Moin's magical mystery tour

Borneo - Brunei and Sabah (East Malaysia)

moineyboy — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 14:35:00 GMT

Arrived in Bruenei and booked myself into the youth hostel. It's probably the nicest hostel I've stayed in, reminded me a little of Uni halls, but not en-suite. Saw a few sites in a taxi. The capital Bandar Seri Bagawan only has about 100,000 residents, but is made to look like a city, witha few large buildings and imposing govt. buildings, most of which resemble mosques. Many of my buidlings I have been told are hald empty.

Saw the royal palace, from a distance, which is the largest in the world and the impressive mosque in town and the waterfront with the water village. The residents in the water village are keeping tradition alive by still residing on the water, but many of them have cars parked across the river, which I found funny.

There were a couple fo cool guys, Momar and Julian staying at the guesthouse so had dinner with them and a girl who was staying at the hostel too. We ate in an outdoor food quarter and had the best seafood I haev ever eaten. It was probably aslo the cheapest at about 4 pounds per head. We had shark, clams, blue legged crab and massive prawns, with antennae about 7 inches long. All in all very satisfied with the meal.

The next day I left for Kota Kinabalu. Or so i thought. I slept in as was still very tired so caught a ferry to Pulau Lubaun and missed the last connecting ferry so had to stay one night on this island. pretty dull! There are a few WWII wrecks and ac ouple of other wrecks, but as I'm not qualifed to wreck dive there was no point being there, so booked a ferry to Kota Kinabalu as soon as I arrived there for the next day.

Arrived in Kota Kinabalu (KK)to a torrential downpour. I walked about 10 metres and literally every part of my clothing was drenched. It was horrid. KK is pretty dull too. Some lovely restaurants and the hostel I'm in is pretty nice and cheap at about 2.60 per night, with free internet and breakfast!! Need to research where I'm going next. Either Mount Kinabalu national park or Sepilok to meet some orang utans! Need to get out of KK that's for sure.

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Went on a day tour to Kinabalu national park. Met some cool people Carl, James and Thomas. First stop was the Poring hot springs, which I had heard before would be disappointing. It was very similar to the springs in Pai which I went to 5 weeks earlier, but more touristic. However, there was a cool canopy walkway 41m above the ground and very humid. Didn't see as much wildlife as hoped for, but was still pretty cool with massive trees and our guide Marius was very knowledgable and simply brilliant! Had a scrupmtious and very large lunch before heading to a garden to see the largest flower in the world, the Rafflesia flower (named after Sir. Thomas Stanford Raffles - of Raffles hotel fame). The subspecies we saw rafflesia Keithii is actually the second largest flower after another Rafflesia flower found only in Sumatra. Still it was easily the biggest flower I'd ever seen and probably will ever see and that's enough horticultural talk.

Then we went to the actual Kinabalu national park and went to the botanical garden there. The botanical garden is on higher ground to the canopy walkway and garden which we previously visited so it was refresshingly cool here and the trees are smaller and thinner. We saw some lovely orchids, the worlds largest moss, ginger plants, cinamon (however you spell it) trees and a few creepy crawlies, whose names I cannot remember. Then Marius said he's show us more insects. I thought he'd take us to an insect farm or to another part of the forst. instead he took us to a shrubery near the car park. To our amasement there were quite a few stick insects, grasshoppers and brightly coloured spiders. I'm starting to sound like Alan Titchmarsh ;-)

On the way back we stopped to take pics of the majestic Mt. Kinabalu, S.E. Asia'a highest peak. It's the tallest mountain I've seen and apart from the few masts shich have been put up on one of its slopes, is still a spectacle, with the couple of large waterfalls cascading down its sides and the way the coulds almost formed a halo around its summit.

Went back to boring KK and had a superb Indian meal and played pool with Carl and James for a while, whilst doing impressions of Harold Bishop from neighbours, because the girl behind the bar we were in was called Harold. Seriously!

The next day I woke up to discover I'd finally been hit by traveller's diarrhoea. I'd jinxed myself the night before by saying I hadn't been hit by it and I thought I'd be immune to it by now. Ohh well. I popped a couple of Immodium and left for Sandakan.

The journey to Sandakan passed Mt. Kinabalu and a fair bit of rain forest. We also passed through some massive palm plantations, which was quite a sad sight. Finally arrived in Sanadakan and needed thew loo again so I booked myself into a budget, but quality hotel room, with en-suite, as I didn't fancy jumping off a top bunk and runnning to the loo again. It was less than 7 pounds a night, but i'm trying to budget even more now so that I have sufficient money for Australia and New Zealand. Stayed in my room most of the night and the next day, but this was made easier by the fact the room had a TV, with 3 sports channels (so pretty much guaranteed to see football on the box whenever i turn it on. Cashback!)and DVD player. The owner and his wife are very pleasant and helpful with a massive DVD collection. It was almost like being at home.

When I had recovered I did a day trip to Sepilok orang utan rehabilitaion centre. I got there for the 3pm feeding time and it was pretty cool, apart from the 60 - 70 other people there watching the orang utans with me. This was the main reason I'd come to Borneo and it was very special. They are so human like, in a sweet way and the macaques on the other hand are soo human in a not soo sweet way. Didn't see any alpha males, but it was still special for me. I'm going on a 2 day trip up the Sungai Kinabantangan (Sabah's largest river tomorrow) so will hopefully see loads more wildlife. Fingers crossed!

