all sorts of far flung-ness

Green as the grass may grow, now i'm heading home

melissajane — Sat, 29 May 2010 12:37:00 GMT

Catchphrase: I have how much time left now? ... seriously?!?

So what does one do when you know you only have three days left in South East Asia? You could wallow in self pity and nostalgia... OR you can go to the ever exciting Melaka stamp museum! Tchyeah!

Bangkok happenings:

So the last time i wrote i had just booked my bus ticket from Siam Reap in Cambodia to Bangkok, on the same day that negotiations broke down and the protests got more violent. My timing, as always, is impeccable.

Though i didn't see much. On the bus to Kao San road i saw glimpses of fires and protests happening, but the rest of the city was eerily quiet. I stayed overnight at an awesomely cheap, grungy hostel on the other side of the river, but even from there i could hear gunshots late into the night. Safe to say i booked a train ticket out of there the next day. Two days later the army folks let loose and the red shirts set fire to banks and such. So it turns out i scored the small window of relative safeness. High fives all round!

Phuket happenings:

The main reason why i had to go to Thailand was to drop in on my friends Monika, Joseph and their wonderdog Leia, who've been living in Phuket for the last two years. I hadn't seen them since i lived in America so i was pretty stoked to catch up with them!

After living in Phuket for so long, Monika had an extensive list of favourite places to take me to. So we were kept busy with trips to the beach, thai massage, and eating at all her favourite food vendors around town. The highlight was having amazingly fresh traditional seafood at the sea gypsy village. And a blind wine tasting of course! It was a difficult four days...! And way too short a time, really. But i had a plane to catch.

Kuala Lumpur happenings:

KL is a strange place to revisit on your own. I originally wanted to stay a few days at my friend Yu's place, but i get funny being in an empty place by myself. So i decided to go straight to Melaka, in the south.

But talk about a major debacle! After asking everyone i met for a good hour, i found out the bus depot had been moved from China town to some stadium on the outskirts of town. And then at the depot no one could tell me which bus i had to take to Melaka. Fun bus times.

I was quite happy to collapse exhausted in teh bus for two and a half hours, but an old Malaysian guy sitting next to me wanted to talk to me nonstop for the rest of the trip. But after telling his whole life story, which was quite entertaining and involved a lot of singing, he decided that he was going to take me out and buy me drinks. I have that effect on old menapparently.

Melaka happenings:

The guesthouse seemed quite nice at first. I was staying in a small dorm, but then a rather large man broke the bed in the air conditioned double bedroom with a balcony. So the owner let me have the room for the same price as the dorm. But then the owner also took more of a fancy to me than i would have liked. One night i woke up in the middle of the night to hear someone trying to get into my room, but i had already bolted the door from the inside. I just assumed that it was someone drunk trying to get into the wrong room. But then the last night i stayed it happened again, this time from both the main door and the door that lead to the balcony, which was connected to the owner's room. I couldn't go to sleep after that, so i moved to a more backpacker style guesthouse, with 18 people to a dorm. And it feels super safer having more peeps around :)

An exciting development was that my backpacker friend Ulrike was also hanging out in Melaka, so we have been seeing the sights, mainly the super awesome quirky museums and eating at every indian restaurant we can find. Our favourite place so far would be the Villa Sentosa, a private family residence filled with antiques and historical artifacts. And doilies. It was like going to your grandparents house in the summer holidays and they get out hundreds of photo albums and tell you stories about everyone in your family. Seriously that's what the owner did! When he wasn't giving us photo albums to look at, he was dragging us through the house, telling us stories and telling us to take photos ourselves. It was hilarious, and i would recommend anyone coming to Melaka to go see him! He is quite a character.

And then Grace arrived from Phnom Penh yesterday, because one goodbye is never enough. We are celebrating/commiserating Ulrike's last day here with museums and more indian food :) As you do.

Future happenings:

So i probably won't get up to much mischief over the next few days. Tomorrow Grace and i head back to KL, then Clare is arriving the next day, and on Tuesday Clare and i fly back to melbourne.

My goodness we leave on Tuesday...!

I've been trying to avoid thinking about being home, and all the organizational shite that's waiting for me there. In an attempt to be enthusiastic i have started compiling a list of all the awesome interesting things i want to do when i get home.Brewing beer, sewing and learning to juggle being high on that list. Oh the excitement

So i hope to see you shiny smiling faces very soonish in a colder melbourne :)

xxx mel

Awed by angkor and airconditioned internet cafes

melissajane — Sat, 15 May 2010 18:11:00 GMT

Catchphrase: You get what you pay for with a 'free dorm'

Everyone can stop with the sleepless nights... my foot is A-okay! Truely. Apart from still feeling bruised-like it is back to it's fine self. Though because i managed to get another bout of stomach sickness straight after i haven't really had a reprieve from antibiotics... until yesterday! Now i am free at last! I am an excited thing.

