I have been sat in a hammock solidly for the past four days doing sweet F.A so I'm feeling quite braindead..but I'll try to give a summary of what we've been up to since returning to Thailand.
I was anticipating having to be put into quarantine when crossing the border of Thailand - I'd been suffering from a cold and had lost my voice whilst in Luang Probang so I was popping lots of ibuprofen and icing my forehead in preparation! Previous experience of crossing borders and going through heat sensitivity machines manned by staff in full protective gear and face masks, having thermometers shoved in our ears and having to fill out numerous health forms told me that, maybe, it might be a task? So I sweated a bit and hopped about from foot to foot but after all that palava it happened.......shit.................the Thais in white coats approached me...and they let me through no problem!!! So much for excessive health checks at airports, no wonder there has been a swine flu outbreak!
So that was the first drama over with, so we settled in a guesthouse in Chiang Mai safely and felt ready to spend a few days there. We found a good night market on our first evening which was great, amused us for hours - our bartering skills are perfected now!! The next day we walked about for hours in the heat, trying to find a women's prison we had read about that offered massages. The inmates are supposedly due for release in 6 months and the money spent on the massage will help support them when they leave...not sure it was quite my cup of tea so when we arrived and were told there was a huge queue I was quite relieved....somehow the thought of having a massage by a criminal wasn't very reassuring! Oh and I musn't forget my Lara Croft moment the following day when we went quad biking in the mountains - I was going downhill over rocky and wet terrain and the bike veered to the cliff edge...I threw myself off in time (wearing safety gear so it was ok) but the bike carried on going....I was more concerned about the bike falling off the side of the mountain and having to pay to replace it...but thankfully it got stuck on some grass, so three of us managed to pull it back up! The tour leader eventually came back to see what was going on and laughed!! Charming! My near death experience wasn't the first - another girl in my group had actually come off the bike and it had rolled over her about 20 minutes beforehand - hence my timidness after that! A guy in a different group had also gone over the cliff with the bike but only had a sore back to show for it!!
So anyway, we all lived to tell the tale, and I've been whizzing around on the back of motorbikes ever since...we left Chiang Mai the day after quad biking and headed to a place about 4 hours away called Pai. It is, by far, my favourite place. I didn't like the hussle and bussle (and dodgey health and safety!) of Chiang Mai, but Pai is a great little town full of nice little cafes and art houses, Thai locals in tie dye and flares and mesmerising live music every night. We are staying in a bungalow on stilts overlooking the river - beautiful. So as I wrote at the beginning, I have pretty much been lying in a hammock ever since I got here! I went to a free meditation class one morning which was an interesting experience and I will definately be going to more. I have had a thai massage and a foot scrub, and at stupid o'clock this morning I got on a moto to go to some hot springs at dusk....this is the life! I've been spending some time in some tattoo studios too, talking to them about their work, looking at their drawings and watching Gemma get inked!!! The artist that did hers was only 21 but so talented...we had drinks with him and his friends later on that night, what a legend!
So I thought Laos was amazing but Pai is something else...I love it here.
Sunday, 28 June 2009
Friday, 19 June 2009
Bye bye Laos
A week on from our previous post and we're still in love with Laos! We spent our final few days in Vang Vieng by going kayaking and caving one day, going out every night and being really lazy - just the way we want to be! Spending a week there was really cool - we met so many great people and it was sad to say goodbye to our temporary community. Still, by the time we got on our bus to Luang Prabang, we felt ready to see something new. Luang Probang, forgetting the white knuckle "VIP" bus ride to arrive here, is a beautiful river town, full of French style cafes and a great night market.
Gemma and I treated ourselves to a traditional Laos massage on our first day - lovely! I am still covered in huge bruises from tubing (over a week ago!) so massaging my legs was rather painful and not quite the soothing experience I was hoping for!! Let's see how a thai massage compares hey.