Vietnam

moineyboy — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 13:20:00 GMT

The bus journey from Ventianne to Hanoi took about 18 hours. At the border a Canadian guy who had put his passport through the wash was denied entry into Vietnam because of it. I really felt for him as he'd put the passport through the wash before applying for his visa and was given a Vietnamese visa, but one of the border patrol guards was being arsey so didn't let him pass. Therefore, he had to do the 10 hour bus journey in reverse. To make things worse, my mate Grievesey put his passport through the wash twice and was allowed into Vietnam.

Arrived in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. We were staying at the Kangaroo hotel in the middle of the Old town, which is the heartbeat of Hanoi. I highly recomend this place. Linh and her staff will go out of their way to help you and it's a nice place to stay. Overall the accommodation in Vietnam is pretty good and cheap, even in the budget range.

Hanoi is absolutely mental though. There are approx. 4 million people and rougly 2 million mopeds. The streets are narrow in the old town. Throw in a few cars, cyclos and buses and you get the idea that crossing the road is scary! I wished my dad was with my holding my hand, just like when I was a little boy. Gary loved the whole madness of the place though. The fact that many businesses show off half of their stock on the pavements and you get small scale eateries with stools and mini tables means you have to walk on the side of the road half of the time as well.

Stayed in Hanoi for a couple of nights before going on a 3 day trip to Halong Bay. Before leaving we went to the prison which was built to house those against French rule and later used to hold U.S. POW's, most famously John McCabe. We also went to a water puppet show. Half of the show was pretty good, but I fell asleep half way through so couldn't have been that good. We also visited the pagoda on the lake, which houses the enbalmed remains of a giant tortoise that once lived in the lake.

Halong bay is beautiful. It's like Phang-Nga in Thailand, but without the rivers and Mangroves, but the limestone karst fromations are higher and more numerous and the water is clearer. The only downside is that it is very, very touristic.

On the first day of the trip we met a cool Canadian guy, Justin. We then went to a cave which was pretty good, but I'm getting a little fed up of caves. EVery time I go to one the guides keep telling you to look at different formations that resemble animals. They do resemble them slightly, but after visting a few caves, it's same same but different.

After this we went to a little beach for a swim. The weather wasn't the best, but I took off the fake Prada top I had aquired in Hanoi and was surpirsed to find that the water wasn't too cold at all. We witnessed a few eagles (don't know whatsepcies) swopping down into the sea attempting to catch fish. A shame my camera skills aren't up to scratch so you'll have to take my word for it. Didn't see them catch anything though. Then we got back on the boat for dinner.

The next day we went kayaking and wnet to Monkey island. We didn't see any monkeys and the bay there is very shallow. Even in the middle, you can stand up so it was nice swimming, sunbathing and skimming stones there for a while. Then we went to Cat Ba island.

Cat Ba island is nice, but again there are many tourists. We did a 2 hour trek up a hill which offred superb vistas across Halong Bay and we saw pots at the base of many pince trees, which they tap to collect the sap which is used to make glue. There are many pool hustlers on Cat Ba. We all lapyed one guy at pool, betting 20,000 dong (approx.65p) After loosing to him, he told us that he is Cat ba island's #1 pool player. Crafty bugger!

There's good night life to be had on Cat Ba island. We went to a club not too far from our hotel and met a copule of cool people there. the best bit was the dance off. It started off fairly well enough, but then people started doing really stupid dance moves and not pulling them off. Steve and I were in stiches. The best move was when 1 Vietnamese guy lay on the floor in a press up position. His frined then proceded to do a flip over him, but landed on top of him. Everyone else was still clapping and cheering, but Me and Steve were almost rolling on the floor with laughter. After witnessing some more crap moves, Steve said that I should give hime a piggyback across the dance floor. I declined at frist, but then thought yeah why not. I piggy backed him across the dance floor, with Steve shaking his fist in the air. To our amazement we received the biggest cheer of the night!

After leaving the club we went to the promenade. It's just like blackpool, with loads of fake, brightly lit palm trees. A guy in a boat came up to us and tried offering us a tour for 50,000 dong. We told him to do one as we wouldn't be able to see much in the dark anyway. Some people. unbelievable! Then we proceeded tp push each other through the hedges for some stupid reason. It seemed fun enough at the time.

The final day of the tour was spent on the boat back to Halong City. The sun was out so we sunbathed on the top deck admiring the splendid view.

Returned to Hanoi for one more night before getting a sleeper bus to Hue. The journey took about 10 hours overnight, but the beds are obviously designed for small Vietnamese frames as it was very uncomfortable. Thankfully, a nice gurl gave up her bad on the side of the bus, which was longer and wider, but still uncomfortable.

Arrived in Hue (where apparently the end scenes of Full metal Jacket are supposed to be based), needless to say knackered so went to bed once we'd checked into the guesthouse. Hue was the capital under 6 emperors from somehwere in the 1800's to the early/mid 1900's. I quite liked it. There's the old citadel and I also visted a pagoda, which is famous for being home to the monk who drove to Saigon and set fire to himself in protest against the president before the Vietnam/American war for raising taxes. I used to have the rage against the machine poster with this picture on my wall, so I had to go.

We also visited the DMZ (demilitarised zone) that kind of marks the border between North and South Vietnam. The 1st stop on this tour was the so called frame of a church. It is literally the reamins of a Catholic church in whcih the Noth Vietnamese army (Viet Cong) hid during an American attack. You can see bullet holes and some sort of explosive device damage and it's quite eerie being in there imagining what it must have been like hiding in there.

Then we vistied a raod junction that had a large communist billboard and 2 remains of American tanks on show. Then we visited a few more communist statues/sculptures. It's quite good seeing a couple because I'd never seen any before, but after a while you get bored of them. The best bit was crossing over a river bridge to hear the shouts of a fisherman who wanted us to take photos of him. He was brilliant, with his hands on hips posing. On the way back across thebridge he wanted us to take more pics of him. Most amusing!

