The Return Home

(written 07/09/09, posted 14/10/09)

My flight home is early. It’s an irony that the place I’m going on my VSO placement, India, is the place I have a stopover. Getting off in Mumbai is an experience in itself and the airport feels pretty chaotic even though we are pretty much herded through the airport as we’re all on the connecting flight to Heathrow. Seeing people asleep on airport benches and the cacophony of mobile ringtones gives me a brief insight into the Indian culture I’ll be living in for a year come November.

The flight is pretty uneventful and I pass time catching up on my journal and watching a cheesy movie I thought would be a waste of two hours of my life but turns out to be strangely enjoyable.

On the tube from Heathrow I see strange phenomena a few metres below me as I go over a bridge. Namely, a red London bus and a black taxi cab moving slowly in traffic. They appear tiny from my train where I am watching the world go by below. After 9 weeks away I am surprised at how odd they both look. People kept telling me that by going to Asia I would find myself. I don’t think this happened as I was never lost. What it did give me was a different perspective that time away does. It turns out it was also a practice run for what is going to be my new life for the next year as a VSO volunteer in New Delhi. And after my brief insight at the airport, this is something I can’t wait to now get started.

One Last Buddha

(written 06/09/09, posted 14/10/09)

Get to Bangkok feeling frazzled and tired. I get on the internet to pass the time as it’s so early. I haven’t booked a hotel too so need to sort that out. I get a call from the hotel I’ve just booked online and they tell me the airport has moved. I was getting a bit suspicious as all the local buses were going to an airport with a different name. I recommend that the Rough Guide updates their last Thailand Edition as it is grossly out of date!

I end up booking a hotel on Khao San Road so at least I get a proper experience of Bangkok as I have been avoiding staying here throughout my travels in Thailand. I go for a walk and decide to jump the river boat down to Wat Pho to see the massive reclining Buddha. It was another tourist thing to do but it felt right to see one last temple and Buddha. Within two hours of being out and about I’m tired. The night bus trip last night is not conducive to being in a good mood and I find I want to swear at the tuk-tuk driver who tries to rip me off. In fact, I do and head off to have a nap in what feels like a bit of childish strop. In fact, it is. After bed I’m much better and go for a swim and shopping. The afternoon is about reflection and relaxation before tomorrow’s journey home.

Ao Nang Horseriding

(written on 05/09/09, posted on 13/10/09)

As I walk through town I wave goodbye to my landlady, the shop keepers I’ve ended up talking to, people at the dive shop. I feel almost like a local. The ferry across to Ao Nang is choppy. I must be tired as I pass out for the two hour journey. I get to Ao Nang and shopping and bad weather pretty much sums it up. Haggling with shopkeepers over the cost of rip-off designers handbags has become my entertainment. Everything is so much more touristy here compared to the island and I’m wondering whether this was a good idea. I end up having a couple of beers to unwind and watching TV and reading papers in my hotel room. These are actually luxuries seeing as I haven’t had access to either in a long time. Not that I’m particularly bothered. I’m left with the NY Times international edition which means I read stories slagging off China and strange reality TV shows. Humph.

The horse riding the next morning is much better. This is conducted on my own as the other people have all bottled out due to the weather. I would have done the same were I not going to Bangkok at 3pm. Horse riding is something I wanted to do whilst away so I’m determined. The stables owner humours me and send someone out to Spar to buy a disposable anorak so he can carry on with the ride.

I’m given Dollar who turns out to be a firecracker. I do a good job of controlling her. The best thing is as she is so lively I hardly need to do anything to get her into canter. This we do a lot over my rain drenched three hours on the beach and through rubber tree filled forests. I get given a lovely stir fry at the end and a lift back. The only thing I can do is use the hotel lobby shower after I’ve been out to get new clothes. Everything I’ve worn for horse riding has to be tied in a smell-proof bag and shoved in my rucksack to fester.

I get another night bus at 3pm. It’s tiring but I’m looking forward to a night in Bangkok perhaps in a hotel with a swimming pool if I can get one. I’m actually looking forward to going back home although it’s going to feel quite weird.

Dive Photography 101

(written on 03/09/09, posted on 13/10/09)

So I’m onto my fifth day of diving in a row. I’ve been assigned A as he’s the only one I’ve not been diving with so far. I’m doing the deep dives again today as I need (of course) to test out the new dive computer. For extra fun, well this is the end of my travels and we’re strictly into fun time now I know I have a VSO placement, I hire a camera.

A camera was a good move as on the first dive A takes a picture of me hovering above the sunken ship’s toilets. Well, it had to be done. I’m disappointed I didn’t catch the Cleaner fish who nibbled one side then the other. It looked like the fish had gone in one side then out the other when he turned his head. Throughout the day he seemed to have an uncanny ability to draw fish towards him so we named him the Mr Magoo of the fish world. On the second dive, we see a rare Bamboo Shark. A had to hang on to my tank so I could get close enough to get a great picture of it asleep inside a reef. It was only the third time he’d seen one in two years of diving here so it was a great spot. On the third dive we saw a weird slug thing, he’d also never seen before. I got more pics of the old common-by-now Leopard Shark and pretty fish. Then the end dive of the three was pretty hairy due to a very strong current. As I coped and erm...coped well I felt pretty proud of myself.

Another great day and I decide to go out on a high. I settle my dive bill which nearly makes me faint and grab my CD of diving pics. I go to the viewpoint to watch the sunset. There is a photo of the island from the same viewpoint just after the tsunami and it’s shocking to see the difference. After a bit of contemplation I head back to the guesthouse and book a ferry to Ao Nang for tomorrow and a horse riding trip for the day after. That’ll take me up nicely to the time I need to be back in Bangkok for my flight home.

Touche Turtle

(written on 02/09/09, posted on 13/10/09)

No-one else signed up for the wreck and they needed a minimum of 3 people. So I was stuck on local dives with the others. Well I say stuck but I actually prefer the local fun dives as you always see stuff and you can still see Sharks. This point is proved as on the first dive B, the instructor points out about 3 within the first 20 minutes. He said after the first half of the dive he stopped using the sign for Shark and just kept pointing so people could look if they were interested. Shark fatigue, I love it. One actually swam directly over my head too enabling me to watch its gills. I was in touching distance not that you’d actually reach out and touch unless you’d lost your sensible gene.

We see loads of other stuff too and as I’m not so focused on Shark spotting I see loads of other things of the smaller variety. This includes: Shrimps, Oriental Sweetlips, a Titan Triggerfish and a banded Sea Snake.

The second dive I’m told is going to be a Turtle dive. They aren’t wrong. We get some amazing views. The first Turtle is swimming alongside us a little way in front. The second is nibbling at rocks so the three of us grab a piece of dead rock to steady ourselves in the current and watch for a few minutes. It then proceeded to let go, circle back and swim directly over my head. The second thing to do that today too. If I didn’t have a regulator in my mouth and taking it out to speech would have made drowning an imminent prospect, I would have been rendered speechless.

I may have to leave soon as if I don’t someone will sign me up to do a Divemaster internship and I’ll never leave the island!

More Shark Fun

(written on 01/09/09, posted on 13/10/09)

Wake up late, well...later than my recent 6am forays out of bed. I’d planned to have a day off and go up to the viewpoint. But it’s cloudy. The weather hasn’t been great since I got here. Everyday people tell me not to go to Koh Tao as the diving is better here. Some of the bigger dive sites are closed due to the season but it does seem great here and I’ve loved every day. Other divers tell me Koh Tao is dull. Apparently there is lots of sand and not a lot of coral or variety in the sites. If I want to leave it has to be soon although I’m being kept here by great diving and I can’t say I mind!

