Not much to read at the moment, but here you have it; our travelling blog!
Enjoy
x
WRITTEN MOSTLY BY JO
18th-19th Aug
Flew from Heathrow to Denpasar in Bali via Hong Kong (lovely airport but our flight gate changed from one end to the other once we'd already walked the entire length of the airport...Bonnie timed this as a 15 min walk in each direction!). Arrived late in Denpasar and got to our grubby hostel in Kuta.
20th Aug
After a failure to sleep we were all rather dazed but headed for the beach and got our first taste of Indonesian cuisine...yummy (but we learnt very quickly there are only about 2 indonesion dishes to chose from). After this we headed back to the beach and wowed everyone with our body boarding skills...seriously we were amazing...after we started loads more people joined as were obviously making it look so good!
21st Aug
We'd been told that all the accomodation in the Gilis was fully booked...but that we shouldnt worry, the locals would give us a tent...we were feeling a little apprehensive about this as we'd only just started travelling. But we wanted to go to the Gilis so it was worth the risk! We got an early fast boat over there and arrived at 11am to be told by the tourist office that there really was no accomodation.
Well luckily there was, some guy cycled around the dusty backstreets and we found somewhere with goats and chickens hanging around outside. We headed for lunch on one of the many raised huts then strolled along the beach...in the posh direction...wow there were some gorgeous resorts!
We lay on the beach back in budgetville and after a swim passed out for over 2 hours...it was such a great sleep!!
22nd Aug
Lay in until the Mosque woke us (here is some advice: when its ramadan, if you're in a muslim country, don't sleep in anywhere backing onto a mosque...they make A LOT of noise!). Also chose somewhere with a fully functioning generator (the islands electricity goes off at about 8am til 6pm so we woke up very hot that morning when our hostel generator didnt start) The island also has no motorised transport so everyone got around on bikes and horse drawn carts
We walked around the island, and swam and chilled on some picture perfect beach and set ourselves to reach a hill the far side for sunset. The guide book said it takes 3-4 hours to walk around but somehow we did it in under 2...so we went out for dinner and watched the sunset there instead on the beach with tapas and sangria. Then we went to a bar and got entertained by the locals for the evening.
23rd August
We went for a snorkelling trip around the 3 gili islands in a glass bottom boat and saw loads of fish, 5 turtls, and some giant clams. my snorkel was broken for most of it though. Maybe this was why I wanted to see more...so when we got back to Gili T I went with sophie to the dive centre as she wanted to book a dive for the next day...somehow this ended up with me signing up for a taster dive! Me, a water hater, had never considered it before! What was I doing?!
We climbed the hill on Gili T to see the sunset, which was beautiful!! then had some dinner and went back to our hostel.
I tried to forget about diving but as I went to bed I was pretty scared!
24th August
...so we turned up to the dive centre and thought we might as well do the free taster session in the pool. Then we thought we might as well go on the boat...then all of a sudden we were kitted up! We had to roll backwards into the sea...petrifying!! But suddenly we were under the water and the fish were amazing! I saw frogfish, wart slug,. clownfish, moorish idol (black and white one from Nemo), Angelfish and more! I got a certificate for my dive which i am immensely proud of!
At the hostel the owner climbed a tree outside our room and got some young coconuts for us. They were soo good! apparently they cure everything from stomach aches, to hangovers to being "f***ked from mushrooms"..good. He then proceeded to tell us his life story...interesting but very long!
25th August
We're now in Senggigi in Lombok while we wait for out boat ride to Flores to start. Its another pretty town, but theres not much to see or do so we've just been to the art market and been on th beach a bit. Tomorrow morning we'll start our boat trip and you'll hear more from us after that!
Written by: BONNIE!
26th August: Senggigi
We walked around Senggigi but there's really not much at all to do here so we walked to a temple where they used to throw virgins off into the cliffs and water below as a sacrifice to the gods.
Then we bought some gifts which cost more to send than to buy in the first place - we're only just getting the idea of this whole abroad thing!
Later we went to use the internet and did the most theatrical double take as we saw fizzy and charlie there lol!