Phnom Penh happenings:

So the first day my foot was slightly better i went with my fellow backpackers Ulrike and Richard to see a few historical sights around Phnom Penh. The first place was S-21, a high school-turned-prison where the Khmer Rouge tortured and imprisoned thousands of men, women and children. After "confessing" to treason, all were sent out of town to the killings fields, where they were brutally executed. It was a strange thing, because i knew what had happened, read about it, watched documentaries. But seeing the remains of hundreds of people around S-21 and the killing fields, their bones piled together, I realized how recent and immediate these events were. It's distressing, but still important to see.

I spent the next two days volunteering at Sunflower Orphanage, who look after seventeen children between nine and sixteen who have had HIV from birth. At the orphanage they get the medication they need, so they're all still fairly healthy. And cheeky to boot! It was so much fun to play with them for the morning. In the afternoon the volunteers go to the front of the National Museum or the Royal Palace and fund raise for the orphanage. It was lovely to raise money and give a little something to help out. If you're in Siam Reap ever you should drop in!

Kampot happenings:

We decided to leave the bright lights of Phnom Penh for the sleepy little town of Kampot that had been so highly recommended to us. When we first got into town the guesthouse we had picked was too expensive for the likes of us, so when a guy on a motorbike told us he could take us to his cheap guesthouse for free, we thought that was a pretty good deal. (By the way, his name is Darin, if you ever meet him.)He took us to a hotel on the outskirts and then started with the offers to take us on tours, even around town to bars and restaurants. We're fairly capable of doing that ourselves, and we said so. But he had already made up his mind that we were his "clients" to look after. This was the beginning of a few very uncomfortable days in Kampot. The next day when we tried to leave the hotel for a better one, the hostess was already on the phone to him. He arrived a minute later, asking us where we were going. We said we were meeting friends at another guesthouse. He then insisted on giving us a lift to the new hotel, and there was no way out of it without a scene. By a stroke of luck, i burnt my leg on the exhaust as i was getting off the motorbike - a handy excuse i used later to never go on his motorbike again.

I didn't get to see much of Kampot, because every time we left our guesthouse we met Darin, and we'd have to decline his offers to take us out somewhere for ten minutes. Each time we said no he was getting more frustrated and angry, so we decided to leave early the next morning. I was in teh middle of buying our bus tickets out of there when Darin found us, how i have no idea. He got real angry, called us liars and god knows what else, right in front of everyone on the street. We left pretty soon after that.

Sihanoukville happenings:

The beach! I was pretty excited to swim in something other than the Mekong for once. The beach bungalows were a whopping $US25 an night, but we got word of a 'free dorm' at a bar called Utopia. The price was right so we dumped our stuff there and went to the beach. We hadn't sat for two seconds before we were surrounded by beachworkers, asking if we wanted anything from harmless fruit to getting our legs waxed. ON THE BEACH. WITH STRING. An effective selling technique (apparently) is to tell us how hairy our legs are, that we would never get boyfriends EVER unless we had smooth legs, and then start to remove the hair before we had time to say no. Not your typical day at the beach.

After we survived the first onslaught, four girls wanted to sell us bracelets. After saying we didn't want anything for ten minutes they decided we needed 'free', 'friendship' bracelets, which we also said we didn't want. After 15 minutes it got nasty. One girl started a tantrum with tears, another said that if i didn't give her money she wouldn't leave me alone all day. One was swearing at us in Khmer and English. I couldn't believe how how quickly they became so bitter and angry. It's upsetting, that they're young and exploited, and so desperate for money they will say and try anything. I don't give money to children, and i try not to act interested in wares that i do not want. But it's still difficult sometimes.

So we got what we paid for with the 'free' dorm. Apparently monday nights at Utopia GO OFF and so we went to sleep in the wee hours to Cambodia's top house/mashup DJ. Oh yes. And did i mention that the dorm was actually a garage too? No? It was a hilarious if not restful night.

Siam Reap happenings:

ANGKOR...

goodness

It was mindblowingly awesome. Expensive, but awesome. The best thing we did was to hire a guide for the day, who not only told us really interesting facts and legends regarding the temples, but also pointed out strangely shiny parts on the celestial nymph statues, caused by men rubbing them inappropriately. He was great value.

To avoid temple overload, we watched the sunrise (5:30!) over Angkor Wat, then spent the rest of the morning exploring around Ankor Thom, the ancient city centre. In the afternoon we swung by the aesthetic but overcrowded Ta Phrom, the one famously overgrown with massive trees. This was my all-time favourite, but really seeing the forest reclaim anything rocks my socks. Then we entered Angkor Wat from the eastern entrance and did a fair amount of exploring there too.

It's a wonderfully spectacular place. We were lucky enough not only to be here in the low season - although the heat can get pretty unbearable - but to also have one savvy guide, who helped us avoid the worst of the tourist congestion. And now i've been to one of the seven wonders of the world! High fives all round...