As it’s cloudy and I ordered a dive computer I go and book more dives in for this afternoon. I go back later and I’m rewarded. A new instructor, another B, tells us that if we find a Leopard Shark on the sea bed we’ll creep around behind it and do an army crawl slowly to get closer to its side. This is exactly what happens and we as we do this, we’re maybe 1m within touching distance. I can see everyone grinning. On our second dive, B points out a Black Tip. As I’m at the back this time I miss it. I keep turning around in case it heads back round the opposite reef. It does and I’m rewarded by a 6 foot Shark swimming past. I’m now beyond chuffed.

As I have my dive computer and don’t seem to be going anywhere fast, I stick myself down for the three deep dives tomorrow. As they say in this part of the world, ‘Why not?!’

3 out of 3 ain’t bad

(written 31/08/09, posted 13/10/09)

After 2 days diving with C and various other Divemasters along for our dives, I’m put with B ‘for a change around’. After our first dive the instructor with the newbies tells us he’s spotted a Black Tip Reef Shark. He adds the newbies didn’t notice anything he was pointing out as they were playing around with their masks and trying to get their buoyancy right. I tell B I’ve only seen a Leopard Shark so far here and can he find me a Black Tip and an Octopus. He promises me he will and I’m sceptical.

We get the opportunity to swim over to Phi Phi Lei (see pic) and walk to Maya Bay where The Beach was filmed. It’s stunning but sadly filled with tourists. On the second dive of the day, not long in, B points out a Leopard Shark lying on the sandy sea bed. They don’t seem to be bothered at all by divers. We’re later told it’s only if you get in front of them that they spot you and will swim away. They are much more frightened of us than we are of them. Another ten minutes or so into the dive and a Black Tip Reef Shark swims past just off the reef in the distance. It’s a great spot as they are so quick they’ve usually gone by the time someone spots one. I can see why the one I saw last year was a baby Reef Shark now as this one is much bigger and the colouring different.

So with about 20 minutes to go I’m thinking 2 out of 3 ain’t bad, according to Meatloaf anyway. I’m willing an Octopus to appear from the rocks but I haven’t seen one yet so I’m sceptical. I enjoy the surge that we’re diving in as it pulls us in one direction towards the reef under the cliff and pushes us out again with each surge. It’s a different experience to any I’ve had diving before although the girlfriend of an experienced diver with us is not liking it at all. As a consequence of struggling to fight the current she runs out of air much quicker and the couple are told to surface by B. Once he’s checked they’re on the boat safely he comes to join me and my buddy who have been waiting for him about 8m underwater watching the reefs intently for signs of anything unusual. The third group of five divers doing their Rescue Diver qualification are near us too and we have about ten minutes until the end of our dive. Suddenly we hear a tank-rapper from one of them and we swim over. And there it is...a beautiful big Octopus, undulating and twisting its way over the rocks on the sea bed and investigating the sea bed with its tentacles. I clap B and signal my excitement to him and my buddy. All 8 of us do our safety stop at 5m watching the Octopus slowly move away. It’s definitely the best finish to a dive I’ve had so far.

After a brilliant day, I’m back to the dive shop again at 6pm for my first night dive. I’m nervous but hold it together. It’s a completely different experience and really enjoyable. There is much more light than I’m expecting, perhaps because there are four of us and we’re not very deep. My favourite bit is when we find a sandy patch on the sea bed, empty our vests of air so we kneel on the sand. I swam in phosphorescence algae in Vietnam a few times but nothing that compares to this. Torches against our thighs so they don’t give off light we wave our other hands through the water and everything around us sparkles. It’s brilliant and I can feel my mask leak as I’m grinning so much. What an amazing end to another great day diving.

Shark Talk

(written 30/08/09, posted on 13/10/09)

Up at 6am, again. On the boat out there are only five of us. The beauty of diving off season and the advantage over the Red Sea as it’s much quieter. I’ve been discussing with the staff on the boats my next move which I’ve been thinking will be Koh Tao. Everyone on the boat who has been there tells me Phi Phi is better as it’s quieter and as it’s the ‘wrong’ time to be here weather wise, all the learners will be at Koh Tao splashing about in the water and annoying everyone else.

There’s a lot of Shark Talk on the boat too and I haven’t seen one so far so I’m not going anywhere just yet. The first dive is a cool 29m down to the side of the wreck. We’re only out of the water for just over an hour before it’s time for the next one, Shark Point. I’m expecting good things.

I’m the first in. A giant stride, put my face in the water in and there’s a Leopard Shark swimming about below me. I take out my snorkel and shout, ‘Shark!’ I’m even waving my hand against the top of my head using the sign for Shark. Everyone else is too busy doing jumping in or faffing around with their masks so I happily put my snorkel back in and put my face back under to watch the Leopard Shark slink around and off. A fellow diver, J, can’t believe I’ve seen one and neither can C, our instructor. By the end of the dive we’ve spotted one swimming around (it could have been the same one) and one asleep on the sandy seabed which is often where they are. It could have been the same shark each time but seeing them/it in three different ways is amazing.

The third dive at Anenome Reef doesn’t disappoint either as we see Box fish, Lion fish, lots of Golden Spotted and Giant Moray eels, Clown fish and banded Shrimp. By the end of the three dives I’m no longer holding a small disappointment at the different visibility. It is just as good here as in the Red Sea, just some different species and in fact in some ways it’s better as it’s so quiet.

The weather is still pants so I can’t resist booking another set of dives tomorrow with my first night dive in the evening. Just for a bit of variety! Doesn’t look like I’ll be heading to Koh Tao just yet if at all.

Diving through Hoops

(written 29/08/09, posted 13/10/09)

My first day of diving. Woke up, well that’s not the correct word. It was more like gave up trying to sleep. The beach parties finished at 5.30am and I spent the night trying to avoid getting mozzied to death.

I was lucky to get a really good instructor, C, who took me through the review step by step so understood exactly what I’d have to do underwater. By the time I actually descended, the review was easy as I had it all embedded in my brain. In less than ten minutes I’d done the skills review and was enjoying my first dive in over a year.

I completed my PADI in Egypt last year after a failed attempt at doing the open water dives in a chilly quarry near Heathrow the year before. I had still passed two of the four dives and therefore the Scuba Diver qualification but trying to navigate in water of 1m visibility in freezing temperatures was never going to get me the full Open Water. Put me in the Red Sea however and I’d finished the dives and managed the Advanced Open Water too in that week. In comparison I was a little disappointed to start with the sea around Phi Phi.

On reflection, I was spoiled in the Red Sea with visibility of 25-30 metres. Here it is 15-20 most of the time. The two dives I did on the first day still produced a Sea Horse hiding in a rock, Bat Fish, giant Sea Cucumbers and a sleeping Sea Turtle which for me, topped the lot.

With a recommendation of a better guesthouse from C and having booked three dives for the next dive including my first wreck I headed off all excited. Next job: move to Mozzie/Noise free guesthouse and the bank.