27th August: Senggigi - Labhuan Lombok - Gili Bola
We met the rest of the group from our 'Suarmanik Kencana' tour: 2 couples, a bro and sister, a father and daugher, groups like us and lone travellers. There were 18 in total, ranging in age from 20 to 60 with italians, french, canadian, australian, austrian and english. There were some real characters so we had such a fun time!
On our way to the boat we had a 2 hour journey where we stopped every 10 minutes to pick up different supplies: beer, pineapple, water, live chickens (which were strapped to the front of the van and stayed alive on the boat until a few days in when they were killed and we ate them, yum!)
We got to our boat, which was, essentially, a floating shed! It had a main deck where 5 people slept and we ate our meals (just laid out on dishes and we helped ourselves) and then a raised deck where 13 of us slept and then the cabin, and round the back a kitchen area and loo - a squat-job-type thing which had an open hole straight into the sea! We soon overcamethis barrier and realised to avoid loo stops while the boat was stationary or while we were snorkelling! I have a rather cracking toilet story but best explained over a beer......so you'll have to wait!
We anchored beside Gili Bola and then everyone started going to bed so up we went to our damp, salty pillows, 'sunbed thin' mattresses and rugs. It was actually brilliant! We loved this boat by the end of the trip!
28th August: Gili Bola - Moyo - Satonda
We snorkelled outside the boat before making our way to shore (we soon found out the only way to get to shore was to swim, so they had simply buttered it up by saying we get to snorkel 5 times!) We had a short walk on the island and then saw a small fresh-water lake which we swam in for a bit. We then moved down to the waterfall and a few people navigated themselves around the dodgy ledge (one side a 2metre drop, the other a rank, stagnant water with fleas all over it!) - we didnt. We're all hoping to man up a bit....!
We then went to Satonda (snorkelled our way over!) where we saw a salt -water lake created by the Tsunami. We swam and then made a wish and hung a rock on a tree - as the lake is known as 'lucky lake' and we're hoping our wishes come true!
We got back on the boat for an 18 hour sail/drive. It was a lovely evening, watching the stars until i got a dodgy stomach. Not the nicest evening in the end but hey - all well travelled travellers have a good toilet story apparently so every cloud.....!)
29th August: Gili Laba - Komodo
Jo and Soph hiked up a huge hill on Gili Laba where they had spectacular views of the flores landscape. I, still feeling delicate, stayed on deck (so lame!). Then we had 2 and a half hours of sailing until we reached Komodo, land of the Komodo dragons! We saw 4 dragons, which was pretty cool! We all took this big sticks with us cos they can run upto 18km/hr and can kill humans. we kept our wits about us for most of the time, but did let our guard down for 5 minutes when we saw a GIANT grasshopper (equally, if not more, fascinating than the komodo just 3 metres away!) We also saw 2 poisonous spiders, bigger than your hand - honestly!
Later that evening on the boat, the canadian girl, Sam, who is a singer songwriter played her guitar and sang us songs as we floated around on the boat. It was such a nice way to end the day!
30th August: Rinca - Kelor - Labuan Bajo
We visited Rinca which is the only other island in the world with komodos on it. We saw 12 and because it was only 10am and their feeding period they were really active and a bit more scary!
Then we anchored on kelor island which is a beautiful small island with red heather hills and white sand. Soph and I were pretty fed up with the con of us 'snorkelling for a bit' and getting soaking wet and salty again so we stayedon the boat. Jo went to the island and has tried to make us feel really bad for not going, but we havent given in. we are quite happy with our decision!
We docked at Labhuan Bajo harbour where the trip ended. We walked around the town but there wasnt much to see so we opted for one more night ont he boat (as it was free and we'd grown to like our 'sheddy-like' friend) Only a few others had chosen this option too so the small group of us went to 'paradise bar' where had western burgers!! Then Sam played her guitar up on the stage and the rest of the group joined us from their hostels and it was a nice way to end the trip!
31st August: Labuan Bajo - Lembor - Ruteng
We tried to book our flights but it wouldn't accept our card so we ended up being taken by a helpful guy to a garden shed where we booked them. We were convinced we were just being robbed of our money here, but i am now safely in Ubud and can confirm it all went very smoothly! So we booked our flights and then the guy who had sorted it out for us took us to his friend who was the driver for our next few days.