It is a sad affair, with Grace and i finally going our separate ways after nearly three months. I didn't think anyone could put up with me for that long, let alone still talk to me! But she's a gem :) I'm trying to keep my jealousy in check while wishing her the safest and raddest of travels... and hoping she finds her way back to Melbourne soon! Even if it's just for the fruit trees.

So that's all for Cambodia! I'm off tomorrow on another epic bus/train/bus ride from Siam Reap to Phuket. And also, unavoidably, Bangkok. It'd seemed to settle there for a while but of course, as soon as i bought my tickets, things changed again. I am a bit nervous but as long as i stay away from the center of town, and not wear certain coloured articles of clothing, i should be fine and dandy!

Anyway wish me luck!

xxx mel

Keeping it riel, Cambodian style

melissajane — Mon, 3 May 2010 14:25:00 GMT

Catchphrase: "Happy" is just another word for trouble

I haven't written anything for ages! I blame the heat. It makes me sleepy. Oh and the fact that this is the second time i've written this entry. Stupid not-working-save-button grrr!

Vang Viang happenings:

After the new year festival in Luang Prabang, we headed to the backpacker equivalent of mecca: Vang Viang. The drawcard is barhopping down the Nam Sung river in tyre tubes. The river is lined with bamboo bars that pull you in from the river, ply you with alcohol, and send you on your merry way again. It wasn't really our scene, so we opted to stay out of town at the organic mulberry farm. Unfortunately just nearby was where the tubing actually started so we could still hear the ghetto blasters pumping bad 90s pub anthems most of the day. It was a bizzare contrast to the wholesome farmness we found ourselves in. Oh my goodness the mulberry pancakes... and the mulberry shakes. They were too good to get over.

The organic farm has a few projects going, one being an english night school for the local peeps. The first night Grace and i went, we were just given a lesson book with conversations in it. But the kiddies learnt that day's so quickly we were stumped as to what to do next. We tried to stall them with "Heads and Shoulders" but apparently that had been done before. However we rocked their socks with the Hokey Pokey. Seriously the playground WENT OFF. And littlies screaming at the top of their lungs are just the best.

And Grace and I went caving! Sort of. Instead of a guided tour, which was crazy expensive, we just walked to one ourselves and went exploring. It was the most excitingly awesome thing i've done so far. Seriously, going by ourselves with just pocket torches down slippery bamboo ladders... i still can't believe we did it! We spent nearly an hour going further and further into the massive cave, only turning back because we were worried our torches might go out! We turned them off a couple of times but it was too dark!

Vientiane happenings:

The capital of Laos was a strange mix of French and Laos. We hired bikes for a day, just to take in the sights: Patuxai (The Laos version of the Arc de Triumph in Paris) Pha That Luang temple, the markets. I've missed riding my bike like crazy so it was ace to be riding again!

Champasak happenings:

To whet out Angkor Wat Appetite we stopped off to see the ruins at Champasak. They're similar in age and style, but less extensive and we had the place to ourselves in the morning. The best part was looking over the ruins from the sanctuary above, with the cool breeze and the shady trees.

We'd organised to be picked up afterwards by our hotel owner's son. But when he did, he told us that he had to drop in on a friend first, and we could have lunch there with them. We thought this sounded okay, and soon we were sitting on the floor of the loungeroom with his group of male friends, eating lunch, listening to Lao pop turned up full blast and declining multiple rounds of Beerlao and cigarettes. I think they didn't know what to do with us really :) Then abruptly we were told we were leaving and got in the car again. Further down the road our driver had to stop at another friend's house for "five minutes". Two hours later we were singing and dancing to Laos karaoke, and drinking beerlao with the whole family. I am still not sure how it happened or if i dreamt it or not. It was a very surreal experience.

Don Det happenings:

So we spent the last few says in the 4000 islands in Laos, where the Mekong gets all shalow and fans out to create the islands and waterfalls. We stayed at Don Det, the main tourist island. It was a beautiful place, but it is turning into Vang Vieng, with most villagers building riverside bungalows instead of farming, and most places selling "happy" food in every form.

On the last day we hired bikes again and went around Don Det and Don Kohn, the neighbouring island. One thing about bike riding on an island is that you cannot get lost. Or if you do, you will eventually find the road that goes around the outside and then you will be fine. Also when it gets too hot to ride, you are not far from the mekong for a quick dip. Islands really can be convenient sometimes.

So then we made the Cambodian crossing more complicated than it needed to be. We'd met some travellers at Don Det who had bus tickets to Phnom Penh, but wanted to go to Siam Reap instead. Being the good folk we are we decided to buy the tickets off them. But when it came to leaving in the morning, we were told to follow a teenage boy, presumably to our bus. Instead he lead us to a car and made out that he was driving us to the border. I'd already heard stories of travellers being left at the border so we refused. The situation was made funnier when he went to start the car, but in gear, nearly crashing into the fence. We had to wait another half an hour before another guy came along, told us he worked for the company and that there would be a bus waiting for us at the border. So we drove with him to the border.