I grab my things of sneak out of the bungalow. I can hear the woman behind saying come back as it’s 1pm and I probably should be paying for another night but I can’t stay there! I dump my rucksack off at the new place and the owner is lovely. She says take my time and she’ll hold the room. I get refused cash at the ATM and think it’s to do with the type of bank as in Chiang Mai I could only go to the green banks. Here they are purple and yellow. I go to every bank on the island and am denied. I call my bank and the fraud department have blocked my card. They promise to sort it in ten minutes and an hour later I still can’t access cash. I end up wasting the afternoon trying to get money, then getting some after a few calls. By this time I have to nap so waste my evening sleeping and going to the internet cafe. I manage to have a lovely Papaya Salad and a few beers to finish the day off. It’s a bit odd having dinner on your own when this place is clearly a beach party paradise and everyone here is in groups but I actually love it.

Naked Expats and moving swiftly on...

(written 28/08/09, posted 06/10/09)

R gets up at 6.30am due to spending the whole day yesterday asleep on the bus. She tells me one of the other guests has been wondering around unashamedly naked. I go cautiously to the showers and see a man now in a loincloth. It’s M from Somerset, who’s been in early retirement in Thailand forever. We get chatting to him and he’s lovely and enjoying being aimless. May move on soon, may not.

For some reason I’m excited this morning. I think it’s the prospect of my last two weeks on a beach and I’m hankering after some time alone too. R goes off to buy shoes and I need to back up photos. Again. On the net I find out another reason to be excited, my VSO placement in Delhi has been confirmed! After a failed placement, an semi-offer that wasn’t suitable, one delay due to visas in what is essentially a run of bad luck, I now have a bona-fide confirmation with leaving date. Woohoo!

R and I have beers over lunch to celebrate before we part ways. I’m sad to leave her as I reckon we’d have lots of fun. Time to go though…ferry it is. Raining out on the sea which comes as no surprise. Phi Phi looks great when the ferry docks. A tiny set of alleys where the locals and tourists mi together. I find a bungalow which has been my little dream so I head off down the narrow, car-less streets in search of one. I reach the beach on the other side in a few minutes which confirms for me how small this island is. Bungalow sorted, I unpack and within two hours have eaten, had beers and booked diving for tomorrow. I couldn't walk past all these diving shops without stopping. I'm very excited so go to bed early to prepare for my first dive in over a year.

A new place and another new friend

(written on 27/08/09, posted on 06/10/09)

I get to the famous Khao San Road at 4.45am. How am I going to get a bus now? The travel agent confirms the next bus to Krabi where I can get a ferry to Phi Phi is at 6pm. With no safe place to leave luggage and not wanting to stay she recommends the bus terminal. A proper government bus! That should be ok. I try and get a bus. Nothing arrives. My Rough Guide is two years out of date so it is possible that the bus number is wrong. A hundred taxis have already been stopping to offer me a ride. Now I want one, I can’t find one! I manage to get to the bus station in time and get a ticket for the 7.30am day bus that gets to Krabi at 8pm so I’ll have to stay there one night. At the bus stand I see another woman there and we smile at each other. On the bus I realise it’s all locals and much nicer than the night buses. We have several food stops and at one of them I get talking to the woman, R, and we agree we’ll look for a hostel later together as it’s much nicer having someone to go around a new place hunting together.

Many moons, or so it feels, later we’re in Krabi (see pic). We get a tuk-tuk easily. R and I find a clean enough hostel and its 150 Baht for a twin so we share. We go for beers and share a few stories. R is off tomorrow on a different boat to a different beach but she fills me in on Phi Phi where I’ve now bought my ticket too. Decision made, brilliant.

Burma Visa Run

(written on 26/08/09, posted on 06/10/09)

I’m so early this morning that the woman who does breakfast in the morning is still praying to the spirit house. Every house has a smaller spirit house which they offer food to and pray to every morning before 12. This is to appease the spirits that have no where to live now there is a new house or building there. The mini-houses look a bit like elaborate and colourful bird tables and some have cars and furniture in them like dolls houses. I wanted to get a picture of one but didn’t want to offend any of the locals. Or the spirits.

Anyway, today? Dullsville. A seven hour trip to Burma and back means going across the border, getting my passport stamped, waiting an hour and coming back into Thailand just to get seven more days on my visa. If I’d have come in by plane my visa would have been 30 days but as I came overland it’s 15. Seven days too short to get me through to the 7th September when I fly home. There are only three of us on the run, the two others are older white gentlemen. Turns out the Geordie bloke is brilliant and here for a year. And not looking for a wife. Well not specifically anyway. He tells me how it works at this border and recommends the market.

Several purchases made, we all meet back up on the Thailand side and our driver picks us up. Back to Chiang Mai for 3pm it’s a waste of a day but I have three hours in which to go to the post office, get some more books and eat. The night bus is predictably bad again but it’s so cheap it really doesn’t matter. It’s all about journal catching up and sleeping today. I’m still not sure where I’m off to next. I don’t want to stay in Bangkok and would rather do this at the end of my trip as I fly from here. Everyone recommends Koh Phi Phi even though it was my aim to go to the Gulf coast (Eastern side) as the weather is better at this time of year and Koh Tao has good diving. I’ll make a decision at 5am tomorrow when I get there…

Flip-Flop-a-rama

(written on 25/08/09, posted 06/10/09)

I make the effort to go to Wat Soi Duthep today up the mountain as many people say it’s the one thing you have to do in Chiang Mai. As all my clothes are being laundered at the hostel after trekking, I’m in a highly inappropriate strapless dress and flip flops. I walk to the edge of town to get the songthaew up. The driver explains he has to drive a bit further to drop me off at the right stop. As I get out my left flip-flop breaks. The two songthaew drivers at the bus stop laugh at me. And the other driver is saying something to them in Thai. One says you can’t go up a mountain like that and hands me his shoes whilst pointing at the row of shops further down the street. Lucky Thai men have small feet. I give him my shoes and he sits down at the bus stop with my pretty flip flops on. It’s hilarious. We’re all laughing and I promise to be back in five minutes. After two shops someone points me to the 7-11 and I get a sturdy pair of lovely red plastic ones and go back to swap shoes. A woman has appeared and keeps grinning at me and doing thumbs up. I do love this place. Thai people are so friendly and kind. And I love the generosity of strangers when you’re travelling and you’re in a bit of a mess.

The temple is great and I spend the rest of the day reading a book I’ve picked up called ‘Karma for Travellers’ recommended by my VSO colleagues. I wish they’d write one called ‘Karma for Commuters’.

I treat myself to a long awaited pedicure and Thai massage. I get beaten up for the next 90 minutes and it feels great. I’m planning to post another package back to the UK so I spend the rest of today shopping at the night markets and picking up some lovely bargains: kimonos, table ware and pretty fairy lights. Still can’t find a decent hammock though. Ridiculous as I haven’t got anyway to put one but I feel this unnecessary urge to buy one in Asia. I have a fight with the tuk-tuk driver who is driving up the street after me haggling to try and get more than the 40 I’m willing to pay, and that’s generous. The other tourists are looking at us like we’re mad but I’m not paying his proposed, stupidly inflated 60 Baht on principle.

Once home I marvel at the sheer amount I’ve managed to amass on my own and go to sleep. An early one tomorrow for Burma.

Tribe trekking

(written 24/08/09, posted 06/10/09)

I haven’t been able to write in my journal for the last day or so as I went on a Hill Tribe trek. An elephant tour to start with, then a trek up through the mountains, a dip in a waterfall, hiking clothes back on for the next trek up to our village camp. In the mountains it rains constantly so all of us in my group of seven were totally soaked when we got to camp. I rinsed out my clothes and had a ‘shower’ which was a strip wash in brown water! Even getting from the toilet to my bamboo hut, which had woodworm, was a nightmare as the steps were made from eroded mud. All of us were sliding around. No electricity here either so come dark it was all candles and games of cards. The two different groups of girls were all on three day treks and were trying to convince me to stay an extra night. With not enough dry clothes with me and no entertainment by the next morning it was a great big fat ‘no’.