Us 3 plus an english couple (Joe and Claire) we'd met while booking flights hopped into the car, and off we set with Anton, our driver. The roads for the next 4 days were constantly windy as they just followed the mountains round and round! And there were no seatbelts in the back of the car so as we careered around bends we felt a little bit at risk! Other drivers on the road are maniacs but Anton is a flipping amazingly good driver and we were very safe! (So don't worry Mums!)
We stopped in Lembor to see this 'spider style land division system' : basically from the top of a hill youcould see the land dividied like a spders web. nice to look at but not really that great! We had lunch here too where we got ripped off buying 'local food' which was just rice and dry chicken - they love the stuff out here! it's really not special!
We went to the hostel which Anton chose for us. It was pretty expensive, despite us opting for a shared bathroom,but the guidbook said it was the cheapest so we had to go for it. We walked into the town for dinner but it was dark and everything looked a bit scary with people lurking and no real shops or restaurants in sight, so after 5 minutes we went back to the hostel! Finally up in the mountains we didnt need a fan, but had a very cold nights sleep!
1st September; Ruteng - Bajawa
We set off for Bajawa and en route saw the 'distillation process for Arrack' (Arrack is the local spirit, it tastes like carpet cleaner, it is awful!) - it is brewed from heating paln leaves. Jo will tell you more about it if you're interested as she of course LOVED it! 'ooooh it's a distillation process, how exciting!' lol....!
We got to the hostel which was really quite nice and then shorlty after headed out to some hot springs. Joe and Claire had had a bad experience with some hot springs so we were dubious...) turned out they were INCREDIBLE!! there was a pool area the temperature of a bath (or hotter) and then a waterfall bit which you could stand under and it felt like a jacuzzi! we were there for an hour or so, treating oursleves to a 'free spa' experience! it was one of our favourite moments!
2nd September: Bajawa - Wogo - Ende - Moni
We drove to Wogo, a traditional village in Flores. We had to pay a donation and then because they didnt really speak english we were just sort of walking around unsure of what to do! Then, the geniuses that are Claire and Joe got out their guidebooks! They started reading our questions and phrases to the kids who were replying, telling us their names and ages etc. They were so nice and welcoming and even the grandparents were nice too! (all kids were under 7 and with grandparents as families at school or work). Then joe got our some sweets and played games with the kids, rewarding them with sweets. We took loads of photos as they posed for us, and they loved seeing the pictures of themselves!
Then a lady invited us into her house. she was the only one who spoke english in the village and had apparently just learnt off the tourists! we sat on her floor and drank her home made coffee and her 87 yr old grandma wove baskets (we bought a little woven purse) sophie saw a huge spider and has been on edge ever since!
After this we said our goodbyes and headed on to Panggajawa beach where there is black sand but really pale blue stones. The locals collect them and export them as building decorations. I collected a small pile of blue and purple so can show u how cool they are!
We then again went for 'local' lunch and paid about 4 times as much as the locals. WE're getting used to this!
In the evening we checked into our hostel in Moni and went to another waterfall. We had to cross bamboo bridges to get to it and i was so petrified. I dont understand how sophie was scared by the spider but just hopped along the bamboo before taking countless photos of me being petrified as i thought the thnig was going to just snap under me! After the waterfall we followed a path up a hill, hoping for a good view or something. We saw a village so quickly put some clothes on over our bikinis but then this lady started 'shooing' us away. Jo was like 'guys just KEEP walking!' ....but then it turnsout they wanted us to come and join them (wierd communication in indo) so we walked up to the village with this english speaking lady. Soph and i got into conversation with a crazy woman called cecilia (who insisted on me singing 'the song' cecilia!....embarassing!) and she had red all over her teeth and lips like blood so we were pretty worried when jo went missing! (we later found out this is berries they chew for clothing dye!) and jo had wondered off with 'agnes' who we later found, explaining how she needed to make money in order to go to study in ende for her computer course. She said it started in 2 weeks and she didnt have enough money so would we buy a sarong? We didnt buy a sarong. She won't be going to computer class...
