday in transit, bankok, phuket, ko Lanta

2010-03-28T06:28:00.003+01:00

Our plan to head back down south to the beaches turned out to be a bit of a journey and meant my real bday was spent mainly in transit. we flew to bangkok airport and had a 6 our layover for our flight to Phuket (cheapest flights we could find). Lucky bangkok airways has an awesome transit lounge where we sat on the free wifi munching on all their free food like freshly popped butter popcorn and drinking coffee.

spent the night in a nice comfy hotel in Phuket town. Got a new diary from the elephant park as a little suprise present from kev. We munched down a delicious chicken and prawn green curry at the local market for dinner, making it really felt like i was in thailand for my bday. Then after a nice warm bath, I had a night sleep on the comfy bed in our air con room. so overall not as bad a bday as i expected.

Our plans to head all the way south to Lipe in one day were interrupted as the boat was full, so we spent one day at ko Lanta. We stayed on Long beach and spent our first day in a while, swimming, reading and sunbaking. I decided to class this as an extension on my bday celebrations. so we headed out for one of the best dinners so far of crispy fish in curry sauce, sitting right on the sandy beach with the sound of the sea in the background. We then had an unexpected night swim as we crossed the little stream to our room which had become more of a neck deep river thanks to the high tide.

my bday at the elephant nature park

2010-03-28T04:47:00.002+01:00

for an extra special experience for my bday we headed to the Elephant Nature Park, a sanctuary for abused and homeless elephants. It was one of the most special moments on this trip, and i cant explain what it felt like to be so close to the huge but gentle animals. If only we had more time, we would have stayed and volunteered in the park.but i've decided to foster one for my extra bday presents. check out the link to the park to see what they do. whilst it was devastating to learn about the torture technique they use on all elephants to train them to be submissive, it was beautiful to see them now being cared and how they care for each other. they let the elephants form their own herds, walk around without chains, no performing, no elephant rides, trying to help them be as close to free in the wild as they can get seeing as they dont have a safe protect area to release them into. the photos give a glimpse of what we did there. a few of the highlights

being kissed by one of the elephants
feeding the little baby elephants
watching the mother and aunties protect the babies when they become distressed by surrounding them in a tight circle
the elephants using deep grumbles to talk to each other
watching the touch and comfort each other constantly
A blind elephant being protected and lead around by its best friend
watching the huge elephants roll around in the river
throwing buckets of water at elephants as they also spray themselves as they wash
watching a little elephant take a nap in the mud
putting food right into the mouth of huge elephants
seeing how much food needs to be prepared for the 34 elephants in the park
just watching from a distance as herds of elephants wonder around and talk to each other

highly recommended to anyone who goes anywhere near the area of chiang mai... life changing.

flying through the tree tops of chiang mai

2010-03-15T07:46:00.004Z

check out this video of us flying through the air on the zip lines

chiang mai flying gibbon

2010-03-15T07:09:00.001Z

despite my fear of heights, and thanks to kev's encouragement, we headed out zip through the trees over the tree canopy just outside of chiang mai. It was an amazing rush, souring through the trees on zip lines, looking over the tree canopy and surrounding hills. I was very proud of myself and absolutely loved it. The highest platform was 50 meters above ground, i was hanging on to the safety line as i dared to look over, and had to take some very deep breaths before launching off that platform along the 300m zip line that raced toward it. but I did it!!! It also had suspension bridges, twirling stairs, and 34 platforms in the circuit. Only part i wasn't thrilled with was the absailing, stepping off a platform to drop toward the ground goes against all my natural instincts. but the guy lowered us down and i managed to open my eyes to take in the views on the way down.

chiang mai

2010-03-15T07:04:00.002Z

We arrived in chiang mai via aeroplane rather than a 2 day bus journey. our stomachs were still a bit off, but at least we were able to leave the room. We loved the old town of chiang mai, as it had heaps to do, good food, cheap and felt chilled out thai without the big city feel of Bangkok. We wondered into a few temples, got deceived by a wax figure of a monk, and found we were officially templed out. so we got active and headed out for some tours.

Motor bike to Pai - hired our own bike and kev drove us up north for 4 hours to pai. it was a gorgeous drive along the winding road into the norther Thai hills. we stopped on the way to buy fresh strawberries off the side of the road, and to go on a little trek out to a waterfall Moung Fa. Then we continued on our way taking in the beautiful country side whilst i thanked god that kev was such a good rider on the windy hills. we were almost there when we started to notice the back of the bike slide out a bit. pulling over, we realised we had a flat tyre and were still 35km out from pai, in the middle of no where. figuring we had no option we started to push the bike down the road toward a rest stop where we were surprised to find a temp army check road check point set up. with a few laughs from army guys and cops they soon located a compressor, decided the tyre was too far gone, stopped a local truck onto which they loaded the bike, then told us to get in the front and we were off with no idea what the next stop was as our driver didn't speak any English. he smiled dropped us off at a garage in pai, refused any money as a thank you, then the shop repaired the tyre for $3 and we were back on our way all within an hour of the flat. again i would say we were very lucky, second tyre to blow right at the spot where help could be sought. but no more bikes for us, we are not pushing our luck. we did make it out to a waterfall in pai and toured the countryside where locals continually yelled out offering us opium and dope to smoke. the landscape would be gorgeous in the wet season but was a bit too dry and brown for us. so we headed back on our 4 hour journey home which was generally uneventful, except that we almost ran out of petrol and had to stop at the same police checkpoint to ask the locals for some petrol.... dumb tourists !!!

Hike in the north west region - our 'just walking' tour started with a visit to a butterfly farm (only a few brown ones in there), an orchid farm (flowers aren't our thing), a local market, and then a wonder through a 'local village' which essentially had long neck hill tribe ladies sitting in their shops like animals on exhibition as we walked past. not exactly the local tribe visit we envisioned. it was freaky to see the number of rings these ladies had around their neck though. We even had lunch before we got round to the walking part of the tour. We finally got going in the peak heat of the day and found our selves crawling up hill in scorching heat trying to appreciate the land scape. unfortunately it was very dry and brown, plus there were sections completely burnt out and even still on fire thanks to their slash and burn agricultural methods. our guide was clueless and couldn't tell us anything about the local tribes when we wondered through their village. but we had some good company and we ended the hike with a swim to cool off at the local waterfall. thank goodness we didn't do an overnight stay though, we were happy to wave goodbye to the rest who sat hot and sweaty under a shelter with no one round and nothing to do except look at the brown dusty surrounds and few local ladies sewing.

Night market - we wondered out to this huge night market, especially in search of new thongs. no luck.... i dont know where little kids buy shoes in Thailand. not in the mood to shop we just browsed the rows and rows of clothes and souvenirs.

Mu Thai - we bumped into our mates caroline and ben again so headed out to the local mu thai stadium. turned out to be a ring in the middle of a strip of trashy sleazy bars full of young thai women and lady boys. Not as professional as we expected, but it was a great night and quite brutal as we watched them kicked the crap out of each other. As we downed the cocktails and chang beer we got right into the fights and placed a few bets, kev was devastated when blue lost. Even had mid fight entertainment as the ladyboys put on a floor show and got topless, some plastic surgeons have made a lot of money. More drinks including rice wine and shots, plus some pool and connect four games, it was great way to farewell our travel buddies.

Cooking class - Another day all about food at Oriental thai garden cooking school, how perfect. we started with the usual eye opener of a market tour and vegie garden education session. then we cooked up a storm of 7 dishes. i finally learnt how to make my own curry paste, then we dished out curries, papaya salad, deep fried banana, coconut milk soup, sweet and sour chicken, pad sew (fat noodle stirfry). i was rolling by the time i got home, no need for dinner

Mountain biking - kev decided to be active whilst i stuffed myself and went for a 5 hour mountain bike tour through the hills of chiang mai. he said it was a bit over his head but he managed to survive with only one stack over the handle bars and no major injuries.

Sunday Market, we checked out the sunday market which materialised out of nowhere and consumed the old city. it went for km's from east to west across the city. had some amazing food, sold every possible thing you can imagine, and was full of heaps of interesting people to keep us entertained. we stayed out to midnight at street bar for a beer to kick start my bday celebrations

farewell drinks with ben and caroline

is this really worth the hike in 30 plus degrees???

just part of treking in asia..... bush fires

finally cooling off in the waterfall after our hike

watching mu thai, we'll take you on

the mu thai rink, one guy doing his pre fight dance

our lady boy mid fight entertainment

just part of the entertainment....

champion of the ring

eating snakes....

2010-03-14T17:50:00.002Z

This is what the snake eating experience was like...
some seriously sicko stuff, but thats Vietnam!

Cut open the live snake, rip out its still beating heart, and shot it down with some Rice Wine

Vang Vieng - In the Tubing (video1)

2010-03-14T17:46:00.004Z

The first swing set on the river... this an alcohol cant be a good mix

Vang Vieng - In the Tubing (video2)

2010-03-14T17:38:00.002Z

Luang Prabang, another cute little city

2010-03-11T15:09:00.001Z

whilst it is fully of tourists, Luang Prabang is quite a pretty little town, peaceful, good food, friendly people and very chilled out. We arrived late after another 7 hour drive on windy roads. the locals use burning methods to prepare the farming land and we had to drive through flames as they licked both sides of the road. i'm amazed the little villages built all from wood dont all go up in flames! our first night we enjoyed the sunset, sipping cocktails from a river side restaurant.

The next day we chilled out and spent it just wondering slowly around. There are heaps of wats throughout the city and therefore quite a lot of monks wondering around. unfortunately they turn into tourist attractions themselves sometimes. We tried to appreciate the local culture and wondered into the Wat Xieng Thong which had massive gold painted carvings and statues. though we enjoyed cruising across the Mekong to a village just out of town much more -i think we are definitely over sightseeing.

We took a relaxing boat trip out to Pak Ou Cave which is full of 100's of buddha statues. i enjoyed zoning out on the boatride more. unfortunately the river is too low at the moment for us to take a long boat ride out to the border. Then we headed over to the huge tiered Kuang Si Waterfalls which were so amazing they look artificially constructed. we hiked up to the top, but there wasnt really anywhere to swim. so we made our way back down and then cooled off in the icy cold waters in one of the lower pools. kev took his turn swinging on the tarzan rope and jumping of a small cliff into the water. One of the most beautiful waterfalls i've ever seen.

We checked out the local market and i love a lot of the silk products they weave here. but no room in my bag. We ate out in the night food market, bbq pork, sausage and chicken. but best meal has been my lao curry soup, although the lao/luang prabang salad is a close second.

