Koh Tao, Thailand

Beach week so we all headed south from Bangkok on an overnight bus which dropped us off at the side of the road in Chumphon at 3.45am with a hope that a minibus would pick us up and drop us at the port. Thankfully it did drop us at port which was an hour away! We got the ferry to Koh Tao and arrived early morning after some much needed sleep.

Myself and Roberta had booked into an open water dive course for the week with a company called 'Davy Jones Locker' which we were hoping we wouldn't visit during the week! I was a little apprehensive about starting the course as I was a rubbish snorkeler and even more apprehensive after meeting the tattoo and piercing clad, smoking instructor. He actually turned out to be pretty cool and very good as we took to the practical lessons in the pool. With all the info and a really thick manual to learn for a final exam very overwhelming but as soon as we all got into the sea dives scuba all clicked into place and we survived 4 dives at 12m and 18m, one of which was in a strong current.
The diving was amazing and the high lights were definitely the blue spotted stingrays and the uninflated puffa fish. I'm really looking forward to some more diving in the future.

As if we hadn't spent enough time in the water we had a day snorkelling art various sights around the island today. Despite the weather- cloud and pouring rain for most of the day we saw lots of fish and black tip sharks which was pretty cool.

Koh Tao has been a great place to spend the week- the beach was no jungle beach, but the water warm and before everyone came over after full moon parties elsewhere the town was very quiet. Amazing sunsets and fantastic diving but i can't wait to hear what everyone else has been up to in their week free.

Tomorrow we are headed to the mainland to meet the rest of the group in Surat Thani.

Kanchanaburi, Thailand

Kanchanaburi is only a 2 hour drive north west of Bangkok and it couldn't be any more different. We are staying at a river side guest house just outside town and it's very relaxing but so hot.

The town is most famous for a single bridge- the bridge of the River Kwai so we took a visit. The bridge really is just a regular working train line bridge with a lot of tourists walking over it. I'm not sure how quickly they move when a train comes! The highlight had to be Ben dropping his key over the bridge and then watching it flow away before the dash along the river bank to find a boat to go and get it. He eventually got it back!

There is quite a lot to do here if you choose to. Some people have hired bikes, had massages, gone on full day tours or just pottered around town. I visited the Thailand-Burma Death Railway Research Centre to find out more about the railway and what actually went on here over World War 2. The museum was very interesting outlining the construction and planning of the 415km railway and where the workforce came from. The curator of the museum was actually researching the lives of every single Prisoner of War who died making the 'Death' railway and subsequently a lot of the findings were in the museum. It was sad that at least 13,000 people died from malnutrition and disease making a railway which would further Japans power over Asia but yet was only in use for 22 months.

I furthered my day of culture with a walk around the war cemetery in which British, American and Dutch POWs were buried. It is in the centre of town on a former POW camp. It was nice see that the Thai's are keeping the cemetery well maintained with flowers etc but a shame to see they aren't doing the same with the other cemetery down the road.

Other highlight of the town were the brightly coloured, but a little tacky, pagodas on the river front and the giant blue and red geckos and green coloured poisonous snake in the guest house restaurant.

Next stop- beach week!

Bangkok, Thailand

We left Siem Reap and headed to the border with Thailand. What a day! we were on a public bus and we didn't get out of before a couple forgot their passports so we had to stop for them. When we got to the border we had to change buses which meant bag carrying. Huffing and puffing we all made it to the Thai side but I had some hiccups when the immigration man stamped me in for a standard 15 days when we needed 20. I insisted that we really were in the country for 20 days. Thankfully he saw sense and chased after me to stamp my passport again. Thankful to have feet in Thailand I was then nearly not let on the bus as my id sticker had fallen off the shirt and then the bus company didn't provide the buses Pete booked- I don't think he was best pleased. We arrived in Bangkok in super quick time as the driver did 150km down the road- we were practically flying!

Bangkok's a really cool city. We are staying near Khaosan Road and there's lots of life around. I spent a morning looking around the Grand Palace which was built as a royal residence for King Rama in 1782. It is quite a large complex that features temples, throne halls and government buildings all on the edge of the Chao Phraya river. All buildings were really magnificently covered in coloured glass and so much gold. A lot of the buildings were shut, but the temple of the Emerald Buddha was open. The main feature is a gold throne with a jade Buddha less than a meter tall sitting on it and wearing his monsoon outfit (as we later learnt in the museum that he has 3).