We visited a crappy, litter strewn beach before going to the Vinh Mok tunnels. These were built by the local community after their village had been bombed. Apparently, the U.S. used 7 tonnes of bombs per person residing there.

Next stop Hoi An. We booked ourselves into a nice guesthouse in Hoi An and went to a tilor shop to be fitted for some clothes. Then we wnet to a resaturant to eat and play pool. It kept raining on and off, sometimes torrentially. On the way back from the restaurant to our guesthouse the water in the street nearly came up to our waist. Upon getting to the guesthouse, we could see water on the floor. This kept rising and Gary helped the staff clear some of the furniture.

The next morning the water on the bottome floor was knee deep and we were stranded. We had to go out to get food. At first I thought F**k that, but I thank Gary, Kate and Steve for giving me the balls to follow them. We waded out onto the street, down the steps of the hotel and off the pavement into the actual street. The water was up to my chin and I'm no Bruce Forsythe so you can imagine how deep it was (over 5 feet).

We literally swam to a restaurant and then came back to be told by the staff that it's best if we leave. They had no power or water. We met a cool guy, Danny and he joined us. We rented a boat. Yes, that's right a boat to feryy us to dry land and booked ourselves into a nice hotel with swimmming pool. EWven though it was raining cats and dogs we still made use of the swiming pool, because we were drenched anyway.....plus this hotel was 4 times as expensive as the one we had left.

Couldn't really do much over the next few days due to the high water level so swam and made a few trips to the decent Indian restaurant around the corner.

When the waters finally receeded, we went back to the tailors. I wasn't happy with my ruosers and the other guys weren't happy with their goods either. So we told them to sort it out! We then saw the old Japananese covered bridge. It was an anti-climax. it is tiny and looks so much better in pictures. Still took a few pics though. The next day we went back to the tailors and to be fair to hem everything was perfect ad we were now happy, apart from the one ghastly shirt which I bought. Still that was my bad taste and naievety in believing Gary that it looked nice, not the tailors.

Our last day in Hoi An was an early riser. We visited My Son, soe old Champa ruins. These were pretty paltry, especially after witnessing the majesty of Angkor. Once again, it was very touristy, but it's difficult getting off the tourist trail in Vietnam.

We then set off on what we were told would be an 18 hour journey to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). Unfortunately, Gary lost his ticket so had to remain behind. Sorry I didn't get a chance to say goodbye properly to you Gaz!! I knew from past experience that it would take longer than this, but didn't think it would take 24.5 hours, including two planned stops for breakfast and lunch and 1 unplanned stop due to water in the engine.

It was my last my last day in Vietnam and the last with Steve and Kate so I didn't want to be lame. Some how I stayed up all night and day so i could be with them and then see the War remnance museum the following morning. The reunificatin palace was shut to visitors due to a govt. meeting, but still got a picture of it. Also snapped Notre Dame Cathedral, which looks very similar to St. Chad's cathedral in Birmingham.

Said my good bys to Kate and Steve before jetting off to Singapore. Was extremely tired and knew if i styaed in a hostel i wouldn't get much sleep. the hotels near Singapore airport are very expensive so ended up in the red light area. I ate some dinner and then went to bed, but there was a stupid bleeping noise coming from the fire alarm every 5 seconds so didn't sleep to well. Got up early for a flight to Brunei, still feeling very tried indeed!!

Laos

moineyboy — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 16:15:00 GMT

There was a bit of a con going on with the bus to the Laos border, in the fact that we were told we would arrive at a reasonable hour in the morning. Instead they dropped us off at a guesthouse at 3 in the morning. We were too tight to pay so we got our sleeping bags out and slept on the chairs in the restaurant area outside the guesthouse. Cheeky buggers!!!

Finally crossed the border (The Mekong river) and got on a boat journey that lasted for what seemed like ages. The fact that we didn't have much kip didn't help matters, but it was nasty. Didn't have a seat so had to sit on the floor at the back of the boat. Met some good people though, apart from one cheeky bitch who kept skaving our food and drink. Cheeky caw!

Spent the first night of the 2 day boat trip in Pak Beng. It is a Laos town, but is really a village. Just ne street and a few houses down small alleys off the main street. That's one of the good things about Laos! Found a decent Indian restaurant so I was happy!

The 2nd day was more tolerable. Having a decent kip helped, but the boat to Luang Prabang was even smaller than that used the previous day and because we were one of the last people to board, we had to sit by he engine so was very hot and we had to contend with the fumes too.

However, the scenery was nice and we arrived in Luang Prabang (LP)at a respectable hour. LP is Laos 2nd city and it's way, way smaller than Brum;-) Approx. It is more like a large town. Very quaint and you can defienitely see the French influence. Stayed here for 5 or 6 days. You can easily get caught up in the slow pace of life. Nice, but there's not much to do. There is one club and a bowling alley that stays open late. This is due to the curfew imposed on the whole of the country so everything, apart from the places that pay off the police shuts at 11. The club shuts at 12 and the bowling alley shuts at 3, but now I hate bowling. If we stayedup and talked back at the guesthouse we would be told off by the old dear staying above us. I felt like a naughty little boy.

We did a few trips t a couple fo water falls. The first was impressive as the final tier cascaded at a right angle into a large river, when we were expecting abit of a walk to see the water fall. walking up he path next the final tier took you up to a few more cascades. Not very hgh, but pretty wide and was good swimming around in there and enjoying the scenery and the funnykids to and from the waterfalls.