I did another cooking class with Tamarind restaurant. great day that started with a visit to the market and me getting grossed out by the strange food. they use alot of waterbuffallo and have over 7 different ways to preserve and eat just the skin! they have some yummy snack, the best are shredded mushrooms friend in garlic and chilli Yumm. but i was amazed to see all the organs, whole pig head skin, bile and intestine contents, and congealed blood all on sale to be cooked with. the fermented fish sauce that i know tastes ok in the salads and lao food, smelled and looked disgusting. Then back to cook up a storm and i finally learnt how to make good sticky rice. The best was a delicious egg plant dipping sauce, followed by stuffed lemon grass (yes you can manage to stuff the little storks). The fish in dill and banana leaf was ok, but i'm not a huge fan of dill. then the unusual soup which has eggplant, Buffalo meat and skin, mushrooms and every herb you can imagine was abit overwhelming for me. sticky rice pudding with fruit was a huge hit though. so more dishes to try again when i get back.

Kev went mountain biking for 5 hours whilst i cooked, alot of it up hill so i was glad to have missed that. he seemed to have a good day. then we both caught up for some cocktails followed by a 1 hour massage - i tried the traditional lao style which is very similar to thai. kev had enough so went for dinner whilst i followed up with a 1 hour facial and 1 hour foot massage. i was floating and ready for bed once i'd had a banana pancake for dinner.

It was fortunate i didnt have dinner with kev, although unfortunate for him, as the next 2 days he was out with pretty bad food poisoning! poor thing. we had to delay our flights to chiang mai.

the bizzare plain of jars in phonsavan

2010-03-11T15:04:00.001Z

surprisingly kev was in worse shape then me and had to fight to hold it down as we drove for 8 hours along the windy roads from vang vieng to phonsavan. the town itself was small and quiet, but a huge education for me when we went to visit the unexploded ordinance information centre. Lao is the most heavily bombed country in the whole world (no joke). the Americans broke the Geneva convention and not only bombed the shit out of the place but used a horrific type designed to kill not injure people. And 1/3 of the 2 million bombs dropped didnt explode and are still killing hundreds of people. it was freaky to know that if you strayed off paths that had officially been cleared, you may come across a bomb, or even be unfortunate enough to get blown up by one!! and this is 30 years later. we watched a couple of horrific documentaries at the MAG centre, which is an organisation helping to clear the bombs.

We went out to see the famous huge jars that are thousands of years old and lying out in the middle of fields. no one really knows what they were used for, but they are enormous and our guide was convinced their purpose was for cremation as well as storing rice wine. We visited site 1 and 3, where we saw the largest jar which weighs more than 6 tonnes.

Then headed out to some hot springs.... which were definately scorching hot to the point that you couldnt touch the water. so instead we milled around in the stream. very disappointing. then up to the caves where a US plan shot a rocket into a cave where over 300 people were taking refuge and killed all but one. a bit sobering walking into there.

we also stopped past a humong village where i was amazed to see so many of the houses and gardens built using remains from US bombs. they also make alot of tools and cutlery from the metal.... as well as sell alot of it. which contributes to why so many people, including children, still collect the bombs for the metal and often get blown up in the process. tried some lao lao (local rice wine) which almost blew our heads off.

Vang Vieng - In the Tubing!!!!!

2010-03-11T14:36:00.002Z

let me just say.... GREATEST DAY ON TRIP! (arguably...)

we finally arrived in Vang Vieng.... the part of this whole south east asia trip that kev has been talking about before we left home. It is all about the Tubing here! we arrived to a ghost town in the early arvo... but by late arvo the drunken tubers started to arrive in town via tuk tuk and a few who actually made it down the river to the end. we spent a low key first night after wondering around the outskirts of town to try and escape some of the tourists. We watched the sunset sitting in hammocks drinking beer (well i was wrapped in mine to avoid the mossies). then joined the rest of the tourists to watch friends in a cafe as we chose from the carbon copy menu that seems to be in every single restaurant.

we jumped straight into tubing the next day and arrived by 12pm with tube in hand at the first bar. I had wondered how anyone could get stuck at the first few bars and not make it to the end of the 4 km stretch of river that you can tube down. but within 2 hours, we were only at our second bar about 20 meters down streem and i began to understand. Buckets of bad tasting mojitos or vodka with m150 (supper dupper red bull syrup stuff), as well as cheap beer and free rice wine shots.... we were well on our way and dancing round on the bar decks as we watched people neck themselves on the flying foxes. Within the first 5 min kev was flying through the air on his first flying fox. which just kick started the day where he spent half the time swinging through the air. he never quite got the backward somersault going though. i on the other hand needed a bit of dutch courage, but finally ran up there and swung off before i had time to chicken out. I did it!!!!! bit achievement for me. then did a double one with kev.... i almost forgot to let go to drop in the water as i hung on for dear life.

we slowly made our way through the bars using the tubes along the river, but by 3:30 we had only travelled a few hundred meters. so we decided to give it a go and try get to the end. Kev out of it, and me high on all the red bull.... we linked legs and paddled down the river enjoying the amazing scenery of huge cliffs in the back ground and the river surrounding us. the bars sounded in one direction as we left party land... and headed out to what seemed a never ending river. we got beached a couple of time on the rocks as the river was low, and had to detour past a huge herd of water Buffalo that freaked kev out. i attempted to get a take away bucket from a bar which required us to climb up and down a long ladder. i got it all the way down then slipped and emptied the full thing into the water..... got another further down the river. We paddled hard near the end and made it back at 5:55 after a made last minute dash through town to get our deposit back by 6. exhausted we went back to the room and passed out after showers. other than a quick meal whilst we giggled at family guy reruns we passed out by 9pm. i dont know how people keep going all night.

Day 2 we avoided tubing and again hung over.... we hired a motor bike to go exploring caves within the lime stone mountains out of town. we went exploring in one pitch black cave using a head torch and local guide. We squeezed though narrow little passages and had to army crawl in some spots which was a good adventure. then up to the blue lagoon where we hiked up the mountain to explore the huge cave. though i preferred cooling off in the blue water lagoon out the front. then kev was amazing to handle the bike along the shitty roads as we drove through little villages.

Day 3 we braved tubing again..... and it was still an awesome day. tubing has definitely lived up to the high expectations. Only difference was we had no plans to get to the end. Instead we spent the whole 5 hours moving from bar to bar, enjoying the buckets, music and kev back onto the flying foxes. i had already proved my courage the day before so opted to just watch. We also stopped at the mud bar where we had a messy but hilarious time trying to play volley ball in the mudpit. even after a shower our bathers were crusty with mud. everybody turns into your best friend when out tubing so we had heaps of company. just made it back in time thanks to a tuk tuk. only down side was that someone stole my thongs which i had taken to use as paddles (no i didnt lose them!). now i have the pain in the butt task of trying to find thongs that fit me and i actually want to wear.

Vientiane - a welcomed change

2010-03-11T14:30:00.002Z

Laos has been a fantastic change from vietnam, and we are regretting we dont have longer to stay here. The food is great, people friendly and honest, the whole atmosphere is relaxed, no pushy people in your face, beautiful scenery, tubing lived up to its expectations and to add to it, cheap cheap.

We landed in Vang Vieng very hung over from our rice wine adventures so we had dinner and passed out pretty quickly, with just enough time to realise how chilled out the capital city was.

Day 1 we headed straight to set up our thai land visa, which took a good couple of hours waiting in cue. otherwise headed out to wonder the city. saw their version of the arc dee triomphe, the Patuxai, a huge arc down the end of a long main esplanade. the view from the top was ok. wondered past their local market full of bits and pieces, kev got his beer lao singlet to add to the collection. Had our first delicious spicy papya salad at a Talat Sao local restaurant whilst a gorgeous little girl played under our table. took in an old buddist stupa, as well as Wat Si Saketa which was full of thousands of little buddha statues. We missed the museums and only breezed past some other wats. Met up with Caroline and Ben for some sunset drinks on the mekong..... turned into all night drinks on beer lao as we seem to be bad influences on each other. kev got the hickups that seriously lasted hours, entertainment for us but it was sending him insane.

We woke up a bit rough the next day and there was no way i was getting on a push bike. instead we hired a motor bike and went to pick up our visas. then out to the huge wat at Pha That Tuang, which was a huge gold tiered structure. we were having severe concerns about being in our last new country for this trip, so have found the perfect remedy... planning our next trip to south america. we took a long 25km trip out of town on the bike to buddha park, which was an awesome garden full of huge buddhist and hindu statues. we discussed our next trip from the top of the pumpkin. then on the way home kev managed not to stack when we blew a tyre. i see it as good luck.... we blew out right in front of a tyre repair place (no it wasnt a scam due to the way the inner tube ripped not the outside). thanks to the helpful and well practiced lao repair man we were back on the bike within 10 minutes and only $5 out of pocket.

we enjoyed a BBQ chicken meal by the almost empty dry mekong. kev got up the courage to try the chicken fetus egg... the fetus was down the hatch before i could take a photo and he could think about it - verdict was 'yuck, never again.'

Laos has been a fantastic change from vietnam, and we are regretting we dont have longer to stay here. The food is great, people friendly and honest, the whole atmosphere is relaxed, no pushy people in your face, beautiful scenery, tubing lived up to its expectations and to add to it, cheap cheap.

We landed in Vang Vieng very hung over from our rice wine adventures so we had dinner and passed out pretty quickly, with just enough time to realise how chilled out the capital city was.

Day 1 we headed straight to set up our thai land visa, which took a good couple of hours waiting in cue. otherwise headed out to wonder the city. saw their version of the arc dee triomphe, the Patuxai, a huge arc down the end of a long main esplanade. the view from the top was ok. wondered past their local market full of bits and pieces, kev got his beer lao singlet to add to the collection. Had our first delicious spicy papya salad at a Talat Sao local restaurant whilst a gorgeous little girl played under our table. took in an old buddist stupa, as well as Wat Si Saketa which was full of thousands of little buddha statues. We missed the museums and only breezed past some other wats. Met up with Caroline and Ben for some sunset drinks on the mekong..... turned into all night drinks on beer lao as we seem to be bad influences on each other. kev got the hickups that seriously lasted hours, entertainment for us but it was sending him insane.

