05 Mar 10 Some pictures from China
Ok, so it’s been difficult getting the pictures uploaded, but I’ve finally started.
Pictures (click on the link to open them):
05 Mar 10 Thailand - Bangkok (goodbye Intrepid)
On 3rd March we departed from Cambodia and headed for the Thailand border, making our way to Bangkok.
28 Feb 10 Is it the end of beer-o-clock? (Sihanouk Ville, Phnom Penh & Siem Reap)
On 25th Feb we spent the day by the beach. Hannah, Kelsea and Malorie went on a booze cruise, so it was our mission to get more wasted than they were. By the evening we were drinking buckets of vodka and redbull whilst waiting for their boat to return. The boat didn’t return till 12am so we gave up and went home as we had to be up for 5.30am.
Early the next morning we were rudely awaken at 5am. My hangover was disgusting but we had to get moving to catch a bus back to Phnom Penh.
The bus journey was painful to say the least - I have now stated that I’m never drinking again (for now). We finally got to PP at about 1pm and quickly made our way to the Genocide Museum and the Killing Fields. It was really disturbing what Pol Pot and Khmer Rouge did to the Cambodian people and the thing that struck me the most was the photography library of all the prisoners who were suspected of being spies or related to one. They all looked normal; wifes, children, babies and whole families.
After the tour we took a boat trip down the river to watch the sunset.
Early on 27th Feb we took another bus to ……….. (tbc - I’m so bad). Whilst we were there we hired bicycles and took a bike ride over the 1km bamboo bridge to the island. It was bloody hot but well worth it.
On 28th we had to take another bus, this time to Siem Reap, ready for our Angkor Wat tour. We decided we’d get to Angkor Wat in time for the sunrise, which meant a 4am start on 1st March. So we had an early night.
Early the next morning we got up and caught a tuk tuk to Angkor Wat temples. The sunrise was brilliant, rising directly over the temple.
On 2nd March we spent the day at a 5star hotel by the pool, living it up. Then in the afternoon some of us visited a local orphanage just outside of Siem Reap. The owner opened the orphanage in 1979 just ater the Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge regime was overturned. Both her two children and her husband starved to death during the regime so she decided to open up her home to other children. She now looks after 40 children, even though she’s getting old. She secures education for them and they all show a huge amount of (well deserved) respect for the woman. Most of all they all seemed happy, healthy and are very lucky to be in her company
25 Feb 10 Cambodia - lovely jubbly
At about 3pm on 20th Feb we arrived in Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital. After a short orientation walk around the city, we all went for a compulsory drink as it was ‘happy hour’. We sat on the balcony of a bar people watching when we noticed an elephant walking down the road. The elephant did not phase the passing traffic whatsoever so it must be a regular occurance here.
The next day we spent the morning visitng The Royal Palace before a bus trip to our Homestay in Chambok. We arrived at the homestay at around 4pm. We didn’t really buy gifts for the hosts, although we did take a bag of mangos. In Hindsight we should have known that they have bloody loads of Mango trees and these people don’t really need more of the same.
It was soon time for dinner, so Komphak took us to the national park where there’s a women’s restaurant. The restaurant is run for those ladies who cannot read or write and need a means to earn a living. In fact the whole community is very ‘together’ in the sense that they all pay 30% of their earnings towards the development of their community group, which has helped fund water supply, schooling and energy. These people have so little but they share whatever they have, yet we have so much and share so little. Stange that.
Whilst waiting for dinner we played Hacky-Sack with the locals. My head and feet coordination was somewhat lacking, but I put it down to the fact that I was wearing flip-flops. Anyhow after landing on my arse and hurting my groin, we eventually had dinner. Maybe they we waiting for me to make a twat out of myself before they fed us, who knows.
The dinner was great but it was getting dark so all the insects had began to descend down to our table, more specifically the lights. There were whole swarms of insects and by the end we were covered in them.
In the evening the locals taught us a few local dances and we repaid them with the Macarena. The shame!
Early on 23rd Feb we left Chambok for Sihanoukville, a nice beach resort! We arrived at about 12 and went straight to the beach to have a few beers. A few soon turned into a few too many and by 10.30 I was trashed. At 50c a pint it’s rude not to.