Actually everything worked out okay after that, for us. There were also people who were going to Siam Reap, who were told in Laos that they would get off half way and get another VIP bus. Unfortunately on the Cambodian side they were told that unless more money was paid, they too would go to Phnom Penh. It was my first real taste of the famed 'Cambodian scams' i'd heard about. Luckily we were okay this time, but i'm sure they will make things interesting on the buses we catch in the future!

Phnom Penh happenings:

So how it is possible that in such a fabulous exciting new city, i've managed to spend a ridiculous amount of time cooped up writing on the computer? As it turns out, getting a small scratch on my foot in Laos is a serious thing of sorts. My right foot has become so infected and swollen over the last two days i can barely walk. My foot is a strangely beautiful, painful thing right now. I will not be taking photos.

It's all peachy though. $70US later i am reassured i don't have a flesh eating virus, or blood poisoning, and i have antibiotics that should do the trick. It would be nice to see more of Phnom Penh than the medical centre and the Green Lake Hostel though!Bring it!

I thought i'd never fall in laove, again...

melissajane — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 15:16:00 GMT

Catchphrase: Bigger IS better when it comes to supersoakers during the laos new year.

I was a bit devestated saying goodbye to Clare and Waz in Hanoi :( And maybe a little bit more than jealous... what's China got that i don't have, anyway?!?

Sapa happenings:

This place is gorgeous! Because we only had two nights to play with, we'd organised a two day homestay tour thang back in Hanoi. It was great! As soon as we got off the sleeper train at Loi Cai, they loaded us up and took us to Sapa. From there, a traditionally dolled up H'mong woman called Lan (she's the raddest thing ever) took us through rice paddies and villages for two days. It was stunning, especially once you lost the masses of local women trying to sell you jewellery in each village... so quiet and peaceful. Broken by Lan laughing alot. It was a bit fabulous :)

Tourism is big business here though, so everything's changing. Homestays - although you are still staying in a local family's home - are being converted to larger, more modern barns with western facilities and large dorm-like bedrooms. Also there are masses of market women everywhere, that constantly walk around selling wares from the baskets on their backs. It's always hard to say no, but made almost impossible when everything they show you is all handmade gorgeousness. It's completely unfair.

Vietnam/Laos border crossing happenings:

Also known as A RIDICULOUSLY HILARIOUS YET EPIC BUS RIDE.

We got it into our heads that from Sapa it was smooth sailing to go to the Laos border and then onto Luang Prabang to meet some good friends of ours. To Dien Bien, the last town this side of the border, it was 10 hours of windy hairpin turns, hit-your-head-on-the-roof bumpiness and spectacular mountanous views the whole way. It was a wild, wild ride. Made more themepark-ride-like by the amount of locals that kept throwing up constantly.

We stayed overnight in Dien Bien, and caught up again with a sweet as german called Ulrike. Actually it was one of the best sendoffs to Vietnam ever. We ending up befriending a group of cheeky local taxi drivers who plied us with tobacco and vietnamese tea all night. Vietnam rocked my socks. I can't wait to come back sometime really soonish :)

The bus to Laos was even wilder than the first bus. About a kilometer from the border the bus stopped in the middle of nowhere, and then we found out that the road was actually being made RIGHT IN FRONT OF US. No seriously! The bus couldn't get through for all the heavy machinery and roadworks. So we walked to the Laos border... how rad is that?!? The bus eventually got through while we were doing official visa-ness.

More bussing, more hijinks. In the end it took us three days and something close to 30 hours bussing time (like hammer time except on the move) so we were pretty chuffed to make it to Luang Prabang, capital of funtimes.

Luang Prabang happenings:

We got to see Esther and Finn! They are pretty fabulous. And they took us to a pretty fabulous waterfall out of town, but not to where everyone swims... to the SECRET spot. Truely. It was the best day ever. When i get back i will show you photos.

I got sick guys! It was the least fun i've had yet! Imagine! I'm over the worst now but my stomach is still in an unhappy place. I blame the ice cold fruit shakes. They are pure evil. All four of us got sick eventually, but we were clever and staggered ourselves :) One of the perks of travel buds.

We arrived just shy of the most epic and awesome event EVER: Laos new year! Why is it so exciting? It's a free-for-all, everywhere/anywhere/anyone three-day water fight! As someone who grew up water-deprived in australia this is friggin awesome! Although lacking in supersoaker prowess, i grew up playing a shiteload of tombraider which i think helped :) Anyway there was no way to really prepare for the watery chaos that is Luang Prabang right now. It's one giant gauntlet of buckets, hoses and more recently talc powder. And everyone's so appreciative about getting wet because it's so hot! It's all fun and games.