We woke up a bit rough the next day and there was no way i was getting on a push bike. instead we hired a motor bike and went to pick up our visas. then out to the huge wat at Pha That Tuang, which was a huge gold tiered structure. we were having severe concerns about being in our last new country for this trip, so have found the perfect remedy... planning our next trip to south america. we took a long 25km trip out of town on the bike to buddha park, which was an awesome garden full of huge buddhist and hindu statues. we discussed our next trip from the top of the pumpkin. then on the way home kev managed not to stack when we blew a tyre. i see it as good luck.... we blew out right in front of a tyre repair place (no it wasnt a scam due to the way the inner tube ripped not the outside). thanks to the helpful and well practiced lao repair man we were back on the bike within 10 minutes and only $5 out of pocket.

we enjoyed a BBQ chicken meal by the almost empty dry mekong. kev got up the courage to try the chicken fetus egg... the fetus was down the hatch before i could take a photo and he could think about it - verdict was 'yuck, never again.'

Snake and rice wine in Hanoi

2010-03-06T07:39:00.003Z

We spebt one more day in Hanoi before we left for Laos by air. we decided not to brave the 22 hour bus ride across the border as my tolerance was already down to zero with Vietnam and i was keen to get out of there. we did leave enough time to visit the village specialising in snake cuisine, along with the couple Ben and Caroline who we met in sapa.

When we arrived we were introduced to our dinner, a couple of huge grass snakes which we took pictures with. luckily the endangered cobra they pulled out was not on our menu. Then kev stepped up with a couple of others to kill our dinner in the traditional way, slice the live snake down the middle, rip out its heart and eat it in a shot, then pour out its blood and bile for special snake shots. i had to try not to gag as i took the video.

then 7 different dishes of snake were served up to us, and along with each was a shot of the local rice wine. though we started with the snake blood and bile shots. still cant believe i kept them down. turns out snake meat is quite tasty when fried up, but not a fan of the skin. by the end of the 7 dishes we were well on our way. we left the group who headed to an Irish pub, and headed for a local Vietnamese bar where we enjoyed beer whilst seated on little plastic seats in the street. it got pretty messy by the end of the night, limited memory of getting home, but a great night to end our trip in Vietnam.

meeting our dinner

hold on kev... you have too cook it first

lucky this cobra wasnt on our menu

i cant believe i just drank that snake blood shot

bottoms up... snake blood and bile

fried snake in garlic with rice cakes

snake skin was the best dish

getting good with chop sticks... he can drink with them too

the snake and rice wine group

ben and kev.... just a little happy by the end of the night

harassing the locals on the way home

the spectacular rice fields and hills of sapa

2010-03-06T07:05:00.001Z

Halong bay

2010-03-06T06:34:00.002Z

One of the sights we'd been looking forward too.... We jumped on a 3 day tour starting on a boat that cruised through the lime stone cliffs of halong bay. Whilst it was very beautiful with the imposing limestone cliffs surrounding us as we sailed along, it was a shame about the freezing cold misty weather. the mist added a surreal feeling, but blue skies and clear water would have been better. It was a fun day though, and we stopped for a tour through paradise cave to check out some mind blowing huge stalactites and stalagmites that must have taken millions of years to form.

stayed on Cat Ba Island our first night but thanks to Tet it was a ghost town. the next day we went for a fun hike in the rain and mud up a mountain to the viewing point. unfortunately the mist obscured our views. i chose to stay on flat ground as Kev up the swaying rusty viewing station to see more cloud. then we slid down the mountain again... i was amazed at the 60+ tour guide that sped along in his rubber sandals. We checked out an old hospital inside a natural cave used during the war, and got a flat tyre on the way... lucky it was a beautiful spot to break down.

2nd night we slept on the boat in the middle of halong bay. unfortunately our group split in two as we had upgraded to the deluxe boat (a good idea as we had heaters and yummy food). it was a good night as we chatted away over beer and the vodka bottle we had smuggled onto the boat. Kev the rice wine he'd bought with a dried snake inside it, not great. we were lucky to have good company and i was inspired by the french couple traveling with their young adorable children on a 12 month holiday... maybe our long trips are only starting if they are possible with a family.

the mist had lifted a heap on our last day so we enjoyed the views over the bay as we sailed back to the port. We opted out of the swimming, jumping off the boat and kayaking as it was too cold to bother getting wet.

our boat for the first day

misty views over cat ba island

the lime stone cliffs of halong bay

views from paradise cave

lit up, but not too corny inside paradise cave

next are all the huge stalactites and stalagmites in paradise cave

curising halong bay

getting up close to the lime stone cliffs

beautiful but misty views

look at those bags... we need some sleep

the mist slowly lifting

hiking on cat ba island

views from the side of the viewing platform

views from the base of the viewing platform.... no wonder i didnt bother braving the tower

who would want to go up this old thing???

kev did of course

the white out views from above

good quality steel.... makes you feel real safe

inside the old war hospital built into a cave

opening into the hospital

flat tyre on the way home

who cares.... look where we are!

clearer views over halong bay

its still freezing... a bit of sunshine would help

one of the gorgeous kids on our tour

atleast we have some good views today

smile for the camera... again

hmmm....not sure about drinking this snake rice wine

our deluxe cabin on the boat

keepign warm up on deck

pretending to be a sailor

the fighting cocks.... famous rock formaation out here

and the oil burner... so famous this rock is on one of their notes

chuc mung na moi in Hanoi (happy new year)

2010-03-06T06:15:00.001Z

we decided to celebrate the Vietnamese new year in their capital Hanoi, hoping there would be something to see. As we were warned, most of the city was closed down similar to our Christmas day... but it lasted 3 days. the celebration was also more Christmas like with families getting together for dinner, people sitting around the lake in the city having picnics and just 100's of people wondering the streets aimlessly chatting and eating ice cream. it was very low key and the street entertainment on the stages reminded me of entertainment at country fairs at home (local girls dance school doing a performance). no parades or people out drinking. they did put on a firework show, but unfortunately it was so foggy that you could barely see it. so not the huge festive new years we were expecting. we made up for it with a fancy kaluha and chocolate icecream at Fanny's.

Walking tour - we also toured the city using the lonely planet walking tour, again disappointed by the sites, other than their huge lake in the middle of the old quater. i think we are over sightseeing.

Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum which contains his petrified body, and the palace was closed for Tet. We did wonder the small manicured garden outside the palace, saw a little stilt house he once lived in and his garage with some old cars, but they were the big highlights.

Bia Hai Junction - highlight of Hanoi was this great street junction lined with little shops selling ice cold local draft beer (bia hai) which costs 20 cents and you enjoy whilst seated on little kids plastic chairs in the street.

Water puppets - an old tradition, famous particularly in Hanoi, the 45 min show of puppets dancing in the water was surprisingly entertaining. couldn't understand the commentating, but the fast movements and funny little puppets had us intrigued.... 45 min was enough though.

food wise, we pho bo (noodle soup) is still on our list of favourites, along with the coffee and spring rolls.

the water puppets dancing around

maybe kev should sit down and get his buffont done too

Uncle Ho's cars

the palace gardens

the famous one pillar pagoda

buddha seems to love choco biscuits... they seem to be at every pagoda

communisty style museum.... what a shame its closed for TET

botanical gardens

happy new year

the street entertainment for new

Hue and the boring dmz tour

2010-03-05T11:55:00.003Z

we made oiur way to hue, the old capital and hired bikes to explore the city (the traffic was abit more controlled here). We explored the ruins of the old emperors palace in the forbidden city, which was facinating. then got lost trying to find some of the kings tombs out of town, atleast the ride was nice despite our hangovers. we chilled out along the river front for our daily caphe sua da and dinner.

Demilitarized Zone tour - despite others warnings we chose to go on the tour through the old sites from the vietnam /US war. As expected it was very underwhelming. most of the sites have nothing left from the war, we couldnt understand our tour guide, and the bus was over crowded so people sat on fold out chairs in the isle.. A long long boring day of driving starting with The rock pile (big mountain top they point out from afar with nothing on top as it used to be a military base). The bridge, Dakrong bridge, was a nice spot and used to be part of the Ho Chi Minh trail. all that was left of the Khe San military base had a crappy museum and shells of old planes and hellicopters. The Vinh Moc tunnels were the best part of the tour, quite large tunnels (compared to cu ci) dug into the ground where local villagers lived during the war.

the forbidden city entrance

exploring the forbidden city

not much left in some parts

another of my dragon friends

some of the fancy restoration work

ok... almost forbidden citied out...

one more pagaoda

the huge moat around the outside

on the way out

this is where the rock pile was

this is the bridge that was part of the ho chi minh trail

this is a reconstructed bunker at khe san military base

old bomb shells

old tank at khe san

old helicopter

memorial for the dead soldiers

this was a bomb hole that they turned into a ventilation shaft at the vinh moc tunnels

entrance to the tunnels

in we go to the vinh moc tunnels

atleast can stand in these... but not much for anything else

well i can stand in here anyways

check out the snake in the rice wine

What a shopping trip in Hoi An... fantastic!

2010-02-21T06:17:00.006Z

We had a nightmare trip to Hoi An. they managed to squeeze at least 27 people into a 9 seater minibus with me and kev jammed into the corner. it was a little sweat box at over 30 degrees and I had a little old lady falling asleep over my back and lap and then her grubby hands scratching down my bare arm. we stopped to pick up a truck transmission and 4 crates of live birds, so we had oil grease smell and chirping noises the whole 7 hours with no toilet stops.

so we finally touched ground safe and sound, to jump into another cab which took us to the wrong hotel twice. i was ready to punch someone by this stage, but a mojito bucket at a roof top bar as we watched the sunset over the river, and a relaxing bath was the perfect cure. The whole city hoi an was actually a good cure for my holiday fatigue and frustration at Vietnam as we loved the cute little city, amazing food, and friendly honest people.

Hoi An is famous for its tailors so the next two days were spent doing kev's fav thing in the world..... shopping. My plans not to bother getting anything went out the window pretty quickly and i was soon getting a fantastic dose retail therapy. thanks to some recommendations from fellow travellers, we picked a few tailors out of the hundreds and kev had two suits made (yali's was expensive but the better suit), 5 shirts, and 8 ties. I slowly increased my order to a skirt and 3 dresses as the tailor was fantastic at Cao Minh (126 tran phu st, highly recommended). my shirt from the quest house Than Binh was crap, but my winter jacket (huong Xuan) and other dress was perfect. took the next 3 days of refitting but it all came out perfect and we sent home 8kg of clothes.

Food in Hoi An is also amazing. Our fav was the little market place full of tables tables each with a mr X or Mrs Y name attached. they had they same menu and low prices so we rotated through the different names. The fried wontons with sweet and sour topping was great, we also enjoyed the local noodle specialty of cao Lao and steamed wonton called white rose. but our best meal was at the Cargo club with an amazing curry plus best choc mousse 10/10 and choc brownie 8.5/10.