3rd September: Moni - Kelimute - Maumere
Left our hostel at 4:30am and drove to the bottom of kelimutu. We walked up it for sunrise but due to the cloud cover the sunrise wasnt too great. When the clouds shifted we saw the beatiful 3 colour lakes. When they were first discovered the water was red in one, white in another and blue in another. this must have looked amazing! but due to an earthquake they are now olive green, turquoise and black. still worth the visit!
We later went to another village where we saw the intricate process of ikat weaving. This is better explained to most people as hand made scarves! But very complicated to make and pretty nice too!
We also went and saw an old, traditional village where they have a huge hut that only the cheif sleeps in. He has about 5 wives, dirty bugger. It was a really ceremonious place. At this point il point out that sophie thought in wogo that their 'special room' was for ceremonies and mating. We laughed so much saying it was for 'meetings, not mating' but turns out she may have been right as this hut had a honeymoon room...! Once the cheifs baby is born they have weird traditions to assess whether it can be the next cheif, including bashing its head against a banana tree and leaving it on a 6 metre high ledge! it the baby doesnt' cry it is 'stupid' and cant be cheif and must leave the village when he is 10! how harsh is that! (it happened to a mute child once cos it couldnt cry!)
We spent the night in maumere but couldnt find anywhere decent to eat so ended up buying crackers and peanut butter (and sophie tried out 2 new flavours of fanta: grape and fruit flavour...they were SO suggary and rank!)
4th September: Maumere
Not much to say. Maumere is a horrible dump. We finally found a cafe to chill out in and on the way back to the hostel bought fresh coconut and pineapple from the market. As we walked to our hostel a man drove down the grassy path towards us all so we parted so he could drive past and he shoved his hand up my skirt. dirty perv pretty much summed up our experience on maumere. I advise u never to go!
5th September: Maumere - Ubud
We got our 7am flight (after 5am wake up) to a random airport where we had to wait (we still have no idea where it was!) and then got back on the plane and arrived in denpasar, bali. We got a taxi to ubud where we are now. we have a MUCH nicer hostel than the others we've had and we've booked ourselves in for massages and free use of a pool. So as you can imagine we love it here!! Over and out - we'll update again when we've finished sunning ourselves!!
xx
(Written by Jo)
So yeah we loved Ubud - in our bathroom our toilet had a flush and our shower had hot water! Treeeeat! The first day (5th Sept) we didnt do a lot, just had a nice lunch that wasn't nasi goreng (fried noodles)! and walked in and out of the many shops.
Saturday 6th September
We tried walking to a rice paddy but it turned out to be miles so we grabbed a taxi. On the way we were in a traffic jam and a moped tried pulling out and flew into a van....it was a pretty messy injury as he faceplanted straight into the road!...so we won't be attempting mopeds for a little while!
We looked at the rice paddies but couldnt really go in them so then spent the rest of the day walking in and out of every souvenir shop...especially the ones with "shiny things in" for sophie!
Sunday 7th September
We had a pretty early 2.45am start to climb Gunung Batur (1717m). It was so dark when we started at 4am that I wasnt sure we were going the right way as we couldn't see a volcano...it turned out I was looking straight at it..! When we got to the top after a 2hour climb we couldn't see much as it was really cloudy, but just as the sun rose the clouds began to clear, giving the most spectacular sunrise. Despite this, we were quickly distracted by a dog that was trying to fight a monkey! It kept us all entertained for far too long...Bon and I were of course encouraging the monkey!! (Sophie supported the dog) Sadly there was no winner. After this we walked around the crater which had lots of steam coming out of various points. The locals collect this in water bottles and use it at ceremonies (in a crazy temple 40m down a cave at the crater edge) where they sacrifice buffalo and chickens off the edge of the crater - we found this image highly entertaining!
On the way down, in the light, we realised what a dodgy, hard climb it had been, with the rubble/lava slipping away beneath us. At the bottom 2 dogs had a fight which was amusing at first....then got a bit gross!
On the way back we stopped off at a coffee plantation and tried lots of local brews. We almost dove in for some free "biscuits"...luckily we didnt because it turned out that was not what they were at all, they were a speciality - an animal eats the coffee beans from the forest floor without chewing them, and then when it poos them out they go through the normal coffee processing...apparently they have a wonderful aroma, but i'm not convinced!