Anyway that's where i'll leave you. Writing all of that made me realise that i WASN'T wet i AM hot and i don't even make MYSELF laugh anymore.

So long cherubs,

xxx mel

Tall tales of piracy and high adventure on the seas of Cat Ba

melissajane — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 15:44:00 GMT

Catchphrase: Flattery will give you my trust as well as VND 2,500,000 from my wallet

I was robbed guys! Oh the highjinks! But i am getting ahead of myself.

Nha Trang happenings:

We didn't stay long here, partly because it was a mega touristy beach town and partly because THERE WAS A DROWNED PIGLET ON THE SHORELINE. This brought up some vague nostalgic memories of swimming at st kilda beach, but not for long. Maybe a few seconds.

Hoi An happenings:

This place was the death of me! Or more accurately my finely crafted budget. Every second shop was some sort of tailor or boot maker. Which basically means that they're all in stiff competition with everyone else, since there's not enough tourists to go round. I felt quite popular, what with people trying to befriend me every two steps so that i would buy something off them :) Bring on the attention! I love attention! And i love clothes! So it was a very joyous afternoon. But then i got the worst migraine EVER. I think this was my brain's indirect way of keeping me financially viable. Brains are amazing things...

One other thing which is on my list of "mindblowingly awesome things i've done so far" is the My Son ruins. Grace and i got up at the godforsaken hour of 5am for a sunrise tour and it was gorgeous! We were the only silly people up so early so we had the place to ourselves for hours. Well worth it. Then when a bus full of strangely dressed peeps arrived, our tourguide got uber excited and started filming THEM! Apparently they were a bus of Cham people, the same that made the My Son hindu temples a thousand years ago. The tourguide had never seen them or heard them speak, so she was understandably chuffed. I think it's a good thing when a tour guide gets more excited than you do. Except maybe about finishing the tour. That would be bad.

Bach Ma happenings:

So after all that Hoi An whoo-haa we managed to get a bus to Can Hai, a town halfway between Denang and Hue that was right next to Bach Ma national park. Although when we got off the bus there weren't any taxis: only motorbikes! Who can say no to motorbikes?! We kind of justified the dangerous-ness of the ride because we were in a rural village rather than a city or a highway... and the idea of being on a motorbike with a complete stranger sounded pretty rebellious and awesome to me :) And it was fast! At one point my motorbike went the wrong way, only to take a shortcut and catch up in superb super mario kart fashion! (no turtles were thrown/harmed)

Because there heavy roadworks in the national park we couldn't stay at the summit, only the park gate. Which was AMAZING because we got fed a vegetarian feast every night by the canteen staff (easily pleased as we are!) Although, i found out it is better to find a live mouse in the bathroom bin than it is to find a dead mouse under your pillow in the morning. The room grace and i were staying in apparently hadn't been used in some time. I got to do the whole girlie-girl mouse response when i found the first mouse, which was nice. Got over that fiasco, and then grace woke up the next day - after sleeping poorly - and realised that there was a dead mouse under her pillow. This trip has been so full of useful life lessons, we are going to end up the savviest group of groovers ever! Nothing will surprise us. Dead mice? We LAUGH in the face of dead mice! Mwah ha ha!

But it was not all mice and rice! Not at all! We went for a fabulous walk up the mountain to a waterfall. As far as i am concerned we are all champions because it was intensely hot that day and that coupled with the humidity made for four very sweat-saturated campers. But once we got to the waterfall it was amazing! And there were fish that nibbled your legs if you stayed still too long: i felt like i was at a saigon day spa ;)

And at the end of the hike i got my first leech! It was taking my blood without asking, which was quite rude. The canteen staff tried to rip it off me, but i finally convinced them to get me some salt, thank goodness. I have never been so grossed out. I didn't know what happened to leeches when you put salt on them, and now i do. Purging isn't pretty. I didn't take a picture.

Hanoi happenings (Round I) :

Hanoi is so fabulously overcast, cold and rainy! It is like my Melbourne away from Melbourne, with extra chocolate croissants. I'm a bit smitten. But we didn't stay long here, just enough time to catch up with our friend Evan for a real grownup night out of beer and icecream, and get all organisational. Clare and Wazza are both heading to china in a week and a bit but Grace and i are heading onto Laos instead. We're still not really sure when or how we're getting there, partly because we keep getting distracted by the awesome cafes and the chocolate croissants previously mentioned. And it is easier to plan what you're doing next when you're sailing around islands on a junk, so that's what we decided to do first.