The Cooking class at redbridge restaurant was a fun day... though kev opted out and instead went on a bike ride round the little villages. we visited a massive herb farm, then the local market where we saw some funky things like all the raw meat. the guide bought us the local specialty of boiled duck fetus egg, but i chickened out and couldnt bring myself to eat the fetus part... stuck to the yucky veiny yolk part which was feral enough. then we cooked up a storm and i've added some more dishes to my menu for at home including banana leaf and chicken salad, lemon grass and chili prawns in banana leaf, fish in clay pot, rice noodles from scratch, and the famous pho bo (beef rice noodle soup) which is surprisingly complicated when made properly. we enjoyed our creations with quite a few bottles of wine, which along with the ride home along the river by long tail boat, made it the perfect ending to the day.

Marble Mountain - was another fun half day trip out on a motor bike. we stopped at the mountain base and then hiked up and around the mountain literally made of marble, checking out little caves full of Buddha statues and temples. the best was a massive cavern with light shining in that looked like straight out of the movies when God shines down on someone.

China Beach - by push bike and motor bike we headed out to china beach as we waited for our clothes to be made. nice and relaxing along with some caphe sua da and beer lao. the bike ride through the villages and rice paddies was beautiful in itself.

eating at the Mr and Mrs market

cant believe every blade is only one rice grain.... no wonder there is so many rice fields over here

wondering the streets

the famous japanese bridge - not sure whats so special

coctails to unwind after a hard day shopping

the best choc mouse ever.... cargo club

first temple at the top of marble mountain

one of the many buddist statues hiding in caves in the mountain

dragon carvings out the front of the temples

from the top of marble mountain... this is the famous china beach in the back ground

a cool escape on the top of marble mountain

looks like god is shining into this temple

god shines on me

light from above... very surreal to look into it

light from above

kev and buddha

posing on china beach

decorations going up for tet

having a few on china beach

going for a cruise round town

cruising home after a hard day at the beach

huge herb gardens.... cant believe i dont know what most of the stuff is

refreshing mint tea

market visit before we head off to cook up a storm

they think the yellow colour makes the meat look more appealing

the disgusting duck fetus egg.... the black part is actually the dead fetus

concentrating hard while making my noodles

yummy fish clay pot

delicious chicken and banana leaf salad

the fantastic chefs

i'll get us home from the cooking class despite the 7 bottles of wine

maybe i should hand the wheel back to the driver

sunset over the water to end a great day

Trying to find a beach at Quy Nhon

2010-02-21T06:10:00.002Z

took our first sleeper bus to get to Quy Nhon, another coastal town further north. we decided to miss NhaTrang based on the advice of everyone we met. was an interesting ride lying on little narrow metal bunk beds set up in 3 rows down the bus. hardly got any sleep though thanks to the crazy bus driver who sat on the horn the whole time as he drove on the wrong side of the ride, straight onto head on traffic of semi trailers, whilst trying to overtake 3 buses in one go around blind corners... i actually found myself praying to god to get us there alive. the bus drivers must have to pass a course on crazy rally driving where you do every dangerous driving move you can imagine. we got in at 3am and luckily were able to wake the owner of a hotel so we could have a place to sleep.

We were disappointed to find out the long beautiful stretch of beach in town was not recommended for swimming in thanks to the sewerage being dumped there. so we only spent one day there, and went out exploring on a motorbike.... yes we rented one despite the crazy shit i said above. the stretch of road was very quite just outside of town and it was a nice drive along the coast surrounded by rice paddies, hills and the beach. We couldn't find a spot to get down to the beach, so ended up at the fancy Life Resort to use their private Bai Bau beach. we had our most expensive but luckily delicious lunch in the fancy restaurant overlooking the water. then went for a paddle and sunbake on the private secluded beach.

in town we decided to try some local food.... baked rice paper cakes as well as some weird dried fish stuff that you dipped in fish sauce and chilli.... not great but nice views along the esplanade. then had a great seafood hotpot that they cook up in front of you for dinner 8.5/10.

we finally found a beach

fancy Life Resort, we treated ourselves to lunch with a view

US$10 just to jump in this pool.... i'll take the beach

having a fishy snack

caphe sua da on the water front

spicy but yummy fish hotpot

all refreshed after a quick dip

having a snooze on the beach at life resort

Kite surfing at Mu Nei

2010-02-13T05:26:00.002Z

we headed back to the south eastern coast and got comfortable at Mu Nei for a few days. its a windy spot and perfect for kite surfing. we were lucky to catch some international championships which we watched the first two days as we sipped beers and mojitos on the beach. Another 3 days just lazying away on the beach, reading books, watching the kites, wondering up and down the long sandy beach, and eating. Kev did an intro Kite surfing course to learn how to control the kite. they guy couldnt fit in a longer lesson to get onto the water and kev decided to wait to get home to do the next lessons. We also had some fantastic fresh seafood at a little local restaurant... best garlic and onion BBQ clams i've ever tasted, with the hottest chilli dipping sauce kev has ever eaten.

kite surfing makes for awesome views down the beach

check out the red giant moon

the competition on the beach

ready set go

kev using his ass to stop himself getting dragged down the beach

kev trying his hand at kitesurfing

Ho Chi Minh city or Saigon?

2010-02-13T05:23:00.002Z

not sure which to call it, but we arrived late at night after an early start that morning in can tho, only to be quoted our biggest rip off so far US$50 each for a 2km ride to town. so we walked on, then grabbed a taxi and paid $5, again frustrated at how much the locals try to take advantage of tourists.... doing our research definitely pays off in Vietnam. One of the most entertaining parts of Saigon part was trying to cross the road..... i needed kev to hold my hand to cross the road each time. i cant explain the chaos from the insane amount of motorbikes, bikes, cyclos, buses and cars crammed into two lane roads. There doesnt seem to be any road rules as people drive on the wrong side of the road, go round round abouts the wrong way, drive on footpaths,ignore red lights, and blast their horns constantly. only second to Cairo in Egypt. It was all too much and i was glad to only stay 2 days.

The local night food market at Ben Than Market had great cheap food, good people watching, and cheap cold red Saigon beer. We ate there every night and the hot roof tile which we used cooked our own meat was my favourite dish. On the first night the market started a boozy night on the town through the backpackers area, where we shifted from one corny bar to another (funniest was a saloon style bar full of people dressed as cowboys, with bad 80's american rock music being sung by a band who looked 12yo dressed in hotpants).

The next day was a slow start but we had the best pho bo (beef noodle soup) on the trip..... now i see why they rave about the stuff. then a hot day walking round the city on the lonely planet suggested walking tour. The Ben Than market was crazy and full of people yelling at you to buy stuff, so we got out of there pretty quick. Then the rest of the sites went down hill, the city really doesnt have much to see.

The war remnants museum was mainly fully of photography exhibitions from both the french and american wars. whilst it is slanted to support the Vietnamese communist party, its pretty hard to bias the shocking photo's which showed some of the terrible things that went on. some i couldnt even look at, with the agent orange victims the worst of all. felt quite sick by the time we left there.

We took refuge out in a huge garden where the locals all sat round chatting in groups.then to the 'jade pagado' which was a simple temple and very underwhelming for the 40 min walk there.

Saw china town by night, but just looked like another busy city area full of markets, people and bad jewelery stores.

Cai Dai temple, made the mistake of doing a day tour to include this colourful and overdone temple of an unusual religious group. took 3 hours to get there (i didnt read that part in the brochure) all for 30min visit to watch a chanting ceremony.... and a huge waste of time.

Cu Chi Tunnels, the real reason we did the day tour, the tunnels were a huge eye opener. The size of the tunnels was unbelievably small, i couldnt even get my hips into the entrances that are perfectly camouflaged. no wonder the americans couldnt find the entrances, We crawled through a section in the dark, which immediately felt hot and claustrophobic despite the tunnels now being double the height and width to cater to tourists. i cant imagine how people spent days and days under there. some of the booby traps were also interesting whilst horrifying and i'm surprised anyone got out of the war alive. Kev also tried his skill at firing an AK47 machine gun (at a paper target not a live animal), his aim wasnt too bad and may have been able to win a prize as an 'american killer,' - the name of their war medals.

The mighty Mekong Delta - Can Tho

2010-02-13T05:11:00.001Z

after a 2 1/2hr boat ride, walk to the bus stop whilst stalked by taxi drivers yelling at us, 5hour bus ride, and another moto ride into town, we arrived in can tho, the biggest of the towns along the Mekong delta region. It has a nice river front and esplanade along with a massive statue of Ho Chi Minh, We wondered along, looking at the crazy markets full of live and dried fish and vegies, can't believe they have any fish left in the river. we had a caphe sua da our current fav, and ate at the local night market.

5am we headed out for our own little private boat ride down the river. It was scary floating along the huge canal in the dark, though nice to enjoy a coffee as the sun came up. The river which slowly narrowed as we turned off into its maze like little streams, until we were squeezing our way through narrow sections with no one around, and huge banana and fruit trees towering over head, rice paddies in the background, and mangroves lining the muddy banks.. When the motor was off it was completely silent and we had a rare moment of feeling completely removed from the tourist track. We stopped past two floating markets (Cai Rang and Phong Dien) which are a heap of boats piled high with fruit, floating together to form a market on water.. Not as big or busy as we expected. W tried a heap of fruit - papaya yuck, guava i prefer as a drink, yummy pineapple, pomelo was better than normal grape fruit, and star apple which had a sticky horrible texture. we wondered through a fruit farm being told about all the different trees and crops whilst the locals waved hello.

Was a great day, excluding lunch which we were cornered into buying at a little restaurant on the river.... they didn't like us when we refused to by the guide his lunch and got cheap meals, then they stung us money for the hand napkins we used..... i'm over the scams in the south of Vietnam!!! ends up wrecking a good day.

Paradise at Phu Quoc Island

2010-01-31T03:40:00.003Z

We found our little bit of paradise at Phu Quoc Island when we arrived. our bungaloos on the beach front resort were cute and had a mossie net (yeah!). Then we settled in for 2 days on long beach doing nothing but taking in the beautiful views without many tourists or beggers to annoy you, watching the sunsets, drinking smoothies (i've substitued for cocktails) and beers, reading, and getting masages. We met a couple and had a good chat about our adventures as we swam. only down side is the sea lice that seem to live in the gulf of thailand waters, the bites weren't as frequent but it did limit the amount of time i spent in the water and slowly i started to get covered in red itchy bites.

we took a snorkelling boat trip out which stopped at 4 different spots. whilst there weren't heaps fo the fish, coral gardens were beautiful and colourful. i got sick of telling the stupid tourists however to stop standing on the coral! Ironically we did some fishing with hand reels, i cought 3 fish (not fancy tropicla one), kev only got a baby one. We docked and drove past a pearl farm which was intereting to see them opening the oysters to find real pearls. then an even more beautiful stretch of beach at Bai Seo where we swam for a couple of hours. shame we still have the rest of vietnam to see as i could have stayed here for weeks. We splurged a whole $50 for a fancy delicious meal and fantastic wine along with some friends we met.

