Hello again. I am trying to be a bit more dilgent with the blog from now on. Expect a fortnightly update from today...honestly. Anyway, back to Cambodia.
Kampot
Kampot was a really nice, sleepy town. It was a bit dissapointing though, as the day we were supposed to go to the national park we found out that a tuc-tuc couldn't make it up the mountain so we would have to do a tour. However, the tour had already left that day. A round of free mini-golf at the guest house opposite ours only staved off boredom for an hour. Alex and Hannes fought the boredom bravely with alcohol, I just went to the room and read.
The national park tour was a farce, you should never go on it if you get the opportunity to. We were expecting trekking through jungle, but that had been banned since a casino had bought the whole national park. There used to be tigers, but they hadn't been sighted in 10 years, and then one of them was lame. There should be water at the waterfall, but it had dried up. There used to be tea at the tea plantations, but not anymore. What we did see was an old casino, and the new one being constructed. Not a great tour!
-The waterfall with no water-
Kep
I made a very short stop in Kep, just one night, whilst Alex and the Germans stayed for an extra night. I am aware that time is running out as we have to be in Singapore by 2nd March and we still have to go through Vietnam, Laos, Thailand (again), and Malaysia. It just isn't going to happen. I got my ticket to Vietnam.
The bus to Vietnam was long, hot, and generally unpleasant. I did meet 3 people from Kent who were nice, as well as a lady from Chester who was travelling around working in orphanages since she had been widowed and lost her son in a car accident. She was pretty inspiring, and trust me I am not easily inspired.
The border crossing between Cambodia and Vietnam
Saigon
I spent the first day in Saigon walking around taking in the city, and to be fair loved it. It was nice just to have some time to myself and some silence. Don't get me wrong, I love travelling with Ant and Alex, but everybody needs some alone time (no sexual references intended).
I went to the war museum, which starts off very light-hearted with tanks and helicopters sitting in the courtyard from the Vietnam war. However, once you delve inside it all gets a bit morbid. There are some horrific images from the war, unnecessarily so. The whole museum is dedicated to showing how evil America is, and to be fair, they were pretty...nasty. The propaganda is a bit too jingoistic for my liking. I did like the quotes taken from the American declaration of independence juxtaposed with descriptions of some of their war crimes, highlighting the injustice of the war.
Afterwards I headed to the reunification palace which is just funny to be honest. I didn't have a guide, so I probably didn't understand the significance of many of the rooms I saw. Just walking around its 1970's decadance reminded me of Tracy Island from Thunderbirds. Unfortunately I did not see Thunderbird 1 blast out from the roof.
In the evening I met up with Tom and Kev, two guys who we originally met in China. It was great to see those guys again. They had bought motorbikes in Hannoi and spent a few months biking down to Saigon. It sounds amazing, and I would love to come back and do that. I'm not sure how mum would feel about it! We went out to a few bars and I bumped into the 3 people from Kent who I met on the bus on the way into Vietnam. We ended up having a big night out in a reggae bar. I am a big fan of Saigon.
Alex, Hannes, and Toni arrived the next day. They did not have a good introduction to Vietnam as Toni had his backpack stolen by the motorbike driver who took them to their hostel. Fortunately, the hostel staff knew who he was, so went around to his parents house to tell them. The guy brought back Toni's passport and cashcards but not his $200, bag, camera, ipod etc. He claimed he "found them somewhere". Toni reported him to the police and he got arrested, and according to the policeman will go to jail for a year. No sign of any of Tonis possessions though.
I got to ride around on the back of Kevs motorbike around Saigon (which is an experience in itself) whilst everybody else went to the war museum. We went to find a snooker hall which was in the middle of nowhere. It was great fun despite losing 4-0.I blame it on me drinking whilst Kev had to drive.
Thats right, you get a snooker glove so the cue doesn't stick in the hot weather.
Dalat
Next we headed up to Dalat, a mountain retreat for the French to escape the heat of Saigon back in the day. The town is quite European, and good to walk around. However, the best of Dalat is out in the countryside. We ended up booking a canyoning day after rave reviews by some Australians who had just done it, and we weren't dissapointed. It is one of the best days we have had whilst travelling so far I would say.