Today was fun. I was in a different group, having left everyone else to a full day’s trek. The morning was heavy going like it was yesterday. I thought we’d do an afternoon trek too after another waterfall but this mini-trek only lasted an hour before we jumped in a truck and were taken to lunch. As my new group and I sat in our hut, it started to bucket down but I knew a hot shower was nearly in sight. Two Spanish boys got a lift back to Chiang Mai as they’d done three days and were tired. Mistake. With five of us left, we went bamboo rafting. It was brilliant fun! Trying to stand up and not fall off as the raft was rolling over the river surges was pretty tough and I’d recommend it for anyone wanting a core body work out.

In the songthaew on the way back we munch on my left over Oreos and cashews before I nod off. Meet M later for yet more local beers, well why would you not go to a local shop that’s a lot more fun? And more street food, so much better and cheaper than the restaurants. It’s the last night for beers as he’s got training and I have a visa run to Burma followed by my night bus to Bangkok. No clue what I’m doing after that but that decision will be made later, as I’ve become accustomed too. More VSO chat and we cover the deeper subject of length of placements and what has happened to a few ex-volunteers here who have stayed. I see M staying here, I know he’s spent time in Thailand before but it is different. Sometimes you see someone in their environment and it’s clear that this is just where they belong.

Rain, rain, go away...

(written 22/08/09, posted 06/10/09)

It’s bucketing it down. Thirty minute rainstorms in Cambodia had turned to an hour or two since being here but today it starts off rainy and never stops. So much for moto hire to see Wat Doi Suthep up the mountain with M. Moto + my moto skills + rain = potential disaster. We drink coffee and do the crossword instead. When it’s clear the rain isn’t going to stop we jump into a tuk-tuk and visit the Waroros market for locals as M needs some supplies for his homestay next week. Namely a man’s sarong for washing and getting changed under so he doesn’t give the villagers a surprise. I end up with more fisherman’s pants and some great material.

Lunch in the market is brilliant. We feast on my first Som Tam (Papaya salad) which I’ve now decided is the best thing since sliced bread. Still raining so it’s more shopping and more coffee. After a shopping respite, M and I meet up again later with S, the other volunteer here from VSO who was also on my course back in Birmingham. Catching up and listening to them chat reconfirms my absolute desire to do this. I still haven’t heard from the placement I accepted but that’s no surprise as it hasn’t been that long since I hastily filled out the application in Cambodia. I’m so keen it’s funny. More beers at the local bar with our favourite bar shop lady who can’t get anything I say in Thai. It’s really no surprise as I’m not getting on so well with this tonal language. S and I rely on M to order away, which he does and it ends up being another lovely night of beers, food and great company. What a shame, eh?

The Other SIde of Thailand

(written on 21/08/09, posted on 06/10/09)

Today has been a bit of a nothing day. A few temples, chat to a Buddhist monk for a while about the Karen hill tribes north of Chiang Mai and the work that VSO is doing with Burmese refugees at the border. I try and get a massage at the Disabled Centre but no-one is there. I order a juice and some spring rolls at a bar opposite. A chain-smoking 60-something man from Birmingham shouts through the order to his baby-carrying Thai wife. The spring rolls arrive cold in the middle and I make like a shepherd and get the flock out of there. Is this the other side of Thailand I’m seeing?

I spend a few hours on the internet backing up pictures and emailing until it’s time to meet M. M is on his VSO language training today as part of his two month long in country orientation.

I get heckled on the way back by four ex-pats calling me into their bar for a beer. As I’m early and it’s 4pm on a Friday I go in. ‘Why not?!’ as they say here. Text M to tell him where I am. The bar is empty and they are rattling. We chat and I joke is this Chiang Mai on a Friday: lots of beers with the men, sitting around arguing which is what they mostly do. The depressing answer is everyday is like this in Chiang Mai. For you maybe I think. After I’ve been bought a couple of beers I escape as this lunatic with a fascination for taking photos of his penis turns up. He has on Thai silk pyjamas unbuttoned, a headband, receding curly hair and John Lennon glasses. In summary, he looks like he dropped out at Woodstock and never regained a sense of reality. All of them have been in Thailand for about eight years and some have children.

I meet M back at the hostel and we discuss the whole thing over beers. Yesterday with L we went to the night market on the way for food and went down a whole street of bars with young Thai girls and seedy looking older men. I’m not that naïve but I really don’t get it that this still happens. Even more intriguing is the fact one man was accused earlier as being a bit of a crim by one of his cronies when they were arguing. He admitted he couldn’t return to the UK to see his daughters. M tells me in 2006 when the tsunami struck, a lot of people used it to ‘disappear’. We nod at each other with knowing looks and finish another beer.

Cooking up a storm

(written 20/08/09, posted 06/10/09)

Whilst I was wondering around yesterday I booked a Thai Cookery school for today. Chiang Mai is the place for courses: meditation, Buddhism, cooking and massage mostly. I’d like to have done more but only have 6 or 7 days here.

Bus picks us up earlier than I’d like and we go to the market for a bit of a tour. I’ve never seen so many different types of rice and chillies. Everything else feels a bit like the Chinese supermarket back home. Well…that’s apart from the live fish in a tank all peering out at us.

We get to the organic farm in our songthaew. After a tour of the rows of vegetables and banana trees, I make sure I’m near the fun German couple and the other single woman from Italy. The four of us behave like naughty schoolchildren and are way behind everyone else pounding chillies into green curry paste. Lunch is amazing, if I do say so myself. My Tom Yam soup is delicious and better than I’ve had in one Thai restaurant in London. I must be going to the wrong one. The green curry is delicious although mine wasn’t hot enough so I added a couple of small green chillis whole at the end, on the advice of our rather tasty teacher. At lunch I proceed to eat one whole then cry. Luckily my equally as delicious chicken and cashew nut stir fry does the trick of washing it down.

After lunch we’re all standing around stuffed and sleepy in the heat. We make mango sticky rice for dessert though no-one can eat it apart from the German woman who had two spoonfuls of lunch, presumably so she could eat dessert. Some people make bananas in coconut milk. This looks like grey baby food to me but I bet its comfort manna from heaven. Spring rolls to finish off and we head outside to be fed juicy slices of mango. Everyone snoozes in the back on the return journey clutching their bags of food.

Back at the hostel I grab a coffee and L comes over to chat. I explain I’m waiting for M a VSO bod and invite her for a drink. She’s on her own after her friend went home. The three of us go back to the local bar for beers and then some street food. I surprisingly manage to eat even after L and I scoffed the remaining spring rolls at the hostel café. I have two weeks left in Thailand and that will be the end of my trip. I get the feeling I will be the size of a house after all these enjoyable beers and eats with lovely company.

Travels into Thailand

(written 19/08/09, posted 03/10/09)

L and I parted yesterday as she was going back to Phnom Penh and I'm continuing my travels. I have 3 weeks left to do Thailand and it doesn't feel like very long. I wanted to go straight to Chiang Mai but at a cost of $45 compared to $8.50 to get to Bangkok the latter option was the only one.