Back in Ubud it was massage time! We got full body massages, and oh my were they full body! They massaged pretty much everywhere which I was not expecting! And I also requested a strong massage, at which point she immediately put all her weight in one point on my back....oh the pain! Despite this it was very relaxing and we got free use of the pool for the afternoon.
For dinner we went to an apparenbtly famous suckling pig restaurant then went to the temple to see a traditional dance. It was great but their eyes stared at us as if they were possessed!!
Tuesday 8th September
After a long lie in we spent the day shopping. Later that day we bumped into Gordon from the boat so we went out for dinner that evening and finally got ourselves some wine! Great last night in Indonesia!
Written by SOPHIE!
9th September: Ubud – Kota Kinabalu
Flew from Denpasar, Bali to Kuala Lumpur then from KL to Kota Kinabalu, Borneo. After a slight mix up with the hostels we checked into Kinabalu Backpackers and went straight to bed.
10th September : Kota Kinabalu
Today Bonnie and I (Jo wasn’t feeling well) went out for a very english breakfast as a bit of indulgence and spent the rest of the day booking trips, sorting photos and taking advantage of the free internet. We were amazed by the simplest things in KK such as green men to help us cross the road (something I in particular found helpful!)
11th September: Pulau Tiga
We woke up early to travel to Pulau Tiga, an island that had been used for a reality TV show survivor in 2001. It had a very resorty feel to it with beautiful beaches and monitor lizards and monkeys everywhere. After lunch we set off to the main attraction of the island – the volcanic mud baths. We were accompanied by the girl, well we’re almost sure she is a girl (it was very hard to tell) she had travelled here with us and we werent really sure if she was our guide or what. But she turned out to be very useful when were covered in mud she was able to take lots of photos! The baths were a 15min walk away and being in them was such a strange experience. We got in and covered ourselves in mud, bonnie needed help so I ‘accidentally’ covered her lip in mud (which she couldn’t get off as every part of her body was covered in mud so she just made it worse!) and then got in the bigger pool. The mud sort of pushed you up so it was impossible to stay upright or swim, we had to pull ourselves along with the ropes above the pool – it was SO funny! Walking back to the beach to wash off was a very interesting and scary experience as we were so slippery and I have no idea how we made it down in one piece!
Later, all cleaned up Bon and Jo joined in with the staffs volley ball game (I of course watched) which went ok considering that no one spoke english so communicating was hard and they didn’t ever know the score! After dinner we got chatting to a lovely couple who bought us an amazing bottle of red wine as we couldn’t really afford anything.
12th September: Pulau Tiga
Today was our relaxing day. Straight after breakfast we set up camp on 3 deck chairs by the sea. We were the only people on the beach all day and the sea was just not cold enough to cool us down – it was literally more like being in a bath! After a few hours of baking ourselves we decided to snorkel – a slight let down after all the snorkelling in indo but we did see a very cool leopard fish. The rest of the day was spent sunbathing until about 5ish when we all realised how burnt we were! (especially Jo who’s snorkelling style meant her bum was all out of the water!!!)
13th September: Pulau Tiga – KK
I spent the morning in the hammock reading a book whilst Bon and Jo went for a much longer than intended walk around the island [Bonnie: “we took no water or first aid kit and thought we saw pirates on one of the shores so we didn’t stop once, as we marched around trying to escape the ‘pirates’!!”]. After lunch we returned to KK. For dinner we intended to eat at some of the local market stalls but Bonnie stubbed her toe quite badly for the second time that day and we found ourselves eating at a very posh place on the water front. The excuse was that we needed ice, but really we wanted a treat!
14th September: KK – Sepilok
Today we took out first public bus ride! It wasn’t exactly how we’d imagined as there was a toilet and a tv. It was from KK to Sandakan on the East coast. We then made our way to Uncle Tans in Sepilok to book ourselves on a river safari. Having done this we realised we didn’t have enough cash between us to pay (of course cards weren’t accepted) so we spent a pleasant afternoon taking the very local ‘bemo’ bus back to Sandakan to get money and back again. (2 hrs well spent....and only 50p!)
