World Tour 2007

Wednesday 16th April 2008

2008-04-17T02:38:00.001-07:00

That's it... we're home! We landed at just after 7am this morning and, after collecting our bags, we headed back to Bristol from Heathrow at just after 8am in the back of Mum and Keith's car. We pulled up outside June's house at almost 10.30am and everyone met us on the driveway, which was awesome. Nikki cried - making June cry, which made my Mum cry... OBVIOUSLY!

We've had the most amazing twelve months! We've been to some fantastic places, met some wonderful people and made some brilliant friends! We've put on loads of weight (in America) and then lost it all (and more) again in Asia. I've had ONE haircut all year. We've jumped out of planes, I bungee jumped, we've slept in a campervan around New Zealand and in the Outback, where we also camped out in the open in Swags. We went to the final of American Idol, learnt to ski and scuba dived on the Great Barrier Reef. Then there was Asia, which was spectacular - so sad at times, but overall VERY, VERY eye-opening and, more importantly, great fun! We've got some crazy memories and some even better stories.

It's been a blast - but now it's time for the next adventure... whatever that may be?

THE END...

Tuesday 15th April 2008

2008-04-17T02:35:00.000-07:00

After yesterday's madness we were worried about how we were going to get to the airport without getting soaked with water or covered in the talcum powder paste. We woke up at about 9am and I went outside to check on the Songkran situation. The streets were really quiet - there was only one guy with a super-soaker walking around - and I told Nikki that if we wanted to make a run for it, now was the time to do it. We didn't have anywhere to go but we knew that, by this afternoon, madness was going to fall over this crazy part of Bangkok. We jumped into a taxi and told the driver to take us to the only place we could think of...

We didn't have a plan, but I like to think we've learnt a few things over the past year and thankfully we've lost none of our cheeky charm... so when the driver pulled up outside the Amari Atrium Nikki jumped out and started talking to the lady on the door. We made out that we'd just arrived from Pattaya and asked if we could store our bags? Amazingly - they recognised us and said yes! With our bags safely locked away we went out shopping for some presents for the people at home. Another taxi driver took us to the MBK shopping centre and we spent the rest of our day around Siam Square.

By this evening we had managed to avoid getting wet all day, but as we were heading back to the hotel to get our things some guy soaked us in our tuk-tuk. We pulled up at the hotel and drew quite a few stares. Still feeling cheeky, we asked if there was anywhere we could shower - and they said yes! They sent us up to the fourth floor, which just happened to be where the pool was, so Nikki went for a swim first, then had five minutes in the steam room and a go in the sauna, before finally showering.

Tonight we went to Bangkok airport and checked in nice and early, we then had a look around to pass our time. Walking to our gate was really depressing - the majority of the people there were obviously going home and looked really miserable. We were smiling - we'd had such a good time, plus I think Nikki was (secretly) excited about going home to see her family.

Hours To Go Until We Get Home: THIRTEEN!

Monday 14th April 2008

2008-04-14T21:18:00.001-07:00

Same as yesterday, and the day before that, we woke up late and then went for bagels. It was a little more interesting this morning though, because there were people with super-soakers camped at the end of our street. It was just like a military operation - running in and out of traffic, ducking behind cars - just to get some breakfast. We made it - but some of the older folks weren't so lucky. One poor old guy, who was hobbling along on a walking stick, was allowed to pass and then when his back was turned, they started squirting his feet and soaking his socks - the poor old devil couldn't have run away if he tried.

After breakfast, we came back to the guest house and collected our bags. The next mission was to get all our things out, safely onto a bus or into a taxi and then to the bus station, where we'd catch the bus back to Bangkok. Part one was easy - we'd practiced at breakfast. getting on to a bus proved to be no problem, but traveling on it was... everytime we stopped in traffic, we got soaked! We eventually turned up to the bus station, looking like two drowned rats.

The bus back to Bangkok seemed to pass in no time at all. When we got back, we didn't really know where to stay for our last night - but decided that the Rambuttri Village was as good as any... WRONG! We caught the Bangkok Sky Train from the bus station to Siam Square and from there jumped into a taxi. Getting to the guest house proved almost impossible. The streets were packed with people carrying, not only water guns but also some sort of paste made form talcum powder powder and water. We were terrified about getting out, but luckily made it to reception without any hassle. We then discovered that we didn't have any money and one of us would have to go to the cash-point... step forward... ME! Even though it was less than 300m away, I got ABSOLUTELY SOAKED there and back. We put our bags in our room and then went to join in the fun.

The Songkran celebrations in Pattaya are pretty lame compared to the ones here in Bangkok - i've never know anything like it. The streets are PACKED with thousands of people - crammed together like a concert and EVERYONE is soaking wet. We tried to walk around for a few hours and even stopped for some lunch on one of the stalls, which seemed to buy us immunity from the soaking, but in the end we were just too wet and too tired to go on. We came back to the Rambuttri for showers and a change of clothes and then went to the British Café, which is just opposite - and therefore safe - and spent the rest of the evening eating and drinking in there. I even tried some battered Mars Bars, which were surprisingly nice..,

Days To Go Until We Get Home: ONE!

Sunday 13th April 2008

2008-04-14T21:16:00.000-07:00

We slept late again this morning and, like yesterday, when we were up and about we went to the bagel place for something to eat. It was really hot today so we decided to go down to the beach to relax. We had a look around some of the shops on the way and then went to play in the sea. The thing was, the water was really warm and not very refreshing - so instead we went into one of the big shopping centres to take advantage of their air-con. After a few hours of wandering about, in and out of the shops, we went for some lunch in one of the restaurants and had help-yourself salad. It was lush, and we ate as much as we could - filling ourselves right up.

For the past couple of days, everyone in Thailand has been celebrating the Thai New Year and with it, the Songkran Festival... or Water Festival. Basically it's just one big three-day water fight - from first thing in the morning to the last thing at night. It's a genius idea really - because everyone gets to cool down in the sweltering heat. To join in, the restaurant was giving away water pistols to every table and now we had gone from the soak-ies, to the soak-ers... Rock On!

We spent the rest of our day down at the beach, joining in with the hundreds of water fights that were going on around us. Nobody was safe. People riding on buses were attacked by people on the streets, people walking along, minding their own business, were attacked by people in cars - it was all great fun, and a great way to keep cool. Tonight we went into a bar just round the corner from 'home' and drank loads of beer whilst watching the footie. We even got into a water fight with a couple of the bar staff there too!

WATER FIGHT!

Saturday 12th April 2008

2008-04-14T21:15:00.000-07:00

Me and Nikki slept in until almost 12pm today and when we were finally up and about, went out for some exploring. First we stopped in a posh café at the end of our street and had bagels with cream cheese for our breakfast. Whatever we thought of Pattaya at night, was just as bad in the daylight. This place is crazy! We came back to our guest house later on and were sat in the 'bar area' having a drink when something dawned on us... First, we noticed that the bar had no pumps - in fact, it didn't have many drinks at all - just a few bottles of spirits on a shelf. Next, we noticed that all the lights in the entire downstairs had red light bulbs. Finally, we were sat minding our own business, when this giant, sweaty English man came down from upstairs... closely followed by one of the staff. 'Innocent enough' we thought - until he handed her money, some of which she handed to the manager. OH! MY! GOD! We are staying in a brothel!

There are loads of markets here, both indoor and out, so we spent the first part of our afternoon looking around those - anything to stay away from the guesthouse until WE HAD to go back. From then on, everything in Pattaya looked quite sleazy. Something else we noticed was that there are hardly any Western women here - but THOUSANDS of Western men... most of whom are with a Thai girl.

This evening, we were out walking around when we came to one end of town called 'Walking Street'. This was stag-do heaven. It was just bar after bar, strip club after strip club. We walked from one end to the other and went into a couple of bars, but nothing too rude - preferring to come and drink by our 'guest house' instead. One of the local bars had a really loud live show going on, featuring both regular women and lady boys. We went in to watch and were seated right at the front. We'll be ok we thought, we're not embarrassed... until the lady boys started vying for my attention and the women for Nikki's... d'oh!

Well, well... we've seen Pattaya in a different light now... and it's RED!

Friday 11th April 2008

2008-04-14T21:14:00.001-07:00

We set our alarm for 7am this morning so that we could say our goodbyes to Mark and Lisa. They were checking out and leaving Bangkok for Phuket. We went to their room while they finished packing and then waited with them in the lobby. When they were gone we went back to our room, found out that check-out time was 12pm and then went back to bed. We woke back up at just after 11am and still couldn't be bother to get out of the giant bed, but somehow dragged ourselves out. With everything packed, we checked out, left our bags in reception and then headed over to the Khao San road on the canal taxi to collect my suit.

It was unbelievably hot today, and we couldn't be bothered to walk anywhere - taking tuk-tuks and taxis everywhere. This afternoon we had a look around and then, after getting our bags from the hotel, made our way to the bus station. Even though it was almost 5pm, we decided we were going to go to the beach for a couple of days and caught a bus to Pattaya.

The bus got to the other end and at about 8pm and we caught another, smaller bus to the beach front. Pattaya looks crazy - it reminded us immediately of Patong in Phuket. We wandered the streets until we found somewhere half decent to stay, which we thought would be hard after being spoilt for three days, and then went out exploring.

Our first impressions were right - Pattaya IS crazy. It's also pretty seedy, with loads of strip clubs, massage parlors and bars. There were also TONS of ladyboys about and there was a real party atmosphere in the air. We had some food from a street seller and then went to one of the 'better looking' bars, which had a great live band.

See ya Mark and Lisa... it's been a blast!

Thursday 10th April 2008

2008-04-14T21:13:00.001-07:00

When we got out of the pool yesterday afternoon we noticed that my shorts were covered in a blue dye from the tiles. We took them to reception to complain and they offered to wash them for me - for free. While we were there we thought we'd mention (again) that we were disappointed not to be on Mark and Lisa's floor, not have a pool view, and why wasn't breakfast included in our rate? Well, when we got back last night we found a note under our door which said that, this morning, we were allowed to go to the hotel restaurant for a buffet breakfast... woohoo - free food! We told Mark and Lisa and they got up early to join us.

After preparing them for the last few days, we felt they were ready to do Bangkok on their own and sent them off to look at some temples. We would've gone, but we'd already seen them - and just chilled out in the hotel instead. We arranged to meet at the MBK Shopping Centre this afternoon and, sure enough, they turned up safely. They seemed to have had a good morning and had seen some cool sights and went looking for a suit for Mark. We spent a couple of hours wandering around the shops - me with Mark and Nikki went off with Lisa. The girls didn't buy anything, but me and Mark managed to get a James Bond watch for his Dad - and at a really good price too. When we had had enough of the shopping we returned to the hotel and relaxed by the pool.

This evening we got ourselves dressed-up and went out for our last night together. We started by visiting this REALLY posh hotel called The Banyan Tree Hotel, where we went up to their bar called Vertigo, which is on the roof (or 61st floor). The views of Bangkok were stunning and we felt well snobby. I didn't feel AS snobby as the others though, because I was wearing three-quarter length trousers and had to borrow some 'longer ones' from the hotel. They were rubbish and came to just a bit lower than my original ones - making me look like a clown! We enjoyed our beers and cocktails and then caught a taxi across town to the Hard Rock Café. We all thought we were starving, because we'd not eaten all day and ordered loads of food - way too much in fact. We ordered giant starters, which we could just about manage - but when the main courses came out, we were already stuffed and wasted most of our meals... d'oh! We had planned on going to one of the big clubs in town but were all feeling bloated, so instead came back to our hotel and drank in the bar, where there were a cute little house-band performing.

Mark and Lisa are bad influences... we're spending a fortune!

Wednesday 9th April 2008

2008-04-14T21:11:00.001-07:00

I'm not sure what time we left Mark and Lisa's room last night, but I know we all woke up feeling pretty delicate this morning... well, me and Nikki did - we woke up at just after 11am - Mark and Lisa woke up sometime after 12pm... when we RANG THEM! We made sure they were ok and then arranged to meet them by the pool, where we spent the next couple of hours relaxing and laughing about last nights going-ons. This afternoon we went down into Chinatown for some food and then we headed over to see the Golden Buddha which, despite being solid gold and probably worth a fortune, is just stood out in the open for all the see... or steal!

At about 5pm this evening we headed over to the Khao San road for some beers. After about an hour we caught a taxi to the Ratchadamnoen Stadium, where we watched some Thai Boxing.

We paid for the cheap seats, but still had amazing views - and it was also where a lot of the locals sat so the atmosphere was better (although we were kept separate from them for some reason). There were ten fights in all - ranging from young boys up to men. In some of the better fights the crowd were going crazy - chanting and screaming. It was easily one of the most intense atmospheres i've ever been in - like Play Off time on a Tuesday night at Ashton Gate! As the night went on, we started gambling on the outcomes of the fights. As couples we would pick a corner - red or blue - and the winning couple got to pick first the next time, Double-or-Quits. In the end Mark and Lisa walked away with the pot - about 128 Baht... or £2, but gave it straight back to cover the taxis (bless 'em). The Thai boxing was AMAZING and I think we all had a great time, although it did make us wince a few times. It's pretty full-on, with use of anything, but the head, being acceptable. In all the fights there were 3 knock-outs and one poor guy had to leave on a stretcher. The Thai's didn't seem too concerned - he wasn't even out of the ring before the next fighters were climbing in!

When we left the stadium at about 10.30pm, we decided to head over to an area of Bangkok called Patpong - which is notorious for being the Red Light District. That wasn't why we (me, Nikki and Lisa) were heading over there - they also have a massive night market, but we don't know what Mark had planned! Patpong markets were great - they were selling even more than the guys on the Khao San road, and the streets are packed with people trying to get you into their clubs, trying to get us to watch the infamous 'Ping Pong' shows. At sometime after 1am we were all pretty knackered from the shopping and flagged a taxi which took us back to our giant comfy beds.

Everybody was Kung Fu fighting... well, Thai Boxing actually!

Tuesday 8th April 2008

2008-04-14T21:09:00.001-07:00

We set our alarm nice and early this morning, because we were checking out of the Rambuttri Village. As Mark and Lisa have come all the way from home to see us, we thought we'd make an effort and check into the same hotel as them. Hey, three days in a 5-star hotel couldn't be a bad thing after some of the beds we've slept in this year. It was about 9am when we set off to meet them and nobody wanted to take us - I don't know whether it was the distance, the time of day or the fact that it was a pretty posh place, but everyone was quoting stupid prices. In the end, we did manage to get someone and we were on our way... well, sort of. He was driving us for ages - and was pretty stressed out in the traffic, saying we were paying too little, but soon pulled over for us to get out. The thing was, it was the wrong hotel. We were staying at the Amari Atrium and he'd brought us to the Amari Watergate. If we thought he was unhappy before, we hadn't seen anything yet. Suddenly he was driving like a lunatic - whizzing off and then braking suddenly and shaking his head the whole time. It was a relief to finally make it without him throwing us or himself out of the moving tuk-tuk. We did feel sorry for him and gave him some extra Baht, which he snatched as he screeched away!

The Amari Atrium is LUSH! We walked up to big doors that lead into the lobby and weren't sure if they were going to turn a couple of backpackers away. Thankfully, they didn't and we were soon checking in. We knew we didn't have breakfast included in our rate, but asked anyway and then found that we didn't have either a pool view or a room on the same floor as Mark and Lisa - even though they had our request. This was something we thought we'd remember for later... ha ha ha [evil villain laugh].

We met up with Mark and Lisa in their room (the poor loves were knackered and were snoozing when we got there... well, that was their excuse for being half dressed). It was great fun catching up after so long away and we spent ages just chatting. After a while we all decided to go out and catch the free shuttle over to one of the big shopping centres in Siam Square. We were all starving and had a McDonalds for our lunch, but we couldn't really be bothered to look around the shops, plus Mark and Lisa were pretty tired because they'd been up for nearly 24 hours - so we made our way back to the hotel and all crashed out by the pool.

After a pretty relaxing afternoon, we thought we'd show Mark and Lisa what Bangkok and more importantly the Khao San road had to offer... plus I had my final suit fitting over there (ha ha). We had been having trouble with taxis and tuk-tuks all day and even now people were pulling up and then not wanting to take us anywhere - so the woman on the door of the hotel suggested we catch one of the water taxis that run up and down the canals of the city. For one - we didn't know there were such things and two, canals? But we were willing to give it a try. They were possibly the craziest way we have travelled... on this WHOLE trip. We were expecting a little boat to slowly pull up, but instead got some huge barge thing - that was absolutely motoring along. It slammed itself into the walls of the pier to slow down and then there was a rush of people jumping on. We all got dragged along and the driver was already pulling away before I was onboard. The trip along the canal was mental. The only thing that was stopping us from getting soaked was a small sheet of plastic - it didn't work, me and Mark got covered in smelly canal water... lovely. We got to the other end and then walked the short distance to the Khao San road. It's been pretty quiet for the last couple of days - but it was back to it's old self tonight and was absolutely buzzing! We headed over to my tailor and left Mark and Lisa in a bar while I tried on the suit for one last time. It was finally finished and looks really cool! We all met up and then went for some food on the streets. Afterwards, we went back to the Khao San road and hit some bars.

The first one we went in was selling large bottles of beer for 59 Baht and within no time at all we'd drunk 6 of them. We got our things together and went off in search of some music. As we were staggering down the street, we came across one of the street sellers, selling food... barbecued insects. Feeling rather peckish, I order a cooked grasshopper, and gobbled it up in one. It wasn't actually that bad - and I wasn't ill, but I did pass on more for dessert. We came across another bar which, although more expensive (but still cheap), had a live Asian rock band... come on! We spent a couple of hours in here and it was AMAZING! The band were really good, the staff were great and we were having a great time. After a couple more rounds of beer, Mark and Lisa started buying us Vodka & Redbull. We rocked away until about 2am and then went to find somewhere that was showing the Arsenal vs Liverpool match. Being a Liverpool fan, Mark was desperate but, no sooner had we found somewhere, the beer started flowing again and it was just on in the background.

At half time we caught a tuk-tuk back to our hotel and asked him to rush because we wanted to watch the second half... ooopps. Four of us in the back was bad enough, but throwing in the fact that our driver was a nutter really made it a fun ride. Pulling away from the lights a couple of times, he even managed to pull the front-wheel off the floor. We made it safely back and all piled into Mark and Lisa's room (it was cheaper for us to raid their mini-bar). We all lay on the giant bed and in no time at all the girls were starting to crash out. Mark wasn't far behind although, with the excitement of the footie, he did a strip for us first, bounced around on the bed for five minutes and then fell off... night Mark!

Carlsberg don't do nights out - but if they did, they'd probably be like tonight with Mark & Lisa!

Monday 7th April 2008

2008-04-14T21:08:00.001-07:00

Mark & Lisa are flying out from England tonight and will be getting here early Tomorrow morning, so we thought we'd just hang around today and then do things when they arrive. We got up pretty late and then went to the shops, where we bought some yoghurts for our breakfast, before going back and having a rest by the pool. The sky was still quite grey, but the weather was much better than yesterday - and after just a few hours we were both a little sunburnt... d'oh!

After a couple more hours, just hanging around, we made our way over to the MBK Shopping Centre in a tuk-tuk. We didn't really want to buy anything but thought it might be fun to see what they sold. What could we buy there..? Anything - in fact EVERYTHING! We managed to resist, and came away empty handed, although we could've spent a fortune. Actually, we did buy something - just before we left we went into Baskin-Robbins and had lush milkshakes.

Tonight, we went for another suit fitting (boy, am I making them earn their money - they must regret giving me such a big discount), ate more curries on the street and then had more beers on the Khao San road...

Mark & Lisa are nearly here... Rock On!

Sunday 6th April 2008

2008-04-12T04:29:00.001-07:00

We've heard that the roads from Siem Reap to the border are some of the worst in Asia, and can make for a pretty slow and uncomfortable ride. After the bus nightmares we've been having lately, we decided there had to be another way to travel... luckily, when we walking past a travel agents yesterday we saw that they were offering taxis to do the journey. The more seats taken, the lower the price, and as it was, another couple had heard the same horror stories, and we shared a taxi with them. They were called Matt and Nilu and were from Hawaii. At just after 7am we were on our way back to Thailand.

Even in a nice comfy taxi, the journey was almost unbearable. I don't envy ANYONE who has had to do it in a bus - especially a Cambodian bus. The roads have all been dug up and there's no sign of them being fixed anytime soon. Apparently one of the airlines is paying the government to delay the work - to encourage people to fly... shifty devils. Instead of six bum-crushing hours, our journey was just over four hours and pretty soon we were at the Thai / Cambodian border. It was pretty easy to cross over, which was good because the weather was awful. It was hammering down and the roads were really muddy. The people on the Cambodian side were really crafty - selling things for high prices, knowing people will want to use the last of their Riel, and then not 'having' change.

When we got into Thailand, the four of us had some lunch and tried to decide how we wanted to complete our journey to Bangkok. After some good old Pad Thai, which I have really missed whilst in the rest of Asia, we chose to travel by taxi, and settled into a big 4x4. We were in Bangkok about 3 hours later - and it was still grey, but not raining. We said our goodbyes to Matt and Nilu and walked around to the trusty Rambuttri Village, where we checked in for a couple of nights.

Being back in Bangkok was great! After a while, just wandering around, the things we loved all came flooding back. We spent the rest of the day just exploring, we went down little lanes we'd never seen before and generally just got lost. Tonight, we went for one of the final fittings on my suit and then for some lush curries, which we ate on the street... brilliant! Then we hit some of the bars on the Khao San road, (which someone has tidied up since we've been away), and watched the footie.

Ahh, good old Bangkok - it's great to be back!

Saturday 5th April 2008

2008-04-12T04:26:00.001-07:00

We managed to ditch our driver yesterday and found ourselves a tuk-tuk and driver for today. We arranged to meet our new driver 'Seal' at 7am, which would allow us to get to the temples nice and early and have a look around before it got too hot.