I left the hotel at 07.30am yesterday by couch, travelled through the Cambodian border, was herded onto a mini-bus with 10 others and all of our luggage and driven at speed into Thailand. Six hours later after a very bumpy ride we arrived in Bangkok at 4pm. I knew on sight I didn't want to be there so booked a night bus for 6pm to Chiang Mai. The bus was horrible and there was a different feeling with the travellers. I think it was because most people were in groups and it almost felt like if you were on your own that was a bit weird. I hadn't felt like that since China and that was from the locals not fellow travellers.

Once in Chiang Mai we were dumped outside of town and persuaded to book hotels. I'd read about these scams in my guidebook so luckily got a lift into town on the Songthaew (open backed shared mini-van taxi) with all the others who had the foresight to book somewhere.

I basically spend the day exploring on foot and treat myself to a big Pad Thai for lunch which is delicious and better than any I've tasted in England. I go and see a few temples as Chiang Mai has plenty and relax by the moat. There are two VSO volunteers here doing their In Country Orientation training. I met them at my last course so I call one and we meet up. It's great to see M as we got on so well when I met him. We go for local beers which entails sitting outside what feels like a newsagent on stools. I love it, it's much nicer than being in a pub. He chats to passers-by in Thai and between catching up we idly watch life on the street go by.

Do-gooders doing good

(written on 17/08/09, posted on 03/10/09)

L and I wanted to get bikes to make the 9km trip out of town to the orphanage. I spent last night shivering and not even a curry and a lassi could sort me out. I dosed myself up with tablets and conked out.

I wake up and am feeling surprisingly fine. At the bike hire shop I force a good breakfast down with some orange juice and after testing the brakes and saddles we're off. I'm not able to go as quickly as I want but seem to be making reasonable progress. About 2km out of town I realise my trousers have completely ripped and I might as well be wearing hot pants. Not a good look for teaching children. We pass a market and I decide to run in. I end up with a hideous shorts and vest combo which looks like it's straight out of Pri-marni (see top pic for the shorts). I was great entertainment for the market stall holders and the women gathered round pointing at the rip in my cargo pants!

At the orphanage we're surrounded and dragged into the classroom. We play games and teach the children, most of whom have a good level of English. None seem to go to school though. We're encouraged to go and play with the children at lunchtimes and I can't help but think anyone could sneak in. There are no checks, no safety measures. We're given lunch and I know then this is no scam. The fish tastes of stale pond weed and the chicken has no meat on it. I chat to the Director about aid agencies and L vows to raise money on her return to home. The kids are amazing and we are waved off and made to promise we'll be back. We leave some donations before heading back into town. The bag of rice we wanted to buy didn't make it as neither of us thought we could balance it on our bikes.

We finish our day by giving blood at the local children's hospital and go and have a sugary drink before we faint. Both of us feel much better after the floating village yesterday. I can see Cambodia developing more like Vietnam but after a history of brutal war it'll take so much more.

Floating VIllage at Sunset

(written 16/08/09, posted 03/10/09)


We wake late and leave a message for W to pick us up even later. L and I don't feel quite up to another round of sight-seeing just yet and it's pretty exhausting in the heat. I've been drinking what feels like about 5 litres of water a day and I feel like I'm addicted to salty foods.

We splash out $5 to use the local hotel swimming pool. All I can do is swim, read and try to recuperate. I'm still feeling a bit ropey. We're not even drinking or eating that much each evening and being out in town can be a bit depressing. Everything is cheap and the pubs and restaurants vie for business by undercutting each other. The kids swarm the streets begging and the result is a horrible clash of poverty and tourists treating themselves. I've taken to carrying around little bags of food like nuts and dried fruit to give the kids. L and I have a rule of no cash as it encourages begging. This is especially true of kids in the daytime who we suspect are kept away from school by their parents so they can go and earn money. I feel pretty naive and I'm sure we could do more but I just don't know how.


W announces it's time to go to the floating village and to see the sunset on the lake. It seems like a nice thing to do too after the madness of the earlier. We were at the temple where one of the Tomb Raider films had been shot and all we could here was people running around shouting 'Lara Croft! Lara Croft!'

As W drives us away from the temple complexes, we notice how the shacks and shops on the roadside get poorer. Pulling up at the harbour we get offered $15 each for a boat out to the village. It wasn't in our contract. We cough up anyway and get ushered onto a boat. What comes next is an astounding level of poverty. People live on boats, some with no power. A father pulls alongside and a shivering toddler jumps on to sell us cans of drink. There is a floating church, a school, villager's houses, shops and ...a crocodile farm. We get accosted into buying pens for the school and we are encouraged to visit the school to hand over the pens. The children are clearly used to this but look on bored. It all feels manufactured to try and get tourists in and neither of us want to be here, peering at people's lives where the average annual income is $500. They don't need tourism here, they need aid.

L and I get in the tuk-tuk depressed and W doesn't understand why. He spends the whole journey trying to cheer us up. We decide tomorrow is going to be a productive day and we're going to do positive stuff. That's if I can actually stand up tomorrow.

Circus Sunrise

(written 15/08/09, posted 03/10/09)

As you can see from the picture, yes I took some photos and became part of the circus that is sunrise at Angkor Wat. No mobile or shouting at the top of my voice though. And not like one group of tourists holding hands and running together through the temple grounds. I felt auras of sacredness for about 5 minutes between the chaos.

Total shame. Yes, the Cambodian government needs money (but do they use it in the right way?). Yes, Cambodian people need an influx of tourists. Yes, this is part of the world's history and people should see it. Does it have to be like this though? It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Who protects it? Neither Halong Bay in Vietnam or Angkor Wat feels looked after.

Perhaps I'm just a bit ill today and grumpy. Seem to be coming down with some kind of flu. This is surprising as I've made it through 6 weeks of Asia with only very minor stomach problems but I guess if it's going to happen anywhere it would be here. Feeling very sorry for myself and the world today. Cor melodrama much!

Temple-tastic

(written on 14/08/09, posted 03/10/09)

Yes, yes, it's touristy but who cares? L and I have come to Siem Reap and we're going to spend the next three days doing the temple circuits at Angkor Wat. The tuk-tuk driver we agreed with the hotel picks up us at 10am. We really didn't want to do a sunrise after travelling all day yesterday.

Wandi introduces himself and says most English speakers call him Windy as they can't say his name. Nice. He's a brilliant laugh and gives us loads of tips. We agree with him that we'll start with the Rolous as they are the oldest temples dating from the late 9th Century.

We then head to the next group which were built after the Rolous group temples. Each temple has it's own characteristics and different features. After we've done about 6, I head into a small Buddhist temple, a modern one built alongside the older temples. L waits outside as she's already been round Thailand and states she is templed out. By the time I've come out, she has agreed with 4 people waiting outside that we'll visit their orphanage on Monday after our 3 days of temple-seeing. It seems like a good thing to do and we spend most of our tuk-tuk journeys for the rest of the day discussing poverty and eco-tourism. We admit we only have a faint idea of what we should do as responsible travellers and it seems more important in Cambodia than anywhere either of us have been so far. We agree we'll decide on things to take up with us on Monday.

As we reach each temple on the circuit, it seems to get hotter and busier. As it got nearer to sunset Wandi whisked us off to near Angkor Wat. We were pretty early but as we had to climb up the hill behind Angkor and scramble up some steep steps to get a spot it seems like a good idea. Arriving at 5.30pm we realised we had some time to go so sat down and relaxed. An hour later just as the sky was started to redden tourists started to clamber up the temple steps from all sides. People were jostling for a space to sit, out came the tripods, umbrellas used for parasols were bashing into each other and there was the unmistakable beep-beep of the mobile phones of humanity. L and I could only watch in horror. The 45 minute display of the changing colours of the end of a day was accompanied by a soundtrack of camera shutter clicks and ringtones.