You start off with some absailing down dry walls, in some beautiful countryside, before heading over to the river. Then the real fun begins. It starts off with you absailing down into the river before floating down it for a while and "watersliding" down some rapids on your back. After some floating down the river and splashing about in a waterfall you have a 20 minute trek (feeling very much like vietcong) through the forest alongside the river.
They say you shouldn't swim for 30 minutes after eating, and I think that should apply to absailing down a 30m waterfall as well, which is what we did. It was the first time I actually felt that fear in my gut, but a lot of fun. I got a good video of Alex falling over which I have uploaded to Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/36634627). After lunch was definately the more extreme half of the day. After the waterfall you can do some cliff jumping from 12m alongside another waterfall into a pool at the bottom. Alex didn't do it because you had to have a running jump to clear the cliff below and he didn't trust himself not to trip over or "forget how to use his legs" as he put it. I loved it, and did a few more jumps from the 9m high one as well (http://vimeo.com/36269935). The day finished with a steel toboggan run which was also great fun.
Nha Trang
Nha Trang is a beach resort area which is apparently famous for being a party town (it isn't much of a party town). The area is nice enough, but we have seen enough amazing beaches by now that the beach just seemed okay. I just spent my days here lazing around and swimming in the sea. I had a bad neck so got a massage for 30 minutes. It didn't fix my neck but it was amazing, the best massage I have ever had. I moved on a day earlier than Alex and the Germans again. I have kind of accepted that I won't be able to catch up Ant anymore though. He is too far ahead of us and whenever we move he seems to have moved on twice. Its a shame really but we will see him soon enough.
Hoi An
I arrived in Hoi An after a pretty horrific overnight bus ride. It was a sleeper but it was all very cramped. I was just grateful that I had an attractive girl next to me and not a big hairy bloke. We got sheparded into a free taxi which took us to a hotel. I ended up sharing a room with a girl called Angelina because it saved us both a fair bit of money and neither of us minded. Turns out she is really nice anyway.
We spent the day walking around Hoi An, which is a beautiful place. It has lots of old buildings all painted yellow, and sits nicely alongside a lazy river. There are over 400 tailors in the town, and you can get anything custom made...anything. You can get a very fancy 3 peice suit made for $99, all custom tailored. You can pick any design out of any magazine or internet image and they will copy it. To put them off asking me I said that all I was after was a pair of swim shorts, but turns out that they can make them as well. I'm not sure I really need a tailored pair of swim shorts! Another plus is that beer was 3000 dong per half pint, thats about...10p. We got a bit drunk in the market and Angelina got her palm read by a Cambodian who couldn't speak English so it had to be translated by the waitress.
Angelina bumped into a friend called Adam who she met in Saigon, and we all went to the marble moutains the next day on scooters. That was a lot of fun. Afterwards we walked onto a 5 star resort and used their private beach, not a soul in sight apart from us. The staff didn't seem to mind for some reason.
Hoi An by the river
I saw Alex, Toni, and Hannes again in the evening and I went to a few bars with Alex. I moved onto Hannoi the next day though, whilst they are sticking around in Hannoi for a few more days. It has been funny being a day ahead of them, seeing them for a day, then leaving again. I kind of like it. It is a good mix between time alone and time with good friends.
I flew to Hannoi Saturday morning, opting out of the 18 hour bus ride. A flight was cheap enough for it to be worth while. Although to be fair, I spent most of Saturday holed up in the hostel. In the minibus from the airport to the hostel an old Malaysian lady befriended me and even ended up chosing to stay in the same hostel as me instead of the one she had booked. she is sweet. The hostel is really great though. Hannoi Backpackers is the place to be. I met a guy from Melbourne called Sam in the dorm who had 3TB of films on his laptop so I stole a lot of them and just spent the evening skyping the family. The next day (today) I did a free walking tour of the city. There wasn't really any information but it was nice to see the old quarter and just walk about. You get to meet a lot of people as well. After I walked to the Temple of Literature, which is a great temple, but I am still a bit templed out from Asia.
And that takes us to today. I have just been out for an Indian with Sam and 2 girls in our dorm. I'm still having a great time, and Alex will appear tomorrow with the Germans (hopefully). I did actually miss everybody a lot for a bit...but it passed. I'm joking of course, I miss you all!