The Temples of Angkor were AWESOME! We didn't see them all - just the main ones. There are far too many to see in one, or even three days. You can buy a week long pass, which gives you a good chance - but they cover an area of 200 square kilometers! Even for their age, some of them are in pretty good condition. One of them however, which was also one of our favourites, has been totally destroyed by nature. For some reason the trees of the forest have gone crazy and have smashed the place to bits - growing right through everything and leaving it in a right mess. This temple was used as part of the set on the Tomb Raider film.

At about 1pm, it was roasting and we were all templed-out. I think our tuk-tuk driver was getting pretty hot too and he was happy when we said we wanted to go back to town. When he got us back, we took him for lunch to say thanks, before returning to our room for a rest. Nikki tried to have a nap, and I was reading when all of a sudden this huge racket started coming through our windows. At first we tried to ignore it in case it was children practicing some (awful) musical instrument - but it went on and on and on and on and on... In the end, Nikki started going crazy, telling me to hunt them down and do something - but instead we went out for a walk.

This evening we went to a free music concert, just outside of town, which was organised by a Swiss guy called Dr. Beat. He's been a Doctor in Cambodia since the 70's and he gives up his Saturday nights so that he can raise money for his hospitals. He's obviously pretty good, or been doing it for a long time - because he's built five! He was excellent on the cello, and he also played some videos, showing the healthcare situation for Cambodian children, which were pretty upsetting. When it was time to leave, we donated $20 to the cause, which wasn't much - but all we had. Afterwards we came back to town for some drinks to try and cheer ourselves up.

See Mr Toyota driver, give us a smile and we're happy to do business... we'll even do lunch!

Friday 4th April 2008

2008-04-12T04:25:00.001-07:00

We woke up nice and late this morning and when we eventually got dressed, we went out exploring. We didn't fancy much for our breakfast, so instead we bought some yoghurts and sat outside eating them when we were swooped upon by some crazy guy on a motorbike. He was obsessed with showing us around Siem Reap. He told us that he'd recently bought a new car from America and, after 12 years of driving a motorbike, was going to take tourists around in style. We tried not to be rude, saying that we quite like riding around in a tuk-tuk, but he wouldn't have it - and we eventually agreed to go with him, just for some peace. We agreed to meet him in the same spot at 3pm and finally managed to get rid of him.

After some exploring and then eating some $1 noodle soup, we walked back to the mini-mart and met our driver and he took us out in his brand new (to him) Toyota Camry (which he'd had shipped in from America, by the way). Our first stop was at the war museum, which wasn't really a 'museum', but more of a collection of blown-up war vehicles that have been found around the area. They even had a collection of old guns and things that seemed to be just... doing nothing - so I went over and posed with a grenade launcher... complete with grenade!

Next we drove over to one of the main attractions in the whole of Cambodia... Angkor Wat, which is a huge city of temples that was built well over a thousand years ago. They're also one of the Wonders of the World, and the main one, Angkor Wat, is the biggest temple in the world. We weren't going to be spending long looking around today, it was really just a chance to buy our ticket - so that we could go early tomorrow. As it turned out, we could also go in today - but only for an hour or so. That didn't matter to us though, because the sun was starting to set and the crowds were starting to disappear - so what we saw was pretty impressive!

Tonight, we went down to Bar Street for some food and drinks. We found a great little place called The Khmer Kitchen, where we tried a local dish called Amok Curry - it was gorgeous. The place was really nice and apparently it's a favourite of Mick Jagger's!

OK! We'll ride in your new Toyota... but only if you'll leave us alone!

Thursday 3rd April 2008

2008-04-12T04:22:00.000-07:00

After waking absolutely boiling again this morning, it was a relief to check out of the 'shoe-box'. We paid our bill and then sat in the restaurant next door while we waited for our mini-bus to arrive. Nikki had a full English breakfast and I had beans on toast, so we were well set for our journey to Siem Reap. The bus was awful - it was old and cramped and seemed to have very little air conditioning. We soon discovered that we were also sat in the worst seats... for some reason, the floor was absolutely boiling - so hot in fact that we couldn't take off our flip-flops without burning our feet!

The bus made a couple of stops - more than we usually make on these journeys, and we soon found out why the floor was so hot. Every time we stopped, the driver would fill up a huge bucket of water and spend about fifteen minutes emptying it over the radiator... which was directly under our feet. On one of the stops we saw some really revolting food. One of the women was walking round with a tray on her head - that was covered in deep fried TARANTULAS! Worst of all, she was also carrying a bucket of live ones too. For some reason, she thought we were mad when we turned her down.

After a pretty painful journey, we eventually made it to Siem Reap. When we stepped off the bus, the tuk-tuk drivers went CRAZY! We were mobbed and there must've been about 30 men fighting for our attention. Every time we tried to walk away to make a plan or to read the Lonely Planet, they were all over us - it was mental. We eventually picked one of the quieter men and he agreed to help us find a guest house. He drove us around for ages before we found a really nice one - called Mitri Guest House. This evening we went for a little walk around town. Siem Reap is really small and dusty compared to the madness of Phnom Penh and was actually quite relaxed. The main centre was quite nice - with loads of nice cafés, bars and restaurants. We were pretty hungry so, after using the internet, we went into a cool little place called 'Behind Bars' (which was like a prison cell) and had some noodle soup.

THAT IS IT... I am not getting on another bus in this country!

Wednesday 2nd April 2008

2008-04-03T04:50:00.000-07:00

It is so hot in Cambodia - probably the hottest place we've been in Asia and Nikki is having trouble sleeping at night... it might have something to do with the fact that our room is the size of a shoe box and I won't fork out for air-con (ha ha). So, after getting up quite early, we sat in our bar where we had some breakfast and then went to an internet café to use the internet. We spoke with Arno and told him about the Killing Fields and S-21 and he recommended an interesting bar, called The Heart of Darkness - so we said we'd check it out.

When we were ready to go out, our driver was outside waiting for us. He's so grateful for all the business that we're giving him that he calls us his friends - and lets us pick our own fares... yippee! Today, he took us to an orphanage, which is just outside town. All the children have got HIV or Aids and they get no support from the government. There were only about 8 there when we got there and the rest were at school (they can't afford to send them all every day). On the way we bought a huge jar of lollies and had a great time playing with the children. We spent a couple of hours there, just the two of us, our driver and four staff. Me and Nikki chatted with them, did some drawing and played footie. Despite their situation, they were all pretty happy and great fun.

This evening, we watched another film in our bar and then went out for some food... yep, Suvann drove us. He took us down to the river and we went for a Mexican. It was really nice and afterwards we walked round to the bar that Arno had mentioned. He was right... it was definitely interesting. It was like being in some ancient temple or a museum and they played a really weird mixture of music. One minute we had Westlife or Whitney Houston and then the next was a disco song or heavy rock... brilliant!

I can't believe how sad Cambodia is... can't these poor people get a break?

Tuesday 1st April 2008

2008-04-03T04:48:00.000-07:00

After our rather upsetting day yesterday, we thought we'd see some more 'normal' sights today and take it easy. We had some breakfast and then when we left our guest house, we bumped into our tuk-tuk driver from yesterday. He said he's take us wherever we wanted to go and we set off. We said we wanted to go visit the Royal Palace, but on the way we wanted to stop in a cookie shop we'd seen advertised.

Apparently, the Camory Premium Cookie Boutique (to give it's full name) is a charity shop, and a lot of the profits go to help the homeless - so we thought we'd do our bit. When we went in we found that we could try the cookies before we bought them - big mistake telling me that... I tried them all. We even dragged our driver in and got him to try some, as he'd never tried a cookie before. Me and Nikki bought some cookies for ourselves and then treated Suvann (the driver). We also bought some for his kids at home... it was for charity after all!

We left the cookie place and got dropped off at the Royal Palace. It was shut when we arrived so we went for a drink in a nearby bar, where we ate our delicious cookies. When the Palace finally opened we couldn't get in anyway because we were wearing inappropriate clothes, so we took some pictures from the outside and then walked on. Our next stop was the Russian Market where we spent the rest of the afternoon looking around.

This evening we got our driver to take us back down to the river, and to a restaurant we'd read about, called FRIENDS. This is also a charity organisation - and all the staff are young people who are poor or have come from the streets etc. It's a tapas bar and the food was AMAZING! We ordered loads (it was for charity after all) and ended up leaving very happy.

Man, all this charity work is filling!

Monday 31st March 2008

2008-04-03T04:47:00.001-07:00

Nikki woke up really early this morning - I think it was because our room creeped her out. I have to admit, it wasn't very nice! We got ourselves ready, went to a small café for some breakfast and then set ourselves the task of finding another guest house. It didn't take us long - in fact it was right across the way from Number 10, and is called the Grand View Guest House. The room is really clean, and even though we have to climb about 76 flights of stairs - it's better than last nights. We had a bit of a lazy morning, just wandering about - trying to take in our surroundings, when we decided that we'd go and see some of the sights in Phnom Penh. We stopped a tuk-tuk driver and he said he'd charter us around for the day - and take us to the Tuol Sleng Museum (S-21) and Choeung Ek Killing Fields... so off we went. On our way around the city, the clear thing to us was that there is an obvious divide in class and wealth. Some people are walking round barefoot or in tattered clothes and then someone would drive past them in a Lexus... crazy!

When i'd spoke with Arno earlier about Cambodia, he said that if we visit the museum and Killing Fields to be prepared - they're not very nice places. I can tell you, he wasn't joking. The museum especially was possibly the most horrific place I have ever been. It used to be a school and then in about 1975 the Khmer Rouge took it over and turned it into the S-21 Prison. It is estimated that around 20,000 innocent Cambodians were taken into the prison, where they were interrogated and tortured before being transported to the Killing Fields... only 7 people came out alive! There are pictures on the walls that show these poor people, many photographs of victims and also paintings of how they killed. What makes it even worse is that most of the Khmer Rouge soldiers were aged between 14-20 years old!

We felt that we owed the museum our full attention , so we paid for a guide who was excellent. She was a Cambodian woman who explained everything really clearly. When we got towards the end of the tour she told us that her family (including Mum, Dad, brothers, sisters and Aunties & Uncles) were all taken by the Khmer Rouge - and she's never seen them again. We felt so sorry for her. How she faces coming to work every day is beyond me!? At 3pm there was a film being shown, but before we could watch it we had to take a break, so we went into a small café opposite and had a drink with our tuk-tuk driver. When we'd caught our breath, we went back in. It didn't get any easier and Nikki ended up leaving in tears.

Our next stop was the Choeung Ek Killing Fields, which is where the prisoners were executed and was then the site of their mass graves. These weren't a very nice place either - but at least we could hear the birds singing there. Right in the middle of the field is a remembrance monument, which you can enter... and it contains about 8000 of the skulls that were found! As you walk around the fields you can still see bones and bits of clothing in the floor. It's unbelievable.

We came back to the lakeside this evening and didn't really know what to do with ourselves - we were feeling quite down after the things we had seen. We sat in the bar of our place, which was showing the film The Killing Fields (apparently they show it every night) and then we decided to get some food, so we went for another curry. Typically, after the day we'd had, the food was rubbish... d'oh!

We've had too many curries lately - we're gonna save ourselves until we get back to Paprika now!

Sunday 30th March 2008

2008-04-03T04:38:00.000-07:00

After a nice early start to the morning, we said our goodbyes to the lovely staff at our guest house and then, at 8am, walked the short distance through town to the beach. The guy we'd bought our tickets from arrived shortly afterwards and five of us were soon herded in a tiny boat - that was no wider than a canoe... backpacks and all. We safely made it to the other side where we had to wait for nearly an hour for our bus.

Even though we were the first at the 'bus station', our bus was the last to leave and left and sometime near 10am. The drive to the border wasn't too bad, although we did notice that all the other buses were going to one check-point and we were going to another. We were dropped off at the side of the road and had to go through Laos immigration to 'check out'. The building we had to queue outside of was no bigger than a shed from B&Q - it was tiny, and the guy's there were really grumpy. We paid our $2 Departure Tax (read: back pocket tax) and were ushered into no-mans land, between Laos and Cambodia. We walked for about 150 meters to the other immigration building, where we had to apply for visas and pay another $2, this time for Entry Tax (once again, read: back pocket tax). All in all, crossing over the border was a pretty painless experience, but MUCH WORSE was to follow. About 30 of us were shown to our Cambodian transport, which happened to be the oldest, hottest and smelliest bus in existence. We were told to get on the bus immediately and then watched as the driver sat outside (in the cool) and had a drink.

It was our original plan to stop in a place called Kratie, which is about 4 hours South of the border but, when we got there, we were told that there are no cash points in the whole city. In fact, the only cities that do have them are Phnom Penh and Siam Reap. With only $13US and about 500 Thai Baht in our pockets, things weren't looking good, so we changed our minds and somehow managed to convince our driver to let us stay on the bus to Phnom Penh... for a fee of course.

The landscape in Cambodia was (not surprisingly) a mix of those in Vietnam and Laos. Like Laos there seemed to be more normal fields than rice ones but, like Vietnam there seemed to be more trees - unlike Laos which seemed quite flat. The drive to Phnom Penh was... painful. The roads here are unbelievable - they must be the most uneven, inconsistent and dangerous roads in the world. If we had been on a plane and we'd been bouncing around as much then I would've got into the emergency brace position - it was madness!

We eventually arrived at just before 10pm tonight after a whole day on the road. We were dropped off and the driver, who spoke no English, just drove off - with no explanation as to where we were or anything. We were surrounded by guest house touts and were soon on our way to a bed for the night. We decided to go with this young guy from Number 10 Guest House, which he said was great... it wasn't! We had a really grotty little room, but after the journey we'd had we didn't care - it had a bed (which was sort of clean). We dumped our bags and then went to chill out in the bar for an hour or so and laugh about the day we'd had...

WOW! So this is Cambodia... Nice Roads!

Saturday 29th March 2008

2008-03-29T05:19:00.001-07:00

It was so hot last night that at about 11.30 I got out of bed and went and slept in one of the hammocks on the porch. I tried to shut the door as best I could, but woke up at just after 4am with it wide open. I went to check on Nikki and she said she was having trouble sleeping - not only because it was hot, but because the door kept creaking as it swung in the breeze. After that I came back inside and crashed out on the bed.

Nikki woke me up at just after 11am this morning and said she'd already been for breakfast. The sweetheart said I looked peaceful, so she left me where I was. I got myself ready and then went for something to eat myself. Straight away, we could tell it was going to be another hot one. After breakfast, me and Nikki went for another walk around the island - this time in the other direction from our guest house. We didn't get very far... we just moaned the whole way about how hot and sticky we were, and came back to lay in the hammocks instead.

We spent the whole afternoon doing nothing - just laying on our porch. The only times we got up were to use the toilet or when we went for a nice refreshing shower (three in Nikki's case). This evening we took a walk round to one of the nearby bars on the West side of the island, where we sat and watched the sun set. It was crazy - not only was the sky turning the usual shades of red, yellow and orange - but also green.

Man! We'd be lost without those hammocks!

Friday 28th March 2008

2008-03-29T05:17:00.001-07:00

There was no reason to get up early this morning - we're in Four Thousand Islands for a spot of rest and relaxation. So, when we woke up at just after 9am with the sun coming through our windows, we were both feeling quite refreshed. We looked outside and there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

We got ourselves ready and then went for some breakfast. Afterwards we thought, now that the tracks had all dried out, we'd go out exploring. Yesterday, Natasha had told us about an old railway bridge that connects this island to Don Khon island. She said it wasn't far, so we thought we go and check it out...

Poor Natasha had obviously gone a little crazy in the rain, because the bridge was MILES away - and it took us hours to get there. The walk was really nice though, because the island is really rural and it was lovely to see all the locals going about their business. Working really hard, but without a care in the world. When we got to Don Khon island we hired some bikes and went cycling to the Khone Phapheng waterfalls. These are supposed to be the biggest in the whole of South East Asia, (in terms of volume), so we thought it was worth a look.

When we got back to our guesthouse this evening, we were both exhausted, (so much for the r&r), and we were happy to lay in our hammocks and chill out. This evening we went for a meal at the other end of town before heading back before 10pm, because we'd forgot our torch... d'oh!

What a difference a day makes... one day it's horribly wet, the next it's exhaustingly hot!

Thursday 27th March 2008

2008-03-29T05:15:00.000-07:00

We got up nice and early this morning and, after using the internet, walked round to the ticket office where we caught our bus South to Four Thousand Islands. When we boarded the bus, the weather didn't look too great, but when we got off at the other end it was absolutely horrendous! Four Thousand Islands is made up of land that comes out of the Mekong River (oh yeah, it's flowing ok here) - and although not far from the mainland, the only way to the islands is by boat. We had to carry our bags from the bus, through this muddy little village, to a boat that was... almost useless. The roof of ours was pathetic - it looked like it had been stolen from the back of an old deck-chair, it was so small and full of holes. It's safe to say, we'd have been just as wet had we decided to swim across to the island of Don Det. When we were safely on dry land, Nikki waited with the bags while I went off in search of accommodation.

Don Det Island isn't very big and most of the places to stay are all on one street. I walked around for about 20 minutes and then went back to get Nikki - i'd found a pretty cool place called Dalom Guest House. It was at the end of the street and was quite private - plus it had it's own restaurant and our room had an indoor bathroom - something a lot of the others didn't.

Once our bags were safely indoors, we sat out on the balcony and tried our best to dry off - we were soaked through. By now, it was after 12pm and we hadn't eaten - so we went to the restaurant for some food. We sat there for a few hours and got chatting to a girl from New York, called Natasha. She said she was supposed to be leaving this morning - but none of the boats could leave, the weather was so bad. She said the rain was actually lighter now and that during the night it was awful.

All the dirt track roads on the island had gotten pretty boggy in the rain, so we hung around our guest house for the rest of the day. Not long after lunch the rain stopped and the sun came out - so we lay in our hammocks on our porch, where we both fell asleep - although, not before i'd broken one of them. I got in one and it was fine, but Nikki said hers was uncomfortable - so I offered to swap. I'd been lying in it for about 20 seconds, when all of a sudden I tore a massive hole in it and fell through to the floor. It took me ages to climb out and both Nikki and the people in the restaurant were laughing at me. I managed to fix it, but there was NO WAY I was getting back in it - Nikki could have that one!

This evening we went to one of the local restaurants, where we had a great meal and a couple of beers. We came back to our room at just before 10pm, because we didn't want to be out in the dark... at 10.30pm ALL THE ELECTRICITY ON THE ISLAND WENT OFF. Night then!

Lights out at 10.30pm... Mum would LOVE it here!

Wednesday 26th March 2008

2008-03-29T05:14:00.001-07:00

Apparently 5.45am is karaoke time in Laos. If it's not, then there must be some other reason why the driver thought it was necessary to BLAST OUT his dvd at this time of the morning. With everyone wide awake on the bus we all watched as he pulled up into the town of Paske. I didn't sleep too well last night. It was nice sharing a bed with Nikki, but the driver thought he was in some sort of rally race and was throwing us all over the road. We all climbed off safely at just after 6.30am and a group of us jumped onto the back of a tuk-tuk, who took us round to some guest houses. After finding somewhere to stay we went out for some breakfast and then wandered around the streets. Paske isn't a very big place, we just used it as a place to break up the journey between Vientiane and Four Thousand Islands.

While we were out and about, we spotted out tuk-tuk driver from earlier and he offered to take us out to the nearby waterfalls for a knock-down price. We had nothing better to do, so we went for it. Little did we know it, but boy did we have to earn that 'knock-down' price!

The first of the waterfalls was about an hour away and our driver forgot he had taken his tuk-tuk to work today and thought he was in his Porsche. He was driving at about 100mph (not really, but it seemed that way) and overtaking everything in sight, when all of a sudden there was a massive BANG! and something exploded. We rolled to a stop on the side of the road and he grabbed his tool kit and fixed the problem before we drove on... much slower. Further down the road, water started spitting everywhere and the driver looked worried so we pulled over... again. This time, the problem took longer to fix and he couldn't get it going again. Me and Nikki stepped out to let him do his thing when all of a sudden he looked at us and started nodding. We asked if he wanted a push and he got more and more excited. So, there we were trying to push this rickety old tuk-tuk down the road while the driver is sat on the front shouting 'SPEED, SPEED' at us - whatever the problem was, we obviously sorted it because he shot off down the road, before turning round and collecting us. After all the excitement, we'd forgot about the waterfalls and were surprised when we arrived. Because of 'pit stops', we only had about fifteen minutes at the first one - Tad Fane Falls. The next ones, Tad Yueang Waterfalls, were much better and we got to climb all the way down to the bottom.

If we'd thought the journey back was going to be any less eventful, then we were wrong. About half way back, our driver screeched to a halt and started speaking to a motorbike driver on the side of the road. The next thing we know, we've been told to get out so that they could get the rider AND HIS BIKE into the back! Poor old Nikki had to sit and hold onto the bike for the rest of the journey - doing her best to stop it falling out of the back, while I sat up front, next to the driver, on a cushion about 10cm square... with the petrol tank between my legs!

This evening we wandered around town and then on our way back to the guest house went for an Indian meal. The food was EXCELLENT and we left both full and extremely happy. When we got back to the room, we had showers, packed our bags and then crashed out on the bed.

After that, we'll never look at a tuk-tuk in the same way again!

Tuesday 25th March 2008

2008-03-29T05:12:00.001-07:00

We've decided that we're going to start heading South now, so that we can move across into Cambodia - but first we want to visit a place we've heard about called Four Thousand Islands. It's right at the bottom of Laos - so we're going to break up our journey and make a stop in a small place called Pakse. We got up and then booked ourselves onto one of the sleeper buses for tonight. Then we spent the rest of the day just wandering around in the sunshine. First of all we went for breakfast in a really posh café, and both had bagels with cream cheese. Next, after wandering around town for a few hours, we stopped in a small café - where we sat for a few hours and wrote our postcards for the people at home.