An Interesting Journey across the border to Vietnam

2010-01-31T03:40:00.001Z

Leaving Sihnoukville in cambodia 7am, i was still half asleep as the mini bus made its way down dirt roads through little villages as it headed toward the vietnamese border. locals were jumping on and off in all strange places. Suddenly we stopped in a town called Kampot, where our bags were unloaded and we followed them to a little 5 seater sedan. no english this time so we just followed the flow and crammed in the back seat with 2 other locals. then another 4 got in the front seat! the driver was in the middle and drove the next 50 minutes reaching over to the steering wheel and pedals as he half sat on the handbreak. a few more random stops with others getting in and out and finally to the border where we were loaded onto 2 motor bikes, with our huge back packs between the drivers legs. After crossing the border and customs again demanding extra money for their pockets which we pretended we didn't have and only gave them $1. then wearing a plastic helmet that was pointless, i held on as we zoomed down dirt roads toward the little town of Ha Tien.

we made the mistake of not checking the ferry straight away so were pissed to find we could have caught the boat that arvo. but instead we headed out to Mui Nai beach. it looked nothing like the post card pictures of white sand with palm trees. instead it was black silt sand, no palm trees, plastic umbrellas, locals trying to rip us off money, and super shallow waters that only went up to our knees.

Sihnoukville and some crappy weather

2010-01-31T03:37:00.002Z

We went to check out the Cambodian coast of Sihnoukville, which was a gorgeous place with long white sandy beaches and clear blue water. unfortunately the weather wasnt great so we didnt get in much swimming. We did however spend most of our time relaxing on the beach chairs reading, taking in the absolutely amazing sunsets, getting $4 massages, eating $3 seafood BBQ on the beach, and kev took in the Angkor, and Anchor beer. I'm off the grog for a few weeks. We rode a scooter down to Orcheal beach which was even more secluded and beautiful, where we lazed away in hammocks and played pool. only down side was there were heaps more beggars and children selling stuff that constantly harrased you on the beach and in the restaurants, its so hard saying no but you cant help everyone.

It absolutely bucketed down on our last day, so we pulled out our aprons for another cooking course Khmer style; seafood soup, fresh spring rolls, and Lok Lak(my favourite). Finally it stopped belting down and the sun came out, so we finally went for a swim as i was determined not to leave without atleast one dip.

Phnom Phen and the Killing Fields

2010-01-31T03:36:00.001Z

we arrived in phom phen first night, rapt with our $4 bargain room, but that night i got progressively more sick and decided at 3am that a hospital visit was needed. tried the local hospital which made me appreciate our health system back home. I had to try not to panic as the doctor with limit english diagnosed me with kidney stones without even examining me. Then he wanted to send me back to our dodgy room with an IV drip of pain killers as my treatment (no medical supervison other than poor kev).i kindly refused treatment and we got the F%#@ out of there. Luckily we found an international clinic which could have been in any western country and was thankful for our health insurance. I walked out of the hospital 4 hours later, rehydrated and feeling heaps better with medication to treat my bladder infection. what a contrast in medical resources.

I slept the day away whilst kev went out to explroe the central markets and the kings palace. According to him i didnt miss much.

The Toul Sleng Genocide Museum in the old S 21 Prison of the Khmer Rouge was our first stop day 3. Seeing a place like that reinforces how much normal people can turn into monsters. Its devastating to see that young kids, teenagers, and uneducated peasants can so easily be brain washed into killing their own people.It was impossible not to be confronted by the tourture and death as you saw blood splatters left in the cell. And to think the people who did it all, simply re-integrated with the rest of the community which they tortured once the khmer rouge broke down.

Then for more gut renching moments, we drove out to the killing fields to see the holes left from the mass graves where thousands of people we murdered. the huge pegoda set up as a memorial is filled with the real bones and clothes of those killed. but even more sickening was to the tree which once was used to swing kids and babies into it to kill them! A very heavy and depressing day, but an important part of the holiday which is about understanding the things that have gone wrong so we can try avoid it in the future.

Battambang - the long boat ride..

2010-01-31T03:35:00.001Z

it was all about the boat ride on the way to batambang. We jumped on this little wooden boat jam packed with other tourists and locals. I thought i would be hearing the drone of the engine in my ears for the rest of the holiday as it was so loud you could hardly talk. The 6 hour ride turned into 8 1/2 hrs, and we were over it by the end. But it was well worth it as we made our way across a huge lake, then down the little canals on the way to batambang. it was so facinating seeing whole villages floating on water including schools and shops, and to think these had to shift and relocate as the river rose more than 2 meters at some places in the wet season. They definately were poor fishing villages with very little, yet they all smiled as we passed and the little children were so excited to wave and yell out hello. seeing the poor living conditions and talking to some locals who have been able to obtain an eduction because some one sponsored them has convinced me to get off my butt and sponsor a kid when i get back. Despite the banks of the river closing in and the water getting ridiculously shallow and muddy, we managed to arrive in battambang.

we headed out ot the Bambo Train to take a funny but entertaining ride on this bambo platform powered by a little motor that ran down a single rail road track. When another train came from the other direction we literally had to lift the platform and axels off the lines to let them pass, then reassemble. then to turn around we had to reverse the axels. the locals look at us tourists as crazy for being entertained by their old style train system, but as we zoomed along getting taken out by bugs at dusk it was a heap of fun.

pepsi factory was another strange thing to find amusing, it was abandoned in the mid 70's as the khmer rouge took over, but the skeleton of the deserted factor with old empty pepsi bottles everywhere was a bit creepy.

Siem Reip - Angkor Wat

2010-01-31T03:34:00.001Z

we braved the local bus to the cambodian border where we managed to avoid the mutiple scams (visas for extra charges from fake offices, private charters that cost a heap etc). we only got stung by the immigration officers who take 100 bhat for their own pocket when you get the visa... but what can you do when its the real immigration officers who are corrupt. We managed to pick the right bus company that wasnt a scam and we got to siem reip in one piece and with money in our pockets. The first day I wasnt feeling too well so took it easy as kev went out for a 16km bike ride to the floating village. Then we headed to the Angkor temple Pre Rup in the evening. We sat up on the temple ruins and watched the bright orange sunset over the cambodian jungle. one of those times i had to stop and really reflect on where we were and what we were doing.

The cambodian people are also amazing. they love telling you their life stories, not for money but more to educate you on what life has been like. they live in such poverty but are the friendliest people i've met, who are generally honest and helpful, and always smiling. there are so many children, and hardly any elderly people as they were all wiped out in the war. Its a bit heart breaking to see all the kids, but they smile, wave and yell out below. You cant give money to everyone but the kids were more than happy with a gift of lollies which i handed out as we toured the temples. thankyou to whoever suggested this idea to me!

Second day we had a massive 12hour tour of the Angkor temples. The detail and size of the temples is so impressive its beyond workds. unfortunately the monsoon weather and last 1000 years have taken their toll. but it was quite surreal wondering through the ruins. We saw a heap of temples including the group inside Angkor Thom., Banteay Srei and Preah Khan. By the end of the day we were templed out. Our favourits were Ta Prohm which is being consumed by the trees that are literally growing out of, or on top of, the temple. Bayon was probably the best with hundreds of faces all watching you as you wonder through. Angkor Wat itself was also impressive given its huge size and i loved the carvings that ran along the entire length of the walls. we took in another sunset from phnom Bakheng temple on a hill along with another 1000 tourists. Unfortunately the cloud cover left us with an underwhelming sunset, and it was more entertaining watching the other tourists try climb up the temple steps.

some of the other things we got up to were;

night market - there was a great night market everyday which had heaps of great clothes and jewelery. plus food stalls on the side of the rode. tried their curry fish in banana leaves called Amok - very tasty 7/10. plus their curry soup was delicious thick, 9/10 from khmer kitchen.

seeing hands massage - blind people must have heightened sense of touch, best massage we have had on the trip. also goes toward helping the community. just took a minute to look past the poor peoples often deformed faces.

Dr foot massage - no joke, you put your feet into a pool full of little fish which eat the dead skin off the bottom of your feet. was hard to keep your feet in the water as it tickled so much. the bigger fish were even more ticklish. Ahhh, the strange things you do on holiday! but for $2 including a free beer, it left our feet nice and soft.

Brief stop in Bangkok

2010-01-31T03:33:00.000Z

On the 11th of Jan we sadly said goodbye to the thai Islands. A 2 hour boat ride from phi phi to phuket, 1 hr minibus to the airport, 2 hours waiting for the plane, 1 hr flight to Bangkok, 1hr bus ride to central station, 10 min walk and we finally arrived at our hostel by 5:30. Determined to use the day for something we headed out to the XXX Markets. quite a crazy busy city, heaps of traffic and an odd mix of modern shops and shopping complexes and fast food joints mixed with covered markets, simple restaurants with plastic tables and side carts selling very strange looking food. I actually liked a heap of stuff at the markets, but had to hold back given i'd have to carry it for 3 months. kev practiced his bargaining skills and got a watch which has already stopped working!

beautiful phi phi island

2010-01-13T05:53:00.005Z

Phi Phi by far was the most beautiful island we've seen.... but i was disappointed by how many toursist had taken over the place. we stayed in the main town, but the beaches weren't that great to swim on. We took a long tail boat out to long beach which was beautiful with greeny blue water and soft sand. met two guys and joined them and one's wife and gorgeous little girl for a long tail boat rid out to Phi Phi Lai. I cant explain how stunning it was. We stopped in a little bay where the water was crystal clear and had a swim. then on to another bay where the snorkeling was the best we've had so far, with huge clams, blue furry starfish and heaps of colourful fish. the water was amazing. we went to maya bay, the beautiful secluded beach in the movie 'the beach.' but it was everything but secluded. For a national park i was blown away by the number of boats crammed on the shore and tourists covering the sand. we stopped only for a quick photo before we got out of there and away. then lazed the rest of the day away on long beach.

second day we hiked up to the viewpoint.... i need to get on the stairmaster when i get home as my legs didnt handle the hundreds of steps too well. worth the effort as tranquil gorgeous views from above over the island awaited. then on another hike through the jungle to Rana Beach, again with beautiful white sandy beaches and clear water. spent all day in our beach routine of swim, sunbake and read. then hiked bake up to the view point to watch a beautiful sunset over the island hills. cant believe its our last day.

can't believe its already been a month on the beaches. Time flies when your having fun!!
:)

phuket, beaches and food

2010-01-13T05:35:00.004Z

headed to phuket and back to the beach, though was more expensive than the other islands. we stayed in Kata and managed go down and enjoy the beach with its tiny waves using the last sun of the day. second day consisted of sunbaking on the beach, swimming, reading, drinking fruit shakes or beer, with the cycle stuck on repeat. perfect way to ride out my chest infection that had set in.