Ha Long happenings:

And now i come to the events of a single day, which make up what i am unofficially calling "the worst day travelling ever" (which closes the possibility of there being another day worse than this - i am super clever)

We stayed one night in Ha Long City, and planned to go to cat ba in the afternoon. But Grace's card got eaten by an ATM machine, so we had to make a few calls and organise a new card to be sent to Hanoi. But it was all good because i'd taken onough money out beforehand to get us to Cat Ba and back. It was after lunch by the time we took a taxi to the ferry. But the taxi driver mixed up which marina we were meant to go to and took us to the wrong one 5km out of town! Cruelly, we'd missed the last ferry for the day by a few minutes. While we were trying to work out our next move a guy came up offering us a lift on his boat. The price was ridiculous but by this stage we had all had our hearts set on leaving Ha long. So we agreed. The boat ride went through the amazing limestone islands surrounding Cat Ba, so i went to the front to take a few photos. Stupidly i left my bag in the cabin with the others, but then they all came out as well. I didn't think to go back in for my bag, as everyone else had done the same... and who was inside the boat other than the crew? Surely they couldn't steal money out of my bag AND drive the boat? Actually they could. Thinking myself super savvy, i checked that my wallet was still in my bag when we eventually docked, out of habit, but didn't think to look INSIDE the wallet.

It was a very silly mistake, and one that i can't really rectify. The police here cannot help me because we got the ferry from a different district, even though i could identify the two people involved from the business card they gave me beforehand (!!). Not only that but my insurance doesn't cover any cash lost. In short, it ended up being the most expensive ferry ride ever. And I know it's a newbie mistake to make. I guess it's because i'm not used to traveling in a group. There's a sense of security: we're all looking out for each other, we'd notice something like that, etc. I just have to get back into my old habits and put my wary hat on.

Cat Ba happenings:

But it was still worth it! We found a fabulous tour company (Cat Ba ventures) run by Mr. Tung and his wife. So the first day we went on their day tour. We were shown around this huge cave-turned-secret-military-hospital build in the american war. I couldn't believe that through constant air attacks these people managed to construct a three story hospital inside a remote mountain in just three years. Not only that but our guide's brother and several other people he knew were born there! The Vietnamese are so resilient.

We also stopped at a national park to do an hour and a half walk up a mountain. If the steep scramble didn't put you off, the constant swarms of wasps might. I've never been so panicky, i literally sprinted all the way up! But as long as the guide didn't swat at them they just seemed to want to catch a free lift up the mountain on our clothes. This was small comfort though. And the local guide was hilarious! Apart from his misguided attempts at killing all the wasps, he picked us edible fruit from the side of the path, threw sticky plants at us constantly and even jumped out from the bushes as a joke. He was the best nature guide ever!

But the best thing we did was go on an overnight cruise on a junk. These beautiful boats go around to the different islands towing kayaks that you can use to explore by yourself. Most caves had these amazing lagoons that you could only access through kayaking through a SEA CAVE! Oh my goodness i was so excited. And there are huge sea jellies that are 50cm in diameter just cruising around too. We also went to the Surprise Cave, which was exactly that. You could only access it from a boat, then you had to climb up the cliff to this massive limestone cave. We were all very impressed and took lots of pictures. Then we went further along the path to where it opened up to the REAL cave. It was the definition of CAVENOUS. I couldn't see the end of it. And there were massive limestone crystal columns and stalagtites everywhere. I could totally understand the tourist draw, especially after seeing graffiti from 1904 ( i guess they didn't have guestbooks then) It's my favourite place so far.

I wasn't going to add Cat Ba onto this entry, but after what happened in Ha long i just wanted to end on how awesome Cat Ba is. So although i was essentially pickpocketted by pirates, the peeps on Cat Ba are lovely and we had the most awesome of times.And it's all about the story yeah? :)

Hope you're all peachy and i'll probably write again once i'm in Laos!

xxx mel

Pho for breakfast, lunch and tea: 'tis the life for me!

melissajane — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 17:31:00 GMT

Catchphrase: No, i do not need five pairs of counterfeit ray bands. Thank you though!

Sai gon happenings:

I'm in Vietnam! Saigon to be exact. It's been a long time coming.

The first thing to really hit you after leaving the airport is the Traffic (note use of capital) I have never seen anything like it! The are literally hundreds and hundreds of motorbikes taking up every square inch of the road - and the footpath sometimes - as well as the usual cars and buses. It's not unusual to see whole families on one motorbike, or a mother carrying a baby on the back. It's so surreal! It's total chaos, at first, but then after a while you realize there is some order. Pedestrians give way to absolutely everything. Motorbikes give way to anything bigger and heavier (cars and buses) then cars give way to buses, and buses answer to nobody.