The second water fall was the most impressive I hae seen to date. Fair enough it was no Niagra/Victoria/Angel or Iguazu falls, but was very pretty indeed. The Rhine falls in Switzerland were more voluminous, but this was prettier. There were smaller wtaer falls leading up to it where you can swing on a ropeswing from a tree into the water. I burned myslef on the rope a litle on my first attempt and on my second landed on my arse so didn't do it again. Could have been worse though. Gary swang from the tree and then on the arc back hit the tree and hen let go bning his hands a little and also hitting every knot on the rope swing with his balls. Ouch!!! was quite funny though ;-)

On our final 2 day in LP we went round the temples and bought fire works and set them off by the rier, much to the delight of the local children. If only fireworks were this chepa back home. Actually that would be a bad thing as you'd have more kids blowing off fingers.

Phou Si which is a fairly large temple complex on a hill offering vistas across LP. The temple complex itself wasn't very impressive, but was worth it for the views. Unfortunately, it was a little hazy so would be even more impressive.

Wat Xieng Thong is LP most impressive temple. built in 1560. It's not the largest or most ornate temple I've seen, but it is one of the nicest. They have a highly decorated boat stored there which they use for festivals. Pics to come at some point.

Arrived in Vang Vieng in the middle of the night and took up residence in a guesthouse opposite the airstrip. Vang Vieng is fun. At first it remided me of the drug traffiking place from the film 'Air America', due to the air strip. Most people come here to go tubing and that;'s why I cam here. It's liek being alittle kid again. Sitting in a lorry or tractor inner tube, floating down the river stopping of at bars with rope wings jumps and zip wires.

In fact, it was so much fun we did it twice. The only thing I didn't do twice was the last jump as once again I landed arse first on the water. It was tantamount to receiving all the spanks my mum gave me on my bum with her slipper as a naughty child, but in one big spank. In other words,it hurt big style!

It was prety scary coming in after tubing in the dark. Tahnkfully local boatmen know how silly the forigners can e so they were often at hand to help. One word of advice, be careful of your belongings and if you can do not take any. We left a dry bag our rings and life vests at the bottom of the final bar and after the arse spanking jump they were gone.

Upon returning in someone else tubes, we saw a couple of guys with our tubes and a dry bag which had everything in there, but Kate's money had been taken. We almost got into a fight over it as we were pretty sure thay had taken the money, but as there was no definite evidence we couldn't do anything. Plus common sense prevailed in the end.....as did a Local guy who helped prevent a full scale fight. So save yourself the hassle and just take your money in your pocket and nothing else. Or keep an eagle eye onyour belongings!!

It was the end of buddhist lent during my tenure in Vang Vieng so we bought some fireworks which were on sale at ridiculously low prices and some floats in which to place incense and candles and followed the Buddhist custom of floating lit candles down the river. It was a beautiful sight. Apparently, the best place fopr it is Luang Prabang and I believe Thailand is also a good place to view this type of activity. unfortunately, we missed the boat races.

We kayaked (it was in canoes really) from Vang Vieng to Ventianne. Well got a sawngteaw 1/4 of the way, then kayaked a quater, and then were driven the rest of the way. It was a brilliant way of getting there. We had so much fun with grade I and II rapids. Quite fun, but not as much fun as white water rafting and I didn't feel secure. We stooped half way for lunch with the oppurtunity to jump off a 10m cliff into the river below. After the near arse breaking experience in Vang Vieng I turned down the oppurtunity......and I'm glad i did as the Qazi butt now rivals J-Lo's rear.

The guide who was in my canoe was a cheeky bugger. He kept splashing te other guys and even turned their canoes over. For this reason I was the only one out of Gary, Brian, Steve who didn't fall in. Kate was left alone, I'm presuming because she is a girl.

Arrived in Ventianne to a state of chaos. The celebrations to mark the end of Buddhist lent were taking place and half of the city was drunk or on its way. We didn't actually witness the boat races or fireworks as we were caught in the furuore trying to find a guesthouse (which we did after about 2 hours searching), but we did see a few people carrying their boats after the race.

Ventianne is nothing special. It's the capital, but only has a population of 600,000 (10% of the country). It's more westernised than the rest of the counrty, but there is still very little western presence. No McDonalds or starbucks and only 2 or 3 internationally known hotels.

We went to the market, had a fun night being silly in a karaoke room, saw the Laos version of Le Arc d'triopmh and went to the Buddha Park.

The Buddha park is pretty good. We haggled a tuk tuk driver to take us there and wish we hadn't. With 4 of us in the back of the tuk tuk, it struggled badly and the journey took ages. It's located about 27km out of Ventianne on the Mekong River, which forms the border between Laos and Thailand.

It was built by a monk who tried to unify Buddhism and Hinduism about 30 - 40 years ago. It is peaceful there and some of the sculptures are amazing. There's one cave like structure that he built which is quite scary.

Highly recomend Laos. It's like going back in time with the lack of commercialism, but sadly this will probably change. the one thing Laos doesn't have is beaches and this may save it from becoming over visited. Silly pics to come on facebook!

Bangkok, Chang Mai and Pai

moineyboy — Sun, 4 Nov 2007 03:17:00 GMT

Came back to Bangkok for another few days. can't remember exactly how long I spent in bangkok, but I did have a good time! I like Bangkok. At first it was too chaotic and the tuk tuk drivers wore me down a little, but once I got used to them it was good.

Met up with the lovely Belgian girls and My dear friend Alex and also met some more cool people. I met a few girls, one of whom had a father who owned a superb condo near Sukhumvit. It was mental. We went for a swim on the sixth floor in a pool with a diving board at about 4 in the morning. The view of the Bangkok skycscrapers was magical, with all the red lights at the top of the skyscrapers flickering.