Kampot
Kampot was a really nice, sleepy town. It was a bit dissapointing though, as the day we were supposed to go to the national park we found out that a tuc-tuc couldn't make it up the mountain so we would have to do a tour. However, the tour had already left that day. A round of free mini-golf at the guest house opposite ours only staved off boredom for an hour. Alex and Hannes fought the boredom bravely with alcohol, I just went to the room and read.
The national park tour was a farce, you should never go on it if you get the opportunity to. We were expecting trekking through jungle, but that had been banned since a casino had bought the whole national park. There used to be tigers, but they hadn't been sighted in 10 years, and then one of them was lame. There should be water at the waterfall, but it had dried up. There used to be tea at the tea plantations, but not anymore. What we did see was an old casino, and the new one being constructed. Not a great tour!
-The waterfall with no water-
Kep
I made a very short stop in Kep, just one night, whilst Alex and the Germans stayed for an extra night. I am aware that time is running out as we have to be in Singapore by 2nd March and we still have to go through Vietnam, Laos, Thailand (again), and Malaysia. It just isn't going to happen. I got my ticket to Vietnam.
The bus to Vietnam was long, hot, and generally unpleasant. I did meet 3 people from Kent who were nice, as well as a lady from Chester who was travelling around working in orphanages since she had been widowed and lost her son in a car accident. She was pretty inspiring, and trust me I am not easily inspired.
The border crossing between Cambodia and Vietnam
Saigon
I spent the first day in Saigon walking around taking in the city, and to be fair loved it. It was nice just to have some time to myself and some silence. Don't get me wrong, I love travelling with Ant and Alex, but everybody needs some alone time (no sexual references intended).
I went to the war museum, which starts off very light-hearted with tanks and helicopters sitting in the courtyard from the Vietnam war. However, once you delve inside it all gets a bit morbid. There are some horrific images from the war, unnecessarily so. The whole museum is dedicated to showing how evil America is, and to be fair, they were pretty...nasty. The propaganda is a bit too jingoistic for my liking. I did like the quotes taken from the American declaration of independence juxtaposed with descriptions of some of their war crimes, highlighting the injustice of the war.
Afterwards I headed to the reunification palace which is just funny to be honest. I didn't have a guide, so I probably didn't understand the significance of many of the rooms I saw. Just walking around its 1970's decadance reminded me of Tracy Island from Thunderbirds. Unfortunately I did not see Thunderbird 1 blast out from the roof.
In the evening I met up with Tom and Kev, two guys who we originally met in China. It was great to see those guys again. They had bought motorbikes in Hannoi and spent a few months biking down to Saigon. It sounds amazing, and I would love to come back and do that. I'm not sure how mum would feel about it! We went out to a few bars and I bumped into the 3 people from Kent who I met on the bus on the way into Vietnam. We ended up having a big night out in a reggae bar. I am a big fan of Saigon.
Alex, Hannes, and Toni arrived the next day. They did not have a good introduction to Vietnam as Toni had his backpack stolen by the motorbike driver who took them to their hostel. Fortunately, the hostel staff knew who he was, so went around to his parents house to tell them. The guy brought back Toni's passport and cashcards but not his $200, bag, camera, ipod etc. He claimed he "found them somewhere". Toni reported him to the police and he got arrested, and according to the policeman will go to jail for a year. No sign of any of Tonis possessions though.
I got to ride around on the back of Kevs motorbike around Saigon (which is an experience in itself) whilst everybody else went to the war museum. We went to find a snooker hall which was in the middle of nowhere. It was great fun despite losing 4-0.I blame it on me drinking whilst Kev had to drive.
Thats right, you get a snooker glove so the cue doesn't stick in the hot weather.
Dalat
Next we headed up to Dalat, a mountain retreat for the French to escape the heat of Saigon back in the day. The town is quite European, and good to walk around. However, the best of Dalat is out in the countryside. We ended up booking a canyoning day after rave reviews by some Australians who had just done it, and we weren't dissapointed. It is one of the best days we have had whilst travelling so far I would say.