We took ourselves down to a local education centre one morning where we sat with local Lao teenagers who are learning English and want help with their reading and pronunciation - this was a great experience as, for once, there was no pressure to spend any money first and we genuinely felt like we were helping people and not being conned out of any money! I sat with a 15 year old girl called Va whose English was really limited but we were able to communicate just about! I showed her some pictures of my family from my camera and wrote down their names for her. I asked her to do the same and her list went on for ever! 12 brothers and sisters! My word. After a while drawing loads of fruit, vegetables and animals I gave up on English and decided to teach her how to play noughts and crosses! Then I tried to show off by making one of those paper game origami things, and before i'd even finished she'd taken the scraps of paper and made me some origami roses...ahh! Really good morning anyway, Lao people have been so friendly in each place we've been to.
Later that day we visited some beautiful waterfalls and a bear sanctuary, and spent the rest of the day relaxing (too hot to do much else) and spending loads of money at the night market! Had a great time this morning going elephant trekking and feeding them bananas afterwards - riding an elephant is a lot scarier than I'd imagined though, especially going downhill!! The elephant trail took us across a river as well which was stunning for the landscapes - then suddenly Sarah and I (who were sharing an elephant seat) heard some loud splashes from behind us, and realised that our beautiful elephant was having a poo in the river!!! Didn't we kill ourselves laughing when huge green lumps of dung floated past us! Well when ya gotta go, ya gotta go!
This is our last day in Luang Prabang and tomorrow we are leaving Laos and heading to Thailand! Probably going to stop in Chang Mai first but hoping to visit Pai as we've heard good reports!
I'm trying to encourage the other two to write some posts on here soon - slackers!
Gemma and I treated ourselves to a traditional Laos massage on our first day - lovely! I am still covered in huge bruises from tubing (over a week ago!) so massaging my legs was rather painful and not quite the soothing experience I was hoping for!! Let's see how a thai massage compares hey.
We took ourselves down to a local education centre one morning where we sat with local Lao teenagers who are learning English and want help with their reading and pronunciation - this was a great experience as, for once, there was no pressure to spend any money first and we genuinely felt like we were helping people and not being conned out of any money! I sat with a 15 year old girl called Va whose English was really limited but we were able to communicate just about! I showed her some pictures of my family from my camera and wrote down their names for her. I asked her to do the same and her list went on for ever! 12 brothers and sisters! My word. After a while drawing loads of fruit, vegetables and animals I gave up on English and decided to teach her how to play noughts and crosses! Then I tried to show off by making one of those paper game origami things, and before i'd even finished she'd taken the scraps of paper and made me some origami roses...ahh! Really good morning anyway, Lao people have been so friendly in each place we've been to.
Later that day we visited some beautiful waterfalls and a bear sanctuary, and spent the rest of the day relaxing (too hot to do much else) and spending loads of money at the night market! Had a great time this morning going elephant trekking and feeding them bananas afterwards - riding an elephant is a lot scarier than I'd imagined though, especially going downhill!! The elephant trail took us across a river as well which was stunning for the landscapes - then suddenly Sarah and I (who were sharing an elephant seat) heard some loud splashes from behind us, and realised that our beautiful elephant was having a poo in the river!!! Didn't we kill ourselves laughing when huge green lumps of dung floated past us! Well when ya gotta go, ya gotta go!
This is our last day in Luang Prabang and tomorrow we are leaving Laos and heading to Thailand! Probably going to stop in Chang Mai first but hoping to visit Pai as we've heard good reports!
I'm trying to encourage the other two to write some posts on here soon - slackers!
Saturday, 13 June 2009
I want to ride my bicycle
We have been in Vang Vieng now for the past four nights, and loving it. We have finally stopped somewhere and chilled out for a good amount of time and not in a hurry to leave just yet! We have met some great people each night when we've headed out for a game of pool - one place in particular has a warped table so it takes us hours to get through a game! It has been a great place to socialise though and there are many backpackers here. Admittedly on our first night, it felt a bit reminiscent of freshers week, but all the same we've met a varied bunch of people and had some great times.