Saw the night markets and had a great foot massage. kev's shoulder back massage was lost in translation and he ended up with fullbody oil.... but no happy ending. We discovered the delicious bannana and nutella pancakes made on the street... perfect comfort food when your sick.

Rain was stalking us with a shower most afternoons. but one day in bucketed down all day. so we headed to the shopping centre and cinema to watch couples retreat (not bad for romantic comedy). was a shock and quite overwhelming to walk into a huge busy shopping complex all manicured and clean....I think we are turning into island beach bums.

Patong beach, busy, overcrowded and sleazy..... but interesting to see. heaps of markets and found some yummy places to eat. I was pretty sick so unfortunately we didnt join in the crazy night life. we did manage to check out the ping pong shows. I was much more amazed by the live birds, fish, and turtles that were comming out (no joke!).

Cooking class - took a day away from the beach to find out the secrets of the fantastic thai food that we are in love with. starting with a visit to the local food market... quite an education with the strange fuit, vegies and herbs. then on to cook a huge spread of pad thai, green curry, cashew nut chicken, spring rolls, tom yum soup, and sticky rice with mango! the hidden chefs in us came out and we were quite impressed as we sat down to a feast. we even learnt how to carve flowers out of tomatoes! we left stuffed and excited about cooking up a storm when we eventually get home.

Khao Sok National Park

2010-01-13T05:24:00.004Z

we made our way for 3 nights out to the Koh Sok national park for a change from the beaches. great little jungle bungalow at morning mist and yummy thai food.

first day we went for a hike into the jungle..... 14km round trip. Had us sweating and puffing away but got to cool off in the swimming hole while watching the little waterfall. along the way we saw some monkeys, a snake (no idea if it was poisonous), heaps of lizards and geko's including a gliding lizards, huge orb spiders (i kept my distance), and butterflies.

headed out for a day trip onto the huge lake using a long tail boat. It was nice and sunny as we went for an hour hike.... though no luck with wildlife this time. then back on the boat to head for lunch. We drove the boat toward the storm clouds we each got a poncho which left me feeling like a chicken fillet wrapped up as i sweated and the torrential rain beat down on us. it bucketed down as we sat having a huge thai lunch at some floating huts. but the rain disappeared as quickly as it appeared and we managed a swim and kyak before the rain returned for our boat ride home. got absolutely belted by the rain and all we could do was laugh. rain stopped again and we detoured past the markets where me and kev tried some fried bugs worms! crunch but not much taste

New Years - Diving and the Full Moon Party

2010-01-06T11:43:00.001Z

Our last day of the year had to be a great night.... to finish off the best year of my life so far. We booked two scuba dive trips out at sail rock. Our first fun dives and it was great to get straight in the water and just check it all out. saw a huge puffer fish that was cool, held sea urchin, and swam through a cavern whilst we checked out all the schools of fish surrounding us. i can see us getting hooked on diving.

Brief siesta to prepare for the night

Then boat ride back to Koh Phanang to Hat Rin Beach for the full moon party. bit of a crazy speed boat road but we got there same. We were there early so stocked up on some stodgy food along with the crazy red bull syrup for a bit of energy. Turned out kev's mates Frenchy and Boof were also there with a heap of mates so we met up with them where kev joined them for some mushroom shakes. Then down to the beach where the party was starting to kick in. Was an awesome night, with different music pumping from the different bars all lining the beach. The vodka, redbull and sprite buckets were keeping me going, while the others spaced out on the shakes. The fire twirlers were mesmerising. then they lit up a huge skipping rope on fire and we watached stupid drunken tourists give it a go. Was entertaining watching them get taken out, though we were happy to stick to watching rather than participating. One guy lost his legs, knocked himself out cold laying right over the rope, and his shorts caught on fire. the locals reacted quickly so it was all sorted and the guy back on his feet. The count down went off with a bang as fireworks lit up the sky and the huge signs were set on fire. great night either dancing or chilling on the beach.... no swimming as everyone was peeing on the waters edge. Finally we decided to head back but our pre-booked boat never turned up. we got over the hundreds of people crushed on the pier waiting for the boats to come. Turns out sticking up for people pays off sometimes as i had a go at a french asshole screaming in a Thai lady's face trying to buy a ticket for a private boat. she ended up giving me two tickets so after 2 hours we were finally on the boat on the way home and finally collapsed into bed about 7am. well worth the effort to get out there.

Koh Samui

2010-01-06T11:35:00.002Z

We stayed at Lami in Buddy Samui Resort which was a huge step up in luxury again for the new year. Felt very special to be welcomed with face towels and cold drinks, have our bags carried for us, and then to find elephant shaped pillows on our bed which had a great mozzienet, plus with warm water, a huge clean shower, tv, and outside two pools with a spa. so enjoyed our stay and spent a few afternoons lazying by the pool or sitting in the spa.

Lami beach - whilst it was very picturesque from our pool side views, the beach itself was disappointing as it had 1000's of little blue jelly fish, 100's of weird sea snails, and then a few too many dirty syringes all lining the shore. plus the water was a bit manky when you got close up. so after a walk with our shoes on, we decided to give swimming there a miss.

Day out on the scooter - we hired a scooter, and dressed in our protective gear of a helmet, shorts and singlet, and made our way around the island. First stop the waterfalls. after a little taxi to the bottom of the hill, we went for a little but sweaty hike to the top of a mountain for some views of the waterfalls and to dip our feet in the cool water. We gave all the animal shows a miss as we felt sorry for them. then on to XXX town for our first proper taste of shopping and bartering. We continued around to a beach up north called BoPhut, which turned out to be an expensive part of the island. after the most expensive but yummy lunch at a beach front restaurant, we went for a dip in the warm shallow beach. As the sun started to go down we headed back toward Lami, stopping at the view point over chaweng beach, however it was a bit too overcast to show how gorgeous the beach is.

Chaweng beach - instead of swimming at Lami we hired a scooter,to Chaweng beach a couple of times where the water was warm, picturesque, and had a nice clean stretch of sandy beach. the beach was also lined with a heap of pumping beach front bars where we enjoyed the sunset as we sipped on cocktails and singha beer. also did a bit of haggling and shopping in the markets to get some singlets and shorts. Chaweng noi beach even had waves to play around in which kept us occupied for a while between reading and sun baking.

Food - we are sticking to the thai food and the spicy thai salads, tom yum, cashew nut chicken, pineapple fried rice, and green curry's are up there in the favourites, along with BBQ corn cooked fresh on the beach. The food is always good or fantastic, and cheap as we keep sticking to great little local places rather than fancy restaurants. Fav was the yummy little mum and dad restaurant we discovered right near our hotel, which served the best and cheapest pad thai i've ever eaten.

National Park - went for a day trip out to the beautiful marine national park made up of XXX little green islands. we stopped for a hike up to the view point to see the salt water lake. Sea kayaking sounded like fun, but after 10minutes the novelty wore off and kev vowed never to do it again. my weak left arm left us constantly veering to the left. Plans to snorkel we're destroyed by the choppy water. but we savoured the day with a 1 1/2 hour adventure in bare feet into the mountains to to check out the cool stalactite and stalagmite caves. Additional beautiful views from the boat, and a yummy thai lunch all together made for a great day.

went out to the big budda temple, as you guess it has a huge gold budda there. we bought a roof tile for some luck, which goes toward building the temple.

grandma and grandpa rock have a romantic romeo and juliet type love story behind them, but they are far from romantic, male and female genitals naturally formed in the stones!

elephants to greet us in our luxury room

hike up the waterfalls

ahhhh.... cooling off atthe waterfall

cocktails on chaweng noi beach

is that grandpa rock sticking out of your pants kev?

grandma rock..... very wrong but quite funny

big budda temple

its enormous

lazing the day away on chaweng beach.... this is the life

i could stay here forever!

it's a hard life... more cocktails on chaweng

off to sail to ang Thong Marine National Park

huge sea water lake in the middle of the island

quite stunning views

birds eye view of the sea water lake

look at the water shimmer

happy couple, lets just stay up her with the breeze and the views

looking out over the rest of the marine park

time for some hard work

lucky the hike bare foot for 30min was worth it

sitting on the stalagmites

unusual looking stalagmite.

we made it to the caves

we should have stayed here

A beach proposal!!!

2010-01-06T11:34:00.001Z

Christmas eve we headed out on a day tour. first stop 'special rock' which was a rocky beach that looked like a rubbish tip, very underwhelming. but then our bumpy four wheel drive tour finally made it across to koh ma where we spent 3 hours snorkeling on a beautiful sandy beach which had a sandbar splitting it in two. the sun was out, and the water clear enough to see some fish. had a yummy lunch, loving the tom yum soup here. then headed home via a 'waterfall', again an underwhelming stream over boulders. but was a fun day out.

that night we headed to our favourite little restaurant for good old thai food. kev got his first extra hot jungle curry which i assumed was the cause of his excessive consumption of vodka lemon's at dinner. we wondered back along the beach and grabbed chocolate ice creams to enjoy whilst sitting under the night stars. most of the resort lights were out so the night was lit up with stars. thats when kev asked if i wanted my xmas present then, or on Christmas. i couldnt resist so asked for it, at the back of my mind stressing as i hadnt bought anything as i thought are luxury bungalows were a present to each other. then it all happened and he was down on one knee asking me to marry him with a ring. I was so surprised the first words that blurted out of my mouth were 'no way!!! are you serious' but quickly followed by an 'of course that's a yes'. so happier than i can explain, we are now ENGAGED!!! Cant wait to celebrate with everyone, but planning the party will have to wait till we get home as we still have at least 3 fantastic months of relaxing on holiday.

rejuvenating at bottle beach, koh phanang

2010-01-06T11:24:00.001Z

we arrived by boat and our pick up failed to show. so we caught a taxi all the way to the top of the island with the aim of getting a long boat over to secluded bottle beach which you cant access by car.turned out the waves were too rough for the boats, so another hour to Wait for a four wheel drive to come pick us up and us all the way back down south then up north on the bumpy destroyed tracks. lucky it was worth the trip as we were at a beautiful secluded beach and we were staying in a luxury bungalow, big step up to our normal. So much of our 5 days was spent sleeping in, relaxing on the beach, drinking cocktails, getting fantastic thai massages and making our way through the menus as we rotated through the only 4 restaurants on the little beach. I was feeling more relaxed and refreshed than i can remember for a long time. and the weather got better as the days went so the beach got more beautiful.