No finding the silence within possible on this temple, sorry. Tourism had well and truly arrived in Cambodia.

Arrival in Cambodia

(written 13/08/09, posted 01/10/09)

L and I go to the Cu Chi tunnels to where we get a different perspective on the war as this is where the Viet Cong used to hide from American troops. We have an Vietnamese man who worked for the South and was used by the Americans as an Interpreter. Hearing his take on things gives both of us another angel to consider. With hindsight I would have liked to travel south to north through Vietnam as I would have understood Vietnam a lot better had I learnt more about the history first. I'm not sure how many backpackers bother to learn about where they are. I certainly would got 'could have tried harder' on my traveller's report card.

The rest of the day is packing and doing a few last minute things before an early start for the bus the next day. We wake and are all prepared. It's a confusion getting breakfast in time for the bus then we're told the bus doesn't go from the travel agent's but someone will come to pick us up. The driver then doesn't know where to drop the 5 of us off. We've been joined by 3 Canadians.

We eventually jump out and the bus turns up. The bus is lovely, spacious leather reclining seats and bags of room. I'm not going to mind being on this bus all day.

At the border it's time to worry about my out if date visa. The bus guide has a word with the passport official who gives me dirty looks as he's waving the others through slowly. I'm made to wait at the other side of the counter. My guide asks me how much I've got left and I explain it's not much. He acts as a go between and eventually I'm quoted a $11 fine which I'm ecstatic with. I try to look apologetic but firm as I pay my fine and quickly get through the border controls and jump on the waiting bus.

Border officialdom dealt with we have another few hours on the bus until Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. L and I spend most of the journey reading, snoozing and iPodding in the luxury of our seats. I can't help but notice the cows are really thin here. But conversely the land is lush and the mostly agricultural landscape rushes past the window outside. It's apparent that poverty is rife here as we get on a ferry to cross to Phnom Penh. The other trucks are squished full of live stock and L feels sick at the sight of a decidedly non-vegetarian truck of half-dead ducks just outside our window.

At Phnom Penh, we wave the others off whilst we wait for our next bus to Siem Reap which is another 6 hours. I had no desire to stay in Phnom Penh as no-one I'd met in Vietnam had a nice word to say about it and after what seems like more cities I want quiet again. L is coming back here to fly to KL whilst I go onto Thailand in a few days. L goes off to try and by some lunch and the nearest place that sold veggie stuff was a petrol station. We end up with crisps, biscuits and yoghurts.

On the Siem Reap bus we get stuck in. There's hardly anyone on the bus and we're the only Westerners. I feel like a fat, obese, stereotypical Westerner gorging away on saturated fats and expensive processed products. After the carbo-loading its another sleep and we arrive in Siem Reap to the shouts of touts. Being the only Westerners we're instantly surrounded by offers of tuk tuks and hostels.

We never made a decision on the bus where to stay so amidst the chaos L picks out a driver and we ask him to drive us to 'pub street' where we decide to get a drink and sort ourselves out. On the way though we make a snap decision and head for a hostel. Turns out our driver doesn't get commission from this hostel. That's how everything works here. We give him money to cover his petrol as he was only charging us one dollar and he leaves. We book a tuk tuk for temples tomorrow and it's dinner then bed. I get the feeling Cambodia is going to be more challenging. It feels like Vietnam was a holiday due to the places I went and this is back to real travelling now.

Ghosts and Agents of War

(written 11/08/09, posted 01/10/09)

I didn't get to sleep properly until 5.30am. Even the ear plugs couldn't keep out the noise of the backpackers bars, perhaps this hotel wasn't the best pick. Then at 7am I had a very weird sensation of someone pinning me down by the arms. This felt like it was at least 30 seconds. I managed to get back to sleep and awoke to hear T and L talking about their vivid dreams. We decide the room must be haunted.

After brekkie we went to the War Remnants museum, steeling ourselves for the worst. And it was awful. I had to keep my sunglasses on round the downstairs exhibition of photos as I just couldn't have anyone looking at me or I'd cry. T was crying beneath hers and L was holding it together. Anyone who glorifies war needs to come here and look at the pictures of torture and inhumanity.

We then moved to the exhibition of photographs of victims of Agent Orange. I'd never seen so many different types of deformities and diseases. It's so shocking to see many of these victims are still living without aid or any recompense for their suffering. The worst part was at the end where a new notice had been put up stating that the American Supreme Court only a few months before had ruled there was no real evidence of a link between the chemicals used in warfare by the Americans and any American or Vietnamese victims could not sue the chemical companies that had created Agent Orange. Such blatant disregard by the highest court in what is supposed to be the land of the free sickens me.

The three of us spent the rest of the day feeling pretty angry and all we can do is talk about what we've seen and quietly plan where we're heading next. T books a Mekong Delta trip and L and I will spend an extra day in the city before going to Cambodia. It feels like the end of an era. I've spent nearly 3 weeks with T and the three of us have shared some amazing times. I feel like I'm losing a best friend.

Holding back the tears...

(written on 10/08/09, posted 01/10/09)

Time to say our goodbyes...we said goodbye to a load of people who'd been with us all week and now it was time to say goodbye to the legendary Hoa himself and a couple more of the guests.

We were due to get the plane south to Saigon (no more buses for T and the flights were £31 each so L and myself thought it was a bargain - so much for my personal environmental pledge to only go overland whilst in Asia). Just that morning, I discovered my Vietnamese visa was 3 days out of date and I wasn't planning to leave the country for another few days after Saigon. Big Ooops. This could spell a bit of a disaster. We had our passports checked but not the visa stamps luckily. There were a couple if times I got a bit of the old clammy hands syndrome. Nothing to worry about then until getting to the border although I guess I could sort it out at the embassy in Saigon.

We didn't get to Saigon or Ho Chi Minh City (it's modern name) until 6pm so it was a case of a taxi and find some accommodation. The taxi ride was fun and there were even more motos than Hanoi so it seemed even more chaotic on first impressions.

We ended up in the backpacker district so it was all clubs and bars. T, L and myself went up for a good nosh up and a couple of G&Ts. We were trying to plan what to do over the next three days, but it's always fun not knowing what you'll end up doing but just discussing all the possibilities.

...still on China Beach

(written on 09/08/09, posted 01/10/09)

After delaying my bus journey by a day, I ended up staying for 6 nights in total. T, L and a whole bunch of brilliant people hanging out on the beach, listening to people strumming on the guitar and at Hoa's. I really couldn't leave all of that just yet. So travelling plans out of the window for that week whilst it was fun time.

More shopping and visits into Hoi An for cocktails and an amazing visit to Danang to the Deaf-run Bread of Life cafe. Food was amazingly droolingly delicious and I had a conversation with a Vietnamese Deaf man, C. We slowly picked up each other's signs and managed to communicate. Vietnamese Sign Language is very much influenced by ASL (American) so quite different from my British signs. Apparently watching this conversation, the other 5 had tears in their eyes due to this ability to communicate with a local from another country with no Vietnamese language but just by finding common ground between our Sign Languages. I found this very amusing of course.

We all did mostly nothing but relax though there were a few trips about on scary motos. Great views and we saw some great places like a massive Buddha statue up in the mountains. It was fun and took all my powers of concentration. You get used to driving after a while then a cow flings itself in the road at you.