Our first full day was spent tubing down the lake (forget the exact name, begins with N) which involved getting a tuk tuk to the starting point and being greeted by drunk gap year students waving cocktail buckets about and throwing themselves off swing ropes into the water. We stayed at the first stop for a while before jumping into our tubes and floating down the lake where we were pulled in by the next bar to participate in mud bath tug o war - very funny times. Time went quite quickly and before we knew it we'd been to each bar along the river and it was time to float back to return our tubes before 6pm. This was the best bit of the day, lying in a ring and being carried down by the current of the water for an hour under the stunning mountainous scenery of Laos - awesome. By the evening time I felt completely dead and am still covered in various scratches and huge purple bruises - am hoping I'll feel a bit more normal in a few days!! Lying down is a bit of a task at the moment!
We chilled out by the pool the day after tubing, and yesterday decided to do another activity - a 32 km bike ride/cave trip - and boy did we feel it, cycling all that way in mid day heat!!! We left at 9.30am on our mountain bikes, and didn't get back til 4.30pm that day....looking back it was well worth the struggle though! Our guide led us out of Vang Vieng town centre and round all the countryside, passing several villages where the children would run out and wave at us, shouting "sa bai dee!" (hello in Lao) so we did try to wave back where possible but at times it was so rocky that we decided it might be better to hold on to the handlebars and scream "sa bai deeeeeeee" back!! Too many brusies from tubing so we didn't want to injure ourselves anymore!
At lunchtime we stopped at one of the caves and climbed up 100 feet to the entrance - rather scary in sandals! The caves were amazing, quite risky as they were so slippery. We swear that if it had been in England there would be no way we could have done that trek - it was quite dangerous at times and health and safety would not stretch that far to backpackers with no experience in rock climbing and not even helmets (I bumped my head, ouch!). Still, cool adventure and once we were out and back to ground level we were able to swim in the lagoon to cool off while our guide cooked our lunch. It was THE BEST Lao food we have had so far - fried vegetable rice in banana leaves and sweet and sour vegetable kebabs, as well as fresh mangoes and bananas - the fruit out here it unreal - it all tastes amazing unlike all the imported stuff we have in the UK. The rest of the afternoon was the long cycle back to town - we stopped so much for water and all looking quite bronzed now too! We're ever so slightly flaked from that day so we're just taking it easy today! Might go kayaking tomorrow.
So things are good really, lots of socialising and lots of Beer Lao, gorgeous weather and cheap accommodation! Think we'll be here for a few days yet before heading off to Luang Probang - some 6 or 7 hours away by bus.
We're off to go relax! x x x
Our first full day was spent tubing down the lake (forget the exact name, begins with N) which involved getting a tuk tuk to the starting point and being greeted by drunk gap year students waving cocktail buckets about and throwing themselves off swing ropes into the water. We stayed at the first stop for a while before jumping into our tubes and floating down the lake where we were pulled in by the next bar to participate in mud bath tug o war - very funny times. Time went quite quickly and before we knew it we'd been to each bar along the river and it was time to float back to return our tubes before 6pm. This was the best bit of the day, lying in a ring and being carried down by the current of the water for an hour under the stunning mountainous scenery of Laos - awesome. By the evening time I felt completely dead and am still covered in various scratches and huge purple bruises - am hoping I'll feel a bit more normal in a few days!! Lying down is a bit of a task at the moment!
We chilled out by the pool the day after tubing, and yesterday decided to do another activity - a 32 km bike ride/cave trip - and boy did we feel it, cycling all that way in mid day heat!!! We left at 9.30am on our mountain bikes, and didn't get back til 4.30pm that day....looking back it was well worth the struggle though! Our guide led us out of Vang Vieng town centre and round all the countryside, passing several villages where the children would run out and wave at us, shouting "sa bai dee!" (hello in Lao) so we did try to wave back where possible but at times it was so rocky that we decided it might be better to hold on to the handlebars and scream "sa bai deeeeeeee" back!! Too many brusies from tubing so we didn't want to injure ourselves anymore!