Went to Chang Mai, which is pretty good. The food there was immense. Had a local speciality dish which was almost as good as my mums chicken curry and served with crispy noodles. I highly recommend the market and food hall.

Visited a few temples and had a chat with a monk there too, which was enlightening. I love monks. Most of them are very cool and obviously spriritual people. Some of the novice monks can be a bit cheeky, but then again many of them are just teenageers.

Met some very cool people on the 3 day trek I signed up to: Andy, Jamie, Steve, Kate, Brian, Gary, Dave, Lenny and Anka. The first day encompassed a 1 hour elephant ride and then a 3 hour trek up to our base for the night in a hill tribe village. It was so slippy towards the end that for every step forward i took about 3 steps back and if it wasn't for Jamie pushing me up the hill I'd have probably given up, sat on my arse and slid back down the mountain.

The villagers are originally from Tibet and Burma and are known as the Shan. Very,very nice people and very nice food. Half way through the night we were visited by Doctor O, the local opium dealer. Some of the group partook in this vice and it was hilarious seeing them being unable to do very much afterwards. One person couldn't even go the toilet and our guide, stumpy, had to help him.

The next day we did a 5 hour trek stopping in a Chinese village for lunch. This day was excellent as we didn't see any other trekers and the scenery and dense jungle surrounding the trails was immense. We stayed at another hill tribe village (people originally from China), which had a nice waterfall next to it. Again, more superb food cooked by Stumpy.

The final day involved a 2 hour trek and a stop at another impressive waterfall before going white water rafting. Can't wait to do it in New Zealand as it was such a buzz. Then we did some bamboo rafting. I had to do the piunting and somehow managed to fall in, much to the others amusement. I could see the funny side of it too.

Returned to Lanna guesthouse for a final mad night in Chang Mai before leaving for Pai.

Stayed at the Sugarcane huts about 1km outside of Pai town (really a village). The owner Jeb and his uncle made us feel really welcome and even sang songs for us. We all highly recomend the Sugarcane huts!!! Nice, new and clean huts for 150 baht a night (just over 2 quid).

We hired mopeds and bumped into the Belgian girls again in the scooter hire shop, which was a pleaseant surprise. Then we went to Pai Canyon, which offers superb vistas and is semi-impressive. Quite scary climbing over the narrow ridges though.

In the evening we went to a hippy party, which was good for a couple of hours, but then became a bit too alternative for my liking so went to another bar which was much better.

The next day we went to the hotsprings, via a fun detour. We took a wrong turning and ended up going throgh farm tracks. Looking back this was fun, but at times the track became a quagmire and as I was trying to push my moped through, my flip flops would come off and stay lodged in the mud. Needless to say, it was very messy. Finally found a hot spring. There are 2 in Pai, one of which is in a really natural setting and the other has been turned into a hot swimming pool. Unfortunately, we went to the later as it was a fifth of the price, our bus was going to depart for the Laos border shortly and it was half the distance. We got some funny looks when we turned up covered in mud.

Cambodia and Ko Chang

moineyboy — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 18:22:00 GMT

Arrived in Cambodia crossing the border at Poipet. Poipet is like a forntier town and as gambling is illegal in Thailand, Cambodia has set up large casinos and hotels on the border to give Thai gamblers their fix. Rich a guy whom I met in Ko Phangnan was also on the bus so travelled with him for 3 days.

I suffered a bit of a culture shock corssing the border. Wentthrough Thai immigration and then had to walk about 250 meteres to the Cambodian immigration post. During this walk the rest of the bus passengers were confronted by laods of beggers, predominantly kids. One of whom tried to pickpocket me. I could see what he was doing as he tried to cover his left hand which was doing the 'picking' with a baseball cap. Luckily, I had buttons on my pockets and he was unable to open them.

It started to rain cats and dogs as well and the drains in Cambodia seem to work in reverse so after a few minutes my feet were submerged in water.

Finally got through Cambodian immigration and then had to wait a couple of hours for the bus to take us to SiemReap (allpart of the Bangkok to Siem Reap bus scam where they make the journey as ardous as possible and then take you to a guesthouse that's paid them commission). Exchnaged 6000 Baht into Cambodian Riel and was given so much in exchange that my wallet wouldn't close. If only it was like that in England ;-).

The bus journey was the worst I have travelled. Thai airways pays the Cambodian Peoples Party money NOT to develop the road so that people are put off and fly from Bangkok. This should be one of their priorities as Angkor is a tourism goldmine. The less than 300 km journey took about 7 hours. i tried to sleep on the bus, but the pot holes kept making my teeth rattle. Saw an overturned truck, an articulated lorry that had come apart from its trailer and the bus almost got stuck in the mud at one point. A taxing experience, but I saw loads of fireflies en route so not all bad.

Finally got ot Siam Reap and the guesthouse the bus took us too wasn't too bad, but went to one recommended by lonely planet.

The next day Rich and I went to Angkor Thom, which is amazing. I was a bit trigger happy and will have pics on here shortly (already on facebook).

The day after went to Ta Prohm a few other temples in the Angkor complex and saved the best, Angkor Wat, for last. The whole place is amazing. We took 2 days to see it, but i could have stayed there for a week. Wnet out all night and then caught the bus to Phnom Penn. First impressions of Phnom Penn (PP) weren't good. Our bus stop in PP was a petrol station and before we even got off you could see about ten tuktuk drivers and moto drivers vying for our business. PLus we were tired so that didn't help.

We stayed by the lakeside which is surprisingly chilled, with a few good restuarants. Then went to the Killing fields, which are very sad. I felt sick after seeing all the skulls and bones and although it sounds hypocritical we went to a shooting range afterwards. The shooting range was brilliant!!!! such a buzz and made me feel better after firing a few bullets from a Tommy gun, K50 and shotgun. looking forward to firing an AK47 in Vietnam. Quality pics to come shortly.