15th September : Sepilok - Uncle Tans river safari
Before staring the river safari we went Sepilok orang-utan rehabilitation centre, one of the things that first attracted us to come to Borneo. As we walked to the main feeding area there was an orangutan sitting on the hand rail. She was so cute and walked along side us for a bit. After she posed in the tree she began to look a little confused. At this point a member of staff came along and the orangutan held out her arms and was scooped up by the worker. This made me really want a pet orangutan more than anything in the world, although that is what the centre is working against so maybe not…
We walked back to Uncle Tans which may not have been our best idea as it was very hot and I nearly stepped on a snake! We got a bus to the edge of the river where we got on the safari boats that we’d be using for the next 3 days. They were very unsteady but there were life jackets provided, not that they would protect us from the crocodiles that live in the river very well. Before heading to camp we took a mini detour down the river and saw long tail macaques (basic monkeys) and proboscis monkeys, which are very funny looking with long noses and big bellies. The camp was very basic but we had been warned it would not be the hilton and actually it was probably nicer than some of the places we have stayed!
At 9pm we set off on our night safari, there was a driver at the back of the boat and a guide at the front with the most powerful torch I have seen. We saw a bright eyed eagle fish, a small crocodile, a 4m long python, common form civets (wild cats), a giant river frog which was picked up and passed around, a leopard cat, a buffy fish owl, a black hornbill, a skunk/badger (guide wasn’t sure) and finally some long tailed macaques who peed on us! At one point we thought we’d seen a bornean sea bunnie but it turned out to be bobbies hand shadow…
16th September: Uncle Tans river safari
The day started with a 6.30am safari. We were orangutan hunting but unfortunately didn’t see any. We did see: a dollar bird, white bellied fish eagle (biggest in borneo), a crocodile over 2m long, gibbons and a stork billed kingfisher. Popeye was our guide and had been last night, he seemed to have taken a liking to me as after the safari he asked to take my photo. I agreed, not really knowing what to say, and so was arranged to numerous positions with him taking photos of me with his phone. The others just laughed hysterically from a distance!
At 10.30am we had a jungle trekking safari. We saw a frilled tree frog, long jaw ants, flying lizards and various plants, vines and trees. We then had 4/5 hours to ourselves in which we all found ourselves a hammock to nap in. This was interrupted briefly by the staff telling us they had found a python in camp. It was hidden under some dried mud and tree roots but they kept grabbing its tail and trying to get it out of his hole. It was there all day but when we got up the next day it was gone!
At 5pm we did our afternoon river safari and saw silver back monkeys, albino monkeys, proboscis monkeys, lots of long-tailed macaques and flying foxes. Our final safari of the day was at 9pm when we went on a jungle trekking safari around the camp. It was quite scary as there were lots of spiders (spids) everywhere. Our guide had taught us how to see their eyes with your torch – by putting it on your nose. This meant bonnie walked around with her head torch on her nose looking like a pig’s snout. Very funny! [Bonnie: “yes, but it worked, I saw loads, so there.”]. We saw a frilled tree frog, kingfisher and a back comb ghekko.
17th September: Uncle Tans river safari – KK
We woke early in hope of there being space for us to go on another morning river safari. We were in luck and told the guide that all we wanted to see was orangutans. Amazingly, despite none of the other boats seeing any, we saw a mother and daughter orangutan on a tree right above us. So cute. After breakfast we said our goodbyes and headed back to sepilok and then back to KK.
18th September: KK – Mount Kinabalu
Day 1 of the mountain climb! We were picked up at 7.30am from KK and taken to the park, after a few seemingly unnecessary stops we were a little late with the start of our climb at 10.30. We started at Timpohon gate and it is a 6km walk from there to where we were staying, the guidebook says it takes 4-6hours and we did it in 5, which we’re very happy with! The path starts with steps made from tree roots with hand rails to help, it gets more and more rocky the higher you get and for the last 2km we were literally clambering up rocks. After an hour’s walk we met three of the boys from the river safari on their way down. It was worrying to see how exhausted they looked as they’d spent the last 2months jungle trekking – we’d been on beaches! But we carried on, Bon struggled with altitude problems and my knee was hurting but eventually we reached laban rata. Our guide was fairly useless as he spoke little English except to ask whether we had husbands. If the answer was negative he followed up with ‘your eyes are pretty’. When we walked into our hostel we were greeted with very curious looks as we were all wearing little strappy tops and short shorts. As soon as we got our breath back we realized why -everyone was wearing salopets and thermal fleeces – it was freezing! To be expected at 3275m, so we changed into our very inadequate warm clothes, my pink I heart NY hoodie looked very out of place amongst professional looking climbers. Somehow we had unknowingly booked onto a via ferrata ‘walk the torq’ – a sort of abseiling activity for on our descent so we had our briefing, an early dinner and went to bed at 7 for our very early start.