At lunchtime we stopped at one of the caves and climbed up 100 feet to the entrance - rather scary in sandals! The caves were amazing, quite risky as they were so slippery. We swear that if it had been in England there would be no way we could have done that trek - it was quite dangerous at times and health and safety would not stretch that far to backpackers with no experience in rock climbing and not even helmets (I bumped my head, ouch!). Still, cool adventure and once we were out and back to ground level we were able to swim in the lagoon to cool off while our guide cooked our lunch. It was THE BEST Lao food we have had so far - fried vegetable rice in banana leaves and sweet and sour vegetable kebabs, as well as fresh mangoes and bananas - the fruit out here it unreal - it all tastes amazing unlike all the imported stuff we have in the UK. The rest of the afternoon was the long cycle back to town - we stopped so much for water and all looking quite bronzed now too! We're ever so slightly flaked from that day so we're just taking it easy today! Might go kayaking tomorrow.
So things are good really, lots of socialising and lots of Beer Lao, gorgeous weather and cheap accommodation! Think we'll be here for a few days yet before heading off to Luang Probang - some 6 or 7 hours away by bus.
We're off to go relax! x x x
Monday, 8 June 2009
Puppies
Just a quick one to say that we got our flight ok yesterday from Phnom Penh to Vientienne in Laos - thankfully no fake air tickets and no dodgey aircrafts. Though once again, Gemma was not impressed with the supposed vegetarian option offered on the plane - just extra bread and butter!
Vientienne is really quiet, quite dull, not a lot going on really, Actually, we did go to a bar last night and watched some live music which was really good. Not sure Sarah was enjoying the sorrow mood of some of the songs as she'd experienced a great loss that same day. Sadly, on our arrival in Laos, she realised that the all important item had been left behind in our previous guesthouse in Cambodia - something very close to her heart - her black bra. Deeply upset, this bra had been a great support to her for quite some time, and now she didn't feel quite so perky!
Still, the sun shone today and Sarah felt a lot better as we embarked on a walking tour around a few sights, after having spent most of the morning at the Thailand Embassy getting our Thai visas. We're catching a bus tomorrow afternoon to go to Vang Vieng. Hoping to stay put there for a good week at least to take full advantage of all the water activities. Fill you in later！
Vientienne is really quiet, quite dull, not a lot going on really, Actually, we did go to a bar last night and watched some live music which was really good. Not sure Sarah was enjoying the sorrow mood of some of the songs as she'd experienced a great loss that same day. Sadly, on our arrival in Laos, she realised that the all important item had been left behind in our previous guesthouse in Cambodia - something very close to her heart - her black bra. Deeply upset, this bra had been a great support to her for quite some time, and now she didn't feel quite so perky!
Still, the sun shone today and Sarah felt a lot better as we embarked on a walking tour around a few sights, after having spent most of the morning at the Thailand Embassy getting our Thai visas. We're catching a bus tomorrow afternoon to go to Vang Vieng. Hoping to stay put there for a good week at least to take full advantage of all the water activities. Fill you in later！
Saturday, 6 June 2009
Edinburgh, Essex, Estanbul, Eutopia!
So, as promised, we treated ourselves to a night out in the seaside town of Sihanoukville. After having dinner with some new found friends in the restaurant of our guesthouse, we walked to the nearest bar and ordered a drink. Whilst at the bar, one of the many dogs we pass decided to lick my ankle .... of course I instantly panicked about the threat of rabies as indicated by the faithful nurse back in Richmond. So I whipped out my hand anesthetic stuff and said a million hail marys. Seems to have worked, I'm still here 24 hours later so not so bad hey? We won't tell you what we saw two other dogs doing in the middle of the street though a bit later on!!