At about 5.30pm this evening we walked round to the office where we'd bought our bus tickets and they drove us to the bus. We thought we were gonna be on our way straight away, but it turned out we had to wait in the bus station for a few hours. While we were there, we had the most suspect of pork sandwiches - it included about four different 'types' of pork - one of which was covered in fur! Nikki couldn't manage all of her half, but I did...

The bus left the bus station at just after 8pm and me and Nikki were well happy because, not only was the bed pretty comfy - but it was also a double - so we got to sleep together... woohoo!

Yippee! Double sleeper-bus bed... Rock On!

Monday 24th March 2008

2008-03-29T05:10:00.000-07:00

We'd booked to go back to the Vientiane today - but rather than go on the VIP bus again, we paid a little bit extra and travelled by mini-bus. It came to collect us nice and early and we were back in the capital for lunch. The bus dropped us off and we walked back round to the Saysouly Guest House, where we checked in for the night. After the journey South, we were both starving so we went straight out for lunch and had noodle soup in one of the restaurants next to the Mekong River... or puddle as it should be known at this time of year - it's so dried up!

We spent the afternoon wandering around town, looking at loads of the old temples and also caught a tuk-tuk out to the Pha That Luang monument. It can be seen from miles away because it's a really bright gold colour and is really important to the people of Laos because, not only is it a sign of the Buddhist religion but also of Lao sovereignty. This evening, after consulting the Lonely Planet, we went out for a cracking Indian meal. It was really good food and was a bargain price - so we walked, well waddled, away extremely happy.

Mekong River... that isn't a river!

Sunday 23rd March 2008

2008-03-29T05:09:00.001-07:00

Our alarm woke us up nice and early this morning and it was really hot again. We went for breakfast in the Organic Farm Café and then took some washing to one of the places that offer 'Laundry Services'. It's such a bargain here - they were offering it for 6,000 Kip / per kilo, which is about 30p! Afterwards we went and made some enquires about the real reason people come to Vang Vieng... Tubing!

Tubing is basically a bar crawl... along the Nam Song River... in a huge rubber ring. You can stop at as many of the bars as you like (or can handle). They're all playing really loud music and some of them have huge rope swings to keep you happy. We started at 12pm and had until 6pm to return our rubber rings back to the shop in town. The course of the river was only 4km - and it's said that it should take two hours... but that's if you're not drinking and acting silly!

The rope swings were brilliant and the first one we stopped at was huge! The bar was packed and was playing good music, so we thought it was a good a place as any to start drinking. We got chatting to two Canadian guys, Daniel and Wes, who had been at the bar for a while - but hadn't mustered up the courage to do the swing. I wasn't having any of that - and had dragged Daniel on within minutes of our arrival! I had a couple of goes and then Nikki got in on the act. I couldn't believe it - the little dare-devil just ran off and the next thing I knew she was at the top... brilliant!

We got back to town at just before 6pm this evening and we were absolutely exhausting. We had stopped at another bar en-route with another of the bigger swings, and bumped into Daniel and Wes again (great minds think alike). The last part of our journey was madness! We had no idea what the time was and how far we had to go, so we started paddling for our lives... thankfully we made it... just! This evening, we went back to the bar from last night and had pizzas and beer each whilst watching F•R•I•E•N•D•S.

Ha! Lazy River my arse!

Saturday 22nd March 2008

2008-03-29T05:07:00.000-07:00

We got up nice and early this morning, went for some breakfast and then caught a bus North to a place called Vang Vieng. We'd booked ourselves onto the VIP bus, and were hoping that the journey was going to be a nice one - but it wasn't. I think the VIP stood for Vehicle Is Pathetic! We were told it was the best bus to catch and that, as well as being comfy, it had air con... air con my arse! After about 10 minutes, the driver realised it was doing nothing and instructed everyone to open their windows instead. The drive itself wasn't too bad though. It took about four hours and the last part was through spectacular scenery. Laos doesn't look like Thailand or Vietnam - there are lots of green hills and mountains but, instead of rice fields, has regular fields with animals grazing.

When we arrived in Vang Vieng it was really hot. The place wasn't very big and it looked really dusty in the hazy afternoon sun. We took a while to find somewhere to stay but, once we had, we went out exploring. There is one main street here, which is packed full of bars and restaurants - all of which are showing episodes of F•R•I•E•N•D•S. We walked around the streets and down to the Nam Song River, before going back to the guest house so Nikki could lie down. This evening we went to one of the bars, where we sat watching the TV, with everyone sprawled out on huge bed like sofas, and ate pizza and drank beer... heaven!

Note to self: VIP Buses aren't what they tell you they are!

Friday 21st March 2008

2008-03-29T05:03:00.000-07:00

5am! Our alarm went off at 5am this morning so that we could get up and get ourselves to the airport... today we were flying to Vientiane in Laos! Our taxi was waiting for us when we checked out and we were soon on our way. Even at the (ridiculously) early hour, Hanoi was buzzing! There wasn't much traffic, but there were hundreds of people milling about - doing their thing. Had it not been dark I would've thought it was the middle of the afternoon, such was the hive of activity! The airport was pretty nice and we didn't have to wait long before we caught our flight.

We landed in Vientiane at just before 10am and had no problems getting our visas and then through passport control... not like in Vietnam, where Nikki almost got us arrested! When we were walking into the departure area, we put our bags on the scanner and then walked through the metal detector. Nikki's bag went first when all of a sudden the guards stood up and started raising their voices. Someone tried translating but we still couldn't understand. The main guard indicated that he wanted Nikki to empty her bag onto the table - all the while, I was slowly backing away, trying to act like we weren't together. I didn't have a clue what was going on, but Nikki clicked and started giggling: remembering that she's been carrying one of the AK47 bullets we used at the Cu Chi Tunnels (outside Ho Chi Minh). Luckily, it was a USED bullet and we were allowed to continue through - even though I asked them to lock Nikki up.

A taxi bought us to the main area of Vientiane and we were lucky enough to find somewhere to stay pretty quickly. We checked into the Saysouly Guest House and then went out for a walk. For a capital city, Vientiane isn't very big! Something that really struck us straight away was how quiet it was. There were loads of motorbikes and cars about (not quite as many as in Vietnam), but nobody was driving round with their hands glued to the horn, so that made a nice surprise. We walked down to the centre, where we had a look around the shops and markets and then went and looked at a couple of the monuments in town. By now it had gone lunch time, so we caught a tuk tuk back to our guest house and then went for food. On first impressions, Laos is very similar to Thailand and Vietnam, (more like Thailand in terms of the food), so that's good. The restaurant was near part of the Mekong River, so we went for a look and were surprised to see that the water level was really low. It looked almost dried-up, unlike in Vietnam where it was really high!

I don't know if it's the early morning, or the traveling - but we were exhausted afterwards and we went back to our room where we both passed out on the bed. We woke up a couple of hours later and were still pretty tired, but made an effort to go out. We didn't really want any food, but found a bowling alley and had a couple of games of that instead.

A mix of Thailand and Vietnam... I think we'll like it here!

Thursday 20th March 2008

2008-03-26T05:48:00.001-07:00

It was to be our last day in Hanoi and Vietnam today so we didn't bother setting any alarms and slept in until about 10.30am. We only woke then because there was someone outside our building singing songs on a really loud karaoke machine! We checked the time, agreed it was about time we did something and got ourselves ready. We took ages to get out and when we finally did, we decided that it was too late for breakfast - and went straight for lunch instead.

This afternoon we decided to walk over to Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum - it was on the other side of the city, but figured that the walk would do us good. We probably should've done some research first because, not only was it further than we thought but, it's shut in the afternoons - and not open at all on Fridays... d'oh! We hung around the area and visited his palace and famous 'stilt house' before catching a cyclo back to our side of town. Our driver dropped us off at the Woman's Museum (which is all about the Vietnamese women during the war). The poor cyclo driver looked exhausted as he cycled off, but then he was carrying both of us - some Westerners have to get cyclos of their own and you see families being carried along in convoy.

We explored some more of the city and then headed back to our guest house. It was really humid and on the way we stopped at a tiny street bar to get some drinks (I say tiny, it was just a table, an umbrella and some stools on the pavement). The little old lady serving us was lovely and when we took a picture of her 'bar' she was well impressed - we don't think she'd ever seen a digital camera before and wanted to pose with Nikki for loads of pictures. When we'd finished our drinks, we said our goodbyes and walked round to a photo shop because we needed some passport photos. When we were there we printed off one of the photos and took it back to the old lady as a gift. She saw us coming and started waving. When we handed her the picture, we walked away and she started getting all excited - cooing and showing it to all her friends - bless her.

This evening we met up with some of the people from our Halong Bay trip. We went for drinks and then a meal with Grimey (Graham from Australia (but lives in London)), Sharpey (from Australia), and Sammy and Katie (from Kuala Lumpur). We all met at different times and while we were finishing our drinks, we got chatting to two other people who were on their own and invited them along. They were Anne (from America) and Zade (from England (Stoke City fan!!)). We went to a really great restaurant and the food was superb. We had an amazing time and it was the perfect way to say goodbye to Vietnam!

Honestly, Vietnam is one of the best places we've visited... WE LOVE IT!

Wednesday 19th March 2008

2008-03-26T05:46:00.001-07:00

We were woken this morning by the light coming in through our window and looked out to see that the sun had not long risen on the peaceful waters of Halong Bay. We didn't have long to stay in bed though - pretty soon the staff were banging on our door telling us that breakfast was ready. After we'd all eaten the boat raised it's anchor and we set off. We sailed for about an hour or so and then we stopped at a fishing village. It was a really tiny place with about 20 buildings dotted about, all floating on the water. There was even a school, to which the children had to travel by boat!

We spent a couple more hours sailing in and out of the islands and at one point, changed into a smaller boat that allowed us to enter some caves. When we were ready to change back to our bigger boat, we were told that we had to pay 40,000VD for our little 'excursion'. Most people happily paid (it was only just over £1), but three guys refused, so they were stopped from getting off the smaller boat and were taken out into the middle of the water until they handed over their money... ha ha - stingey fools!

This afternoon we got back to Halong City and then were driven back to Hanoi. On the way we stopped for a smashing lunch. We got back to the capital at about 5.30pm and me and Nikki set off trying to find somewhere to stay. We found one place where we'd discussed staying and luckily they had a room, so it wasn't much trouble. We collected our big rucksacks from the travel agents and checked in. We were pretty exhausted from the traveling, but not very hungry because of the huge lunch we'd ate - but we didn't want to stay in, so we went out for a coffee instead. We found a really posh bistro place and treated ourselves. I had a hot chocolate and Niks had a coffee and then we had a slice of cake each. The total came to 200,000VD, which is the most we've paid for a meal in our whole time here... it was worth it though!

Mmmmm, can't beat a nice coffee and a cake!

Tuesday 18th March 2008

2008-03-26T05:40:00.001-07:00

We got up nice and early this morning and, after helping ourselves to some of the free breakfast, we checked out and waited for our tour bus to pick us up. In true Vietnam fashion, I went to find out what was happening when the bus was over twenty minutes and nobody batted an eyelid! It eventually turned up and we were soon en-route to Halong Bay.

Halong Bay is a group of more than 3,000 islands that rise from the clear emerald waters of the Gulf of Tonkin and is a Unesco World Heritage site. We were driven to Halong City and then we boarded an old Vietnamese Junk Boat, where we were going to be sleeping tonight. At this time of year the weather is usually wet and drizzly around these parts and that was the way it was today - but it didn't make a difference, it was still stunning! We spent all day on the boat, eating lunch and then tea. In between we stopped at a floating fishing village where some people got off, but it was too cold to go swimming so we stayed onboard. Tonight, a group of us got together and spent the night chatting, drinking and playing cards. We all had a really good time and at just before midnight we all returned to our small cabins.

Yippee! Another night on the ocean waves!

Monday 17th March 2008

2008-03-26T05:37:00.000-07:00

At some point during the night we passed over the DMZ, which is the area which separated North and South Vietnam during the war, and entered into Northern Vietnam. We woke up at just before 6am to look out of the window and see the start of Hanoi. Even though it was really early - there were thousands of people about. There were older people in the park doing aerobics and it seemed like the city had been awake for hours! The bus stopped and, i'm not sure how, but we ended up being bundled into a taxi with two older women and taken to the guesthouse area of the Old Quarter of the City. We got out when the taxi stopped and some guy paid our fare - only for us to decide that we didn't want to stay in his place - so we walked away.

I'm not sure what the guesthouse managers of Vietnam thought of us, but each one we turned up at turfed us out. Some even told us that they had spaces at other guesthouses and when we got there told us it wasn't true - it was a nightmare. It got to about 8.30am and we still hadn't found anywhere. Finally, we found a little hotel, called the Camellia Hotel, which seemed ok so we checked in there. After finding our room we went back out and, to reward ourselves for our tough morning, treated ourselves to a full English breakfast.

We spent the rest of our day exploring the nations capital. We walked around the Hoan Kiem Lake and then did our own city walk - really getting into the hidden parts and mixing with the locals. I didn't really know what to think of Hanoi at first. Ho Chi Minh had a really good vibe - a real wheeler-dealer attitude about it, and Hanoi seemed... different - but that soon changed! We were walking down the streets and there were people selling fresh cuts of meat (so fresh that I saw the animals walk out to the chopping block) and all kinds of foods. One woman, who was selling fruit, approached us and handed Nikki her basket. She then started shouting 'picture, picture' at me. I took a picture of Nikki and she did the same to me. We offered the lady some money and she took it, and gave us a bag of fruit. When we said we didn't want it, she wouldn't have it back - even though we said she could keep the money for the pictures. The next thing I know, the lady has somehow managed to get the original 5,000VD I gave her, plus an extra 20,000VD from me for the fruit - and then she was gone! Talking of selling everything - we were approached by one guy who first offered us books for sales - to which we said 'no thank you' - he then went onto offer us weed and then opium! We said 'no thank you' to those too!

While we were out we booked a trip for tomorrow to Halong Bay and also some flight tickets to Laos for the 21st. This evening we went to this great little restaurant called 'Little Hanoi' and had the most amazing meal.

Yeah, I think we'll like Hanoi after all!

Sunday 16th March 2008

2008-03-17T07:14:00.001-07:00

We set our alarm for 9.30am this morning and then, after breakfast, hung around our hotel. We checked out at the last possible minute and then went for a walk. We headed back across the Perfume River to the Northern part of the city and visited the Dong Ba Market. The markets sell pretty much all the same stuff, but this time we managed to find a really cool set of chopsticks - so we bought them for when we get home.

The rest of our afternoon was spent wandering around the city. When we got back to the area of our hotel we decided to go into the only 5 Star hotel in the area, the Imperial Palace, for a look around. When we were inside we found that there was a casino and went in for a 'flutter'. In true form - like every other casino we've visited on this trip - it didn't take long for us to start losing money. The worrying thing was, after just a couple of minutes we were already 100k down! Luckily it was only Dong - so was only just over £3 (phew). We cut our loses and returned to our hotel to hang about in the reception area.

Our bus turned up at about 6pm and we got on, found our 'beds' (it was a sleeper bus) and bedded in for the 13 hour journey to the Capital...

A 13 hour drive... oh joy!

Saturday 15th March 2008

2008-03-17T07:12:00.000-07:00

As Hué is quite a large place, we booked ourselves onto a city tour to give us a good chance of seeing most of it. After breakfast, we ran round to the tourist office and caught our bus.

Hué used to be two separate cities - the South was where the 'people' lived and the North was where the Emperors stayed. Our first stop was at the Citadel - which was the Emperor's city, all inside a huge brick wall. Most of it was bombed during the war, but the buildings that are still standing are still pretty spectacular. When we left the Citadel, we were driven around the corner to the Garden Houses, which is where the Mandarin lived - these were much more humble. As Hué has been home to 13 Emperors, there are quite a few tombs dotted around and we visited Tu Duc Tomb and the Minh Mang Tomb. The Minh Mang one was set in the most beautiful gardens, with huge lakes and was very very peaceful. On our way back to the centre this afternoon we stopped at the Thien Mu Pagoda, where the Buddhist Monks live and then caught Dragon Boats back along the Perfume River (which is what divides the city).

When we got back to our hotel, we decided to try and find the travel agents for our bus ticket, so that we could book our seats on the bus to Hanoi. We got our ticket and asked some people for directions, they sent us to the other side of the city. After about an hours walking we arrived at the correct street - but we couldn't find 'Camel Travel' for love-nor-money. It was getting really frustrating, because we couldn't find anyone that understood us. Eventually, when we did find someone, he pointed out that the street address we were looking for was actually back in Hoi An... d'oh! Being smarter than us, he found the right address on the bottom of the ticket and sent us on our way. It turned out Camel Travel was actually just around the corner from our hotel... d'oh! d'oh!

This evening we went to a small café just outside our hotel and had the most amazing Vietnamese food for our tea. The walls of the café were absolutely covered in messages that other visitors had left - so we spent ages reading them long after we'd finished eating. Afterwards, we came back to the hotel and watched the footie on TV.

Only WE could be looking for an address in the wrong city - at the least the walking did us good!

Friday 14th March 2008

2008-03-17T07:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we'd booked ourselves onto this afternoon's bus North to Hué, so this morning we woke up nice and late and then took our time in getting ready. After getting everything ready and eating our breakfast we just hung about the hotel using the internet and watching the EastEnders catch-ups on the BBC website. Our bus turned up at about 2pm and we were soon on our way.

The journey to Hué took about four and-a-half hours. As soon as we had stepped off of the bus we were surrounded by people touting their hotels, we had a quick walk around to decided for ourselves and found a nice one that was only $10 a night. The thing that sold it to us was that there was an Indian restaurant at the end of the road! We checked in as quickly as we could and then went back for a meal. It didn't disappoint... it was fantastic!

When we'd finished our meal it was still quite early so we decided to go for a walk. We didn't get very far when a guy approached us riding a cyclo (a bike with a big chair attached to the front). He said he'd give us a half an hour tour of the city for only 40,000VD (just over £1) - so we went for it. After about 10 minutes we started to feel sorry for him. He was being overtaken by all of his mates who were carrying small Vietnamese people - he was obviously struggling with the heavier (read: fatter) English passengers. Fair play to him, he managed it and dropped us back to our hotel after half an hour.

The poor cyclo driver... he definitely earned the tip we gave him!

Thursday 13th March 2008

2008-03-17T07:09:00.001-07:00

We got up nice and early this morning because we'd arranged to go on a trip to some temples just out of town, called My Son. We had our free breakfast, which was pretty good and then we waited for the bus.

My Son are a huge series of temples that date back to about the 7th Century. The site was massive and although some are in reasonable condition, a lot of them are ruins after they were bombed during the Vietnam War. Rather than catch the bus all the way back to town, we did half the journey by boat. On the way we stopped at a carpentry factory, where they make all the wooden souvenirs being sold about town - one worker was only 14 years old, bless him! When we got back to Hoi An, we had a look around the markets and then went into our tailors to collect our things. All the adjustments had been made and our clothes are great - especially Nikki's dress - she's gonna be the bell of any ball!

We chilled out around our hotel this afternoon and then this evening we went for a walk down towards the river. When we were there we went into a funky little café and had a nice meal. The food was pretty good (I had duck), but the beer was better - it was only 3,000VD a glass... 10p - woohoo!

10 pence a beer! I wonder how long the money from our house sale will last if we stay here forever?

Wednesday 12th March 2008

2008-03-17T07:07:00.000-07:00

Although her bed was one of the most unco- mfortable on the entire bus, and she had some random guy sleeping in a hamock next to her for most of the journey, Nikki managed to fall asleep at about 8pm last night and slept almost the whole night through. We made a couple of stops, but we didn't bother getting off - we just lay where we were. We woke up just as we arrived in Hoi An, at just after 6.30am and no sooner had we stumbled from the bus - still wiping the sleep from our eyes - were we bundled onto the back of two motorbikes, which had been sent to collect us. I didn't have a clue what was going on and i'd only just collected my bag when Nikki and her rider shot off! Our hotel is actually pretty nice. It's located in the ancient part of town and is period looking. It has a nice pool and free breakfast - although they made us pay for our food this morning. We hung about in the reception and then checked into our room at just after 8am.

Hoi An looks like a really cool place, with some pretty historic looking architecture and it is absolutely PACKED with tailors - but, unlike Bangkok, most of them are geared towards women... Nikki was well happy! We found one tailor that seemed to have some quality stuff and Nikki bartered her little heart out to get her dress made. I don't know how she managed it, but we also came out having ordered a coat each (not that we need it, it's seems to be getting hotter every day now). With all that sorted we went for a nice walk and ended up exploring for hours! The staff told us that the beach was only about 15 minutes away and so, late this afternoon, we decided to check it out... almost an hour later we'd arrived. Granted, it was a nice beach and it was pretty big - but 15 minutes... is she having a laugh? We were way too lazy to walk back so we jumped on the back of two motorbikes instead - even they took about 10 minutes!

We got back to our hotel area and went into the tailors so that we could have fittings for our coats. Amazingly, Nikki's dress was finished too - and she LOOKED GORGEOUS! The tailors had done a really good job and I think Niks was really happy. A few minor adjustments were needed so we gave them back and went for some food and cheap beer.

Aww Nikki - not ANOTHER dress shop!

Tuesday 11th March 2008

2008-03-17T07:06:00.001-07:00

We were moving on from Nha Trang today and heading for Hoi An, but our bus isn't until tonight so we took plenty of time getting ready and left at about 12pm. It seemed a little late for breakfast, but we still fancied food - so we went to the café over the road and ate there. Niks had egg and chips and I had egg, beans and mashed potatoes. Feeling absolutely stuffed, we decided to go for a long walk and headed back out to the Dam Market.

It was a beautiful day today and when we got back to town we were both really hot, so we treated ourselves to some ice-creams and went and relaxed on the beach. When it was almost time to leave we went to get some food and shared and an Indian meal.