We had a group meal out and a few drinks, taking advantage of the plentiful amount of restaurants and bars in the area. Pete brought back a bag of fried bugs that everyone tried. I went for the 'tastiest' looking worm like thing which I shared with Ben! Some liked the locusts more than others but most gave it a try!

Bangkok is also full of a variety of shopping malls. In a bid to buy a net book I got the boat down the river and then took a trip on the sky train which was easy compared to the trouble I would later have in finding the electronics shopping mall. 6 and half hours later and I'd found a netbook- yey!

Siem Reap, Cambodia

Angkor Wat



Bayon- Angkor Thom



Banteay Kdei


Ta Prohm


Terrace of the Elephants- Angkor Thom


Terrace of the Leper King- Angkor Thom

We took the not so express "express ferry" to Siem Reap which was a long but very nice river/lake journey passing floating villages to the town Siem Reap. Siem Reap is a town purely for the benefit of tourists going to Angkor Wat and that's exactly what we have come here for!

A 5.30am start as we headed to the biggest religious complex ever built to see the sun hopefully rise (it didn't really) behind the 5 towers of Angkor Wat. We had Tuk Tuks and guide to take us around as much of the complex (25kmx10km) as we could in as long as we could last before we were templed out!

Angkor Wat built in the 12th Century for King Suryavarman was fantastic and despite the number of people around, it didn't feel crowded as we looked at the well preserved reliefs that corridor the outside of the Wat which depicted battles, and the fight for immortality.

We also looked around Banteay Kdei which was a Buddhist monastery in which all the Buddhist statues were buried upon converting to Hinduism.

Ta Prohm was what most people had come for. The famous 'jungle' temple was definitely worth the visit despite the masses of tourists. Originally a monastery, it has been completely left for the jungle to take over and is now subsequently collapsing. The trees were huge and were certainly taking over as the struggle to keep the monument from complete collapse goes on.

We also visited Angkor Thom which was my favourite. The 13th century royal city had plenty to look at including the Terrace of the Leper King which was thought to be a cremation platform and also the Terrace of elephants which had 2 meter high reliefs of elephants in battle. The grassy lawn was used for elephant fighting so that the king would know which elephant was the strongest.

The Bayon is a 3 tiered temple within the city. There are 52 towers all with huge stone faces carved into the sides facing N-S-E-W. It was a great temple to explore and the reliefs were more like cartoons and showed the Chinese invasion on the Mekong and also Khmer life with cock fights, and markets.

A brilliant day out despite the fact we were all exhausted after 11 hours on the go. We visited the main temples but you could spend a week exploring here. Today is rest day beforea few busy days in Bangkok.

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Phnom Penh, the Cambodian capital had a completely different feel to it compared to Saigon. Nowhere near as busy as Vietnam on the streets, but it was a little run down and generally had a darker and more edgy feel to it. I guess this was ok considering the recent history there, which is what we had come to learn about, especially us younger ones.

Our first morning would be a depressing one but a great insight into Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge. We visited the Tuol Sleng genocide museum which was a former school until the Khmer Rouge emptied the city of all educated people and their families and imprisoned them in Tuol Sleng in 1975. Walking through the museum feels like walking over a crime scene. We had a brilliant guide who was happy to share her experiences. It was really shocking to see the cells which have been left with the original furniture in and photos on the wall taken by the guards immediately after death. The museum was filled full of photos of the victims who died but also of the 7 survivors of the prison who were found in 1979.

After torture in Tuol Sleng, victims were transported to the Choeung Ek killing fields, 15km south of the city. It was here that they were executed and buried in mass graves. At first sight you wouldn't realise that Choeung Ek was mass graves. However when you look closely at the ground you see bones and clothing coming through the top surface of ground which was really shocking and a bit grim. I was very careful where I stepped despite all the main graves, the largest was of 450 people were clearly marked. Within the complex is a memorial stupa which has 7000 skulls stacked on top of each other. There were so many and yet that was such a small proportion of the people who the Khmer Rouge killed (3 million people in 3 years- half the population). Not all the victims from the graves have been recovered and every year after the monsoon, more bones are recovered. Not a job any one would want!