We met a few great people there and one night had a birthday celebration including a bonfire and fireworks off the beach. fireworks are legal and everybody lets them off. we almost got knocked out by one that backfired. that night we were introduced to the thai spirit sangsum, a dark rum that surprisingly tastes good with coke. the friendly staff joined us and brought their guitars so we had some fun singing along. We felt it a bit the next day, but nothing a massage and swim couldnt fix.

Most people are aware that i got my xmas present early on Christmas eve when kev proposed..... so i'll leave the proposal story for its own blog spot.

Xmas day was wierd being away from the family, but we did the phone calls home to tell everyone about being engaged and to wish them merry xmas. then we joined our little group and had some beers and cocktails on the beach relaxing the day away. The restaurant had an all you can eat do on the beach with yummy food. then a few little kids got up and did a little dance which was cute but after the 5th song we were happy it ended. fireworks were great, along with the bonfire and cocktails. kev competed in a musical chairs game and ganged up with a friend to win a bucket of vodka for the table. then we got all romantic and wrote xmas wishes on lanterns which we lit up and watched float away into the night sky like little stars. overall a great night and i was going to be sad to say goodbye to bottle beach.

Certified Scuba Divers Koh Tao

2010-01-06T11:21:00.001Z

after only one night stay in bangkok we made our way straight to the beach on the island of koh tao, via a 9 hour bus and boat trip. spent the next 4 days in class or in the water working toward becoming certified open water scuba divers. We also slept at the dive school accommodation 'simple life' which was fine except for the mozzies which meant i had to sleep wrapped up like a mummy every night. The course was heaps of fun and along with the irish couple in our group the days flew by. the course included 4 dives; Japanese gardens and twins to 12 metres, and white rock to 18 metres. but the third out to Chomphon at 18meters was by far the best. it was amazing breathing underwater as you watch huge schools of hundreds of fish swim past and over your head. massive groups of barracuda, angelfish, trevaley, butterfly fish, a heap of clown fish, and hundreds of little blue cleaner fish. to top it off we saw 4 sharks, a reef shark and 3 bull sharks. lucky i didnt know they were bull sharks so i didnt shit myself, but supposedly they have never attacked a submerged diver??? was exciting watching them cruise past completely uninterested in us. Cant wait to get to other islands to do more dives.

The rest of the time we spent getting acquainted with delicious thai food, and sipping mai thai cocktails or chang beer, as we sat on beach front deck chairs. the beach and sunsets were beautiful, and water at the beach warm like a bath. Also had a ball watching ]the lady boy cabaret show. It was hilarious and properly choreographed, and kicked moulin rouge's ass in terms of entertainment and timing. Only down side i the fact i found out i'm allergic to sea lice bites after i'd finished the course and already been munched. so along with the mozzie bites i was a big itching ball of swollen bites. Certified Scuba Divers Koh Tao

after only one night stay in bangkok we made our way straight to the beach on the island of koh tao, via a 9 hour bus and boat trip. spent the next 4 days in class or in the water working toward becoming certified open water scuba divers. We also slept at the dive school accommodation 'simple life' which was fine except for the mozzies which meant i had to sleep wrapped up like a mummy every night. The course was heaps of fun and along with the irish couple in our group the days flew by. the course included 4 dives; Japanese gardens and twins to 12 metres, and white rock to 18 metres. but the third out to Chomphon at 18meters was by far the best. it was amazing breathing underwater as you watch huge schools of hundreds of fish swim past and over your head. massive groups of barracuda, angelfish, trevaley, butterfly fish, a heap of clown fish, and hundreds of little blue cleaner fish. to top it off we saw 4 sharks, a reef shark and 3 bull sharks. lucky i didnt know they were bull sharks so i didnt shit myself, but supposedly they have never attacked a submerged diver??? was exciting watching them cruise past completely uninterested in us. Cant wait to get to other islands to do more dives.

The rest of the time we spent getting acquainted with delicious thai food, and sipping mai thai cocktails or chang beer, as we sat on beach front deck chairs. the beach and sunsets were beautiful, and water at the beach warm like a bath. Also had a ball watching ]the lady boy cabaret show. It was hilarious and properly choreographed, and kicked moulin rouge's ass in terms of entertainment and timing. Only down side i the fact i found out i'm allergic to sea lice bites after i'd finished the course and already been munched. so along with the mozzie bites i was a big itching ball of swollen bites.

Last good bye for England...

2010-01-06T11:12:00.001Z

our last stay in London was finally in a hostel, Dover Castle for 3 nights. perfect location next to borough market. It was pretty good excluding the mouse which jumped out of my bag and gave me a heart attack! it was absolutely freezing so out came all the winter clothes again. Although it felt very christmasy and was a different way to see the city. it felt like a home away from home after our 3rd visit.

London Eye- we stopped being tight asses and went up the London eye and loved it. worth the money as the views are great and we had the perfect time at sunset so we got the city lit up with lights at dusk.

Vietnam visa - getting for Asia and got our 3 month re-entry visa. Asia here we come. a little stroll in Kensington gardens reminded me how pretty it was.

Borough Market - cant even explain the amazing wafting smells of this awesome market. hard to choose but we settled for a roast pork roll with stuffing, cheese cake and fancy coffee. yummy!

Camden Markets and around - lucky we were headed to warm climate and i still had 3 months to go otherwise i would have shopped up a storm. especially love the funky retro ones in the old stables.

German Markets - love the Christmas German markets full of yummy food and bright Christmas lights. feels like Christmas straight out of the movies, especially the one along the main waterfront.

Catching up with Sanjay - great to catch up with our old friend from school again, and last time for a while. helped him with a few drinks for his birthday, a few more the day after, and then a stroll through winter wonderland on our last night to say goodbye. got to know his friendly girlfriend Sibel as well.

Catching up with Charlie - fish and chips and beer went down well as we caught up with Kev's mate from work. tempting to set up life in London after hearing how much these guys love it. lucky its too cold and dark otherwise we would think about it.

Ice Skating at the winter wonderland in Hyde Park. We toured the Christmas markets and watched heaps of people enjoy the rides set up in hide park at night. It really felt like Christmas with all the decorations. then had a romantic skate around the temporary ice skating rink... Actually i started off cautiously holding onto the outer rails with the rest of the physically challenged on ice. Then kev came to the rescue and held my hand as we dodged the hundreds of other people slowly making their way round the small rink. i finally got the hand of it and a little confidence and was a few good laughs. a few close calls and frantic waving arms but i managed to stay on two feet the whole hour... better than i can say for a lot of people out there.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

2009-12-24T12:39:00.003Z

Hello all....

just taking some time out to say,

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

hope 2010 turns out to be as good as 2009

cheers,
us
xxx

hiking in Sinai and the red sea at Dahab

2009-12-11T16:53:00.007Z

after a one night stop in ciaro again (still a shit hole!) we headed for the Asian continent and back to the red sea in Dahab for 5 nights. we stayed in the fanciest hotel of the trip with 2 swimming pools, coral reef on the beach at the end of the resort and amazing food.

Mt Sinai, St Catherine's Monastery, Mt. Moses. - 2am our first morning we jumped back on the bus and headed to the Mt. Sinai region, a mountainous landscape area in the middle of the desert. It was absolutely freezing, so rugged up we headed up for a 2hike to the top of Mount Moses. it is supposed to be where Moses received the 10 commandments from god. We saw a magnificent sunset over the desert whilst we froze our buts off waiting for an hour to reserve a good spot. Although we had a smelly camel blanket to help keep warm and some very enthusiastic church groups for entertainment. then hiked back down via the path the monk's take to the monastery of St. Catherine. Got to see the burning bush that supposedly told moses to hike up the mountain in the first place. also a cured finger from the saint and some other rocks that some people were getting very upset and holy over (no idea what they were!). by this stage we were over it and happy to get back on the bus to sleep on the 4 hour journey back home.

Camel ride - went for a funny ride camels..... out to a rubbish dump instead of the desert. but it was fun anyways. Particularly as Kev's camel was horny and making the weirdest sounds whilst it's tongue hung out and it drooled everywhere. the drool even wrapped itself around the poor little guides head at one stage. not the most elegant animals and not that comfy to ride... don't know how they crossed the desert for months on the things. but made for a funny arvo.

taxi rides - had fun on our taxi rides in and out of town the old fashioned way in the back of utes.

Roast Chicken - found a great cheap roast chicken place that we loved, ate there 3 times. a feast with soup, salad, rice, casseroled veggies, hummus and bread... yum, yum. the tagine at same same but different was also great, along with the seafood plater at Alcapones. all highly recommended.

Scuba Diving - We headed for an intro scuba dive in the red sea. its amazing that you walk straight into a coral reef and heaps of fish straight off the shore in town. loved it so much we vowed to get our dive license. Very strange sensation to breath underwater.... took me a few minutes to adapt but then all was good.

The Blue Hole - One of the world top dive sites is also fantastic for snorkeling. so we stuck our heads in the water to watch heaps of bright fish swim around the coral reef that descends into this huge hole about 50 meters deep. the rest of the time we relaxed in the beach side café enjoying the company of our tour group and delicious smoothies.

Last day by the pool - we decided to spend our last day by the pool relaxing, and then touring the town for some last minute shopping. was a perfect way to end the trip, along with a dinner and drinks out with the tour group.

the next day we left them and said goodbye a day early. as they headed back to ciaro, they dropped us off at a security point so we could make our own way over the border into Israel. we hated ciaro so much that we ditched plans to go back and instead headed to explore Jerusalem.

warming up at the top of the mountain before claiming our spot to watch the sunset

its finally coming up

its getting brighter

look at those colours

sunrise over the desert from the top of mount moses.

freezing with our camel blanket to keep us warm. but how romantic.

magnificent views

how romantic

the rest of the surrounding landscape from the top of the mountain

on the way back down

its amazing how beautiful rocks and sand can be

on the monk's rout down back to st. catherines monestary

supposedly the burning bush which told moses to climb the mountain.

me and my camel

walking the desert like they did in the old days

the couple and the camels

having a rest (the rubbish dump was left out of the picture on the left)

funny looking creatures.

catching the sunset

i have the worlds light in the palm of my hands... bow down.

by expert camera skills trying to get kev and his horny camel

it finally stopped frothing at this point

taking a taxi back to the hotel

sunset views on the beach at the edge of our resort

more photos to come

the red sea at Hurghada

2009-12-11T16:46:00.003Z

for a change in scenery we headed over to the red sea in Hurghada for three nights. Nice fancy resort with swimming pool and a 2 for one happy hour.