But more daunting than driving in the Traffic is CROSSING ROADS IN VIETNAM. A friend of clare's suggested doing it with your eyes closed. That suggestion should not be taken literally, but i can see their point. Pedestrian crossings, as well as red lights, are there more as a suggestion rather than to stop the Traffic. It's best to adopt a nonchalant, fearless attitude. Motorcyclists will not stop for you. In fact, they will aim straight towards you, anticipating that you will continue to walk across the road. So any hesitation - any hesitation AT ALL - will pretty much lead to a extremely close encounter with a fast approaching motorbike. I don't want to scare any of the mums out there that might be reading this but it has to be said. So the idea is to walk across the road, paying no attention to the motorbikes/cyclists/food carts that fly past you. Okay maybe a little bit. I believe the less you think about it the easier it is.

So i don't think i'll do much facebooking in the near future. It's really difficult to access it here in vietnam, either it doesn't load, it cuts out intermittently, or the keyboard is set for vietnamế. And before you knock my internet savvyness - facebook doesn't work for other people too. The solution: facebook lite! Actually, i like it heaps better. It's just the bare backbone of facebook: no ads, applications, spam... and it works in vietnam! Sometimes. More often than not. Anyway thought i'd give you the heads up!

Pretty much every night we've been in saigon we've gravitated to the local exercise park next to the backpacker district. Everyone there is playing games, stretching ridiculously and running in the most bizarre styles. The first night though we were walking past with full bellies and saw two locals, standing about five meters apart, kicking a shuttlecock to each other with impressive accuracy. A guy sitting on a motorbike saw us ogling and gave us one to play with, and that was our initiation into the amazing game of căư (pronounced gaow, sort of) although we affectionately call it "hackeycock" We are terrible at it. They make it look so easy but it really isn't. We looked so bad that one night, a local lady came over - kim - and gave us a two/three hour lesson on how to kick straight. By the time i get back to melbourne i'm going to turn pro. Or at least better than one person. I aim high.

Mee kong delta happenings:

We took a cheap as tour through the mee kong delta for two days (~US20) which was pretty amazing. Basically the tour consisted of taking us up various rivers and canals, stopping at some family owned sheds that made rice noodles, coconut candy. And the floating markets were incredible. Each family had a boat that would stay in the mee kong for a week to sell their produce, then they'd head back to their villages, pick up more fruit and vegetables and start all over again.

While taking the bus to a ferry, traffic slowed to a grinding halt and it took us close to an hour to go just four kilometers. Grace and i needed to stretch our legs so we got out of the bus and walked along the side of the road to find a water closet (toilet) We found a strange place, half restaurant, half hostel, and decided to go inside. They were all helpful and the like. But when i went to use the WC, i could hear grace talking a fair bit to someone. As i got out of the WC there was a young vietnamese girl with a camera phone taking photos of me leaving the WC?!? They were not used to seeing foreigners so they were taking photos! It was weird, but then again this was what we'd been doing pretty much our whole trip... i guess this was karma. So i finally resigned myself... but then every shot she took of me, she shook her head, and took another one! Apparently i'm not so photogenic as i though i was :(

Also a recent development has also been that my camera's memory card has decided to become 'read only'. I think it's trying to protect itself from a virus. In any case it's being incredibly annoying and difficult :( All i can do is hopefully transfer the existing photos onto a USB before wiping the card and starting over. We shall see.

Tonight we're catching the 11:00pm sleeper from Ho Chi Minh to Nha Trang. We chose the 'hard' sleeper as opposed to the 'soft' sleeper because we are far from soft. We are hardcore TO THE MAX. We are like diamonds amongst ripened pears. Seriously.

Right now we're holed up in a semi-air conditioned internet cafe, just until it cools down enough to venture out again. I can't work out whether i'm getting used to the heat, or it's that i've only become more savvy at avoiding the worst of it. I'm pretty good at turning on various models of hotel air conditioners now :)

So long sticky chickens!

xxx mel

Still finding sand from langkawi

melissajane — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:12:00 GMT

Catchphrase: Saya hanya makan sayuran... no seriously.

Where were we... sorry, we jumped around a fair bit this week... so if it looks like i'm all over the place - it's because we were! Ha! Jealous much?

Penang happenings:

So we left the relatively cooler cameron highlands (insert sobbing here) for penang, just off the west coast. This meant we had to catch a FERRY which was all sorts of excitement. Not to mention it's amazingly sweet paint job. I love all the colours here, everything they paint is so welcoming and joyous.

Georgetown - the city on penang - is world heritage listed, so it's filled with all these beautiful derelict terrace buildings and mansions. We staying at the blue diamond hostel, a grand old hotel with huge rooms and EXTREMELY squeaky beds... which kept us entertained for a bit too long. The hostel was also home to a few local bar flies that advised us not to be like paul keating on this trip. It will be difficult but we'll do our best.

And because we were only spending one night in penang (before heading to langkawi the next day) we thought we'd be responsible and get an early night. Little did we know that the blue diamond GOES OFF with a live cover band right next to our room until the wee hours. The only person to sleep through it all was Clare. She is a strange one.