The journey to Hoi An is through the night and we're not due to arrive until about 7am tomorrow morning. With this in mind we'd booked ourselves onto one of the sleeper buses. When we finally got on, it was absolutely ridiculous - some of the beds were really long and yet some were tiny. Also, most of them we're in a stupid position, so sleeping was going to be interesting!

Price of 'sleeper bus' upgrade: $6. Chance of a good nights sleep: NOT LIKELY!

Monday 10th March 2008

2008-03-17T07:05:00.001-07:00

Our hotel gave us a wake up call this morning, because we'd booked to go on a tour of four of the islands that are just off the shore of Nha Trang. The girl on reception said that our bus would be picking us up about 8.45am, which left us loads of time to get some breakfast. Just to be on the safe side we went to a place just over the road and it was a good job we did, because they were the slowest cooks in the world! We finished just as the bus was arriving and were soon onboard and on our way down to the harbour.

The girl on reception sold us the more expensive ticket for this tour, because she said it was a more luxurious boat. I don't know if we've come to expect too much, but it wasn't... at all! It was an old rickety thing, but was good fun all the same - plus the staff were crazy! Our first stop was just off Mun Island. Once the boat had dropped it's anchor we were all able to jump into the beautiful bluey/green water and go snorkeling. Nikki didn't bother though, because she's still not feeling too good. When all the swimmers were back on the boat we moved onto the next island - Môt Island. When we were just off shore we were given our lunch... even though it was still only 11am!

Our next island was called Tam Island where we got off for some free time. On the way over the crew of the boat gave a karaoke performance. The main man was totally mental, dancing and singing at the top of his voice - he had everyone up dancing with him and it was all good fun. The final island of the day was called Mieu Island, where we got to visit the Trí Nguyên Aquarium. When we were back on dry land we came back to our hotel, where we had showers before going out for a Vietnamese meal. Afterwards we bought ourselves take-away coffees and a big bag of M&Ms to eat in our room while we watched The Da Vinci Code.

Typical, the olds leave... and so does the rain!

Sunday 9th March 2008

2008-03-17T07:03:00.001-07:00

Our alarm woke us up at just after 5am this morning, so that we could make sure the olds were up and then wave them off. They were all packed and were soon banging on our door to say they were leaving. We walked them down to reception and the taxi turned up almost straight away. We said our goodbyes, gave Mum a cuddle to stop her crying (again) and then waved them off. With them safely on their way... we went back to bed!

Now that we're on our own again, we can return to getting up at a more respectable hour and slept until about 8am. Typically, the sun was shining today and there wasn't a cloud in the sky! We were going to try and go on a tour, but Nikki's cold seemed to be getting worse. Instead, we caught the bus out of town where we had a walk around before walking back. It was about 5km back to our hotel and it really took it out of poor Niks. At first she crashed out on the bed in our room and then when she woke up we went down to the beach, where she fell asleep again. This evening we went out for some food before coming back so that Nikki could get some (more) rest.

Well Nikki, it's just the two of us again Kid!

Saturday 8th March 2008

2008-03-17T06:58:00.000-07:00

It was still raining when we got up this morning so we decided that, rather than wasting money on trips that might not go ahead, we'd entertain ourselves. We had some breakfast and then took a walk across town to the Dam Market. The market was huge and absolutely packed! We spent a couple of hours walking around had a great time bartering with the locals. Mum and Nikki had fun trying to buy some material for clothes - the woman drove a really hard bargain, but in the end we still walked away paying loads less than at home.

When we left the market this afternoon the sun was shining, so we came back to the hotel and then went for some lunch. Afterwards we all went down to the beach and played frisbee. Nikki tried to join in but she seems to be coming down with a cold, so she just sat and cheered us on. Mum and Keith were pretty good at frisbee, although at one point Mum did disappear down a hole as she was running to catch it and ended up in a heap on the floor.

As it was the olds last night, after chilling out in their room, we all got ready and went out for a meal. We let them choose and the decided on a little Italian place (that also sold Vietnamese food). When it came to order Nikki and Keith ordered pasta dishes, I had a Vietnamese dish and then we sat and waited for Mum to order her pizza... but she didn't - she shocked us all when she went for one of the local dishes - ordering a mixed fried rice! Everyone loved their meals, especially Mum and it was a great way to end the day and their holiday!

9 days! What sort of holiday is that?

Friday 7th March 2008

2008-03-13T22:27:00.001-07:00

It was a good job I was charging my iPod next to the bed last night because, at about 3.30am this morning, Mum and Keith decided to work on their syncronised snoring routine. I've never heard anything like it. Mum sounded like she was gargling something in a low droning tone and Keith was obviously the lead in this little group - absolutely belting it out! Thankfully, the iPod blocked it out and I was able to sleep until 6.30am when the alarm went off. The bus was leaving at just after 7.30am and we all had to get ready.

We were under the impression that the journey from Dalat to Nha Trang was only a short one, but it turns out that's not the case! It will be... once they finish building the big road that connects the two, but for now it stands at about 6 hours and meant driving back down the huge mountain. Our driver was just as bad as yesterday and at one point, one of the passengers staggered to the front to beg for his life - and for the driver to slow down. He did thankfully, but only until we reached the bottom - then he sped off again.

When we arrived in Nha Trang it was raining and because we didn't have anywhere to stay, we dumped Mum and Keith in a small café with the bags and went off in search of somewhere nice for them. We were under a bit of pressure because, although he's not said as much, Keith wasn't impressed with last nights place - and we wanted them to stay somewhere nice for their last two days in Vietnam. We walked around for a while and then found a lovely little place called The Sun Hotel, which was only $10 a night. We told the olds and when they saw it, they were more than happy to stay there. With that sorted, we had some lunch and then waited for the rain to stop. It did - but only for a couple of minutes, so we went out exploring anyway. Nha Trang is a pretty big place - and is also a seaside town. The beach looks really nice and it has some huge waves. We walked all along the front and then in and out of the shops on the way back to our hotel.

So, one full day left for the olds... what a bummer!

Thursday 6th March 2008

2008-03-13T22:26:00.001-07:00

We were up early for the free breakfast this morning, but also because we were moving on - and someone had decided that 7.30am was a good time for our coach to be leaving. We'd packed our bags last night so we were in no rush and pretty soon we were all being loaded in to a minibus, which drove us North for a couple of hours before we changed to a proper coach.

Our next stop is a place called Dalat and it is more inland than Mui Né. The drive had some pretty spectacular scenery, all through the rice fields, and at one point we had to drive up some of the biggest mountains I have ever seen. It should've been a nice experience, but our driver was a nutter and insisted on throwing the coach around the sharp corners at high speeds and overtaking at every opportunity. When we'd safely reached the top, all the open fields disappeared and the city of Dalat came in to view - it was like a secret place, built behind the mountain.

When we got off the coach, we couldn't be bothered to look around for accommodation and so we booked into the first hotel by the bus stop - the Lam Son Hotel. As we were only staying one night, we decided that we would share a room, because they had two double beds. The hotel wasn't the best and was a bit of a dump compared to the Canary Resort we left this morning, but Mum was up for staying there... Keith didn't seem quite so keen, but didn't say anything and just went with it. No sooner had we checked in, we went for some lunch and then straight out on a city tour.

Our tour was pretty good. The guide, Viet, was EXCELLENT and really knew his stuff, so we could ask him anything about Vietnamese history. The tour included riding on some cable cars that took us high above the hills and countryside, down to a place called True Lam Meditation Centre, where the Monks live. That was a very tranquil and peaceful place and had some beautiful grounds for us to explore. Next, we drove to a place called Bao Dai's Summer Palace - which used to belong to the King but, since he moved to France in the 70's, now stands empty. Next, we were taken to a hand embroidery picture gallery, where a group of women are taught from a young age to sew. Then, as they get older, they start to work on pictures that can take months at a time. The final pieces are stunning and from a distance look like large paintings or even photographs. Mum and Keith were very impressed and I think had it not been for the price, they would've probably come out with some pictures!

The last stop of the tour was at a place called 'The Crazy House'. We weren't really sure what it was, but I think some lady has taken it upon herself to build the weirdest hotel in the world! We were able to explore and look in some of the bedrooms (some had guests in, and their doors were locked). Each of the rooms had a different theme - usually an animal like a bear or bird of some sort. The thing about each room that put me off was the bed - not only were they weird shapes and sizes, but they were FILTHY! If it's gonna be empty for people to look around, they could at least put some clean sheets on... well, that's what I think anyway!

Tonight, we went out onto the streets of Dalat to look for some food and ending up going into a restaurant full of locals. It was nothing to me and Nikki, but I didn't have a clue what my Mum was going to eat? Fair play to her - she did try some stuff and seemed to quite enjoy her rice meal. Keith had noodle soup (again) and loved it (again).

Please, please, please, please, please... don't let them snore tonight!?

Wednesday 5th March 2008

2008-03-13T22:24:00.000-07:00

We still had to set the alarm this morning - but only so we could go to the restaurant and take advantage of the free breakfast - so it wasn't too bad. Once we were up and about we all sat around the pool and spent the rest of our morning swimming and chatting. This afternoon we went for some food in one of the restaurants before going out on a trip around the local area.

Our guide picked us up for our excursion in an old American war jeep. I'm not sure if it dated back to the Vietnam war, or even earlier - but it was in amazing condition, and great fun to race around in! The first stop was just down the road from our resort and was a walk along the Fairy River (or Suoi Tien). The walk was really pretty - along the stream, which ran through the red canyons. At the end of the walk was a small waterfall. On the way back we walked alongside the rice fields, which were also very pretty.

Next, we jumped back into the jeep and were driven to some sand dunes outside of town. The drive was fantastic - driving through local villages. Seeing farmers hearding their animals or riding carts being drawn by huge cows. When we got to our destination, we climbed out and began our walk across the sand. After about 20 minutes we'd walked a really long way and it seemed like we were in the middle of the desert. On our way in, we were approached by a small boy who offered us a sheet of plastic to ride down - we took him up on his offer and Keith paid 30,000VD for two sheets. After climbing to the top of the highest dune, me and Nikki found that they were ABSOLUTELY USELESS. All we did was sink into the sand, covering ourselves from head to toe. To make things worse, when we got back we found that the going rate was 1,000VD per slide... we were well and truly stitched up! We headed back towards our hotel next and stopped on the way at some more sand dunes to watch the sun set - but it was a bit cloudy, so we came back early.

This evening, we went out to our favourite restaurant for some food. The place was absolutely packed and they only had one waitress working. We ate and drank loads and at the end of a nice evening, made sure we gave the poor girl a nice tip. Because we've got another early start tomorrow, we came back to pack our bags and then went to sleep.

Hey look here come some Westerners... lets inflate the prices by 300%. Good on you kid!

Tuesday 4th March 2008

2008-03-13T22:23:00.001-07:00

Poor Mum and Keith, they've been in Vietnam for 4 days and haven't had a lay-in yet. Actually no, we've been doing it for 10 months - they'll just have to put up with it (ha ha). We were booked onto a coach, headed North, which was leaving at 7.30am. At 7.15am the olds started panicking, saying we needed to get going... At 7.31am, me and Nikki slowly strolled over. At just after 8am we boarded the coach and it was like nothing we had ever seen before. Instead of seats, people had to sit on sun-lounger like beds and lay out.

We got to Mui Né, which is a little seaside village, at about 2pm and it was one of the most comfortable journeys ever. Nikki, Mum and Keith all slept at some point - so I guess they found it comfortable too. As Mum and Keith have come a long way for their holiday, we let them book a nice place for the next two days and we checked in to the Canary Beach Resort. We checked in to our separate rooms and then went out to find somewhere to eat. Afterwards we all sat by our lovely big pool and chilled out. Tonight, after a couple of hours of doing nothing we all went out for a meal (although Keith didn't eat) and spent the rest of the night chatting and drinking.

Hey Vietnam, nice beach!

Monday 3rd March 2008

2008-03-13T22:22:00.001-07:00

This morning was one of the most eventful and memorable of our whole trip so far. First, when I was in the shower, Nikki managed to drop her engagement ring on to the floor of our room. Of course in a movie it would've bounced around for a bit - but not for her, nope - it went straight through one of the cracks in the floor and into the river below... d'oh! When I got out she was in a real state and yet, for some reason, the lady from the home-stay was in fits of laughter. Luckily, her husband had more sympathy for her and was soon stripped off and in the river. Like some sort of superman, after only two minutes he'd pulled it from the muddy water and returned it to my teary Wife. Afterwards he just sat on the side, dried his feet and then went back about his business.

After some sort of Vietnamese sausage sandwich for our breakfast, it was time to leave, so we thanked our hosts, gave the man a $20 'reward' for finding Nikki's engagement ring and then left. We were told that, because the water levels had dropped, we would have to walk for a bit before meeting up with the others. Mum and Keith seemed quite happy for that and even seemed to be enjoying themselves as they crossed the small tree-trunk bridge. Mum's face soon changed (in both look and colour) when she realised that we'd walked far enough - and the rest of the journey would be on the back of a moped... Rock on! For someone who was apparently terrified, i've never heard someone laugh as much as my Mum on the bike. Me, Nikki and Keith loved it! The ride wasn't far - just through all the back lanes of the small village and after about 10 minutes it was out on to the main roads, which was when the fun started. As we approached any junctions, instead of slowing to a stop (as the signs suggest) our drivers would just press the horn and seemingly hope for the best - weaving through the crossing traffic. We made it safely to the market, which was where we picked up another boat, and had to walk in amongst the locals. It was an AMAZING experience and somewhere we definitely wouldn't have seen had we stayed at the hotel. As well as all the lush fruit and veg', there were hundreds of animals (both dead and alive) up for sale - and we were the only Western looking people in sight.

We met the others on the boat and apparently the hotel they all stayed in last night wasn't up to much - so I think the olds made the right choice in 'roughing it'. We were taken out into the middle of the river, where we were boarded a smaller boat and were taken around the brilliant Cai Rang floating markets. It was a great way to take in the scenery and watch how the locals on this part of the Mekong River did their shopping. The rest of the morning was spent visiting a noodle and rice factory, which were both pretty impressive. Vietnam is one of the biggest exporters of rice in the world!

This afternoon we stopped back in Can Tho for some lunch. We decided to go to a small restaurant where Nikki and Keith both had prawn dishes. DareDevil Mum pushed the boat out and had an egg sarnie with chips and I ordered eel. I don't know what I was expecting, but was shocked when a whole crispy wiggly fish was bought out on a bed of leaves. I have to say, I was really impressed and it tasted lovely. I did feel a little bit bad though when I went to the toilet afterwards and saw some live ones in a big tank.

We drove back to Ho Chi Minh and arrived at almost 7pm this evening. We collected our bags from the Luan Vu guest house and then checked in to the Mi Mi, which is where me and Niks stayed on our first night. Mum and Keith's standards are obviously dropping because, even though it's nice and clean, it's not as nice as the Luan Vu - but I suppose after a night in the forest, any bed with a proper mattress looks lovely. We dumped our bags and then went out for the night - ending up in our little bar that serves the 12.5p beer.

WOW, what a day! I don't think any of our holidays will ever be the same again!

Sunday 2nd March 2008

2008-03-13T22:20:00.000-07:00

We had internet in our room last night and i'm happy to say I was able to follow the progress of Bristol City storming to the top of the Championship. After waking up in a very good mood, we had some breakfast and then waited outside our guest house for our bus. We were going on another tour - to the Mekong Delta - and this time it was an overnight trip (I can't wait to see where Mum and Keith have to sleep).

The first part of the tour involved driving to a place called Cai Be, where we boarded a boat and sailed the Mekong River to a place called Vinh Long and the An Binh islands. Here we got to visit a coconut sweet factory and then moved onto another island where we had lunch. To get there, we had to get in small boats and locals rowed us through the maze of small canals. After lunch all four of us borrowed bikes and went for a cycle around the local village. We didn't go too far because the bikes weren't very safe and nor were the roads!

At about 3pm we got back on our boat and traveled back to the mainland, where we had to catch a bus for a three-hour journey to a place called Can Tho. This was where everyone was going to be staying, but the four of us had paid extra to stay in a local village on a home-stay. When everyone else walked to their hotel, we were bundled into a taxi and driven to this tiny little port area where we got on a small boat, driven by a little old man who didn't seem to care when he kept smashing it in to the pillars on a rickety old bridge. The sun was setting now and we had a lovely peaceful cruise down the river before arriving in our village.

No sooner had we got out of our boat, the family were all over us. Their place seems like it's in the middle of nowhere and I don't think they get many visitors. They had prepared a great spread of food for us and were really excited about our company - fussing over us and offering us more rice or pumpkin soup. We had a great time and even Mum tried some of the Vietnamese food. After tea, we sat around chatting under the stars before asking to be shown to our 'rooms'. Ours was just a hut above the river and our bed a pile of wafer thin mattresses on the floor, with just a mosquito net for company. Mum and Keith had more walls than us - they had four, and they even had a bed, although I think we got the better deal because they didn't have the thin mattresses - so for them it was like sleeping on a table - ha ha.

Night night Mum and Keith... Sweet dreams!

Saturday 1st March 2008

2008-03-13T22:19:00.001-07:00

Before going to bed last night we booked ourselves on a tour for today, which took us to the Cu Chi Tunnels, just North of Ho Chi Minh, in a place called Ben Dinh. We arranged to meet the parents down in reception at about 7am. As their room was on the floor above, they said they'd knock on our door as they passed - and at 7.03am we were starting to worry (not really, but if it had been the other way round, Mum would have been frantic). It turned out, the reason they were late was because they'd set their alarm wrong and had overslept. Stupid olds, I don't know how they'd get by without us!

After breakfast, we walked round to meet the coach and were soon on our way. The journey took about an hour or so and I think Mum and Keith had now accepted the standard of driving over here... not! Thankfully though, we arrived safely. On the way, scattered randomly around the city, we spotted things left from the Vietnam War (or American War as it's called here) - including a tank and some missiles!

The Cu Chi Tunnels are what the Viet Cong built when they were hiding from the Americans during the Vietnam War. After watching a short video we were taken out into the forest and shown around. We didn't really know where we were going when all of sudden we came to a stop. The next thing we knew was a man dressed in an army uniform uncovered a tiny hole in the ground, called a Spider Hole (it was about 6 x 15 inches) and climbed in, before covering himself up again... of course - I had to have a go and, i'm happy to say, I fitted in quite snugly! The rest of the tour involved coming across an old tank, which has become stranded because it's sat on a land-mine(!) and then crawling through the network of tunnels, some of which are about 8 meters underground. They're only tiny and Mum climbed down and then straight back out again. The Vietnamese used to spend up to 5 hours in the tunnels - traveling as far as 10km. Keith made it 40 meters and me and Nikki 60 - and THAT was hard going. After catching our breath, we were taken to a shooting range, where me and Keith got to fire live bullets from a real AK47 - the standards of safety were incredibly relaxed, but it was AMAZING fun! Rather than travel back to Ho Chi Minh by bus, the four of us jumped in a boat which took us on a lovely cruise down the river.

When we got back to the city, we stopped for some lunch. Me, Nikki and Keith all ate some of the local cuisine, but sadly Mum wasn't quite as adventurous - instead tucking into a nice Vietnamese pizza and chips. After finishing our meals, we sat and watched the hustle & bustle on the streets of Ho Chi Minh and the took the 'Olds' to the Ben Thanh Markets. We didn't get back until quite late and when we did Mum and Keith went off to bed but me and Niks went out for food, coming back later.

Good ol' Mum - comes to Vietnam and eats Italian food... you gotta love her!

Friday 29th February 2008

2008-03-13T22:11:00.001-07:00

We woke up at about 7am this morning, because the guest house which we're booked into for tonight said that we could come round for breakfast this morning. We checked out of our place and crossed over the busy road before dumping our bags and tucking in to our egg sarnies.

After breakfast we went for a wander to try and get our bearings. On first impressions (well, in the light anyway), are that Vietnam seems very cool! There are millions of motorbikes on the roads - each carrying anything from 1-4 people! We've also learnt that the rules of the road are: The vehicle with the loudest horn rules and ignore everything else ever learned about driving - plus, ANYTHING goes At one point we saw a man riding along on his motorbike, with a huge tower fridge-freezer strapped to the back! After much traffic dodging, we made it to the Ben Thanh Markets, which was definitely a new experience. No sooner had we walked through the doors, we were grabbed by small Vietnamese women, trying to sell us something - some even separated me from Nikki and started asking me if I was happy?

This afternoon, we hung around the area of our guest house before catching the bus out to the airport. After paying 200,000VD for a taxi last night, we were much happier to pay only 3,000VD each this time. We got to the airport nice and early and had a coffee and slice of cake while we waited for Mum and Keith to arrive from Hong Kong. They didn't take long to come through customs and when they did we were waiting right outside the doors for them. They didn't see us at first, but as soon as they did my Mum did a cute little skip before running over (in tears of course). We found a cheaper taxi and soon had them back to the Luan Vu guest house to check in. We didn't stay in long, we soon were back at the small bar where we drank last night and the beer was flowing! After a few short hours, we'd drank 17 beers, Mum had had a diet coke and all we'd spent was £2.50!

12.5 pence a beer... I think Keith is gonna like it here!

Thursday 28th February 2008

2008-03-13T06:56:00.000-07:00

We got up this morning, but didn't need to check out until 12pm, so we went to the Seven11 and bought ourselves some breakfast before going back and sitting by one of the hotel pools. At just before 12pm we walked round to the Khao San road and caught a bus to the airport. We were able to check straight in for our flight and managed to get the Emergency Exit seats, which was good. Afterwards, we went and got some lunch - but Nikki's wasn't very nice, her meat was a bit dodgy. It didn't matter though, she had a Burger King for her afters!

The flight to Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam only took just over an hour and we were soon in a taxi heading for the city. We were a bit annoyed, because we asked before we left how much we could expect to pay and were told one should cost no more that 100,000 Vietnamese Dong... but ours did! When the meter cranked up to about 92,000VD, we asked if we were close? Our driver said no, and when we started questioning it - he got terrified and started showing us the sights - the wally, it was pitch black outside!