Quad bikes - had awesome fun again dressed like Arabs, driving out into the desert on quad bikes, over sand dunes into the middle of nowhere. saw the sunset over the dunes and then had another adventure trying to drive home in the pitch black at high speeds - half the people without headlights! only one girl rolled it in front of me but i missed her luckily.

Snorkeling and boat cruise - took a cruise ship out to the reef and went snorkeling over a couple of spots. other than the shit equipment, there were heaps of fish and the water was nice and warm. quick stop on sandy paradise island for some views.

Ministry of Sound - of all places, we went to the club in the middle of Egypt. was a massive sausage fest, but the guys were less sleazy than at home. had weird rules to control who entered eg. no singles (single Arab men) and no woolen hats (no head scarves). The set up was great, sand on the floor and couches to relax on. Overall it was a top night and absolutely pumping as everyone got up and had a dance.

relaxing- enjoyed our sleep ins a bit, cruising the town eating yummy chicken shwermers, chatting over cocktails at the bar, and sitting by the pool.

Markets - checked out some markets again, getting there via horse and carriage just for something different.

relaxing in the pool.

dinner out with our friends

romantic ride in the horse and carriage

love the views of the red sea from our balcony and our fancy resort

ready to tackle the harsh desert

Kevin the Arab on our way across the desert

tough girl on the quad bike

i'm standing on the top of the world.... look at that sunset

the couple admiring the sunset over the desert sand dunes

cant roll down as there are actually a heap of rocks.... so running will do.

read set go!

ready to go snorkeling... cant wait to get in the water

on a cruise over the red sea

sand dunes on paradise Island.

Luxor, the huge temples

2009-12-11T16:45:00.002Z

Karnak temple - absolutely enormous and huge. so much to see we could have spent a whole day there just taking in the huge statues, columns and courtyards. alot of the sections still had a lot of the colours showing making it easier to imagine how impressive it would have been in its original state. We did our 7 laps around the karnak huge statue of a scarab beetle for luck. We were constantly being haggled by randoms in the temples trying to get tips. We made the mistake of following a tourist police man thinking it was just his job. he showed us some random stone then started some sort of ritual which turned out to be blessing us to have kids. Of course then we were expected to tip. we were wondering through when another little Egyptian man beckoned for us to follow him. weary of being stung for more tips... we followed him against our better judgement into an area roped off, through a locked door he opened, past some curtains and into a little room. he turned on flood lights and i was blown away by the vibrant colours in the little room that surrounded us. the carvings and paintings looked like they were in their original form and the most beautiful we saw the whole time we were in Egypt. one and only time we were happy to give out a tip.

Luxor temple - Another we got to see illuminated by night. the part i liked the most was the long avenue of the Sphinx which is lined with Sphinx that watch you as you walk along.Also some of the deepest hieroglyphics we'd seen, the king was determined not to have his name scrubbed off the temple. i could fit my fist into some of them.

Colossi of memnon - with a 6 am start, these two statues are all that are left of the temple. so at this time of the morning it was hard to impress. supposedly they used to sing at sunrise due to wind going through the cracks, but since the repairs they have been silent.

Valley of the kings - 6am start for the valley, but another highlight of the trip. its amazing how many tombs they have found, and even more amazing to think how many are still in the valley uncovered. you wonder along with huge stony sandy mountains on each side, and see all these little openings. We went into a couple, which had beautiful vibrant paintings and carvings all through them. the longer and bigger the tomb, the longer the king had served. Ramses I was most colourful, but also saw Ramses V and VII.

Tomb of Tut Ankh Amun - the only tomb found perfectly in tact and not robbed. we saw most of the treasures as well as 2 sarcophagus and his death mask earlier in the ciaro museum. but we wanted to go into the tomb itself. it was a little disappointing given how famous it is. only one sarcophagus still in there and quite simple paintings in the small tomb as he didn't live very long. but cool to say we've actually been in there.

Temple of queen CheapHatsuit - Carved into a mountain and with 3 tiers like a wedding cake. It was again an impressive temple, but by this stage we were templed out. Its a shame when such ancient monuments lose their ability to blow you away because you've seen too many.

Alabaster shop - another shop to check out the methods for carving alabaster. held of buying anything this time.

Jewelry shop - gave in and bout 2 sets of earings. my ears are good tests for the quality of silver and turns out one of them is fake. so much for quality if you go with the tour company recommended shops. still love the earings though.

Jewel of the Nile - out for another dinner traditional egyptian meal with the group. my fish taginee was delicious 9/10. they also do fantastic hommus and babbaganoush.

Heap of other tombs of the nobles which were even more vibrant in colours, although no carvings. stopped past the rammseum which was a huge temple of Ramses 1, with some massive feet from a statue out the front, made my feet look even smaller than usual.

nile cruise

2009-12-11T16:40:00.002Z

We set sail to cruise down down the Nile River from Aswan to Luxor with a stop in Edfu, on our fancy cruise ship the 'Ra'. luxury for us. We enjoyed the views on the two days of sailing as the world drifted past, including some sunsets. The lanscape kept changing between green farming fields, desert, and run down little shanti towns. Also with a wierd mix of animals from cows and goats, to donkeys camels and bulls.

Floor show - first night on board we had a floor show starting with a belly dancer. kev got pulled up and showed off his shimmy moves. then the whirling dervish came out and i was mesmerised by how quickly and consistently this guy spun in circles without falling over. his huge bright skirt swirling around, he also got me lying on the floor with it whirling over me, thought it was going to take my nose off.

Crocodile Kom Ombo Temple - interesting temple we stopped off at which had pools where they lured crocodiles into the temple. also had heaps of contrasting symbolism recognising good and evil co-exisiting.

Edfu Temple - we went to see the huge dominating temple by night. The sandstone all illuminated by lights at night left me feeling like i was seeing the temple back in ancient times. Also amazing to see the calendar, recipies, details of offering each day.... all in hyroglypihics covering the walls of the temple. Also amazing that the temple had been completely covered over and houses built on top. they had to demolish all the houses to do the excavations.

egyptian party - We had dress up part on the boat the second night. both of us dressed in egyptian cotton shirts and head scarves, i think we made a great egyptian couple. Although i dont know how women put up with the head scarf as i was sweating like a pig very quickly. did my best to stay in character though as we partied the night away on the boat. we had smuggled on some cheap egyptian vodka but i also moved onto mia tia cocktails. turned into a great night with our group the life of the party up and dancing. strange how peoples perception of things can be very different, one guy did the worm and the locals got upset as they thought he was taking the piss out of their praying movements! However it turns out that egyptian vodka is quite nasty the next day, suprisingly kev was in even worse shape and tried to sleep it off on the top deck.

Aswan and Abu Simbil

2009-12-11T16:13:00.003Z

after an epic 9hr overnight bus ride to Aswan (thanks to huge delays on the train system), I was happy to find the city much more relaxed and friendly. whilst we still got constantly hassled to buy stuff everywhere we went, it was less intimidating and we could actually stop and have a look.

Markets - we wondered the markets a few times though I resisted buying too much crap I don't need' as kev puts it. not a heap of room in the bag and have bangkok coming up soon. but got a top for our Egyptian party on the boat, which turned out to sit more like a moo moo dress than i expected.

Nubian village - we took a little rid out on a felluca boat, traditional simple sailing ships. was a nice cruise as the sun went down but i was starting to appreciate our choice to upgrade to the cruise ship for our next 3 days of travelling down the nile. no toilet, fridge, privacy or beds. just an upper deck we would all have to sit and sleep on... about the size of a main bedroom in a house. it took us out to a Nubian village where we had dinner in a local's house. they have huge upper deck areas where they eat all together and we had a yummy feast of tradition food including roasted chicken, stewed vegies, and a brothy soup. they also worship crocodiles and we got to hold some baby ones they had in the house. finished by all the women getting traditional hena tatto's that actually lasted a good 2 weeks of the trip.

Abu Simbil - we had another early morning wake and 4hr bus ride but it was well worth it to see the two temples. up there in my favourite sites on the trip i think the temple of king ramses with the huge 4 statues carved into the mountain face is far more impressive than the pyramids. I was in absolute awe and amazement as i looked up at the statues then walked through the temple carved directly into the mountain. What seemed to impress kev even more than the temple itself was that the temple was going to be flooded by the high dam, so an enormous international project took place which removed the temple and reconstructed it higher up the hills into a new mountain. you would never know it was moved and they even left the ruined statues in their originally destroyed form to keep it authentic. amazing to stand back and look out over the mountain faces at the temple of the king and queen.

Perfume shop - i felt like i was getting a re-run of my le reve days selling perfume. they sell the original perfume essence in Egypt from which our branded perfumes are made. after getting overwhelmed by all the perfume and aromatherapy essence covering my body, i eventually settled on one called Nefertity.

relaxing by the pool - finally time out in our fancy little hotels. we lay by the pool reading and watching the sunset. i had a quick dip in the freezing pool. shame its so hot in summer they don't bother with solar heating. so for a mid 20's winter day it was a bit too chilly to swim.

Egyptian dinner - finally escaping the buffet dinners, we went to an Egyptian restaurant for a feast. the hommus dip with pitta, stewed vegies and beans, stuffed vegies, and light salads were enough in themselves and delicious. but lucky we had them as our main of stuffed pigeon was terrible. the pigeons must be as starved as the Egyptian people as there was no flesh to eat, just all skin, bones and stuffing (2/10). also not a fan of their garlic, green herby soup which was slimy and made me gag (0/10).

Philai temple - was a huge temple that again was impressive to walk through and see what amazing architects the Egyptians were. full of hieroglyphics and carvings all over the walls. you could even see some of the original colours still on some of the walls and pillars. shame the Christians had got to it though and defaced a lot of it.

High dam - the worlds largest man made dam, it supplies all of Egypt's electricity and water. its so huge that it could completely wipe out all of Cairo if it was to collapse so there is a lot of security around the wall. didn't really capture my attention other than that its huge.... but kev was much more into the construction of the dam . A monument recognising the close ties to Russia is also close by, as they helped Egypt build the dam.

felluca ride - we did another trip down the Nile on the felluca to help us experience what it would be like travelling on it overnight. it was set up with the deck flattened to become bedding. It started off cool to kick back and relax on the mats as the sun went down and life floated by. but after 20 min kev was doing his head in as he cant sit down cross legged and the sun shelter was so low you cant stand.by the end of 3 hours we were all over it and thanking our tour guide for convincing us to upgrade to the 5 star cruise ship we were sleeping on.