Sihanoukville offered some good deals for backpacker party people - a free tuk tuk to a bar on the beach which offered free drinks to the laydees after 10pm! Nice one! So naturally we stayed there, enjoyed watching some awesome fire displays by Cambodian guys on the beach. We even tried to get him to teach us later but unfortunately didn't manage much before dropping it or narrowly poking an eye out! Did get invited up for a booty shake by the locals, one including Cambodia's home version of Gok Wan - he was the best! Told us all about his arsehole Western boyfriend who ditched him for a different country - bastard. He seemed a bit offended when we told him he was like Gok Wan but once he understood this was a popular fashion stylist in the UK he was happy. Will try get some photos up soon. Oh and I mustn't forget the local women who are obsessed with our skin and are so jealous of our pale complexions! They were so friendly and it really helped to make our night by mixing with them. We couldn't believe that one girl/woman was 31 - they all look much younger. She was so pretty with a great figure so we told her so. She replied, "Oh noooo, we want to look like you! You know, Cambodian men - they like women like you (grabs my hips) like really fat!" Hahaha!!! Completely meant as a compliment in every way possible but it did make us laugh (and did make me squirm at being fat!).
So our night in Sihanoukville was lots of fun, hardly spent anything considering that Cambodia has been pricey. The next day it was back to brilliant sunshine - typical, but still we hopped on our bus to Phomn Penh - the capital of Cambodia. Along the way we have been hanging out with a German girl called Anna and an American called Nick. Though Nick insists that he is not an American, he is from Planet Earth! Somewhat embarassed of the American reputation I guess. Also, whilst racing a few tuk tuks to our guesthouse, we got talking to a group of travellers who just so happen to be from Northallerton - blinkin small world!
We aren't staying in Phonm Penh very long - after much deliberation we have decided to abandon the idea of visiting Vietnam as we really just won't have time and will be constantly on the move and not enjoying ourselves. We have a flight booked tomorrow to fly to the Vientenng (sp?) capital of Laos. We are planning to spend about two weeks chilling out and finally settling somewhere for a bit longer as we've been ongoing pretty much from the start. A lot of people have advised us to go tubing which is meant to be a lot of fun. Will keep you posted!
As we sat having our dinner this evening in the ghetto regions of Phomn Penh (there are rats running by our guesthouse and the toilet is already blocked but it's only $1 a night!) we befriended a street kid who tried to sell us some knock off Lonely Planet guides. He offered to do our hair for us so prompltly whipped out our hairclips and started styling away - we have some dodgey hairdos going on now but amazingly, he didn't ask for a tip! He just chatted away and was so cool! I feel quite comfortable walking around with some crazy plait and quiff combination!!
Aside from the good stuff as mentioned, we decided to visit the S21 museum today (google it for a summary!) so that we could have more of an understanding of what the country went through in the 70s. It was really distressing and I didn't enjoy it at all, yet we all appreciated the importance of learning about it.
So tomorrow evening we will have landed in Laos, ready to settle down for a bit and live it up some more! Watch this space.
Sihanoukville offered some good deals for backpacker party people - a free tuk tuk to a bar on the beach which offered free drinks to the laydees after 10pm! Nice one! So naturally we stayed there, enjoyed watching some awesome fire displays by Cambodian guys on the beach. We even tried to get him to teach us later but unfortunately didn't manage much before dropping it or narrowly poking an eye out! Did get invited up for a booty shake by the locals, one including Cambodia's home version of Gok Wan - he was the best! Told us all about his arsehole Western boyfriend who ditched him for a different country - bastard. He seemed a bit offended when we told him he was like Gok Wan but once he understood this was a popular fashion stylist in the UK he was happy. Will try get some photos up soon. Oh and I mustn't forget the local women who are obsessed with our skin and are so jealous of our pale complexions! They were so friendly and it really helped to make our night by mixing with them. We couldn't believe that one girl/woman was 31 - they all look much younger. She was so pretty with a great figure so we told her so. She replied, "Oh noooo, we want to look like you! You know, Cambodian men - they like women like you (grabs my hips) like really fat!" Hahaha!!! Completely meant as a compliment in every way possible but it did make us laugh (and did make me squirm at being fat!).