The next day I went to S21 - or Tol Sleung. This is a harrowing place that used to be a school, before the Khmer rouge converted it into a prison and centre of torture and execution. Sickening!! Met 2 monks though, 2 and 7 (that's not how you spell their names, but it is how you pronoune them). I've always eanted to talk to a Buddhist monk and the monks in Cambodia are very chatty and want to practice their English so they took me for a tour of the museum, which was cool....and free ;-)

Afterwards, went to an orphanage near to S-21, called World Hope Cambodia (WHC) and played with the kids, taught them a bit of English/Geography for a few days in PP. The director, Mr. Priep Nura, has also set up an orphanage in Kandol provinceI donated some money which bought exercise books and pens for 200 kids in Kandol, plus a little left over for some more stationary.

Kondol was good! the village we went to is off the beaten track so chuffed with that. Saw rural Cambodian life and played volleyball with the kids too. This is the most rewarding thing I've done and it was such a joy seeing the kids happy faces. Will definieitly go back to Cambodia one day to check on WHC's progress. Returned to Phnom Penh and did a final day at WHC. Was very sad saying bye to the kids. they were all so sweet and even though a lot of them are in their ealry teens, some of the kids were very small due to their poordiet prior to coming to the orphanage.

You get many kids selling you books here or begging, but if you give them a little food they are so thankful.

Back in Thailand now after an annoying border crossing. Found out Ko Wai, where I'm supposed to be meeting my mate Alex, is shut. Therefore, I'm on Ko Chang, met some cool people here and just chilling in my hammock as the weather isn't the best, but still humid.

Central Thailand

moineyboy — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 23:27:00 GMT

Can't believe I've been on the road for over a month. Feels like a week or less.

I thought the extreme laziness I developed on the islands would dissipate upon returning to the main land, but has it heck. In Bangkok at the mo which is mental!!! Came here via Chumpon (transit hub and nothing special) and Nakohn pathom which claims to be the oldest city in Thailand. It's famous for it's massive Chedi (Stupa) which at approx. 120 m is the tallest Buddhist monument in the world. It was mental. I arrived there at 3:30 in the morning as I wanted to travel by train as was fed up with getting buses and ferries everywhere.so wandered around to find pretty much everywhwere closed. Then the market opened and at 4:30 it was fairly busy. A really cool market and no tourists what so ever so pretty cool in that respect. Then loads of people came out to start exercising/stretching around the Chedi. Very cooll to watch! Saw laods of monks collecting alms as well which was very good. A few Thai's think i'm a monk as well so maximum respect to the moinster ;-)

Went to Kanchanaburi for 4 days. Booked into a floating bungalow on the river Kwai which was very serene apart from the occassional buzz of baots and floating discos at evening/early nighttime. A wildlife haven as well. Everyday I'd see a monitor lizard which was roughly 2m long swimming in the river. I crapped myself when i first saw it as i thought it was a massive python or something. Saw bats at night time and loads of fish, frogs, dragonflies, etc...Again it was a place where you can become very lazy chilling on a hammock watching the sun go down.

The main tourist strip is mental and befriended loads of bar owners. In one bar the staff thought my name was Moi, which is Thai for pubic hair. They thought it was hilarious and would start laughing everytime they saw me......which was nice, but it was all good banter.

Went to the tiger temple and stroked some tigers which was very cool, but I don't know whether the tigers are drugged or whether the claims of the monks who run the temple are correct and that the tigers are just exhausted from the heat. It was an experience none the less.

Went to Erawan national park which is nice, loads of pretty waterfalls and wildlife again. You can swim in the pools under/above the waterfalls too.

Unfortunately, the town is tinged with sadness and is famous for the Bridge on the River Kwai. totally different from the film. My 3rd day on Kanchanaburi was very sad. First of all Hakan, the guesthouse owner informed me that the reason he was in Thailand was because most of his family had perished in an earthquake in Turkey. Then I went to the allied war cemetary which nearly had me in tears. It all made me realise how lucky I am!!!!

In Bangkok now which is mental. Haven't seen that much of it yesterday but partied a bit yesterday and that was fun. Am getting fed up with all the hookers in Thailand. They kept pinching my bum and everything last night. May have to start wearing an orange robe as you're not allowed to touch a monk.

Have seen so many wonderful Wats (temple monasteries) and have already forgotten many of their names....time to reference my lonely planet guide ;-)

Wat Pho is superb with a massive reclininng buddha. The best temple I've been to yet.

Wat Phra Keaw in the grounds of the grand palace is also impressive and has a model of the main temple at Angkor Wat which looks even more immense. The grans palace grounds on the whole are excellent, but full of tourits and are the roads around this area are full of rickshaw drivers trying and I have to admit succeeding in ripping you off for short trips. You live you learn and I'm much wiser after yesterdays experience.

Wat Traimit is good due to the 5.5 tonne solid gold Buddha. The statue was once covered in stucco (Whatever that is) but during transport it fell revealing the solid gold beneath....I wonder how much that is worth. Wat Arun is impressive too. The Grand palace grounds are amazing too.

Wnet to the Teak mansion, which is the laregst teak building in the world and one of the largest wooden buildings. Also toured the grounds as there's loads of other regal buildings which are very grand! Then went to Wat Benchamabophit, which isn't as old as some of the other temples, but made of white carrera marble, so is still very ornate and beautiful and has a massive buddha collection showing different buddha styles from around the world. I though it was interesting anyway ;-)

Boring myself and probably you with all this temple talk so till next time.