There was also the festival of lights in Hoi An held monthly at the time of the full moon. Scary being on a small rowing-type boat with 6 of us and a rower. Thought we were all going to drown our paper lanterns not float them. The kids were amazing as well. Bartering with us for lanterns and chatting away in English. We suspected sadly that this was perhaps not down to good schooling but having to communicate with the tourists to get extra cash for themselves.

I also had great long chats with T, L and other people around about religion, love and life in general. Amazing what happens when given the time and space to relax, take stock and think. So it was not only fun but there was a bit of soul-searching going around too. Someone told me to go and find myself whilst I was away. I don't think I was ever lost but perhaps I did learn a little more about myself that week.

On China Beach (sing along now)

(written 03/08/09, posted 28/09/09)

We arrive after a 20 minute taxi ride and even after ice creams we still feel het up. I walk in and ask a man if this is Hoa's Place. He shakes my hand tells me he is Hoa, that I should grab a beer from the fridge and I can order lunch if I still want it. Instantly I relax. I realise how tough it's been travelling round China on my own rarely being anywhere longer than a couple of days.


I grab that beer and chat to Hoa. He is playing cards with a British couple that come here for 5 nights and stayed for 24. Hoa points to the shelf behind the bar with 23 guestbooks from the last 15 or so years that he has run this place. When he talks the couples eyes shine. This is an amazing place and I've never experienced hospitality and trust like it. I ask Hoa if he can phone the bus company and change my ticket to the next night.


T and I spend the afternoon on the beach getting back to normal. We amazingly bump into L from Halong Bay who had spent some time in Danang and Nin Binh. We spend time gossiping in the sea before heading back to Hoa's for the local family dinner. This basically means you are served up a buffet where the local food keeps on coming. You write your own beers down in the book under your tab and you meet like-minded people to have a damn good drink with.

By 9pm we are told that we're to loud so grab a crate of beer, write it down and get lost down to the beach. That we do and a great night is had by all. Guitars, beach, beer and great company. What's not to like?

Collect your goods then leave hastily...

(written 03/08/09, posted 28/09/09)

T and I have decided to leave today but my bus for tonight was full. I book it for the day after to Saigon which is an epic 24 hour trip on another cramped bus. In the meantime T is going to China Beach. A couple of the other travellers on the Halong Bay trip, the lovely K from London and hilarious C from NZ, said it was amazing. As they were completely right about the fantastic food in The Cargo Club in Hoi An I have no reason to think this place won't be great. T has been planning on going there for ages. As it's only one night out of an already late schedule I'm happy to go and it's off the beaten path so I already have lots of excuses.

We go around town collecting the last of our goods. T was so happy with a couple of dresses she already had made she got some more. After window shopping for most of the first day I eventually parted with some cash. This excitement becomes a bit deflated as we pick up our leather boots. Only one out of the four we ordered are any good. Mine look like a gerbil stuck the mismatched soles on using bits of chewed up toilet roll. T's supposedly classy heels look a bit hooker like. We clearly chose the wrong shop and there were some communication problems.

Ladies, let this be a warning to you: go with pictures and a clear idea of what you want and what will look good. If you make it up on the spot you'll be left with some very weird looking shoes! I get a couple of lovely dresses but the shoes have left a sour taste. Time for a sharp exit to China Beach.

Night travel by bus to Hoi An

(written on 01/08/09, published 28/09/09)

I was sad to leave Hanoi behind and felt there was a lot more I didn't see or experience. It was time to say goodbye to a few people we'd shared the Halong Bay trip with. I was really sad to see L go, a British girl on her way to New Zealand to live. After some sad goodbyes and a rushed Panini, T, myself and two very hungover British girls tramped off to the night bus. For $40 for a 4 stop ticket enabling me to get all the way to Saigon was clearly to good to be true. There were the 4 of us plus another person crammed in on the top bunk with barely space to move. That wasn't the worst though. The aircon was blowing a sewer smell into our faces and it was freezing. The toilet stops were plain scary and no-one wanted to go on their own. Why we didn't get a lovely train I don't know!

Anyway, T by this point decided to skip her stop to Hue and jumps on the day bus with the remaining 3 of us. We arrive, dodge the hotel touts and manage to get a hotel pretty quickly. Hoi An just felt pretty, gentile and quiet on arrival. Deep yellow painted houses and dark wood. Fragrances and delicious food. Lanterns and river boats. Balconies and cocktails. And clothes upon clothes. After a bad night, T and I went on the rampage, shopping and having cocktails.

A good meal and an early night for us though. T tore up her bus ticket and vowed never to get on a sleeper bus again. With 6 weeks to go of my trip there was going to plenty more sleeper buses for me.

So Long Halong

(written on 31/07/09, posted on 28/09/09)

So three days in the beautiful Halong Bay and here I am back again and saying goodbye to Hanoi.

Three days of being a tourist and floating around on boats. This is the trip everyone seems to do when they first get to Hanoi and it's worth it. Someone told me it's a bit like being herded around and they were right in a sense. But when you get to your junk there's only a handful of boats near you in this UNESCO site. The only depressing thing is seeing litter float past your canoe and seeing the cooks chuck things into the water. There doesn't seem to be much respect for keeping the site clean and perhaps a bit more education is needed to the boat staff.

The limestone cliffs will blow you away though and if you get a chance get in a canoe to see the caves. The bay is riddled with Jellyfish. Only one person got stung on our boat which is apparently usual. Loads of great people on board which made it for me, a few of which I made good friends with. So a Happy Drunken Birthday was had by T and we were all entertained by a group of hilarious Irish lads. Especially J who had an eye tattooed on each ahem cheek. I cried with laughter when I saw it.

On the second night a group of us who had paid extra were whisked off to our private beach (view from the beach at dusk above). We got there around midday and were looked after by a crew of locals and two British lads who were clearly picked for their ability to get tourists drunk. A and E, two British girls just out of Uni did their best to keep up whilst the rest of us enjoyed watching them. Some of the lads got all caveman and built a beach fire from Bamboo. One of the crew told us it has a habit of exploding in fires due to air bubbles that get trapped inside. It was such a nice chilled out evening. As soon as someone told me there was phosphorescent algae in the water, a group of us got changed and jumped in the sea. It was amazing, swimming along with these gold sparkles travelling up your arms. It was definitely the scene of much drunken hilarity but this doesn't take away the astounding beauty of the whole place.

Britney and Bia Hoi

(written 28/07/09, posted 28/09/09)

Being 4 girls, it's now become shopping and cocktails. Hanoi is a great place to do this. I didn't get much in China. I seemed to do the more serious travelling stuff and now it feels like I'm on holiday. Also a lot of stuff in China felt very manufactures and it somehow feels better here. The best find is a gravestone with a picture of Britney Spears (see pic).

T and I get on brilliantly too. I feel like I've known her for ages. We waste the afternoon chatting and dawdling round Hanoi dodging motorbikes. I'm so confused about the roads until I realise you don't wait for a gap in the traffic. Just walk and the traffic will avoid you. It's pretty hairy by the lake but usually you can find someone local to follow.

In the evening we go to the Water Puppet theatre. Full of tourists, T is making faces as

she thinks it's naff. I actually think it's funny in places but there is so much more they can do with it. The technical aspect and the music is great and at least we're doing something other than shopping! Once outside I drag everyone away to find Bia Hoi Junction. This is my last chance as after Halong Bay tomorrow we get the night bus to Hoi An.