So our night in Sihanoukville was lots of fun, hardly spent anything considering that Cambodia has been pricey. The next day it was back to brilliant sunshine - typical, but still we hopped on our bus to Phomn Penh - the capital of Cambodia. Along the way we have been hanging out with a German girl called Anna and an American called Nick. Though Nick insists that he is not an American, he is from Planet Earth! Somewhat embarassed of the American reputation I guess. Also, whilst racing a few tuk tuks to our guesthouse, we got talking to a group of travellers who just so happen to be from Northallerton - blinkin small world!
We aren't staying in Phonm Penh very long - after much deliberation we have decided to abandon the idea of visiting Vietnam as we really just won't have time and will be constantly on the move and not enjoying ourselves. We have a flight booked tomorrow to fly to the Vientenng (sp?) capital of Laos. We are planning to spend about two weeks chilling out and finally settling somewhere for a bit longer as we've been ongoing pretty much from the start. A lot of people have advised us to go tubing which is meant to be a lot of fun. Will keep you posted!
As we sat having our dinner this evening in the ghetto regions of Phomn Penh (there are rats running by our guesthouse and the toilet is already blocked but it's only $1 a night!) we befriended a street kid who tried to sell us some knock off Lonely Planet guides. He offered to do our hair for us so prompltly whipped out our hairclips and started styling away - we have some dodgey hairdos going on now but amazingly, he didn't ask for a tip! He just chatted away and was so cool! I feel quite comfortable walking around with some crazy plait and quiff combination!!
Aside from the good stuff as mentioned, we decided to visit the S21 museum today (google it for a summary!) so that we could have more of an understanding of what the country went through in the 70s. It was really distressing and I didn't enjoy it at all, yet we all appreciated the importance of learning about it.
So tomorrow evening we will have landed in Laos, ready to settle down for a bit and live it up some more! Watch this space.
Wednesday, 3 June 2009
Sihanoukville, Cambodia
Sat typing this email from the internet cafe of our latest guesthouse in Sihanoukville, after leaving Siem Reap last night by sleeper bus. We found Siem Reap to be quite expensive - especially the entrance fees for the Angkor Wat Temples, which are admittedly, well worth seeing and cover a huge area so we bought a two day ticket costing $40. We watched the sunset over Angkor Wat on our second evening, which involved climbing some very narrow and steep steps to the top of the temple which had amazing views. We then got up at 5am the next morning to watch the sunrise over Bayon Temple and spent the rest of the morning walking around the different locations - one of the temples was used in the filming of the Tomb Raider film apparently! Couldn't get over how hot it was at only 8am that day!
We also had a bit of sorting out to do with regard to our visas for entry into Vietnam - these need to be applied for before crossing the border, so we searched round a few places for a reliable organiser and also went to have some passport photos taken. We eventually found the fujifilm shop after a while, and went upstairs to the photo studio to have professional passport photos taken (weren't expecting that at all!) - they came out airbrushed - pink cheeks and everything!! As we sat downstairs at the desk to pay for the photos, the Cambodian women were staring at us and then one said "Bweautifuullllll" and pointed to our skin!! So the lack of tan at the moment is working in our favour it seems!
Have to say we're getting a bit annoyed whenever we go somewhere for a visit and get totally bombarded by children trying to sell us bangles or postcard books. We swear when these children are born their first words must be "one dollar??" They will really follow us pestering us to buy their things and it does get a bit annoying!!
After spending one morning at the temples we then visited a floating village just outside of Siem Reap, the boat trip and scenery was great, had to dodge a few tourist traps though when they took us to a shop to ask us to buy exercise books for the children for $15 for a small pack! We don't think so!
After a few days in Siem Reap we really felt like chilling out on a beach so took the night bus last night to Sihanoukville. Unfortunately, rainy season has kinda spoilt it for us and the forcast is pretty crap, so we're currently looking at entering Vietnam sooner than we thought so that we can catch the better weather. Going to go out tonight in Sihanoukville and enjoy ourselves first though!
Laters!