Our ride cost us 200,000VD in the end, and when we got out we had to try and find somewhere to stay. It turned out pretty easy and we got a nice cheap room right on the main road with all the bars. With our bags safely locked away we went out for a drink and found a nice little place that was selling beer (about 3/4 pints) for 4,000VD... which is about 12.5 pence - woohoo. Our rip-off taxi ride was long forgotten.

Gooooooood Morning... I mean Evening, Vietnam!

Wednesday 27th February 2008

2008-02-28T22:30:00.000-08:00

Me and Nikki woke up at just after 9am this morning and after getting our act together and leaving the hotel, we went for some breakfast. We were gonna go out to one of the large markets but it started to rain, so we just sat around and drank coffee. Even though it was just after 10am, the bloke sat next to us ordered... a large beer, a bowl of soup, a triple-decker toasted sandwich and a lasagna. His partner had a bowl of fruit!

The market we wanted to go to is only open on Saturdays and Sundays, so we decided to see some of the sights of Bangkok instead. We don't want to see too much, because we'd like to see it with Filer and Lisa when they get here in April - but we walked through Chinatown and down to some of the temples in the city. The first, called Wat Po, was pretty cool! When our guide was busy explaining something to us we noticed someone walking towards us and discovered it was Sebastian (from the Phang-Nga trip).

Sebastian tagged along with us, and after leaving the Wat Po temple, we went for some lunch down by the river before visiting the Royal Palace - which is much like Buckingham Palace in London... only covered in more gold! As a sign of respect for the King, you have to wear clothes of a certain length (although, i'm sure he would've approved of my Chicago Bulls vest had he seen it) and so we had to borrow some. I'll be honest, I was disappointed to have to give them back - I thought they were pretty dapper. Plus they definitely complimented my hair!

This evening me and Nikki collected our flight tickets and visas for Vietnam and then went for my second suit fitting. They work like lightning here - my shirt is already made and the trousers just need to be taken in slightly! Afterwards, we went out for a couple of beers and a meal before doing some shopping on the stalls close to our place.

Yippee! We're off to Vietnam tomorrow!

Tuesday 26th February 2008

2008-02-28T22:29:00.001-08:00

We'd already arranged to travel back to Bangkok today, so after breakfast we just hung about the guest house - chatting with the other guests and playing frisbee. At just after 1pm our mini-bus arrived and we were soon on our way. We got back to Bangkok at just after 4pm and checked straight back into the Rambuttri Village. After storing our bags in our room and locking away the valuables, we hit the streets for a busy afternoon.

First, we bought ourselves some Pad Thai from one of the street vendors on the Khao San road - the food is AMAZING and just as good as any restaurant we've eaten in! Next, I decided something had to be done about my hair. I've not had it cut since October 16th - and that was the only time in almost a year. So, I did what any white wannabbe-rapper / K Fed loving bloke would do... and got it braided... ROCK ON! I've only done it to freak my Mum out when she arrives in Vietnam, but I kind of like it - it keeps my head loads cooler. Nikki won't tell me what she really thinks - she just laughs and calls me Cool-K (after Coolio and K Fed). Afterwards, on the way back to our hotel we stopped in a tailors and placed an order for a suit to be made. They took all my measurements and booked me in for my first fitting tomorrow.

This evening, we went for a walk in the opposite direction to the Khao San road and found a great little bar that sold cheap beer (the best kind) and was showing the film 'The Beach' so we went in. When it had finished, we stopped for some more food on the streets and then came home to bed... full, drunk and very, very happy!

Braids are only the start... I want DREADLOCKS next!

Monday 25th February 2008

2008-02-28T22:14:00.000-08:00

We had a lazy morning this morning because we'd arranged to go on a trip this afternoon, but we weren't being picked up until about 1.30pm. After breakfast we took a walk down into the town and Nikki used the internet whilst I went off in search of an English news paper (i'd had a text from Wilksi saying that City had won again - and wanted to read about it). We got back to the guest house just in time to have quick showers before our mini-bus left.

The excursion we'd booked was to the Tiger Temple, which is about an hour away from Kanchanaburi. The place started off as a monastery for Monks, but wildlife started wandering into the grounds. Pretty soon they were taking in TIGERS that had been rescued from poachers. Now, every day, the tigers are released and the visitors can walk amongst them and pet them... we couldn't wait!

As expected, the tigers were HUGE! Luckily, they're fine with human contact because of their interaction with the monks and because it's really hot, they just veg out in the sun. Some people say they must be drugged, but when I was about to stroke one and he happened to roll over, I was pulled away pretty sharpish - so I don't know!

This evening we had some food in a restaurant closer to the guest house and then played frisbee on the huge lawn outside our hut, before relaxing in front of the TV. We got speaking to one guy, called Paul, who, when recognising that we were from Bristol, told us that his Dad was also from Bristol. He was born and raised in Horfield... but is a MAD Bristol City fan - Rock On Paul's Dad!

And for my next trick, I shall put my head inside this huge tiger's mouth... NOT!

Sunday 24th February 2008

2008-02-28T22:12:00.001-08:00

We got up this morning and before catching our bus to Kanch- anaburi, we went for breakfast in one of the cafés close to our hotel. It was a British café and I had boiled eggs with soldiers and Nikki had Marmite on toast... Mmmmmm. When it was time to go, we collected our bags, checked out and walked round to the travels agents.

It took a few hours to get to Kanchanaburi, but when we arrived we were well impressed. I don't know whether the driver was on commission, but he only took us to one guest house, called Bamboo House. It didn't matter though - we loved it straight away! We were shown one of the available rooms, which was actually FLOATING ON the River Kwai, and we could see the famous bridge from our door. There were only a few rooms and the whole place had a lovely tranquil feel to it. We dumped our bags in our room (which was just a fan and a mattress on the floor) and then went for some lunch.

This afternoon we wandered up to the bridge on the River Kwai, which is probably the most famous part of the Death Railway. Before we got to the actual bridge, we had a look around the Jeath War Museum, which was pretty sad - reading about how all the POWs were treated and forced to build the bridge. When we'd finished, we took a walk across the bridge and, when we made it safely back to the start, we were surprised to see that a train was also trying to cross - even though there were people stood on the track!

Tonight, me and Niks took a walk away from our guest house and down towards the main centre of Kanchanaburi in search of food. We were glad we did - we found a cracking Indian restaurant and had a smashing meal. Indian food is quite expensive here (in comparison to the other food anyway) - but we thought we deserved it!

Yippee! Another Indian... aww, we miss Paprika!

Saturday 23rd February 2008

2008-02-28T22:04:00.001-08:00

Our alarm went off nice and early this morning and we were soon walking along the long road back to the highway. We didn't stop anywhere for any breakfast. Instead, we bought some cereal and some yoghurt from a 7Eleven and ate them out of the box as we waited for a bus. The bus turned up at 9.30ish and we were soon heading for Bangkok.

As we got closer to the city, the first thing I noticed was that the sky had gone a greyish colour (I guess from all the traffic). We were dropped off at a bus station just out of town before catching a local bus into the centre. We got off the bus and didn't have a clue where we were heading - but we knew when we'd got there... one minute we were surrounded by Thai people and then after turning the corner, we were surrounded by people carrying backpacks. We were on the Th Khao San road... backpacker-ville!

When we were in Hua Hin, we'd met an older couple from Ipswich, called Jim and Trish, and they recommended a nice place that we thought we'd check out. It was definitely worth it - it was more like a hotel, with a pool and everything. After settling in we went to get our bearings and almost immediately we fell in love with Bangkok - it is one crazy place! There are people EVERYWHERE, selling EVERYTHING! We found a nice little travel agents and managed to sort both our visas and flight tickets to Vietnam - so that's good, one less thing to worry about (not that we were ever worried (he he)). We also booked a mini-bus to take us West to a place called Kanchanaburi (where the Bridge on the River Kwai is) for tomorrow.

No matter which direction we headed in to go exploring, we always seemed to end up back on Th Khao San road, which suited us fine - it's brilliant. We ate off loads of the food stalls down there - filling up on the pita bread sandwiches, Pad Thai noodles and spring rolls. We spent a couple of hours wandering up and down, looking at all the stalls and even went in some tailors to try and find ourselves a suit each.

Yay, Bangkok is gonna be fuuuuuuuuuunnnnnnn!

Friday 22nd February 2008

2008-02-28T21:39:00.000-08:00

We decided last night that we would leave Hua Hin this morning and move onto our next place, which is called Cha-am. It's not far from Bangkok and means we can go a day early to sort out our visas. After breakfast we gathered all our things, said goodbye to our host, and then walked round to the bus stop. We'd been told that you can get a taxi to Cha-am for about 400 Baht, but the people at the guest house told us this morning that the bus only costs 20 Baht. In the end, it was no contest! The bus was pretty cool. It was just like an old bus from home, except it had a REALLY loud stereo - which was blasting out some funky music for the whole journey.

When we got off on the highway that runs past Cha-am, we didn't have a clue where we were going - so we just followed our noses and soon found the beach. We wandered along the front asking after a couple of rooms and then found one for only 200 Baht (about £3), which we snapped up straight away. We spent the rest of the morning walking North along the beach, and it went on for miles and miles - we even joked at one point that we were gonna be in Bangkok soon - it was that far! By the time we'd got back we were knackered so we gathered our beach things and went down to relax. After i'd done some reading and Nikki had had a snooze we played with our new frisbee... we're still useless - I even managed to hit some people today!

This evening, we went for a meal in a restaurant we'd seen that sold really cheap beer. When we walked past and seen that it was empty we felt sorry for them, but when we tried their food we understood why! Mine wasn't too bad, but Nikki's wasn't very good, so we finished our beers - ate as much of Nikki's as we could and then went and got some more food from one of the street hawkers. That, thankfully, was much better and Nikki loved it! Cha-am was actually pretty nice, it had the vibe of a good old fashioned seaside town - plus we enjoyed it because it could be the last time we see a beach before we visit Zoe in Weston-Super-Mare!

Bangkok... here we come!

Thursday 21st February 2008

2008-02-28T21:37:00.000-08:00

We got up at about 8am this morning and, after checking out and then flagging down a taxi, we made our way over to the pier area of Mae Hat for some breakfast, while we waited for our boat. At just after 10am we got on the boat and were soon on our way to the mainland. The crossing seemed like it could be a choppy one, so I decided to try and get some shut-eye... it was a good job I did, because Nikki said it was crazy - and most of the people on board threw-up at some point. We had to laugh at one of the staff. Whilst the others were running around after the sick people, one decided to go out to the front of the boat for a cigarette. Once he'd rolled it and then lit it, he didn't bother coming back in - he just lay across everyone's bags and had a kip. The funny thing was - the bags were right in front of the main window - so EVERYONE could see what he was up to!

After making it safely to dry land, we waited in a place called Chumphon for a bus, which would take us the rest of the way to Hua Hin. The journey took a couple of hours - but the bus was quite comfortable, so it went quite quickly. When we got to our destination, we were met by a Dutch guy and his Wife from one of the local guest houses. Seeing as he was the only one, we decided to go with him to his place - called the Kings House. Believe me, it was anything but!

We were told we could have a 'lovely room - with two beds' and they made it out to sound amazing. Bless 'em, when we got there the room was smaller than a cabin on a boat - with a set of the oldest bunk-beds we'd ever seen! Also, the house was full of clutter, but It didn't matter, it's all part of the experience we told ourselves. We dumped our bags and then went out to explore. We tried looking for the beach but couldn't find it - and ended up walking the streets instead. When it started getting quite late, we decided to go for some food. Rather than eat in the 'touristy' places, we decided to go somewhere that was packed with locals. As we were waiting for our turn to be seated, we got chatting to another English couple and the staff asked if we minded sharing our table with them. We said we didn't and we all sat down to eat together. We're glad we did - they were great! They were called Kate and Rob and were from Blackpool. Kate said that her son had been traveling and that he loved it, so they loved listening to our stories. I think they thought we were quite brave when we told them we'd sold our house to come away... either that or crazy! We all got on really well, with them giving us some advice for Bangkok, which is always welcome, and then to round of a great meal, they paid for ours... jammy or what!?

Yippee! Free Meal... thanks Kate and Rob!

Wednesday 20th February 2008

2008-02-28T21:32:00.000-08:00

When we were out and about yesterday, we discovered that Ko Tao is more of an island for people interested in diving. We weren't bothering with that this time, so decided we'd spend a day exploring the island before moving on tomorrow. We set the alarm for just after 7am and were up and out shortly afterwards for some breakfast. We were just about to go exploring when it started to rain... hard! So we sat in the same place we'd ate breakfast and had a couple of coffees. Once the rain had cleared we set off again.

Ko Tao isn't a very big island and we were soon halfway up the West-coast, back in the town of Sai Ri. We had a look around the shops, spent some time on the beaches and then stopped for some lunch. This afternoon, on our way back to our guest house, we tried walking along the coast - but got lost and ended up retracing our steps for quite a distance - in the end we'd walked for miles!

Before we got back we bought ourselves a little frisbee and spent the rest of the day on our beach playing. We were pretty useless and spent most of our time wading out into the sea to collect the stupid thing. When it started getting too dark to play anymore we decided to go to a little restaurant called 'New Heaven', which someone had recommended to us. The name was right - the place was amazing! It was set high on a cliff and had beautiful views over a small, private bay. It was made even more pretty by the huge full moon over head.

Stupid frisbee... how hard can it be?

Tuesday 19th February 2008

2008-02-28T21:23:00.000-08:00

Before we start, I just want to say... TODAY WAS A NIGHT - MARE! But even when you have one of those in Thailand it's nothing like the ones at home, so i'm not going to moan. Our day started when the alarm went off at about 8am. I couldn't wake up, which was ironic because I just couldn't get to sleep last night. I think we finally dropped off at almost 5am. When I dragged myself out of bed and found Nikki sat on our balcony, I remembered where we were and everything was ok again. We went for breakfast and then hung around until 12pm, when a taxi took us to the pier at Thong Sala. Rather annoyingly (remember, i'm not moaning), we got to the pier at about 12.35pm and the boat had left a couple of minutes before. There would be others this afternoon, but they were more expensive... d'oh!

We got to the island of Ko Tao this afternoon and, once we'd collected our bags from the boat, we were bundled into a taxi. The taxi took us to an area called Sai Ri, where we didn't really want to stay - i'm not sure how we ended up there!? We had a look around anyway, to see if we could find anywhere to stay, but our hearts weren't in it and so we jumped into another taxi and headed to the South of the island to a place called Chalok Baan Koa Bay. Before we'd left Sai Ri, i'd rang a guest house and they said they had a 'lovely' room for only 600 Baht. When we arrived, they first told us it was 700 Baht, and then when we reminded them it was 600 they showed us two rooms. The first was crap and we said we'd have the second one (which was only slightly better)... to be told it was 2,200 Baht! Plus, neither were near the beach, so we said NO WAY HOSAY! I sat in their reception area while Nikki went off on foot in search of somewhere else to stay. We'd got off the boat at just before 3pm and it was now after 5pm... we were not happy (but still not moaning).

Super Wife came back after about 20 minutes and had found us somewhere to stay. It was a small place in one corner of the beach and only cost 300 Baht, which is the cheapest we've paid in ages... so things were looking up. Our bungalow is on a small hill and the views of the bay and ocean are brilliant! This evening we went out for some food in a small place before walking back in the dark and sitting in our little beach-hut having a chat.

We're meeting Mum and Pops in... 10 days!

Monday 18th February 2008

2008-02-18T19:18:00.000-08:00

We woke up this morning nice and early, had some breakfast and then spent the rest of the day relaxing - splitting our time between the private beach and the lovely pool. The weather was really good - there was a nice breeze coming over the ocean that kept us at the right temperature.

We didn't leave our complex all day... we only got off our sun loungers to eat or swim and thoroughly enjoyed our last day on the island of Ko Phan Nang. This evening, we had a cracking meal in the restaurant. We both ordered Thai curries and they tasted amazing - especially washed down with a couple of beers.

Oh, Nikki said enough was enough today and made me shave. Problem is, i've now gone from looking like a fisherman that has been at sea for months (I was going for Tom Hanks in Castaway) to my hair looking like a young Jimmy Saville... 'Now Then, Now Then...'

We'll miss the Haad Tian Beach Resort - we're DEFINITELY coming back here at some point!

Sunday 17th February 2008

2008-02-18T06:02:00.001-08:00

We woke up in our crazy little bungalow this morning with the sound of the ocean just outside our door. When we finally left our room, we went and had some breakfast and then decided to jump in a taxi and explore some of the island.

First we got a lift to the next beach along, which is called Haad-Yao. It was very nice along there, with more restaurants on the beach and people milling about. We took a walk back across the cliffs to see how long it took to walk to our resort, before jumping in the taxi again (they're free from our place to the next) and going back to exactly where we started. From there we jumped in a pay-taxi and travelled down to the port area of Thong-sala. We had a quick look around before being bundled into ANOTHER taxi and taken to the beach area of Haad-Rin.

Haad-Rin is the area where they have the 'world famous' Full Moon parties. We were expecting it to not be very nice, but it actually wasn't that bad. We started by getting some lunch, which was pretty good - and cheap, and then took a walk around the beach. It was definitely different here, with loads of young people on the beach - playing football or frisbee, but there was a good atmosphere! We're not gonna be here for a full moon party this month, but i'm sure we'll catch one somewhere else. Plus, if we don't, there's always the half moon or even black moon parties

We spent a couple of hours floating about and then caught a taxi back to the Thong-sala area. When we got there there was a huge market, full of hawkers selling the most amazing smelling food. One stall was selling these crispy bug things, but they only had one kind and I wanna try them all - crickets, grasshoppers, etc - so I left it till next time. When we got back to our place this evening we did a Skype call with June, Andy and Katie. We spoke for over an hour which made a change - plus it was nice to see Andy, because we've only spoke to him about twice since we came away... 10 months ago!

Full, Half or Black Moon... every day is a party in Thailand!

Saturday 16th February 2008

2008-02-18T05:39:00.000-08:00

We'd already decided yesterday that we were going to be moving on today. Even though we're quite impressed with Ko Samui - and the Free House is great, we need to get to Bangkok by about the 24th, so that we can sort our Vietnam Visas in time for the 'Olds' visit on the 29th. We had some breakfast and then sat in the beach bar until about 11am, waiting for our taxi to take us to the port.

The boat trip over to Ko Pha Nang didn't take long - I think there's only a distance of about 15kms between the two islands, so we were soon getting off and wandering around the dock. The sun was shining and we couldn't really be bothered to spend our day looking for somewhere to stay, so when the first friendly guy with a decent looking place came along, we were happy to jump in his taxi.

We were told that the place we were being taken to, Haad-Tian Beach Resort, had it's own private beach - so we were quite looking forward to it, but when we were arrived we couldn't believe our luck. The place was AWESOME! It's got a great little beach, a massive pool and our bungalow is easily the best we've stayed in so far - plus we're only paying 500 Baht... bargain! We found that we had an open wifi signal here so we tried a Skype call with Mum and Keith. It was actually one of the best signals and we chatted for well over an hour.

Afterwards, as the sun was setting, me and Nikki went for a swim in the pool and the had some of the delicious food in the restaurant. On our way back to our room we stopped in the little reggae bar and had a couple of beers with the owners - Speedy and Chad - and that proved to be the perfect way to round off a great afternoon.

Thailand is fast becoming our FAVOURITE place... wonder how much a house is here?

Friday 15th February 2008

2008-02-18T05:38:00.001-08:00

We couldn't get out of the Calm Beach Resort quick enough this morning after last nights rat episode. We ate some breakfast and then carried our bags back to the Free House who, thankfully, had room for us tonight. We decided that today would be our last on the island of Ko Samui - and figured we'd spend it doing nothing. We got our towels and our books from our room and then walked the 20 paces to the beach.

We spent all day on the beach - only leaving to eat. Although, when we got peckish this afternoon, we didn't even do that. Our host, Odd (who is brilliant) started bringing our food down to us on the sand. This evening we ate some more food down on the beach, but sadly Nikki didn't enjoy hers. She ordered a Jungle curry, which although VERY spicy was a little bit strange - so I finished it for her!

Thank God for Odd and the Free House - rescuing us from the rats along the beach!

Thursday 14th February 2008

2008-02-17T21:58:00.001-08:00

We got up this morning and had some breakfast before hanging out in the bar for a couple of hours, using the free internet. We couldn't go too far because the Free House didn't have any rooms tonight and we had to carry our bags a couple of places along the beach to another guest house. We checked in to the Calm Beach Resort and then went out for the day. We thought we'd go to the most popular beach area on the island, called Chaweng.

On the way we stopped in a shop we'd not visited on our trip so far... we went into Tesco. It was just like at home and they even had a Boots in there too! We bought a couple of things (sun-cream etc.) and then moved on. We didn't know how far it was so we decided to walk the rest of the way.

It took us quite a while but we eventually made it and we're not sure it was really worth it. The Lonely Planet says that Chaweng has the best beach here, but it isn't a patch on the one we're staying at. The sand wasn't particularly nice, the sea was really rough - and it was packed! We walked along it anyway and then went out onto the streets. The streets were just like the streets of San Antonio in Ibiza and were not the traditional Thailand we were looking for. We spent a couple of hours wandering the streets and them caught a bus back to our guest house.

This evening we got ready and then went out for a nice Valentine's meal. We went back to the FreeHouse because the food was really good there last night. Tonight, I had shark and it was lovely - cooked on a barbecue on the beach. When we'd finished eating, drinking and chatting we came back to our room and the three of us sat down to look through the pictures on the laptop. I say three of us, because me and Nikki were joined by Roland... a small rat that came down through a hole in the ceiling into our room. We went to ask for help but when someone came to our room, we explained the situation and then he left, never to return...

D'oh! Three's a crowd on Valentines Day!