19th September: Mount Kinabalu – KK
We set off at 2.30am behind a back log of people all dressed up in our warmest clothing including jackets hired from the hostel. Bonnie was now suffering more than Jo and I with the altitude and dropped back with our guide whilst we tried to make the peak before sunrise. It’s just under 3km climb to the peak and took us 3hr30. The climb was a lot harder than expected, it was pitch black and a lot of the climbing was done using a rope to pull yourself up rock faces. A line of head torches could be seen leading the way. The sun began to rise as we reached the summit and the views were amazing. We made a final effort to reach the peak, 4095.2m high. We couldn’t even stop and relax as it was too cold and we had to be at the starting point of walk the torq by 8.00am. The descent was hard and often involved sitting down and sliding (resulting in 2 holes in the bum of my trousers!) but we made it just in time. Bon made it to the top shortly after us but unfortunately missed the deadline for the walk the torq. Jo and I got kitted out in our helmets and harness and slowly made our way to the starting point. The course is 200m vertical and 230m horizontal including a 6m long wire rope that you walk across between rock faces. We actually felt a lot safer than I expected. We met Bon at the end and had a much needed breakfast – I had 8 slices of toast. [Jo: “Breakfast consisted of frankfurters and baked beans, imagine my utter disappointment after 7hours of walking!”] - and started the rather daunting decent. My knee was in agony so I held everyone up but eventually we made it to the bottom. It rained on the way and we were all soaked, it seemed that my very fashionable poncho was not actually very water proof.
20th September: kk
We woke up in so much pain! None of us could move our legs and the stairs up and down in the hostel were very painful. Stupidly we had agreed to go to the waterfront to meet the boys from the climb. Before this had to make our first trip to the doctors for Jo’s very gross looking toe, she had an infected cut. We then hobbled along like old ladies to a bar and treated ourselves to some beer and wine.
WRITTEN BY JO
Monday 21st September
We arrived in Kuala Lumpur and some man led us through the sreets of China Town to a hostel. We accepted the room then when we turned to lock ourselves in the room we found our lock constituted a hairband stretched over a couple of nails...good. Soph and I headed out for a 1pound dinner in China Town.
Tuesday 22nd September
We walked what turned out to be a bloody long way, in the heat of the day, to the Thai Embassy to try to sort our visas...but it was closed. So Bon and I went to get passport photos done...also closed (Thanks to Hari Raya - end of Ramadan and Chinese New Yr). Luckily we were by a supermarket so we stocked up on fresh bread, lurpak, jam, kettle chips and philadelphia and had the most amazing picnic in Lake Gardens, by the edge of the lake. Back in China Town we checked out the various stalls nearly buying a D&G...Dennis and Gill bag... then had dinner in China Town again.
Wednesday 23rd September
We went to get tickets from the Petronas Towers to go to the skybridge. That was a 45 min wait. Then we went again to get our passport photos done....another 45 min wait. Then we went back to the Thai Embassy...for another wait, of 1 and a half hours...to be told that we couldn't get our visa until we went for our 2nd entry to Thailand...what a hassle!
We walked to Traders Hotel to book a table at their top floor bar, Sky Bar. We were shown in by someone who worked there who told us we could get a room there for 40 pounds each per night...all inclusive, including alcohol...it was soooo tempting! But we were well behaved and instead resorted to our correct standards by eating nutella sandwiches in the park for lunch. We wandered through the park where loads of kids were playing (fully clothed of course) in the swimming pool, and lay under a tree for a bit of peace and quiet. We got very little of that as all the locals kept coming up to us insisting on having about 20 photos each taken with us...we felt very self conscious, which was odd since we're always taking photos of "strange" foreigners!