I get lost, then we decide to get a taxi. When we arrive there are the little plastic stools outside shops serving up the beer. You get a glass of beer then just pass your glass back to the server who refills your glass from the keg. Brilliant. Why aren't there places like this back home? The girls are all starving so I get dragged away for food. No-one fancies the pig on a stick being peddled around for dinner. Shame my friend who told me about this place isn't here. I get the feeling if he was there we wouldn't have finished until 2am and we'd have out the world to rights.

Hanoi gets better

(written on 27/07/09, posted on 28/09/09)

I can't check in until 12. After two night trains in a row I'm desperate for a shower but it's off round town and hope no-one notices. Everything is so disorientating until I realise that streets have a theme: leather street for handbags and wallets, clothes street, lantern street and even a smoothie street. I can't wait to get shopping later. I'm loving the look of the food stalls too.

I manage a stroll round the lake and a quick look in the temple. It's not long until my money seems to be running out and I realise that the 300,000 Vietnamese Dong I took out earlier is worth £10. With time nearing 12, I try and get back but everywhere looks the same. Everything feels so much smaller than China too. Even the little plastic stools that people sit on in the street are tiny. I better not mention the clothes too. I'd probably be an XXXL.

Eventually I get back and there are backpackers everywhere. All after Halong Bay trips which are basically supposed to be beautiful but which are essentially a drinkfest. I leave it until later to book. As I rest after my shower, T enters the dorm. She's bubbly and lovely. I'm relieved as I haven't spoken to anyone older than 25 yet today. It's her 30th in a couple of days so we agree to do the Halong Bay trip together. Can't miss celebrating a birthday like that.

We then meet A and N from California. What then happens is we all go out for drinks, eats, shopping and exploring for the rest of the day. I tried to find the famous Bia Hoi Junction where there are 4 street places, one on each corner of a junction that serve freshly brewed beer for 30 cents a glass. That'll have to be tomorrow then!

Hanoi and a fight with a taxi driver

(written on 27/07/09, posted on 22/09/09)



It's a fag getting through the border overland, which involves getting off the train with bags at 11pm and farting around at Chinese customs for an hour. Back on the train and another half an hour or so later back off for the Vietnam border. By 2am, I can go to sleep in my bunk for a total of 4 hours. I can't actually sleep as I'm too excitied.



I must nod off as the train guard wakes me and asks for my plastic card (they give you this in exchange for your ticket, presumably so they can keep tabs on who is n and off their trains). They usually wake you thirty minutes before you are due to get off. I've been given five minutes to stick my contacts in and brush my teeth. No time to be excited still, I get off the train in Hanoi disorientated and bleary-eyed.

The taxi drivers surround the alighting passengers like dogs hungry to get to their win-a-lot so I escape the pack and go to hunt for a bank. The only bank I can see doesn't accept my card. I had the foresight to think about getting dollars, I just couldn't be bothered. This is something that I regret now. The one taxi driver that I spoke to and who tried to charge me $15 to get me 6km into the centre of Hanoi pulls up with two people in his taxi. I try to explain to them I have no dollars and they happily wave me in. Lucky for me. I try to ask what they have agreed with the driver. They say $4 each. Cheeky barstard! They get dropped outside their hotel and try to pay him $8. He wants another $6 to take me round the corner so I hastily spot another ATM, it works. Whilst he argues with the other two about the now increased price as there were 3 of us, I nip inside a shop with my Vietnamese Dong to get some change.

By the time I get back to them the tai driver is threatening to lamp the Austrian and the younger French guy looks petrified. I step in, calming female to the rescue. No such luck, I try to pay and the driver locks my luggage in the car. It's at this point the Austrian storms off fuming and I lose it. After banging on his car window is an assertive/perhaps slightly agressive way to get my point across that just because I'm a woman doesn't mean he can behave this way. He calls up someone saying they are from customer services. I agree $4 with them after haggling.

I get to my hostel, he tries to give me change for $5 until I point out his lousy exchange rate, then he strangely blames the Austrian for everything. I walk away in disbelief at this point, it's not a good start to Hanoi.

Pandas and Nanning money troubles

(written on 26/07/09, posted on 17/09/09)

I've spent three fun and exhausting days in Hong Kong. I've seen Pandas at Ocean Park, been to a lot of markets and gawped at skyscrapers. Time to go as even though there's more to see I can't stand my cast iron mattress and privacy invasion anymore.

I get the local train back into Guangzhou then amazingly I'm able to book a night train for that night to Nanning. Left luggage, reading in the park and it's off again.

Even more amazingly as I don't particularly want to stay in Nanning, I get there and am able to book another night train into Hanoi for that night. At the bank again, I have a complete nightmare. I type in 300 Yuan (approx £30) which is enough for a couple of journeys and I get 3000 due to an ATM error. There is no way I will spend £300 in 24 hours. I was exasperated as it turned out the staff knew there was an error with the machine so why did they have it switched on? The only suggestion they come up with is change the money but they don't have the service.

At the fifth bank I went to, a group of women were sitting in the lobby. One said in English, change money? I nodded. She made an elaborate display of pulling a calculator out of her handbag, typing a fugire in, showing me and saying is this ok? The other women by now were looking at us expectantly. I said slowly, you don't actually work here do you? She grinned at me. As I walked off to find a member of staff the whole group erupted into a cackling fit. Ha bloody ha. Those old practical jokes again. A member of staff then tells me why no-one can change my money. It's a Sunday. Argh!

So having been in China for over two weeks I'm happy to get to Vietnam and as much as I loved the whole experience it's time to move on. My journey of two consecutive nights on trains is time without a base or anywhere to shower but it'll be worth it. Vietnam it is.

Off to Hong Kong with cash

(written on 23/07/09, posted on 17/09/09)

As I'd started to travel yesterday, I thought I'd give the ATM one last go as having no cash could cause obvious problems. As I was typing the numbers in I'd noticed the keypad looked strange. I cleared the numbers and carefully punched them in one by one. Cash!

I'd been typing in the numbers in the same pattern as I do in the UK. Chinese banks have their keypads with the highest numbers at the top so 7, 8, 9. Ho hum. Lesson number 47 learnt.

Waist pouch filled with the wrong currency I spent over 24 hours travelling on one night train then another train from Guangzhou across the border into Hong Kong. There the nastiest hostel inside an apartment awaited. Luckily I met a 60 year old woman who was on a 4 week trip without her husband (can I have one like that please?) to travel China. She'd been here before so quickly showed me the way to the famous Star Ferry that takes you across from Kowloon to Hong Kong Island (see pic). There we parted and I caught a tram to go up to Victoria peak to catch the phenomenal views of the skyscrapers jammed into every available space.

Having done the first thing I was always do in a city, head for the place with the best views, I then plan the second, sushi. So a walk back through the amazing streets all on hills with signs vying for your attention above the crowded shops, back on the ferry. Octopus card (the HK version of the Oyster) bleeping my way on buses to the night market then conveyer belt sushi and a beer.

A perfect day. Back at the hostel I chat to my three companions and we end up having an argument wit teh Cantonese landlady. She is furious that we all nicked an extra sheet each from the cupboard as her laundry bill we go up. I try and amicably explain we didn't want to sleep on mattress covers. An argument ensues and the Romanian girl doesn't stand for it. After a heated 15 minutes we end up laughing as the landlady storms out of the room and we go to bed. I've never eperienced someone in a hostel barging in to check up on me before. It's such a rude invasion of privacy I think our giggling is more about being shocked than anything else. Hong Kong is an odd but entertaining mix of East and West.