Langkawi happenings:

Ahh langkawi - the byron bay of malaysia. We came for the beach and then ended up taking some with us. We're still finding it in our bags. Unfortunately, langkawi was a well deserved tourist mecca, with idyllic beaches, hot weather and cheap eats. Although, it was difficult to find a restaurant that didn't cater to western tastes in the town where we stayed.

And the peeps here are super tanned! Here i was in a rash vest, broad brimmed hat sitting under the shade of a palm tree while folk were intentionally frying themselves silly. Not only that, but i managed to tan as well :( Mel = 0 Sun = 1 (Malaysian round) But it's all good... i can just buy some of that sweet SPF 90+ whitening cream before i go home to go back to pasty goodness. Never fear ;)

Malaysia happenings:

We spent a night in langkawi and then took another ferry (!!!) back to the mainland. To get back from Alor Setar to KL we boarded a SLEEPER TRAIN (which is exactly what it sounds like) We were all pretty excited, especially clare, who was so excited about being on a sleeper she didn't get any sleep at all.

We got to KL Sentral station at 6am in the morning... and while we were sitting getting our bearings there was a MINI YELLOW VULTURE in the food court eating leftovers. Truely! I thought i was hallucinating when i saw one back home in melbourne, but now we've all shared a collective hallucination in malaysia people believe me! These things are out there you guys!

And that's about it really. We stayed another fabulous night at yu's place, (thanks yu!) before flying out the next day to vietnam. But because this has gone on far too long i'm going to stop there.

Stay feisty,

xxx mel

Highland highlights and KL delights

melissajane — Thu, 4 Mar 2010 23:02:00 GMT

Today's catchphrase: best (insert here) ever guys!

KL happenings:

Firstly, i just want to say how amazingly awes our flight was... mainly due to TRAVEL BOGGLE which i never knew existed! So rad... never fly without one guys! We were the envy of the whole cabin. Or the looks i interpreted as jealous side glances were in fact thinly disguised hatred. Boggle is not the quietest of games.

We ended up staying in KL for two nights, in a friend's apartment in bengsar. KL is huge! We spend most of the time in taxis, trains and monorails... which sounds lame as, but it gave us time to work out why malaysian motorcyclists wear their jackets back to front! And it's not to keep their tummies dry (which was my first thought) It's cooler apparently, style and temperature wise. And that's when it lost it's magic for me...

Also, if my sister is reading this, i wanted to mention FISH SPAS, which you can find at any china town massage stall. The premise is you put your feet in a foot spa with many tiny fishies and they eat the dead skin from your feet. I know from when this happened to my sister in a hot spring when we were little, it is not the relaxing/ rejuvenating experience these stalls claim it to be. Naturally i was wary of such treatments and i think everyone should be as well.

Cameron highland happenings:

The busride here did not have an auspicious start. They overbooked the bus, but instead of making us get the next one the bus driver bullied a girl to give up her seat for us. We tried to get off and that just made things worse. It was really upsetting. Being treated a little differently is one thing, but kicking someone off the bus for us 'westerners' was awful. Apart from that the five hour bus ride was uneventful, and beautiful to see real forest instead of the sea of palm plantations around KL airport.

We're staying at the Twin Pines Hostel in Tanah Rata, Cameron Highlands. Thanks Uncle Drew for the recommendation. Apart from the thin walls the hostel peeps are super friendly and lovely. I might be a bit biased though... my malaysian nickname being "miss australia". I told you all i was pretty...

Another recommendation from drew was to have a 'steamboat', a tom yum soup thang that gets cooked at your table. It was about the raddest thing ever, but then our waiter was all "who's the captain?" and "have fun on your journey!" which made me believe i was almost on a steamboat myself. Steamboats are awesome.

Oh and we went on the best tour ever today! For rm25 (~$10) our tour guide robbie took us to a tea plantation (it was my willie wonka equivalent seriously) then to a butterfly/creepy crawly farm where they threw insects onto us for half an hour. We also ate tangy strawberries and scones at one of their strawberry farms, and i bought a melon thingy that tasted exactly like a toffee apple but didn't look at all like one. It was the best day ever! Seriously!

On a side-note, i have conquered the asian toilet! The trick is to show no fear... and carry tissues. And only four days in... i'm pretty impressive if i do say so myself.

Anyway we're busing to penang tomorrow at eight in the morning... VIP class (= fancy curtains) so early night tonight peeps.

Hope you're keeping fine and fancy free and i'll post again soon!

xxx mel

"I have nothing to declare except my genius"

melissajane — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 14:40:00 GMT

Hello there! Welcome to my travel blog of sorts.

Because ultimately i'm an incredibly lazy and unreliable email writer, i'm going to use this doobie-wacker to let you folks know what i'm up to on a semi-regular basis. Imagine! It's going to be grand ;D

Anywho i'm flying out tomorrow and i'm yet to finish packing. Jeebus. Very much looking forward to relaxing malaysian beachiness...

xxx mel