So after an eyeopening morning it was time for some light relief as we all got ready for Simon's 50th birthday do in the Foreign Correspondents Club. A great night was had by all as we got dressed up and drank rather fancy drinks at happy hour prices.

Another attraction of the city is the Royal Palace and the Silver Pagoda. Unfortunately I didn't quite make it in as I was turned away for not wearing a T shirt. Wasn't impressed as I'd dug out trousers and a very modest sarong for the occasion! Instead I had a little city walk nosing though some smaller temple gates.

After 3 nights in Phmnom Penh I was happy to leave as we headed to Battambang which is apparently the 2nd biggest city but an absolute dump, which wasn't helped by the very humid hotel rooms. Despite the lack of things to do in town we did have a couple of nice meals to celebrate Simon's birthday on his actual birth date and also Taylor's the following day. Battambang- another city happy to leave! We then got a boat to Siem Reap which is my location now.

Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), Vietnam

It was a long bus trip to Saigon which took nearly 6 hours longer than expected meaning we arrived late evening which showed off the spectacle of the Saigon scooter drivers who were crazy! Never seen so many scooters but thankfully the city was organised enough to take it.

We had lots to do in Saigon so we started with the War Remnants museum which was really good. Opened in 1975, the museum displayed helicopters, boats, planes and various weaponry in the yard and inside it was 3 floors of photographs of action in Vietnam with lots of blurb to match. Particularly interesting were the photos of the news photographer's last rolls of film. Also displayed were the 'tiger cages' used to torture people and various other methods of torture listed which was a little disturbing, including a rather interesting use for sand mats!

It rained a lot in Saigon so I did a very quick walk of the city to see the Notre Dame cathedral, the post office (French design), Reunification Palace and city hall.

The second day was spent with a tour around the Cu Chi tunnels which was good despite the torrential rain. The tunnels were built on 3 levels for the hiding of villagers during the war. Our guide showed us models of the traps built and one which was still in place (thankfully with a surrounding fence!). There was a 100m stretch of level 1 tunnel that you can crawl through. At 90cm high and about 60cm wide it was very claustrophobic and I was pretty glad to get out after 40m. The tunnels were definitely built for the Vietnamese as I was on all fours and there wasn't any turning around space! Thankfully they don't let anyone into the lower levels which are even tighter!

With Angkor Wat coming up, I decided a new camera was in order, so I painlessly bought a new one (thankfully there were only 2 within my budget so choosing wasn't hard!) so hopefully some better pictures coming up. I've also replaced my rucksack but sadly crossing over into Cambodia the straps broke so I'll be looking for a little lady to fix them!

All in all, Vietnam was a great country with plenty to do for everyone. I could easily have spent more time in Hoi An and Saigon so no doubt I'll return one day.

Jungle Beach, Vietnam

After a few days of culture we headed 12 hours down the road towards Nha Trang and a quiet beach resort called Jungle Beach. The journey was all but smooth though, with James taking a turn just after we left Hoi An, which meant a hospital diversion. Thankfully a quick recovery meant that we all made the beach in time for dinner which was all provided (a little too much of the fish for my liking though!). In the evening we took a swim in the warm, clear water and saw the bio fluorescent plankton glowing which was pretty amazing.

Jungle beach has been a real chill out. It's not the prettiest of beaches but we have 3km of which sand to share between the 35 people at the resort. Can't complain too much! I think everyone's had a great time and despite a spot of sun burn and a rat who took a liking to Roberta's snacks, I don't really want to leave quite yet for the next stop which is the crazy city of Saigon.

2 photos of 5.20am sunrise.

Hoi An, Vietnam

Hoi An was a great place to spend 2 days. The riverside town in which its old sector stands, is a UNESCO site and is full of restaurants and tailors. Plenty to do as most of us got clothes made and cycled the 5km to the beach which was a great sight having not seen the coast in so long. I got the silk road material, which I bought in Kashgar, made into a very unique skirt and got 3 pairs of sandals made which is great.

Some of us headed to the Myson Ruins for a morning. The ruins are of red brick temples that were built by Indonesians between the 4-13th century without the use of mortar. It was a nice morning out but ruined by the huge tour group that we were in. Never mind- guess I should be getting used to tourists now!