On 24th we woke up early, with the filthiest hangover, and took a boat trip to the local National Park.
22 Feb 10 Who’s a Ho? (Ho Chi Minh’s City to Cambodia)
On 18th we hung around the beach all day then took our final overnight train to Ho Chi Min’h City. Just as well because the overnight trains should be renamed to mobile asylums. We arrived in Ho at around 5am, we couldn’t check into our rooms for a while but it didn’t really matter as we visited the Cu Chi Tunnels early that morning.
The Cu Chi Tunnels were really interesting and played a big part in the Vietnamese winning the war against the yanks. Fair play to them, those tunnels were bloody boiling. We also saw the various traps and weapons they used; they were a bit barbaric but needs must an’ all.
In the PM Jackie and I had a nice little visit to the Embassy and had a walk around HCM City. Whilst we were there we visted the Independence Palace and the Revolutionary museum.
The next day (19th) we met our new tour leader, Komphak. Nice guy!
Early on 20th we departed for Phnom Penh, Cambodia by public bus, although we were the only ones on it.
18 Feb 10 The boat that rocked (literally) and the floating bar…
Our last day in Hoi An was spent by the beach topping up our tans. As it was the Lunar New Year Festival & TET the beach was crammed with locals getting smashed, whilst Jackie remained sober. Nice role reversal there me thinks!
On the 16th Feb we took a day train from Hoi An to Nha Trang. Nha Trang looks just like any other holiday resort, it has a great atmosphere with lots of bars; so you know in about 5 years time this place will be rammed. We arrived late the evening so Crazy Q took us to a restaurant, which in theory should have taken 5 mins to get to but he must have taken us via Glasgow ‘cos it took bloody ages. As I’ve said before Q should not be trusted when it comes to directions and distances.
Early on 17th February Jackie, Aimee, Sandy and myself got up to go on a boat trip. We didn’t know much about the trip, other than it visited various islands, we had lunch on the boat and that it would be busy, because of TET. What he didn’t mention was the free floating bar, a tour leader that was insane and that we’d come back absolutely smashed. The day was great though! We stopped off by some coral where we were given snorkeling gear to use. We also jumped off the top of the boat into the sea; surprisingly we were still sober at this point. The tour leader, Loc AKA Funky Monkey, was dead set on getting everyone mullered so by 12noon we had sank our first beer.
The organisers provided lunch, but then afterwards they brought out what can best be described as a make shift band. A drum kit made of kitchen uttensils, a semi naked old Vietnamese guy wearing a coconut bra with a tamborine in toe and Loc on the mike. At one point we all had to get on the stage to dance, but this being a small boat wasn’t tall enough for most of the guys so we were crouch dancing.
After the ‘entertainment’ had finished it was happy hour. The floating boat and the semi naked vietnamese cross dresser were thrown into the sea. Anybody wanting free drink had to join them. So naturally we were there with our rubber rings and a random concoction of alcohol.
In the evening we carried the drinking session on; if its 15,000 dong (50p) for a double vodka and coke, you can’t say no.
14 Feb 10 Hue, Hoi An and a lie down at the Monk’s
Early on 12th February we took a tour round the villages around Hue by Motorbike. Along the way we visited the Mong Tombs, Bunker Hill and we ate dinner at the Monk’s monestry (is it a monestry, I’m not too sure). The lunch was brilliant, however after dinner the ‘head’ monk was very keen for us all to lie down… on the floor. So there we were, 8 grown adults, lying down on tiled floor, next to the table where we just ate. And yes, we did lie there until we knew it was safe to get up.
In the evening we thought we’d take a walk into the centre of Hue for dinner. Mr Q and his encyclopedic knowledge of distances and directions was the perfect person to ask for the route. With Mr Q everything is 1km away, so we know that 1km actually means 10; and it also turns out he’s a tad off the mark with directions too. After a good 20 min walk we realised the route he sent us one was absolute tosh! However after an impromptue stop at the pharmacy for some laxatives (not for me), and witnessing an RTA (more common than you think) we finally got to a restaurant. Great cheap food. Brits abroad, who could ask for more!