We also had a bit of sorting out to do with regard to our visas for entry into Vietnam - these need to be applied for before crossing the border, so we searched round a few places for a reliable organiser and also went to have some passport photos taken. We eventually found the fujifilm shop after a while, and went upstairs to the photo studio to have professional passport photos taken (weren't expecting that at all!) - they came out airbrushed - pink cheeks and everything!! As we sat downstairs at the desk to pay for the photos, the Cambodian women were staring at us and then one said "Bweautifuullllll" and pointed to our skin!! So the lack of tan at the moment is working in our favour it seems!
Have to say we're getting a bit annoyed whenever we go somewhere for a visit and get totally bombarded by children trying to sell us bangles or postcard books. We swear when these children are born their first words must be "one dollar??" They will really follow us pestering us to buy their things and it does get a bit annoying!!
After spending one morning at the temples we then visited a floating village just outside of Siem Reap, the boat trip and scenery was great, had to dodge a few tourist traps though when they took us to a shop to ask us to buy exercise books for the children for $15 for a small pack! We don't think so!
After a few days in Siem Reap we really felt like chilling out on a beach so took the night bus last night to Sihanoukville. Unfortunately, rainy season has kinda spoilt it for us and the forcast is pretty crap, so we're currently looking at entering Vietnam sooner than we thought so that we can catch the better weather. Going to go out tonight in Sihanoukville and enjoy ourselves first though!
Laters!
Monday, 1 June 2009
So here we are in Siem Reap, sweating profusely in the heat!
On our second night in Bangkok we thought we'd have a laugh and go to a ping pong show, so we bartered with a tuk tuk driver to take us to Patpong - the red light district of Bangkok. For the cheap price we agreed on he took us straight to a building that wasn't quite in the Patpong district but obviously he would get commission by taking us there. We refused this but walked down by ourselves to where we wanted to be. It's taking some getting used to being called at all the time and the local people trying to entice you into their bars. Patpong turned out to be a massive hassle - at one point we walked down a street and were just met by walls of touts, but sucessfully passed through without giving in though we did have a giggle at what we could see through the doorway into the bars!! We attempted to go to another show which offered supposedly free shows for a cheap drink but we soon gathered that it was never going to be free and we would be stupid to go in, as the staff were very persistant and could be agressive. So we eventually got back on a tuk tuk, having seen enough to make us smile and experienced enough hassle but thankfully not giving in to any prices. It completely took the comedy out of the idea in the first place!
Rainy season is definately in full swing, there have been heavy downpours and thunder and lightning each day, this has been quite a welcome cooler most of the time though. Thank god for good grip on my flip flops or else I probably would have broken a nail by now.
We got up early the next day to catch our minibus to the border of Thailand. We picked up some other people on the way including two English girls, until that point we hadn't really met any other people in Bangkok, oh except for two American Christians (who, we would like to point out, were both ginger!!) in Patpong. They were on a business trip researching the trafficking issue in Bangkok. They said a prayer to Jesus for our safety!
Anyway the ride to the border was fine, didn't take much more than 4 hours and was air conditioned the whole way. Crossing the border into Cambodia was somewhat tiring - heavy backpacks, midday temperatures and queues at various stages. Also we made the mistake of changing our currency at the border and getting a dodgey exchange rate - something we will not be repeating! Driving through to Siem Reap was basically a massive long stretch of road, taking about 3 hours to arrive in Siem Reap by taxi. We have a nice guesthouse and an air conditioned room which we love at the moment but eventually we will try to cope without air con once we have aclimatised to save money.
Last night we met some Canadian people in the bar of our guesthouse and also an English/Welsh couple in their 50s who rent out their home in Devon, have been saving for 20 years to do this and have been travelling for the last two years, planning to stay for many more. Really awesome couple, have given us loads of tips. We ended up going out that evening to relax since we'd had a big journey that day - ordered our first bucket of cocktails and danced the night away on Pub Street - My nail varnish made my toe nails glow under the UV lights which was very entertaining for me on the dancefloor!!