Gallery: Thailand

moineyboy — Tue, 4 Sep 2007 23:32:00 GMT

Southern Thailand islands

Week 3

moineyboy — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 20:44:00 GMT

Went to another cave in Phang-Nga called the elepehant cave. Went in, got in a canoe, then a abamaboo raft and then had to wade through thigh high water. Saw tiny bast and not so tiny bats that started squeeking when we flashed the light on them. I thought they were going to fly all over us so glad they didn't.

Got a VIP bus to Chumpon. they gave you a lunch bvox and we stopped off for a meal aswell. Thehostess even had a proper uniform. It was quality. More dodgy driving though. The Thai's are so relaxed...until they get behind the wheel. They show now emotion on thir faces though. Have been in the back of loads of pick up trucks. Felt like a rebel soldier ;-)

The only reason I was passing through Chumpon was to get the night ferryto Ko Tao. It was bloody cancelled though sohad to stay there one night. The cabbie tried to con me out of some moeny. He spoke decent enough English, until I asked him how much it was. I knwe he was going to do it so I only gave him 100 baht as opposed to the 200 he was asking for. You can't do me over that easily sunshine!!

Finally got to Ko Tao and met a cool girl called Caroline as was waiting for a taxi (Pick up truck) to Sairee beach. Sairee beach is the most chilled out place i've been too. I highly recommend it! Booked into a Padi course and revised for that and tried to pass it, but had problems equalising the pressure in my left ear for some daft reason so could only get 'scuba' certification as opposed to 'Open water'. Would recomend Siam divers though. Very chilled instructor named Choo

Went to Ko Phangnan, which again is very chilled out, but not as nice as Ko Tao (in my opinion). everything is spread out on this island so you can't just walk form place to place and there are steep hills o\so very easy to fall out of the pick up trucks/ Sawngtheaws that are used for public transportation on the island. Here for Full moon anyway which is a bit overrated. The ring around the moon when it is full is something special....Amazing as is the scale of the party, but it's lost it's charme that I imagined it to have and just reminded me of a bigger scale club 18-30 sort of thing. In other words a bit wank.

Recovering form the full moon sent me into full on lazy mode. Have met some cool people here. Mariajke(sorry I know that's incorect spelling), Dale, etc...

Back on Ko Tao now to try and complete my diving course. Love it here and have met cool people, but need to get back to the main land as the islands are making me very lazy In fact the most energetic thing I'm thinking of doing is getting a massage. How bad is that ?!?!

My last day on Ko Tao now as I've completed my open wtaer dive course. I highly recomend Siam divers. All of the instructors are very good.....and very patient with the moinster! Off to the mainland tomorrow morning.

Week 2

moineyboy — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 19:43:00 GMT

Had a bit of a detour in Malaysia and ended up in Seremban. Nice temple plus I saw a monitor lizard, but wouldn't recomend it. Had to wait ages for my connecting bus to Thailand so had my hair shaved off and had a shave for about 1 pound 50. The only thing was my scalp hadn't really tanned so I had a tan line on my head...numpty.

Got into Hat Thai (Thailand) via an overnight bus ( 11 hours approx.). Again Hat thai isn't special so only stayed 1 night, but met 2 cool Malaysian guys (Wan & Paul) who took me under their wing & had a laugh with them. Again more cover bands.

Rain, rain, rain.............and more rain.

Moved to Krabi. This is where I feel Thailand really begins and Malaysia ends in terms of landscape which is stunning. I'd seen it on tv and in pics before, but you only appreciate the size of the limestone cliffs and pinnacles in person. Gorgeous, but mainly couples/families, etc... so a bit lonely and the weather is pants so moved to Ko Phi Phi.

Phi Phi is amazing. It's not high season, but the place has been redeveloped a fair bit since the tsunami and there's still loads of people which is a shame.

Went to Phi Phi Ley on a bout tour with Valerie and Roberto whom I met inon the boat from Krabi to Phi Phi. Toured Maya bay (from the film 'the beach')which is amazing and has the softest sand my feet have had the pleasure of walking on . The weather started out fine so tanned a little and did some snorkelling, but that soon changed. Saw some Moorish idol fish which are amazing and then went to Monkey beach and toured some other bays/coves/caves whose names I can't remember. Monkey beach was funny due tot the monkey's antics, but they can be vicious as well! There's a reason why tourists come here as it is gorgeous!!! Unfortunately, parts of Phi Phi Don have a sort of Costa Del Chav/Broad street (in Brum) feel to them as I saw a few louts with black eyes the next day.

After 2 nights in Phi Phi went to Phuket. Again is started out lovely and fell asleep on the baot only to wake up to lashing rain. Was supposed to go to some of the beaches in Phuket and stay a few nights, but decided to stay in Phuket Town for 1 night, which is almost like a ghost town, but quite charming with its so called Sino-Portugese architecture and cheap as chips. As Borat would say, 'I like!!' Went to Phang-Nga the next day and surprise, surpise it's raining...again.

The weather is really doing my wick in now. I'm near gorgeous beaches and sea, yet I can't make the most of it. On the plus side there's less people and it's cheaper, but you don't get 250,000 people visiting Brighton on sh*t weekend do you! Having checked the weather for Ko Phag-Nan & Tao rain and storms are forecast so may not visit these islands, which is a shame as wanted to go to the full moon party;-( However, I have already learnt to calm down and chill out a little whilst being on the road and there's always another day! I need your orange glow Tom to brighten things up ;-)

Went to the wierd Heaven & Hell cave temple today in Phang-Nga. it's like going through a ghost train set up. talekd to a Buddhist monk. I like them a lot, very chilled as are the Thai's in general.