Early on 13th we took the bus from Hue to Hoi An, passing by China Beach and some scenic mountains. We arrived in Hoi An at around 12noon so we immediatley went for lunch. Trust me, all we freckin’ do is eat! After lunch Mr Q took us around the town, which is a beauty! In the evening we all went out for a major knees up as it was Chinese/Lunar/Tet New Years Eve. When in Rome an’ all that!
On 14th Feb we had a nice lie in then Mr Q took us on a leisurely bike ride through Hoi An and then we boarded a local boat to take us to our private beach for a BBQ dinner. At this point I must add that Mr Q takes a liking to sharp objects, namely knifes, and not only that he likes cutting random things (although he’s not a selfharmer). So from now on I’m going to refer to Mr Q as Crazy Q.
11 Feb 10 Hanoi to Hue
About 6pm on 9th Feb we arrived back in to Hanoi. That night the hangover was too much to bare so an early night was needed.
On 10th Feb we visited Ho Chi Minh’s memorial where he laid embalmed and visited his museum.
That evening we took another, not so nice, overnight train to Hue.
About 9am on 11th Feb we arrived in Hue. It was bloody boiling! Mr Q (Quan) our tour leader took is to the Imperial Citadel then in the afternoon we relaxed by the pool.
10 Feb 10 Hanoi, suicidal motorists and rabid monkeys
We left Sapa in the evening of 5th February by overnight train. The train was much comfier than those prison like sleepers we experienced in China. For starters there’s only 4 to a room and you have a door you can shut.
We arrived in Hanoi early on 6th then went straight to our hotel in the Old Quater of Hanoi. This was the final day for some of the group and it was time to say goodbye to Hue, our leader for the last 5 days. Although she is a bit of a twat so there’s no loss there. We spent most of the day walking around the markets buying fake DVDs and at the post office. In the evening we went out for drinks, which led to one too many. After 12 the bars ‘close’ but if you knock on the doors they let you in. In one particular bar there was a group of Americans; now it doesn’t need mentioning that in the main, Americans are sometimes quite unaware that their personal views are not that of the rest of the world. So sitting at a bar listening to some yank claim the Vietnam war never happened was going to make a few people irrate. It’s ok, Aimee solved the problem by steeling his chair. Yankies 0 - Brits 1~!
Another thing worth noting about Hanoi is the motorists; those on Vespas and scooters to be more precise. Theres no traffic control or lights so crossing the road is an absolute nightmare. Just cross and hope you don’t get taken down by one.
The next day we met our new leader, Quan, and some new guys - Sandy and Hillary.
On 8th February we woke up early to go to Cat Ba Island. We first got the bus to Halong Bay then enjoyed our own private boat through to CatBa. Again, we met some Canadians which was reason enough to get smashed.
On 9th we woke up early, again, this time to punish ourselves with a one hour kayaking adventure to Monkey Island… and there was monkeys. Exactly like the one’s in the ‘Where’s your head at?’ video by Basement Jaxx. They took an instant liking to anyone with food and when the food was gone they took to attacking those with empty bags of nuts. Kinda funny! Although it wasn’t for Jackie!
05 Feb 10 Trekking in Sapa
February 4th 2010
We got ready at 9.30am and took a bus to our starting point for the trek. Aimee’s stalker (one of the local Mong people trying to sell her something since she arrived) was there also determined to get a sale from Aimee.
We began our 7 hour trek through the mountainside, walking through bamboo fields, crossing lakes and waterfalls and stopping along the way to have lunch. It was a make shift lunch which required us to make our own baguettes. Sounds easy, but I still managed to cut my finger with a bread knife.
After lunch we began our final leg of the trek to our homestay. The terrain was quite steep, decending down into the valley. Along the way we stopped off at a few villages to look at the way they live.
We finally arrived at our homestay at around 4pm. This homestay was totally different to the one in China, this one was actually nice, the food was great and the people were not so intrusive. We played cards in the evening with the locals (although they didn’t speak English) who helped us pick up the traditional Vietnamese card game. Everytime someone lost, the winner got to place a black soot mark on their face, so the aim was not to be a loser. Someone should have told Aimee, as she ended up with 10 black lines on her face. Myself and Sophie only had 3, whilst Hue had 4.