Wednesday 13th February 2008

2008-02-17T21:56:00.000-08:00

Our mini bus was picking us up at just after 9am this morning, so we made sure we were up in plenty of time to pack our bags and have some breakfast before it arrived. When it did, we were driven to a place called Surat Thani - where we had to try and make our way to the Don Sok pier. From here we'd be catching a boat to the island of Ko Samui.

Most places offer bus-&-boat combo tickets to the island, but getting hold of one was pretty difficult - well, one for a fair price anyway. We were expecting to pay about 200 Baht, but were being quoted between 290 and 500 Baht. All the Thai people we were asking seemed to be in on some kind of scam - they didn't care who we actually bought the ticket from, just as long as we paid over the odds. In the end we managed to get a combo ticket for a fair price and were soon on our way to the ferry.

The ferry took a couple of hours and we were soon trying to find somewhere to stay on the island. We left the port and were approached by loads of taxi drivers, telling us that there we no public buses going to where we wanted to go (even though we'd not told them where we were going yet), and that we'd have to pay 600 Baht. It was a good job we checked with information - there WAS a bus, and it was only 100 Baht each. On the bus we got speaking to an older couple who had been to Thailand before and they recommended a couple of places in an area called Bo Phut. They made them sound really nice, so we figured we'd check 'em out. The first was full but the second (which was also the better one), the Free House, had room and we checked in. Our room is really nice, in one of the bamboo bungalows and is only a few meters from the restaurant and then the beach.

It was late afternoon by now, so we didn't bother going out we just hung around the bar and sat drinking next to the beach for the rest of the day. When it got late we had a meal on one of the tables on the sand. It was great - we had the music from the restaurant in one ear and the sound of the sea in the other... heaven!

After all the trouble getting here, it looks like Ko Samui might be worth it!

Tuesday 12th February 2008

2008-02-17T21:55:00.001-08:00

When we were up and ready this morning we went down for some breakfast before going on a bigger trek through the National Park. We grabbed a map from the visitor centre and set off. Depending on how far you're willing to walk, there's a chance you can see wild birds, monkeys, elephants... and even tigers! Plus, they've got the biggest flower in the world in there somewhere!

The sun was really strong today and even though the trees provided shade it was pretty stuffy - but it didn't matter, the National Park was beautiful, with some lovely waterfalls and swimming holes. This afternoon we stopped at one of the waterfalls and ate some sandwiches that our guest house had prepared. In total we walked for 9kms and it was pretty hard going at times (because of all the hills) - but we felt pretty good afterwards. We came back to the guest house and after having showers, Nikki crashed out and slept for a couple of hours.

This evening, after Nikki had woken up and we'd had showers, we sat around chilling out and then went for some food in the guest house restaurant. Afterwards we went back to the reggae bar for some more beers. When we decided to call it a night, we came back to our room only to be greeted by the biggest winged insect we have EVER seen - it was like a flying cat or something. The thing was going crazy and when we tried to duck into our room it managed to get in. I tried telling Nikki that it had gone, but she was way too clever and made me find it and get rid of it. There was no way I was catching it (it would have easily overpowered me) - so I tried to flicked it away with my towel. After about 10 minutes, the stupid thing decided enough was enough and flew away... probably waiting for the next door neighbours to return home.

Sadly, we didn't see any tigers... or luckily - seeing as their wild!

Monday 11th February 2008

2008-02-17T21:53:00.000-08:00

We woke up nice and early this morning, so that we could catch a bus on to Khao Sok, where there is a hugh National Park. We had some breakfast, packed our bags and then made our way down to the bus station. Luckily, there was a bus there that was just about to leave so we climbed aboard. The bus took us to a place called Takua Pa, where we had to change buses and catch another on to our final destination.

When we got to Khao Sok, we climbed off the bus and were approached by loads of people from the different guest houses - all trying to convince us to stay with them. One of the men had the strangest sales pitch EVER. Whenever he saw someone talking to one of the other people he would get angry and start screaming 'Why doesn't anyone want to follow the crazy f#@%ing local guy?'. Surprisingly, nobody went with him - but I can't think why?

We chose the Khao Sok Bungalows and they're great! They're run by a little family and our room is up on stilts, in amongst the trees. We have got fantastic views of the National Park and surrounding mountains. After dropping off our bags we headed up to the entrance of the park. It was getting quite late, so we couldn't go too far, but we did walk for a just over an hour deep into the trees.

This evening, we got ready and then went out to the reggae bar next door to our guest house. We had great fun, sipping beer whilst sat on the floor, listening to (more) Bob Marley. After a couple of drinks we came back to our place for some food and then went to another bar where they were having a party... Rock on!

Oh look, more of beautiful Thailand!

Sunday 10th February 2008

2008-02-17T21:51:00.001-08:00

Last night, we arranged with the others to wake up this morning and watch the sunrise before breakfast. Me and Nikki set the alarm with the best intentions but, when it went off, we couldn't be bothered - so stayed in bed until it was time to eat. Clem and Yusuf had done their tour yesterday so we said goodbye and they left at 8.30am.

Our tour started with us taking the Long-tail boat along the network of rivers around the Phang-Nga Bay area, through the mangroves and to a series of caves in the limestone cliffs. Next we went out on to Andaman Sea - where there are 120 tree-covered, mountainous islands - it was very beautiful.

The day was spent visiting a number of the islands. On one of them we got to walk through a cave, which was pitch-black and incredibly creepy. Afterwards we sailed over to a tiny little beach where we sat and ate our lunch.

This afternoon, we visited the big one - the main part of the trip, we sailed to Khao Ping Kan, which is the island that was used in the James Bond film, The Man With The Golden Gun. It was really nice being able to walk round and spot the locations used in the film, but tourism has definitely cashed in and the whole place was packed! Afterwards, we sailed back to the Muslim fishing village to collect our things and were then taken back to the mainland.

Phang-Nga isn't very big but the next place we want to visit is a few hours away - so we decided to spend the night. We found ourselves a nice guest house and then went out for a look around. The main street is similar in size to Keynsham high-street, so once we'd walked up and down a couple of times we stopped for some food. We chose a small street-side café and the food was excellent.

If only I could've found somewhere to sunbathe nude... I could've been 'The Man With The Golden Bum'!

Saturday 9th February 2008

2008-02-17T21:49:00.000-08:00

After packing our bags this morning, we decided to go out and find an internet café so that we could check our emails and also update the blog. We didn't bother eating any breakfast - and just had some tasty banana milkshakes instead. Afterwards, we returned to our guest house and collected our bags before walking down to the beach to try and find a bus. Luckily, one came pretty quickly and we jumped on - heading in the direction of Phuket Town.

The bus journey to Phuket Town was painful! First, as we drove along the beach front, the bus travelled at speeds that never went higher than about 3mph. Next, there seemed to be no limit to the number of people our driver was willing to pick up - i'm sure that towards the end there were some up on the roof with the bags! Finally, we made it to the bus station and we were soon on another bus - the time to a small place called Phang-Nga.

No sooner had we got off the bus at the bus station at the other end we found ourselves booked on an overnight tour. We went into a small Tourist Information and the lady convinced us that we should go on one of the tours they were offering... one that her husband and brother just happened to co-run! As it turns out - it was a tour we wanted to do anyway.

At 3pm we were taken by rickety old van down to the river, where we boarded a Long-tail boat and were taken to a guesthouse on a small Muslim fishing village, called the Koh Panyee Bungalows. Nothing surprises us about Thailand anymore so, when we found ourselves approaching a small village built behind a mountain - in the MIDDLE of the river, we thought nothing of it! The whole village was fantastic! It seemed like it could collapse at any moment - with the dock being made of small sticks that looked like they fallen from an old tree. Our tour of the Phang-Nga Bay is tomorrow, so we were left to do our own thing this evening. For some reason, I wasn't feeling too good - so I went for a quick sleep. I woke up just in time for tea - and me, Nikki and some friends we'd made - Clem (from France), Yusuf (from Turkey) and Sebastian (from Germany) sat on the dock, overlooking the river and ate two lovely curries - one sea food and the other chicken. We then spent the rest of the night talking about our trips so far. It was good, because the others had started in Bangkok and traveled South - so we were able to get some tips.

I hope our room makes it through the night - the floorboards have got bigger gaps than Weston Pier!

Friday 8th February 2008

2008-02-17T21:46:00.000-08:00

When we got up this morning we went for breakfast and then took one of the small Tuk Tuks to another area of Phuket, called Karon. This place was much nicer than Patong - with a gorgeous beach - but still it was packed with mile after mile of sun-loungers. We took off our flip-flops and took a stroll along the shore. When we got to the other end, I lay on the beach reading and Nikki went for a swim in the sea.

After having some fresh fruit and a sandwich, we walked along the streets and on to another area called Kata - this was also much prettier than Patong, but still full of wrinkly old people who had been in the sun for WAY TOO LONG!

This evening, after spending a nice relaxing day at the beach(es) we shared a Tuk Tuk back to Patong with some other people before getting ready and going out for a meal. We only went to this small little place but the food was excellent - and the staff were lovely. It was a good thing we were in no rush, because half way through our meal, the heavens opened and we were subjected to the biggest downpour we've seen since getting to Asia! It ended at about the same time as we finished our meal, so we could walk back to our room without getting wet. To celebrate our good fortune, we shared a banana pancake we bought off one of the food stalls on the way.

Phuket is CRAZY! We need a holiday!

Thursday 7th February 2008

2008-02-17T21:45:00.001-08:00

Our alarm woke us up at 7.30am this morning, because we were leaving Koh Phi Phi and needed to make sure our bags were packed in plenty of time to catch the boat at 9am... plus we couldn't wait to leave the hovel that was our room - it stank! We got everything ready and then went out for some breakfast, before collecting our bags and walking round to the pier.

As with every other form of transport here in Thailand, the boat ride was interesting to say the least. When we first boarded we went straight downstairs to grab a seat. Once everyone was on, the staff started bringing all the bags downstairs and then piling them on one side of the boat. I was sat on that side and the sea was slowly getting closer as the whole thing leaned to one side. We eventually took off and it was madness - we were traveling on a 30° angle - so we went and sat up on deck. At least then if the boat started to sink, we'd be the first off!

We safely made it to the port over in Phuket and the craziness showed no sign of letting up. There were what seemed like thousands of people all fighting for the attention of just a few Thai staff. Everyone was looking for transport and some were looking for accommodation. We waited until everything died down and then finally got our taxi - it was good to get a nice comfy seat at last. We didn't haven't anywhere to sleep tonight, but had decided to head over to the beach area of Pantong - so we had to ask our driver to stop at various places to find somewhere. In the end he was getting fed up so he dropped us outside a café and I had a drink while Nikki went round on foot. She found us somewhere, which cost 1000b (what a rip off!) and we walked on round. The room is actually pretty clean, so we didn't mind too much... although, it is above a launderette!

The rest of our day was spent exploring Patong - and the best way for us to explain it is... Blackpool on speed! It is definitely the Costa Del Sol of Thailand - with bright neon lights and more English people than Thai. We looked round all the shops and markets and then took a walk along the beach this evening. At one point we sat down on the sand and after about 15 minutes I noticed that we'd not seen any women for ages. It turned out we were sat outside a hotel full of the Beave's 'mates'.

Hmmmm, Phuket's going to be interesting to say the least!

Wednesday 6th February 2008

2008-02-08T18:14:00.001-08:00

Our alarm woke us up at 6.30am this morning, so that we could catch another of Thailand's 'buses'. We were going back to the port - and then on to the island of Koh Phi Phi. Koh Phi Phi is the island where they filmed 'The Beach' (although, it was filmed on Phi Phi Lei - but everyone stays on Phi Phi Don). We were too early for breakfast, so we just sat in the reception area waiting. It turned up slightly late - and thankfully only three of us got in. That didn't make it any less ridiculous though... we drove at about 180mph! I don't know what you have to do to get a driving license over here - but you don't have to drive particularly safely... Wilksi would fit right in (ha ha). We made it to the boat no problems and were soon on our way to Koh Phi Phi.

I slept through most of the journey and when we got off we had to try and find somewhere to sleep tonight. We knew it was going to be tough though, because it's High Season here and there are thousands of people on Phi Phi. We did manage to find somewhere that we thought was reasonably cheap (900b, which is LOADS dearer than what we've been paying so far) and someone came to collect us.

Just to show how much our standards have dropped in the last ten months, we walked into the shittiest room we've ever stayed in... and didn't moan once - I just don't know what's happened to us!? We dumped our bags and went out for a walk. We explored all the small streets, looked through all the markets and then booked a tour for this afternoon. It was to take us to Phi Phi Lei, where we could visit Maya Bay - the place 'The Beach' was filmed! With that sorted we lay on one of the other nice beaches. The sea was gorgeous! Lovely and shallow, a beautiful turquoise colour and warm too.

At just before 3pm we went and caught our boat. It didn't take long to get to Phi Phi Lei and as we were sailing around, we made a couple of stops so that people could jump off the boat and snorkel or kayak. When we were all finished the boat moved onto Maya Bay. We've spoken to a few people who have really slagged it off - saying how tourists have ruined it with rubbish and how it's not worth a visit - but we liked it. It wasn't the most spectacular beach we've ever seen, but the setting was lush! The whole area was surrounded by huge, tree-covered mountains and they made you feel quite cut-off from the world! Me and Nikki explored the whole area - walking up and down the beach, and then off into the forest that's behind it - we had a great time!

We made it back to Phi Phi Don at just before 8pm tonight and, because we'd already eaten on the boat, we went out for a couple of beers. We found this really cool place, with lush comfy chairs and sat drinking. We overheard some people talking about the Tsunami and how Koh Phi Phi was totally destroyed. To be honest, it shows. Kho Phi Phi isn't a very pretty place. I think all the guest houses, bars and restaurants were knocked up really quickly to get the tourists back and then everyone just forgot about the rest of the island - it's all full of rubbish! The beaches are cracking, but as you move inland, it starts to slip!

So, that was THE beach... not bad I suppose!

Tuesday 5th February 2008

2008-02-08T18:12:00.000-08:00

We woke up this morning and picked up where we left off yesterday... doing nothing! We took our time getting ready and then went and had some breakfast in the restaurant next to the beach. Afterwards we just chilled in our chairs and wrote some postcards, before planning the places we'd like to visit in Thailand before we make it to Bangkok.

This afternoon we took a walk out to the local shops - but couldn't really be bothered to walk much further, so came back and lay on the beach before going for a swim and then returning to the bungalow and lying in the hammock again.

Tonight, we went for a lovely walk along the beach and watched the sunset. Afterwards, we went back to the 'Why Not Bar', but this time after we'd had a meal. They weren't playing Bob Marley tonight, but it was still pretty cool all-the-same and we had another cracking time!

WE LOVE KOH LANTA!

Monday 4th February 2008

2008-02-08T18:11:00.001-08:00

We were up in plenty of time this morning, because we'd arranged to move on to one of the islands South of Krabi - we were off to Koh Lanta! We had our breakfast and then sat in the reception of the guest house, waiting for our bus to arrive. When it had gone 10am and the bus still hadn't arrived, we started to get worried - but our host said it was fine, the bus had a couple of pick-ups to make. The 'BUS' did arrive, and we were surprised to find we were going to be taking part in a world record attempt - how many people and their bags can we fit in the back of a Toyota flat-bed truck? It was ridiculous! I made sure that Nikki managed to get a seat in the back - but I had to sit in the trailer part... with NINE other people... and all the bags. In total, there were FIFTEEN of us in the 'bus'! Luckily, we made it to the port both in one piece and on time and then we hung around waiting for our boat.

The ride South took nearly two hours and when we got off there was a guy from our new place waiting for us. We were bundled into another Toyota flat-bed thing (thankfully only five of us this time) and driven back to the Kantiang Bay View resort.

We were really impressed with the new place - it was right on the beach. Our room was one of the bamboo bungalows, which I thought looked great - but on closer inspection, it wasn't. In some places, the walls didn't even meet the floor! Oh well... it was only about 10 feet from the beach. For the rest of the day we didn't do anything! We just relaxed around our new home. We spent some time down on the beach and then when we got too hot, we went back and lay in the hammock hanging outside our door.

Tonight, we went into the 'Why Not Bar' which is part of our resort. It was amazing! They were playing great music - like Bob Marley etc. They were serving cheap, cold beer and me and Niks had a great time - chatting about our trip and the people at home - our Mums and Dads (and Step-Dad), our Sisters and our friends. Afterwards, we sat at one of the tables that was on the beach and shared a pizza.

Honey, I think we've found paradise!

Sunday 3rd February 2008

2008-02-08T18:09:00.001-08:00

We got up nice and early this morning because, after our Tiger Cave excursion yesterday, we'd booked a tour which would take us to four of the islands down here in the South of Thailand. The bus picked us up at 8.30am and drove us over to Ao Nang beach where we caught our Long-tail Boat.

The first island we went to was called Tup Island, which was surrounded by beautiful clear water and amazing white sand. We were told we had about an hour-and-a-half on this island and were able to go snorkeling in the lovely warm water. The fish were brilliant and weren't at all scared of us. Some of them even attacked me - trying to eat the moles on my stomach! When our time was up we went back to the boat and made our way round to a nearby island, called Chicken Island (it's called that because one of the giant rocks looks like the head of a chicken). Some of the people on our boat did more snorkeling here, but I didn't bother because i'd cut my foot open on the coral at the last place.

This afternoon we went to the best island of the lot - one called Poda Island. In the spot where our boat landed there were quite a few people so, instead of eating our lunch there, me and Nikki took a walk along the gorgeous beach and found a secluded spot of our own. It was great to relax in the warm water and we didn't want to go back to the boat. On our way back to Ao Nang, we stopped on our final beach and visited the Phra Nang Princess Cave, which is a decorative spirit house (?). Me and Nikki had fun - we just climbed over all the rocks and up into the caves. Before it was time to go, Nikki had a paddle in the sea and then we got back on the boat.

After cleaning ourselves up, we went out for a lovely meal tonight... well, mine was nice - Nikki's was the oddest thing we have ever seen. She ordered a pork with pepper & garlic dish and when it came out it contained about 14 cloves of garlic... skins and all! I'd almost finished eating my Thai green curry before she'd finished picking all the skins out. When we got back to P. Guest House, our host helped us arrange some accommodation on the island of Koh Lanta for tomorrow - we've decided it's time to move on from Krabi Town, although we've had a great time here!

We've had a brilliant time in Krabi - I think we're going to enjoy Thailand!

Saturday 2nd February 2008

2008-02-08T18:05:00.000-08:00

After two days of complete relaxation we felt like we needed some exercise today (yeah right... the beaches here rock!), so after breakfast and then taking our time to get ready we caught a bus to a place called Wat Tham Seua or Tiger Cave Temple. We'd heard different things about this place - but we still weren't prepared for what we got.

The Tiger Cave is a beautiful forest temple, that also has a famous hilltop shrine. The only thing was, to get to the shrine we had to climb 1,237 steps. It may not sound like a lot - but it was, plus some of them were about a foot high and only a couple of centimeters thick - it was literally like climbing a mountain. It took what seemed like ages to reach the top but it was totally worth it - the views were spectacular, and the shrine wasn't too bad either. For some reason it was just as tough climbing back down the stairs - but felt great to get back to the ground eventually. We shouldn't really complain though, apparently some people were attacked by the monkeys that live there on their way up!

We got back to Krabi Town this afternoon and tried to have a look around the shops but we were way too exhausted. Instead, we found a lovely little café, where we had some lunch and watched a film on their big TV. Afterwards we came back to the guesthouse for a well earned shower and rest before going out for some more food. Tonight we went to the local Irish bar and watched the footie on the TV.

Boy are we tired - it's back to the beach tomorrow!

Friday 1st February 2008

2008-02-08T18:04:00.001-08:00

We woke up this morning and after our day at the beach yesterday, we quite fancied another day of rest and relaxation. So, after breakfast we walked down to the main road and caught a bus back to Ao Nang. Rather than spend the day there we decided to catch one of the Long-tail Boats over to another beach called Rai Leh. It's part of the mainland but, because of huge mountains, it can only be reached by sea. The Long-tail Boat was great fun - it was basically a rickety old boat but with a propellor attached to the back - it actually went pretty quickly. It was a beautiful day and the sea was lovely and calm, which was good.

It was cool over on Rai Leh. The sand on the beach was quite hard and wasn't particularly comfy to lay on, but... we soldiered on. It was getting really hot as the day went on, so we drank loads of water and sat in the shade - although the sand was much softer out in the open, so we tried to split our time between both (it's a hard life). As Nikki was starting to feel better, she was also starting to get her appetite back and so we treated ourselves to some corn-on-the-cobb which a little old lady was selling on the beach.

When we'd had enough sun for one day we made our way back to Ao Nang in one of the Long-tail Boats. The sea was much choppier than before and it was quite a hairy ride back - which took us quite close to the rocks at times. We decided we'd spend a couple of hours where we were instead of going straight back to Krabi Town and stopped in a bar for some cocktails. When we'd had enough and it was pretty dark, we hailed a bus and came back. The bus driver tried to drop us in a place we totally didn't recognise and when we showed him a little map of where we wanted to go he just stormed out of the bus and left us! He only came back when more passengers arrived. He did drop us where he should have and when we went to pay he made some obscene gesture as he snatched the money from us. He wasn't happy - so we jumped out of the road before he could run us down!

Another day, another beautiful beach in Thailand!

Thursday 31st January 2008

2008-02-08T18:03:00.001-08:00

Nikki fell asleep pretty quickly last night so I turned all the alarms off to give her a chance to have a good nights sleep and wake up naturally this morning. We woke up just after 9am and she said she was feeling ever so slightly better. After the way she's been feeling lately, anything is good! We took our time in getting ready and then went for some breakfast, which she ate a lot easier than any other meal in the last few days. Nikki said she felt up to going out today so we walked to the main street in Krabi Town and decided to catch the bus to Ao Nang, which is a beach just out of town. I say bus, it was more of a flat-bed truck with two benches in the back - all the same it was great fun riding to the beach in!