You start off with some absailing down dry walls, in some beautiful countryside, before heading over to the river. Then the real fun begins. It starts off with you absailing down into the river before floating down it for a while and "watersliding" down some rapids on your back. After some floating down the river and splashing about in a waterfall you have a 20 minute trek (feeling very much like vietcong) through the forest alongside the river.
They say you shouldn't swim for 30 minutes after eating, and I think that should apply to absailing down a 30m waterfall as well, which is what we did. It was the first time I actually felt that fear in my gut, but a lot of fun. I got a good video of Alex falling over which I have uploaded to Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/36634627). After lunch was definately the more extreme half of the day. After the waterfall you can do some cliff jumping from 12m alongside another waterfall into a pool at the bottom. Alex didn't do it because you had to have a running jump to clear the cliff below and he didn't trust himself not to trip over or "forget how to use his legs" as he put it. I loved it, and did a few more jumps from the 9m high one as well (http://vimeo.com/36269935). The day finished with a steel toboggan run which was also great fun.
Nha Trang
Nha Trang is a beach resort area which is apparently famous for being a party town (it isn't much of a party town). The area is nice enough, but we have seen enough amazing beaches by now that the beach just seemed okay. I just spent my days here lazing around and swimming in the sea. I had a bad neck so got a massage for 30 minutes. It didn't fix my neck but it was amazing, the best massage I have ever had. I moved on a day earlier than Alex and the Germans again. I have kind of accepted that I won't be able to catch up Ant anymore though. He is too far ahead of us and whenever we move he seems to have moved on twice. Its a shame really but we will see him soon enough.
Hoi An
I arrived in Hoi An after a pretty horrific overnight bus ride. It was a sleeper but it was all very cramped. I was just grateful that I had an attractive girl next to me and not a big hairy bloke. We got sheparded into a free taxi which took us to a hotel. I ended up sharing a room with a girl called Angelina because it saved us both a fair bit of money and neither of us minded. Turns out she is really nice anyway.
We spent the day walking around Hoi An, which is a beautiful place. It has lots of old buildings all painted yellow, and sits nicely alongside a lazy river. There are over 400 tailors in the town, and you can get anything custom made...anything. You can get a very fancy 3 peice suit made for $99, all custom tailored. You can pick any design out of any magazine or internet image and they will copy it. To put them off asking me I said that all I was after was a pair of swim shorts, but turns out that they can make them as well. I'm not sure I really need a tailored pair of swim shorts! Another plus is that beer was 3000 dong per half pint, thats about...10p. We got a bit drunk in the market and Angelina got her palm read by a Cambodian who couldn't speak English so it had to be translated by the waitress.
Angelina bumped into a friend called Adam who she met in Saigon, and we all went to the marble moutains the next day on scooters. That was a lot of fun. Afterwards we walked onto a 5 star resort and used their private beach, not a soul in sight apart from us. The staff didn't seem to mind for some reason.
Hoi An by the river
I saw Alex, Toni, and Hannes again in the evening and I went to a few bars with Alex. I moved onto Hannoi the next day though, whilst they are sticking around in Hannoi for a few more days. It has been funny being a day ahead of them, seeing them for a day, then leaving again. I kind of like it. It is a good mix between time alone and time with good friends.
I flew to Hannoi Saturday morning, opting out of the 18 hour bus ride. A flight was cheap enough for it to be worth while. Although to be fair, I spent most of Saturday holed up in the hostel. In the minibus from the airport to the hostel an old Malaysian lady befriended me and even ended up chosing to stay in the same hostel as me instead of the one she had booked. she is sweet. The hostel is really great though. Hannoi Backpackers is the place to be. I met a guy from Melbourne called Sam in the dorm who had 3TB of films on his laptop so I stole a lot of them and just spent the evening skyping the family. The next day (today) I did a free walking tour of the city. There wasn't really any information but it was nice to see the old quarter and just walk about. You get to meet a lot of people as well. After I walked to the Temple of Literature, which is a great temple, but I am still a bit templed out from Asia.
And that takes us to today. I have just been out for an Indian with Sam and 2 girls in our dorm. I'm still having a great time, and Alex will appear tomorrow with the Germans (hopefully). I did actually miss everybody a lot for a bit...but it passed. I'm joking of course, I miss you all!