Gallery: Malaysia

moineyboy — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 17:20:00 GMT

Gallery: Singapore

moineyboy — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 16:14:00 GMT

Days 2 - 5

moineyboy — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 14:42:00 GMT

Day 2 - Moved to the Prince of Wales hostel in Little India and straight away went to a recommended resaturant for a biryani. My appetite has been suppressed by the heat, but it was delicious! Looked around little India and had my palm read for a laugh.

Then went to the Arab quarter via a flea market that is on. wierd, but wonderful. They were selling taps and all sorts. Then went to raffles which was a like a step back in time. You have a drink at the bar and throw peanut shells on the floor whilst some poor sod has to sweep them up and there's weird paddle like fans on the ceiling. It's hard to explain, but it's well worth the visit!! (cheers John and Beth)

It was National day today so saw some amazing sites. First there were a few helicopters flying below the roof line of the tallest skyscrapers, down the river towards Marina bay whilst draping a massive Singapore flag and then there were fighter jets doing something similar too and then fireworks coming out of the roofs of some of the skscrapers. I thought it was amasing, but upon telling some people in the hostel they said it's the same every year. Kill joys ;-) unfortunately, my photos aren't up to scratch and you can probably just about make out one helicopter :-(

Went back to Little india which is even more colourful and chaotic at night. Probably erhanced by the flood lights as opposed to street lights on some street corners. Too much to take in for one day so retired to the hostel. Met up with a couple of dudes one of whom lived on the next street along in Willesden green. The bar shut at 1 so we decided to go to another place. They really love karaoke and live music here. The bands we saw were all good, but sometimes you need a change of scene. Stayed out till 5 or 6.....too late in any case. got back to my bunk and there was a girl in my bed. Thankfully the bunk next to her was empty so managed to get some kip.

Day 3 - Spoke to girl who stole my bunk and she went to school just down the road from my house in Brum. It's a small world!! Went to get some brunch so decided to go to a mall as it had aircon and i was faltering. Downstairs was a Chinese superamarket that sold all sorts from Barracudda to Bullfrogs! yummy!!!

Met up with Sean who I met last night and went to Lau pa Sat for the ebst Satay I've ever had (Cheers fro the recommendation Sapna and Ram).

Sean is scouting the world looking for a place to live. He has old school friends in Singapore so got the insiders perspecive of things and what a perspective. These guys were all worldly and ver intelligent and one even looked like James Bond!! took us to a Sri Lankan restaurant over looking Boat quay. stupendous view!

Then went to an Indian dancing club and am now in love...with at least 2 of the dancers there. Then ended up trying to go to ministry of sound bar and a few others but couldn't get in cos I had sandals on. so ended up going to a place better known as 4 floors of whores. Yep you've guessed it. Very dodgy! so didn't stay there that long (again there was a live band playing covers). Didn't get back to the hostel until 6ish and had to get up early so decided to go for an early breakfast and didn't have any sleep. No where was open yet and stumbled upon a few ladyboys plying their trade!!! blokes with tits are weird as. No smart comments I have pecs ;-)

Day 4 - decided to leave Singapore as too expensive! Had my final rabies jab and it cost nearly 100squid. Left for Melaka. Crossed the border and we all got off the bus to show passports, etc...to Singapore border patrol and then got back on the bus. Then crosed a bridge and then got off again to shoew passports and stuff to Malaysian guards. Have never down something like that before and I felt like the guy from Midnight express.

Got to Melaka and this is more like it. My hostel room was $3 for the night. It's a bit grotty, but can't complain for $3. My budget of 20 quid a dayis back on track now. let's hope it styas that way. Was knakcered, but needed food and the footie was on in the cafe I wento to so ended up staying up to watch that.

Day 5 - sightseeing in Melaka. very good. this place is walkable but it started to rain torrentially so went to look for a brolly which took ages. finally found one and it did the trick but is lilac so looked like a tit!

loads to say and the mix of Malay, Potrugese, Dutch, British, indian, Chinese, Arab, Persian, Indonesian, Siam influences make this place very interesting. A bit like Penang, but more chilled out. Had my clothes washed, dried and ironed for less than a quid. How good is that! Watched Brum loose to Chelsea, but we didn't do too badly so think we'll stay up!Anway, I've rambled on loads so will let the pics do the talking.

Hi di ho

moineyboy — Thu, 9 Aug 2007 13:49:00 GMT

Hi everyone

Unfortunately my hostel is fully booked for tonite so have to go to another, but utilising the free t'internet whilst i'm still here ;-)

It was an emotional departure from Heathrow. I was almost in tears upson seeing my mums face, knowing that we were both holding back tears. Very sad indeed!

Luckiliy enough for me I was asked by a stewardess on the plane whether I would move seats as there had been a mix up with the bookings. this was a blessing in disguise as I was moved to sit next to two other travellers who were both feeling a bit down having said good bye to their folks.
Felt better shorly afterwards and then the excitement started to kick in again.

I was given honey and ginger ice cream on the plane as well. Singapore airlines are the nuts!! We had fish for breakfast though which wasn't very nice, especially as we had turbulence which almost resulted in me throwing up.

Finally got to Singapore and luckily enough, there was a cool Londoner called Tim who cheked in just before me. He used to workfor Info med (they supply the macro stuff to Roche) and has also lived in Brighton. Small world or what. Went to Chinatown where we were royally ripped off, but had a nice meal all the same. They even itemised the freshening towls on the bill. Cheeky gits!

Wenton to Clarke Quay which was pretty nice. I agree with you Jay, the place is ingeniously designed. Tried to go to Boat quay, but eneded up going towards Marina bay, which is also very nice.

Anyway Hopefully, my next message will be a bit more exciting and will have loads more to tell.

Bye for now!