Ao Nang beach was nice and we spent our day on the beach relaxing, walking around the shops and chilling in bars. The beach was very popular and people were coming and going all day via the Long-tail boats that pull up onto the shore. We decided not to go out on one today - incase Niks took a turn, but we will. After a very relaxing day, in which I think Nikki was starting to feel like her old self, we caught one of the buses back to Krabi Town, just as the sun was setting. When we got off the bus we used the internet in one of the shops and then came back to our guesthouse for some food.

Yippee! Nikki is almost back to her old self!

Wednesday 30th January 2008

2008-02-08T18:02:00.001-08:00

I stayed awake last night and then had to wake Nikki up at 1am, with some dry toast, so that she could take her first course of the anti-biotics. After the first round of tablets she was feeling slightly better so hopefully she was on the mend. Afterwards we went to sleep and then woke up again at just after 7am to get ready and finish packing our bags. Our taxi picked us up at just after 9am and drove us to the Kuala Lumpur LCCT airport. He told us how he'd been a taxi driver for about 10 years, but dreamed of being a racing driver - and then for some reason (maybe he thought I was involved in F1 and he needed to impress me) he started driving like a maniac. Because he didn't speak very good English it was really difficult to ask him to slow down. On one such failed attempt he said 'No problem' and then turned the radio up! Thankfully, we did make it safely to the airport. On the way we passed the track where they stage the Malaysian Grand Prix. We were surprised he didn't pull off the road and put in a few laps before dropping us off.

We checked in with no problems and were soon on our flight to Krabi in Thailand. The Air Asia plane was really nice. I think it's Asia's version of EasyJet. It had big leather seats - plus the flight was only half-full so we were able to spread out without worrying about other people. When we landed, we passed through Customs and then headed straight to the information desk... we needed some accommodation! We found some we liked and were pretty soon catching the shuttle to town. On the way over we were shocked to see our first Tesco store in 9 months. Now I know they have one of them here, perhaps my Auntie Chris could come here for a (working) holiday!? We had a look around the area of our new accommodation, P. Guesthouse in Krabi Town, for a couple of hours and then stopped for some lunch (Nikki found normal porridge (poor little cow)) but it was hard for her to eat, as she still wasn't up to much, so we came back to our room to rest.

Another day, another country!

Tuesday 29th January 2008

2008-02-08T18:00:00.001-08:00

Same as yesterday, the alarm went off at about 7.15am again this morning - but today we did get straight up. We had our breakfast and then walked round to the Twin Towers. It was only about 8.35am but there was already a huge queue. We did manage to get some tickets and had to come back at 11am. In the meantime we passed the time by looking around the huge shopping centre that is in the bottom of the towers.

When it got to 11am we returned to the gate and, after looking around the exhibition, made our way up to the 41st floor... and to the Sky Bridge. The Petrona Twin Towers are made of glass and steel and the views from the bridge were amazing - the whole building was incredibly shiny. Because of how many people like to go up to the Sky Bridge, each group of 12 people are only allowed 10 minutes up there... it was worth it though.

This afternoon we had a Burger King in the shopping mall before walking over to the Aquarium (which is also in the tower complex). We spent a couple of hours looking around - not just at fish and other sea life, but other animals and plants. Afterwards Nikki was feeling worse than ever so we came back to the hostel. Later on things were getting pretty bad and so I went out to try and find a clinic or someone who could help. There was one not far away so I went back for Nikki and took her round. The doctor told her she had some sort of stomach virus and gave her a mountain of various tablets and anti-biotics. When we left, we were crossing the road when all of a sudden Nikki started to throw up everywhere. It wasn't very pleasant, and not just for Nikki but for the group of Japanese tourists who were boarding a bus at the exact same time... d'oh!

The Doctor had told Nikki she could eat something plain like porridge or dry bread. She asked at our hostel reception if they could help and they said they could - did she want chicken or fish porridge? Nikki was disgusted and said she wanted normal porridge with sugar, they looked at her like she was crazy! Dry bread it was then.

Hope Nikki's better tomorrow... we're flying to Thailand!

Monday 28th January 2008

2008-02-08T17:59:00.001-08:00

We set the alarm for 7.15am this morning, because we'd heard that to climb the famous Petrona Twin Towers (formerly the world's tallest buildings), you have to start queueing for tickets at 8.30am - it wasn't all bad though, they were free. Setting the alarm so early did no good at all. For one, we hit snooze and didn't bother getting up and then, after breakfast, when we did make it to the towers - we found that they were closed on Mondays... d'oh!

While we were in the area we had a look around the shops. Like Singapore it was shopping mall after shopping mall. After a while we caught the monorail to the bus station, before catching a bus out to the Buta Caves. From the street, you have to climb 272 steep steps up into a series of caves. The caves are quite religious and contain different temples and apparently some Muslims carry huge ceremonial items to the top, which must be very difficult - we struggled with small bottles of water and the camera.

When we got back to the city, Nikki started to feel worse than ever so we took a slow walk back to the hostel and Nikki spent the rest of the day in bed... poor Nikki.

It's ok, before setting the alarm early again I checked, the Petrona Twin Towers ARE open tomorrow!

Sunday 27th January 2008

2008-02-08T17:57:00.000-08:00

The alarm went off earlier than we needed it to today, but we weren't taking any chances - we had a bus to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to catch! We left our hostel and before long we were up at the Golden City Complex waiting for our coach. After changing what little Singapore money we had left into Malaysian Ringetts we got on board. We'd only booked the standard coach, but it was quite luxurious actually with nice big comfy seats - it was a most pleasant journey indeed! It was quite funny passing through customs and across the border into Malaysia - there was nobody about - there was no fuss at all - not like an airport.

When we rolled into Kuala Lumpur, the first thing that struck us was how crowded it was - it was packed with cars and people. We managed to flag down a taxi and came straight back to our hostel - Pujannga Guesthouse. When we'd dumped our bags in our room we went straight out to explore. The guys on reception gave us a useless map, which we could make no sense of, and so we headed for the only thing we could see over the Kuala Lumpur skyline - the KLM Sky Tower.

We've been up a couple of sky towers on this trip and this was definitely the best value for money. All the others cost about £20 to go up to the Observation Desk, whereas this one only cost RM20... about £3 - plus the view was brilliant. We imagined Kuala Lumpur was just a big city but it was actually surrounded by hills, mountains and green national parks. When we'd finished up the KLM Tower we walked into town and shared a Subway sandwich, but then Nikki started to feel a little bit funny so we walked back to the hostel to relax.

Tonight we did a Skype call with Mum and Keith, which was nice because it was our first for a while - so we got to catch up on the gossip from home, as well as fill them in on our stories. They seem to be getting quite excited now... they fly out to Vietnam in just under 5 weeks - yippee!

Moooorning Malaysia!

Saturday 26th January 2008

2008-01-26T06:23:00.001-08:00

We got up early again this morning and after breakfast we finally managed to sort out some anti-malaria tablets in a nearby chemist. I'm glad we did leave it until now because they're so much cheaper than they are in the UK! With that off of our minds (I tell a lie, we weren't really that bothered - we just thought it was something we should probably arrange), we caught the MRT up to the Golden City Complex where we booked a coach ticket for tomorrow. Now, I thought we were going to Singapore and then straight into Thailand - but we're actually stopping in Malaysia which is a wicked bonus! So, we arranged to stop in Kuala Lumpur for two days... yippee!

This afternoon we caught the MRT down to Harbourside, where there is a huge shopping centre, but also the Sentosa Express, which is a little train that takes you over the water to a little island called... Sentosa - it's Singapore's beach resort.

We spent the rest of the afternoon chilling out on the beach before going into Café Del Mar for some drinks. I had a nice cold Carlsberg and Nikki had a Singapore Sling. We then sat for about an hour listening to the music and watching the world go by. When we'd finished relaxing, we caught a chair lift to the top of this huge hill and rode on the luge back down. The luge is like a little go-kart or sledge (but with handles to steer) and was great fun. Before leaving the island we saw a snake charmer with an albino python, which Nikki made me hold. Fair play to her - because when i'd finished, she held it too.

When we got back to the shopping centre, Nikki found something else she wanted in River Island - so I rushed straight over to Marks & Spencer and bought more Percy Pig sweets (ha ha). This evening, we booked some accommodation for Kuala Lumpur and then went down into Chinatown for some food. It was brilliant - the streets were packed with people and we bought some food off of one of the street vendor stalls - it was easily as good as anything we've eaten in a restaurant. On the way back, Nikki bought herself 12 mini Chinese cakes and I had an ice-cream sandwich - yes, a block of vanilla ice-cream in between a slice of bread, as recommended by Nikki's friend Marc. It was gorgeous!

Ice-cream sandwiches... i'm gonna miss Singapore!

Friday 25th January 2008

2008-01-26T06:21:00.000-08:00

Because of our reservation for 'Afternoon Tea' at Raffles later today, we didn't want to go too far away from our hostel. We wanted to be able to get back, get changed and then back out again in plenty of time - and get to Raffles at exactly 3.30pm (yeah right, we could've set off at 9am and we'd have still found a way of being late). So, the day got off to a great start when Nikki went for a shower. I was led in bed (and our room is the furthest from the bathrooms on our floor) when all of a sudden I could hear some sort of bird screeching outside. I tried to ignore it, until it sounded like it was calling my name. I went to investigate and it was a good job I did, because I found Nikki trapped in one of the shower cubicles. She'd gone in and locked the door only for the handle to fall off (ha ha). The funny thing was, the shower was also broken - so she couldn't even wash while she waited to be rescued!

After Nikki had finally escaped and we'd eaten breakfast we caught the MRT out to Orchard Road, which is Singapore's main shopping strip - but instead of shop after shop, its shopping mall after shopping mall! It's no fun shopping when you're not buying anything (we can't be bothered to carry anymore things) and so we came back to our hostel at about 1pm to chill out before getting changed. We left our hostel at just before 3pm and crossed over to the Clarke Quay MRT station, which is dead opposite where we're staying. Raffles was only two stops away so we were definitely gonna be on time...

Wrong! Somehow we managed to travel almost the whole of the Singapore underground circuit. We got off at 3.25pm and quickly walked round - we weren't too late - I think we got there at about 3.35pm.

Afternoon Tea was all very la-de-da and when we walked to the Tiffin Room where it was held we were told our table was ready... only to be told it was outside (almost in the hotel lobby). Now, I wasn't having that! I don't buy a ticket for the football and listen from the car park - so I was definitely having tea in the same room as everybody else. I think they thought we were riff-raff, but causing a fuss worked, and we were sat right at the front - right next to all the food... yippee! We hadn't eaten all day and managed to scoff ourselves stupid. I've never drank so much tea in my life (in the two hours we were there, I think I would've given June a run for her money). We made sure we were there for the maximum time and I visited the buffet table about 4 or 5 times... well, you have to - don't you? Before leaving, we went up to the Long Bar, which is where the Singapore Sling was invented, but we didn't stop because it was packed.

When we finally rolled out of Raffles we caught a bus to the Singapore Night Safari which, as the name suggests, is a safari... at night. It was brilliant! First we did the walk around the park and because the place only uses soft light, the animals don't seem to notice anyone. Another good thing was that the animals were behind glass and not bars, so they could walk up to just a few feet away. Next we caught a tram which took us right into their habitats - some of the animals were crossing the tracks - but luckily it was only deer and not the hippos or elephants. We had an amazing time and at about 11.30pm we caught the bus back to the city and walked back to our hostel.

Afternoon Tea at Raffles don't you know... what, what, what, what, what!

Thursday 24th January 2008

2008-01-26T06:19:00.000-08:00

We only booked to stay one night in the Waterloo hostel and so we woke up this morning, had the free breakfast and then packed our bags to leave. When we were out and about yesterday we managed to find a nice hostel called the Summer Tavern (with really friendly hosts) and arranged to stay there. At about 11am we left the Waterloo and caught a taxi round. Our room was being cleaned when we arrived so we just sat and surfed the internet while we waited.

At just after 1pm we checked into our room and then went out for the day. The hostel is quite central so we took a walk down to Chinatown for a look around in the light. The place was absolutely packed and we thought we'd pop in to one of the little restaurants for some food. When we walked through the door, we were pounced on by three small women who were all waving menus in our faces. We thought that they were just really keen, but it turned out there were actually three places sharing the same space and they were fighting for our business. When we eventually ordered, we had some food from one place and drinks from another!

We had a good look round Chinatown - looking on all the stalls and at the different food before leaving and catching the MRT (train) over to the World famous Raffles Hotel. The train actually stopped in the shopping centre - so we had a look round there first. It was good fun and just like being at home, because Nikki bought two tops from River Island and I bought some Percy Pig sweets from Marks & Spencer! We eventually left and went over to the hotel where we looked round all the designer shops - like Louis Vuitton, where we drew some funny looks when we walked in wearing our shorts and flip-flops (it was like something out of Pretty Woman). Afterwards we found the lobby of the hotel and booked ourselves in for some afternoon tea - tomorrow at 3.30pm... yippee!

This evening we walked up to Little India to have a look around. When we got there we went into the Prince of Wales pub for some beers and watched some footie whilst chatting about our trip so far. Afterwards we walked the streets, which was great because they were filled with the great smells of Indian food. We found one small place and ended up sharing a beautiful curry. Tonight, we came back to the hostel and chilled out in the bar downstairs. Singapore's pretty cool actually!

Third night in Singapore, third different bed... I hope we like this one - I can't be bothered to move again!

Wednesday 23rd January 2008

2008-01-24T07:35:00.001-08:00

We woke up in our 'Penthouse' apartment this morning and, after having some breakfast, we were sad that we'd have to move on - unfortunately they didn't have any more room for us. Before we left, our lovely 'landlady' Jennifer, let us use her phone to make some local calls to find somewhere else to stay.

Nikki managed to find us a hostel in Little India, which had a double-bed, so we packed our things and at about 12.30pm (we spent all morning watching SKY TV and using the free internet) we made our way over. The bus journey was a nightmare - it was absolutely packed, and not easy when we were wearing our huge backpacks. It turned out though, the journey was the least of our problems. When we got to the hostel, Sleepy Sam's, we asked to look at the room before committing to two nights but they wouldn't let us. The girl got really rude and gave us some crazy story why it wasn't possible - in the end we just walked out and made our way to another hostel. We couldn't be bothered to walk and so we flagged a taxi, who's driver turned out to be just as rude as the girl at the hostel... what is it with the people of Singapore?

The hostel we checked in to is called The Waterloo and is a bit strange, so we only booked one night. Once we'd put the bags in our room we couldn't wait to get out and start exploring. We had a look around the hostel area and then walked down to Clarks Quay. When we got there we went into Hooters for some lunch. When we'd finished, Nikki went to look round the shops while I sat and watched the footie. This afternoon we looked around the shops together and then when it started to get dark this evening we went on a river cruise from Riverside Point.

Tonight we walked down to Chinatown, which is all lit up because it's the Chinese New Year on February 7th. It's going to be the year of the Rat and so there are pictures of cartoon mice(?) everywhere - including Mickey, Minnie and Jerry (from Tom & Jerry). On the way back to our smelly hostel this evening we stopped for a well earned coffee and slice of cake - just what we needed after a long day walking.

I didn't know what to think of Singapore - until I found Hooters... then everything was ok again!

Tuesday 22nd January 2008

2008-01-24T07:33:00.000-08:00

It was already our last day in Bali, so after waking up quite early we went for our breakfast before packing our bags and then spending the rest of the morning by the pool. When it got to about 12pm, we headed out to find an internet café - we thought it might be a good idea if we tried to book some accommodation for tonight. At 1pm we jumped into the hotel shuttle bus and our driver drove us to the airport.

We spent a couple of hours wasting time and then before we knew it our flight was being called, so we said our goodbyes to Bali and boarded the plane. The flight was only a short one into Singapore and took us about 2 and-a-half hours. We were sat next to this guy on the plane, who is also travelling, and we had a good chat telling each other our stories. He's travelling alone and has done almost the same route as us. One thing that made us feel good was since September, when he came away, he's spent about £10k. IN 4 MONTHS... THAT'S CRAZY - we've only spent a couple of grand more, BETWEEN US... IN 9 MONTHS! Yippee for Ben and Nikki!

The airport in Singapore was crazy - it was huge! Apparently it's one of the best airports in the world, so it's a shame we won't be flying out of it (we're making our way across land through Malaysia and into Thailand... hopefully). Anyway, we collected our bags and then tried to sort out somewhere to sleep because our earlier efforts were wasted. We landed at 7.20pm and we finally got to our guest house at about 9.30pm. First we caught the train into the city and then the owners of the place came and collected us. The guest house is AMAZING! It's on the top floor of a big tower block, which has awesome views of the city, a huge comfy bed... and SKY TV. It's a shame we've only got it for one night... but nevermind.

We LOVE our room... it's safe to say, we'll sleep well tonight!

Monday 21st January 2008

2008-01-24T07:30:00.000-08:00

We had a nice lay-in this morning and then after our free breakfast we decided that, seeing as it was another beautiful day, we'd spend it relaxing by the pool. It was really hot today - but not too humid or muggy, so it was nice to lay about and spend our time in and out of the pool. At about 4.30pm, we decided that we'd head out for some food and, seeing as it was our last full day in Bali, we went to Bubba Gumps... we love that place!

As always, the food was great in Bubba Gumps and, even though we've seen it like a million times before, we still sat through the whole of Forrest Gump. The staff were really friendly and one guy spent about 15 minutes with us, firing Forrest Gump questions at us. It got a little too much in the end - he knew EVERYTHING!

We headed back towards our hotel and the Poppies I & II area, but before we went back to our hotel, we went into one of the spas for a massage. I didn't get to have one of the 'Soapy Soapy' ones that Arno told me about, but just a normal full body one. Afterwards, Nikki even suggested we have a hair treatment called a 'Creambath'. It was really nice, and I might insist that Jason does it back home every time he cuts my hair. It was a bit embarrassing though, with people walking past and me sat in the window wearing one of those steam things over my head. I did wonder if I might come out with a blue-rinse and a perm... but I didn't. When we we'd finished getting pampered we went back to the hotel for showers before going out to one of the bars for the evening.

Bubba Gumps is great - you can have Boiled Shrimp, Fried Shrimp, Grilled Shrimp, Shrimp Cocktail..!

Sunday 20th January 2008

2008-01-24T07:29:00.001-08:00

We were leaving Ubud today and getting a shuttle back to Kuta, so we got up at about 8am so that we could shower, pack our bags and then have our breakfast in plenty of time. We said our goodbyes to the lovely staff at the Hibiscus Cottages and then walked round to the internet café to pass the time before the bus picked us up.

No sooner had we got to the meeting point, the mini-bus, which wasn't very busy, turned up - so I thought we'd have quite a pleasant journey back to Kuta... I was wrong! The mini-bus took us to a central bus station in Ubud, where we were bundled onto a larger bus with LOADS of people, with LOADS of bags. This bus wasn't too bad and after about 20 minutes it screeched to a halt and we were all rushed off and on to another - I can honestly say, it was like we were hostages being transported somewhere - plus the new bus was rubbish. It had no air-conditioning and the windows were falling out - it was like a prison bus!

Finally, at about 1.30pm, the journey was over and we could finally stretch out again and walk around. The drop-off point wasn't far from our new hotel so we walked round. The weather was really nice today - probably the nicest we've had in Bali (every day has been really hot, but today there was no cloud), so we checked into the Hotel Arena and then spent the afternoon relaxing by their pool.

This evening we got ready and then went off in search of food. We walked for quite a long way - down all the little alleys - no longer scared of Bali at night. We found a nice little place that was quite empty and went in there. We chose some proper Balinese food and it was quite a shock when it came out. Nikki had Red Snapper (basically just cut in half, cooked and put on her plate... eyes and all) and I had duck. Both were delicious, although I had to cut Nikki's up for her because, like a child, she didn't like the look of the head!

Australia has had three weeks of rain... looks like we came on holiday to Bali at the right time!

Saturday 19th January 2008

2008-01-24T07:27:00.000-08:00

Nikki still wasn't feeling very well when we woke up this morning - but she's a little fighter and so we went on our day out anyway. We ate our breakfast and then walked around the paddy fields to meet our guide. After quite a long drive North out of Ubud we came to our first stop, in a place called Mengwi, where we visited the Royal Family Temple. We didn't get to go into the temple, because in a few days time there is going to be a big ceremony - which they have to prepare for.

After looking around the temple our guide, Agung, drove on to the next place, which was called Bedugul - and was situated in the crater of an extinct volcano! Here we got to walk around the beautiful Botanical Gardens and then visit the Ulun Danu Temple - which is on the edge of Lake Beratan. Both seemed like the most peaceful places on earth.

This afternoon we drove further North until we reached a place called Gitgit - where they have the biggest waterfall in Northern Bali. Agung stayed behind and me and Nikki went off for an hour to find it. On the way along the path we passed loads of stalls trying their best to sell us things - we did fell sorry for them, so on the way back to the car we bought a few little things. The waterfall was very nice and we sat there for a while, just catching our breath and enjoying the scenery before walking back to the car.

Next, Agung took us to a place called Lovina where we got to visit the black sand beach and have some lunch. When we were told it was black sand we weren't expecting much, but it was actually quite pretty and the sea was lovely and warm. Unfortunately, we didn't have our swimming stuff so we could only walk in and not swim. It didn't matter though - because we were starving, so we went and had a pizza and some beers instead.

It was starting to get late now, but we continued to drive around Northern Bali. First we stopped at a place called Banjar, where we got to visit a hot spring (which turned out to be really hot and we couldn't stay in there for long) and then a place called Munduk, where the farmers harvest coffee. We couldn't see much because its the wrong time of year, but we could see the young beans on the trees. After visiting these two places we drove back to Ubud - which took an hour-and-a-half (or so i'm told, I slept most of the way).