Siem Reap is so much nicer than the hussle and bussle of Bangkok - the people also seem a lot friendlier - our guesthouse porters gave us some lychees yesterday (Gemma had never heard of lychees and instantly named them Big Hairy Testicles - oh she is going to be funny to travel with. The porters also pissed themselves when she didn't know how to eat it and even tried to eat the nut from the centre..!) We have paid for our Vietnamese visas today as we need to get them in advance before crossing the border (which won 't be for another week we reckon). We are staying in Siem Reap until they arrive and plan to visit the temples of Angkor Wat tomorrow, which are meant to be amazing. We are going to catch a tuk tuk ride tonight to go watch a sunset somewhere too.
From Siem Reap we are heading to Sikanoukville which is full of beaches!! Woo! I am really looking forward to relaxing on the beach and going for a swim. We're going to get a sleeper bus there in a few days time.
That's about all for now I think! xx
On our second night in Bangkok we thought we'd have a laugh and go to a ping pong show, so we bartered with a tuk tuk driver to take us to Patpong - the red light district of Bangkok. For the cheap price we agreed on he took us straight to a building that wasn't quite in the Patpong district but obviously he would get commission by taking us there. We refused this but walked down by ourselves to where we wanted to be. It's taking some getting used to being called at all the time and the local people trying to entice you into their bars. Patpong turned out to be a massive hassle - at one point we walked down a street and were just met by walls of touts, but sucessfully passed through without giving in though we did have a giggle at what we could see through the doorway into the bars!! We attempted to go to another show which offered supposedly free shows for a cheap drink but we soon gathered that it was never going to be free and we would be stupid to go in, as the staff were very persistant and could be agressive. So we eventually got back on a tuk tuk, having seen enough to make us smile and experienced enough hassle but thankfully not giving in to any prices. It completely took the comedy out of the idea in the first place!
Rainy season is definately in full swing, there have been heavy downpours and thunder and lightning each day, this has been quite a welcome cooler most of the time though. Thank god for good grip on my flip flops or else I probably would have broken a nail by now.
We got up early the next day to catch our minibus to the border of Thailand. We picked up some other people on the way including two English girls, until that point we hadn't really met any other people in Bangkok, oh except for two American Christians (who, we would like to point out, were both ginger!!) in Patpong. They were on a business trip researching the trafficking issue in Bangkok. They said a prayer to Jesus for our safety!
Anyway the ride to the border was fine, didn't take much more than 4 hours and was air conditioned the whole way. Crossing the border into Cambodia was somewhat tiring - heavy backpacks, midday temperatures and queues at various stages. Also we made the mistake of changing our currency at the border and getting a dodgey exchange rate - something we will not be repeating! Driving through to Siem Reap was basically a massive long stretch of road, taking about 3 hours to arrive in Siem Reap by taxi. We have a nice guesthouse and an air conditioned room which we love at the moment but eventually we will try to cope without air con once we have aclimatised to save money.
Last night we met some Canadian people in the bar of our guesthouse and also an English/Welsh couple in their 50s who rent out their home in Devon, have been saving for 20 years to do this and have been travelling for the last two years, planning to stay for many more. Really awesome couple, have given us loads of tips. We ended up going out that evening to relax since we'd had a big journey that day - ordered our first bucket of cocktails and danced the night away on Pub Street - My nail varnish made my toe nails glow under the UV lights which was very entertaining for me on the dancefloor!!
Siem Reap is so much nicer than the hussle and bussle of Bangkok - the people also seem a lot friendlier - our guesthouse porters gave us some lychees yesterday (Gemma had never heard of lychees and instantly named them Big Hairy Testicles - oh she is going to be funny to travel with. The porters also pissed themselves when she didn't know how to eat it and even tried to eat the nut from the centre..!) We have paid for our Vietnamese visas today as we need to get them in advance before crossing the border (which won 't be for another week we reckon). We are staying in Siem Reap until they arrive and plan to visit the temples of Angkor Wat tomorrow, which are meant to be amazing. We are going to catch a tuk tuk ride tonight to go watch a sunset somewhere too.
From Siem Reap we are heading to Sikanoukville which is full of beaches!! Woo! I am really looking forward to relaxing on the beach and going for a swim. We're going to get a sleeper bus there in a few days time.
That's about all for now I think! xx
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