We got back to Ubud at 7.30pm and collected the laptop from our hotel and then rushed round to the internet café to speak with Katie on Skype. She had a fun birthday, which was good, but I think it wasn't a particularly good signal because we didn't get to talk for long... stupid internet! When we'd finished and then dropped the computer back, we went for a meal in a really posh restaurant near our hotel. I really enjoyed my meal, but the portions were a bit 'poncy' and over-priced... can't really complain though - the total bill was only Rp107,000 (about £6 ha ha).

Beautiful, beautiful Bali!

Friday 18th January 2008

2008-01-24T07:26:00.001-08:00

Nikki woke up really early this morning because she wasn't feeling too well. She lay in bed for ages and then, at just after 8am, we went out for our breakfast. The weather looked really nice today and all the trees and surroundings looked really green. After breakfast, we took a walk up to the local internet café, to test the wifi - we were hoping to do a Skype call with Katie later... who is 18 today - woo hoo!

The internet worked fine, so that was good, and after dropping off the laptop back at the hotel we went for a walk. We walked for quite a long way - in a direction we'd not been, but Nikki wasn't feeling 100%, so we decided to stay in the area of our hotel. On the way back we had another look in the markets and shops and then stopped for a small lunch. We also looked in a couple of the Tourist Information places and booked ourselves an all-day tour for tomorrow.

Tonight, it rained... hard... at the exact same time that me and Nikki decided to go out and try to get her some medication. We didn't want to wait incase the pharmacy closed - so we set off in the rain. We got absolutely soaked - walking through town in our shorts - but at least we managed to get Nikki her tablets. Afterwards we just came back to the hostel and chilled out on the bed.

Happy 18th Birthday Katie!

Thursday 17th January 2008

2008-01-24T07:25:00.001-08:00

I don't think Nikki slept too well last night - she said she kept waking up - expecting to see the giant spider led in bed next to her. Luckily, there was no such episode and at about 9am we went out on to our porch, where one of the staff brought us our breakfast. We had green banana pancakes, fruit salad with tea and coffee... this is definitely the life!

We started our day by walking into Ubud and visiting the museum. To get in you have to cross a bridge from the main street and then climb some steps up into some trees - it made the whole place seem quite mysterious. The museum was full of the history of Balinese art, some of which was pretty cool.

This afternoon we had a look around the Ubud markets, which are pretty big and absolutely packed with stalls. Each stall was selling similar stuff to the next and so it was good fun having them fight over your business. Just like in Kuta, each person was convinced they had something for you... but they didn't for us!

Afterwards we went for a nice long walk down towards the Monkey Forest. We didn't go in again, but we stood outside watching the monkeys. Some of them were really naughty. One had stolen a bottle of water from somewhere and another, who tried stealing fruit, thought it was a better idea to climb a tree and throw things at the people below. As we headed back up to the main high-street we stopped for a massage in one of the spas. Me and Nikki were in the same room, which was nice - but it was a bit embarrassing for me because when they asked us to strip down to our underwear, I wasn't wearing any! They said it was fine - to strip anyway, I could wear this tiny see through skirt-thing. Well, that was even more embarrassing... it barely covered anything - at least I was led on my front I thought... D'oh! After half-an-hour I was asked to turn over, so that I could have my front massaged, but i'm happy to report, there were no indecent incidents. Included in the price we paid was the use of the hot shower. My massage finished about 5 minutes before Nikki's - and yet they were still encouraging me to get into the shower, which was in the same room - while they continued! I told them 'no thanks' and that i'd have one back at our hotel

Tonight, feeling all relaxed and refreshed, me and Nikki went out onto the high-street for a meal. We went into a place called Nomads, which was quite a posh restaurant. We ate like Kings and Queens, and had amazing meals. We had three-courses plus beers and our total bill was... £8 - yippee!

Note To Self: Next time I go for a massage... WEAR UNDERWEAR!

Wednesday 16th January 2008

2008-01-19T19:06:00.000-08:00

We got up this morning to find that it was raining... again! The 'wet season' is exactly what it says on the tin here... WET! We had our last free breakfast at the Hotel Sorga and then went back to our room to pack our bags. We've arranged to go North, to the town of Ubud for a few days and had to check out. Thankfully, the check-out time in Bali is much more to our liking. Whereas it was 10am in Australia, its 12pm here, giving us plenty of time. At about 11.50am we settled our bill and then walked round to the Hotel Arena, who were going to be giving us a lift... they charged less (ha ha). The lift to Ubud only cost Rp150,000, which is a bargain - because it's over an hour away. Our driver was really nice and tried to drop us as close to our new place as he could - although, he couldn't get right to the door, because it's located in the middle of the paddy fields. The location is beautiful and the hotel, called the Hibiscus Cottages, is fantastic!

When Nikki rang yesterday to make enquiries, she was quoted Rp150,000 per night for the room - but she said that she'd seen it for Rp100,000 in the Lonely Planet (which is out of date). To our delight, the guy said that's fine - he'll charge us Rp100,000 per night and when we arrived he kept his promise - but on the condition we didn't tell anyone, because they're paying more. The thing that made us even more happy was that the room is TOTALLY worth Rp150,000... it's huge, with a huge en-suite bathroom and massive porch. We had a choice of two rooms and the first one was amazing - probably one of the poshest we've seen in 9 months - but we thought we'd have a look at the other... just in case. Our minds were made up before we'd even climbed the stairs onto the porch of the second one - we'd be taking the first room - because hanging across the entrance, in a web that must've been almost 5 feet across, was possibly the BIGGEST spider we have even seen. It didn't have a particularly big body but I think, if it would have been led out flat, it would've covered my face. I'm sure I seen it lick its lips as we were climbing the steps, and then tut as we walked away!

Once we were all checked in, we went for a long walk around Ubud. It's very peaceful here, and not at all hustle-and-bustle like Kuta. Ubud is a bit of an arty place, with loads of shops selling really cool pictures. Nikki loves them and is going to find out the cost of sending some home. When we were out on the main high-street, we stopped for some lunch - but didn't fancy rice again, so we shared a pizza instead... it was a Balinese one, so almost traditional.

This evening we came back to our beautiful hotel and relaxed out the front of our room on the porch. We sat reading and chatting in the peaceful surroundings. The only sounds we could here were the ducks, insects and rain - which was on and off every couple of minutes. We did plan on going to a nearby jazz café tonight, but we wouldn't have got 100m away without getting soaked, so maybe tomorrow...

OH! MY! GOD! Three months TODAY and we'll be flying home to England... what a bummer!

Tuesday 15th January 2008

2008-01-19T19:02:00.000-08:00

After breakfast this morning, we got dressed and then went out for another day in Kuta. After last nights storm, we thought we'd try and have another go at walking down Poppies Lane II. On the way, we stopped in an internet café to let the Mums know that we're doing ok and then moved on. It looked like it was going to be another beautiful day, but when we got to the little restaurant where we ate last night - the rain started as if it was picking up where it left off last night. Because we were dressed in shorts and vests, I suggested the most obvious thing to do at 11am... go into the nearest bar for a large Bintang (beer).

When the rain had passed and we'd finished our beers we got up to leave - but before we could, we had to buy a little leather bracelet from a small 9 year old girl. At first she wanted Rp20,000 FOR ONE! I told her i'd bought one last night for Rp1,000 - so she said I could have her whole bunch (there must've been nearly 20) for Rp20,000. By now, her even younger friend had joined in and wanted to sell us her bunch for a similar price. Eventually, they believed us that we only wanted one and managed to get it for Rp1,000 - although we gave them both Rp1,000 for their persistency... bless 'em.

Just like the street Poppies I, Poppies II was packed with stalls selling everything, being sold by really friendly people. It was great fun walking up and down looking at their things. They'd all say they had something we'd love - we just had to go in and look, and when we did it was nothing more than a bottle opener shaped like a willy or a hand carved chess set or something even more obscure that we didn't need!?

Whilst on Poppies II, we saw the Bali Memorial, which is to remember all the people who died in the bomb blast. It was quite sad really, because it's right in amongst the hustle-and-bustle and yet it's eerily quiet, and was covered with messages from loved ones.

After stopping for some lunch we continued to walk the streets for a couple of hours, looking for the odd bargain, before we came back to our hotel to relax by the pool. We went for a swim and then lay about chatting before coming up to get ready. Tonight we went out and found a small restaurant close by, where we had another traditional Balinese meal... it was lovely!

No thanks... we don't need anymore flip-flops. Nope that goes for the BB Gun too. Thank you!

Monday 14th January 2008

2008-01-17T19:13:00.000-08:00

Our alarm went off at about 7.30am this morning, but Nikki was already awake - I think it was a bit hot for her again last night. The alarm was set so early because today, we'd arranged to charter a car and explore the island. For a car, a driver and all the petrol and time, it only cost us Rp450,000 (just under £25). After breakfast, we sat in reception waiting for our guide and when he arrived... we were off!

The first stop of the day was in a small place just on the outskirts of Kuta, where we got to watch some Barong Dancing. It was pretty good and told the story of a fight between good and evil spirits. When the dancing had finished, we had some photos taken with the 'stars' and then went outside to meet our driver.

Next, we went to a small town North of Kuta called Ubud, which looked really cool - there was loads there, like Kuta, but without the hustle-and-bustle. We stopped at a place called the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary, which was awesome! It was a huge old forest containing loads of ancients temples - all of which was inhabited by loads of naughty monkeys. There were loads of people outside, selling fruit to feed them - and they were more than happy to steal that! Anyone that did buy some, but didn't dish it out quickly enough got climbed all over and we even seen one girl get bit! Luckily, they ignored us - so we got to take pictures and laugh at everyone else without any hassle.

After the Monkey Sanctuary, we made a quick stop at a place called Tegalalang, which are the rice terraces - and they were stunning! They were loads of steps and platforms just carved into the sides of the grassy hills. Next, we jumped back in the car and stopped at a place called Kintamani - where we had brilliant views of the valleys and the (active) volcano in the distance.

We were now up in the North of Bali, so we started making our way South again and stopped at Tirta Empul which is a giant temple and spring. Because it's a sacred place, we had to put on sarongs and scarfs before we could enter. The whole place looked really ancient and apparently, there are inscriptions that date back to about AD926.

Our final stop of the day was in Goa Gajah, or Elephant Cave, which was discovered in the 1920s. It wasn't as big as the temple at Tirta Empul, but was still pretty cool. By now, it was late in the afternoon so we jumped back in the car and made our way back to Kuta.

We had an amazing time today - and Bali, especially the more rural parts, is beautiful and NOTHING like Kuta. Everyone here seems really happy and are all working really hard, trying to get by. On the drive back - we saw loads of mopeds carrying anything from one... to FOUR people - that was quite a sight: there was a small child stood clinging to the front (as if her life depended on it (and it probably did)), behind her it was her Dad who was driving, next it was a larger child who was holding onto Dad - although she needn't have bothered, because behind her was Mum who was also holding onto Dad - therefore squashing child number two in... brilliant! One of the annoying things was having to pay to park in places - and then having to pay someone else when we left the same place. Our poor driver even got stopped by the police at a roadblock and they made him hand over money.

As soon as we got back to Kuta this evening we went straight out for food. We started walking towards one of the main streets called Poppies Lane II, but on the way the Mother of all thunder storms started. We'd been told it was the 'Wet Season' and now we were going to find out. We didn't want to go too far in case the rain didn't stop (and it didn't), so we jumped into the first restaurant we came across. It was actually a good choice. It was only small and was playing reggae music, plus the food was great. We had three main courses (between us), some corn fritters and two large beers and the total price (including a tip) was only Rp70,000... less than £5!

Man, if Bali is anything to go by, we are gonna LOVE Asia!

Sunday 13th January 2008

2008-01-17T19:10:00.001-08:00

We woke up without the use of any alarms this morning - it was just too hot to stay led in bed for any longer (well, on top of the bed - it was too hot to get in). Instead, we got ourselves up and went down for breakfast. When we were ready, we went out for another walk. We walked in a different direction to yesterday and were gone for hours! I think we must have seen the entire city on foot.

Today wasn't particularly sunny, but was really humid and was really taking it out of us, so when we came across a huge department store - we couldn't wait to get inside and into the air-con. Whilst we were there we had some lunch, which we got to eat on a balcony overlooking the sea. When Nikki heard me saying 'hello mate, how are you?' she thought 'how can he possibly know someone over here?', but it wasn't the heat sending me mad - I was talking to the family we were sat next to on the plane ride over. It was their first time in Bali too - and today was the first day they'd felt brave enough to leave their hotel. They seemed quite excited about being out and we assured them everything would be fine, before saying goodbye.

This afternoon we found the way back to our hotel and just chilled out for the pool. The walking must've really done us in because we both fell asleep for a little while. Afterwards we had showers and then went out for a meal. We still weren't brave enough to venture too far in the dark and settled on a place about 5 minutes away. The food was lovely - and best of all, it was cheap - and so was the beer. We both had large bottles of a beer called Bintang (which were about a pint-and-a-half) and only cost Rp18,000 - £1... bargain, and this was a posh restaurant! Once we'd finished our meals, we took a slow walk back to our hostel and even stopped to buy some things off the small market stalls on the way.

I don't know about the rest of Bali, but Kuta isn't very attractive. There are hundreds of dogs walking around, the pavements are falling to bits and the place is absolutely packed with traffic - but despite all this, it's still a cool place to be. There is definitely a good, cheerful vibe about the place, which is good - seeing as it's been hit by three separate bomb attacks in the last couple of years and the Tsunami which affected Indonesia and most of South East Asia.

Yippee for cheap food and beer - yippee for Bali!

Saturday 12th January 2008

2008-01-17T19:05:00.001-08:00

We woke up this morning in our new bed, in our new hotel, in a new country - and it honestly felt like we were on holiday! We got up, got dressed and then went downstairs for the complementary breakfast. Afterwards, we locked our valuables away and went out to explore the city of Kuta.

Everyone who we've told we were coming to Bali had warned us about the people - saying they do nothing but hassle you, but we didn't find it too bad. We thought everyone was really nice - as long as you were firm, but still polite - then they were happy to leave you alone. We walked along the beach and found the main shopping area, which was packed with shops and people. We had a look around a big shopping centre and couldn't believe how cheap some things were. We managed to find some insect repellant and when we went to pay, we noticed that they hadn't given us the correct change. Instead, they got as close as they could with larger currency and then gave us a couple of... sweets (ie. instead of giving us Rp4,750, we were given Rp4,500 and some mango chews)! Now, I love sweets but this was crazy. When we thought about it, it didn't really matter - it was only about 3 pence!

We looked round the shops for a few hours, and in one of the larger shops, Nikki had her nails painted by two women. They worked really quickly and Nikki's nails looked fab... plus she only paid about £5. We also looked in all the restaurants at the cheap food (salads are about £2, steaks are about £4 and beer is about £1) and when we got a little hungry we did go in one - but instead of one that sold traditional food, we went into the Hard Rock Café (ha ha). The food was awesome though!

Late this afternoon we came back to the hotel and chilled out by the big pool. The hotel is really nice and we're only paying about £11 for our room. This evening, when it was finally dark, we moved from the pool and had showers in our room before going down to the restaurant for a snack (we shared some pork fried rice). Afterwards we just chilled out in our room and watched a film on the laptop.

We weren't brave enough to venture out in the dark tonight - but we will tomorrow!

Friday 11th January 2008

2008-01-17T19:01:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it, today was our last day in Australia... for this trip anyway. We set the alarm a little earlier than normal and then had showers, had a cuppa and did all of our washing. Afterwards we went out to the shops so that Nikki could spend her $20 Just Jeans voucher. After looking in two different stores which, believe it or not, sold EXACTLY the same gear she finally settled on some skinny jeans which, I must admit, look really good on her.

We came back to the hostel this afternoon and Nikki made us a huge Spanish omelette to share, using the last of our food. Afterwards, I stayed at the hostel to update the blog whilst Nikki went into town to ask at the chemist about Malaria tablets. In typical Ben and Nikki fashion, Malaria tablets can't be sold over the counter without a prescription - and seeing as it was almost 4pm, there was no way we were going to be getting one of them... d'oh! Hopefully we'll find some in Bali before the mosquitos find us!

Our shuttle picked us up at 5pm this evening and took us on the longest, most painful drive EVER. The driver was hopeless! At one point, he was sat at some traffic lights and somehow managed to put the van into reverse instead of first. When the lights changed and we shot backwards, he was disappointed that there was nobody behind that he could've scared... prat! Eventually we got to the airport and our time passed really quickly before we were called to board the plane. Whilst we were waiting, I finally got to try some food from Red Rooster too!

The flight to Bali only took about three hours and we were soon leaving the plane and filling out our immigration cards. You have to buy your Visas upon entering the country for US$50, but we didn't have any money... of any kind, so they let us walk right through Customs to the outer part of the airport so that we could use a cash point. We were told we needed to pay Rp500,000 - but we didn't mind, we were millionaires: when we checked our balance we had over 16,000,000 in the bank - I guess the interest on a Nationwide account is a lot better than I imagined!

With everything sorted we collected our bags and left Denpasar airport. Waiting for us outside was a man waiting to take us to our hotel - complete with board saying 'TENNEAR'. It was nothing like when we met Emma at Perth airport though, there were no cuddles, tears or anything. It was about midnight now and the short drive back to the hotel was unbelievable. It was every-man for themselves on the small roads. I'm just glad we were in a big land-rover, so we were one of the bigger cars on the road. The people on motorbikes must be terrified! We were overtaking when there was traffic coming, we were driving way too close to the people in front (i'm sure we nudged someone at one point) and we didn't stop round corners... worst of all, we didn't have seat-belts. The Hotel Sorga is at the end of a small lane and as we turned in, some poor guy had to jump over a wall to avoid getting squashed. I'm surprised the driver didn't turn the lights off - just to make the journey a little more exciting.

Thankfully though, we made it safely to the hotel and checked into our room, which looks really nice and has a great big bed. We were so tired, we just collapsed on it and fell asleep.

Goodbye Australia... Hello Bali!

Thursday 10th January 2008

2008-01-10T22:48:00.000-08:00

As this was our last full day in Perth, we needed to use our return tickets for Adventure World, and thought that setting the alarm for 9.30am would give us enough time to get up, pop in to town to post some postcards and then make our way to the park... it didn't! We got up and got ready pretty quickly, but we decided to surf the internet. Then when we walked into town we thought we'd ring the hotel in Bali to check on our booking - what a nightmare! First of all we lost our money in the phone-box then, when we got some more, we found our phone card had expired... d'oh! We went to buy another and eventually - after about an hour we got through and did our best with the hotel. Finally, we could head over to Adventure World.

We finally got to the park at about 1.30pm and after having some lunch set off to go on the rides we'd missed last time. We got to go on all the rides - I even went on the spinny ones. We also queued for about an hour to ride on the go-karts which was... pants! I started at the back and had visions of racing up through the pack to take the checkered flag in a blaze of glory, but couldn't have been more wrong. By the time i'd made it out of the pits and across the start line, everyone else was half-way round. In the end my blaze of glory was nothing more than damage limitation, and I finished last - only being lapped by two people, one of which was Nikki... d'oh!

Because of our tattoos, we didn't want to go on any of the water rides until they'd healed so, after riding everything, we just chilled out in the sun. Eventually we decided to head back to the city - first catching a bus to Fremantle, then a train to the city.

This evening, we arranged to go out for some drinks with Andy and Grace - a couple we'd met in Melbourne on the Neighbours night. Me and Nikki went out at about 8.30ish for some food and then met them at just after 9pm in Novaks bar. It was really great to catch up with them and they'd made a real effort, coming in from the outskirts of the city by train - and all this even though we'd only met them once before. We stayed out for a couple of hours, drinking and sharing our traveling stories before saying our goodbyes.

D'oh! I can't believe we're leaving Australia tomorrow!

Wednesday 9th January 2008

2008-01-10T22:46:00.000-08:00

As we only have a couple of days left in Australia, we thought it would be nice to catch one of the boats down the Swan River from the city to Fremantle. We thought we'd planned it all - and found that the boats left at 11am... we were gonna be fine... not! Despite our planning, and setting the alarm nice and early, we didn't end up leaving the hostel until about 10.45am, giving ourselves not very long - to run a pretty long way.

Thankfully, we made it down to the boats at about 10.59am and there was no queue - so we were able to buy our tickets straight away and then board the boat with Captain Cook Cruises. The trip to Fremantle was really nice and smooth, with running commentary and free tea and coffee. Some of the houses on the banks of the Swan River were stunning - one of which was for sale... for $85 million!

When we got to Fremantle, we went for a walk around the shops and after a while headed down towards the harbour area. On the way, we stopped for some sushi before going into the Maritime Museum. The museum was really cool - there are two in Perth, and this one is the Shipwreck Gallery and, as well as containing things found on sunken ships, it actually contains an actual shipwreck. We got to go on a free guided tour, which was good - because there was far too much to read.

This evening, after we'd had another look around the shops, we decided to go for a drink and something to eat before returning back to the city. As we were walking down the 'Cappuccino Strip' we came across a Mexican restaurant which had a fajita night on... so in we went. The food and drink was pretty good and the place was packed - so there was a pretty good atmosphere - a nice finish to a nice day.

If it's still for sale the next time we're in Fremantle - we'll buy that house for $85 million!

Tuesday 8th January 2008

2008-01-10T22:43:00.000-08:00

We didn't have any alarms waking us up this morning and instead had a lie-in in our hotel-like room. When we did wake up, we just put the TV on and chilled out. Eventually, we made it out of bed and went downstairs for breakfast before going on the internet and looking for accommodation in Bali... where we're going on FRIDAY!

As we've already made plans for tomorrow and Thursday, we figured that we'd spend one more day looking round the shops in the centre - seeing if there was anything else we wanted to spend our Christmas money on. I bought a new wallet - and Nikki made a complaint in Just Jeans about a skirt she'd bought in Airlee Beach and then returned in Sydney, but had not been given a full refund for. The nice people in the Perth store gave her the extra $20 she was owed, which was good... yippee! On the way back, we stopped in the food court for some sushi and then did some shopping for our tea.

Today has been a really nice, lazy, chill out day... we love it!