It was soon time for our trip up the Petronas towers skybridge (43rd floor of the 80ish storey building). It had stunning views over the city into the hills.
To fill time until our skybar reservation we spent a few hours in the next door shopping mall. There was Topshop, Gap, Dorothy Perkins (where I accidentally bought a dress for probably more than I'd pay in the UK!), M&S, Gucci, Prada...it was amazing! We bought rice and chicken in a tub and some bottles of wine then after getting into our dresses and doing our makeup (using testers from a posh department store) we strutted to the park for a picnic...all very classy I think you'll agree!
Then off we went to Sky Bar. It's on the top floor or a high rise, overlooking the park and Petronas towers and has a swimming pool down the middle of it (soo far from the travelling lifestyle we've become used to!) It was some sort of strawberry night so we had 3 different cocktails (and then were bought mojitos by some aussies, which we really didnt need!)
Thursday 24th September
We woke in our sauna of a hotel room with very dry mouths, then eventually got a bus to the Cameron Highlands. It turned out to be a VIP bus so we had 6 hours of great comfort with massively reclining chairs. Then things got even better when we arrived as we got homemade tea and scones in our hostel.
Friday 25th September
We set out for what we thought was a stroll...a few hours later we were still "strolling" - we climbed up a mountain (6,666ft) which involved pulling ourselves up and around tree roots and branches and balancing across logs to avoid boggy areas...needless to say it got very messy! After 2 hours we reached the top to see a view of cloud. So we headed down via a road which was very painful. Finally reaching the BOH tea plantation we were shown how tea is made (yup, I again loved this!) On the way home we squished 5 of us into a taxi which gave me a very dead leg, much to the amusement of the others as I attempted walking the short walk back. We tried a curry for dinner as they are meant to be good, but were quite let down.
Saturday 26th September
We got an early bus then boat to the Perhentian islands (Kecil island). The boat was so bouncy that we (and even more so Sophies boobs) we're thrown around a lot! We took a while to find a hostel, by which time we were boiling so we had a swim in the amazingly clear sea with white sand. We tried watching a film for dinner. It was an English film about a con but also had English subtitles which were really wrong...we left quickly when we realised they were translating the word "con" into a much ruder word starting with the same letter...
Sunday 27th September
We lay on the beach most of the day despite it being really overcast, then wandered to the other side of the island for a bit. At dinner we met some canadians and an aussie and played some cards and watched their strange drunk arguements.
Monday 28th September
We went on a snorkelling trip around the island. The first spot was like an aquarium it was so full of fish, and whole shoals surrounded us. At one point Bon and I had our heads out the water and an eel like thing jumped out the water right between us. We then moved on to shark point where we saw five sharks (white tip sharks, about 1.5m, apparently not dangerous), and then on to a place where we saw some massive (70cm) fish that I heard were called bumhead fish...but i could be wrong. There was also some amazing coral here and clams of all different colours. After this we found a 1.3m turtle and swam along with it for about 15 minutes.
After lunch we had a couple more stops including a tiny bay with perfect white sand and palm trees. Back on our beach we sunbathed for a couple of hours then had dinner with mars bar and snickers milkshakes (make one today, they are amazing!) Andrew (the aussie who also came snorkelling with us) joined us, then him and Sophie went night swimming.
Tuesday 29th September
Soph went wreck diving early. Bonnie and I had a lie in then Soph joined after breakfast (with lots of cuts from her hardcore dive) and we sunbathed all day until the sudden late-afternoon rain had us running from the beach, soaking by the time we got to our room. We went out for dinner and some drinks with VERY red faces and VERY BIG sunglasses marks.
Wednesday 30th September
We got an 8am boat to Kuala Besut (more painful than fun this time as the waves were bigger) then a 6 hr hour minibus to Penang. We checked out a few hostels (during more sudden outbreaks of rain) then found one with a massive room and the loveliest old man owner who kept knocking on our door to give us towels or soap or bus timetables or to tell us what else we could see in Penang. We went to a local area for dinner but it looked a bit yuck so we had a proper curry...like the sort you get in England.
Thursday 1st October
Feeling very brave we rented a car for the day for 20 quid. Bonnie drove first and got us to Kek Lok Si Temple. It is meant to be the biggest Buddhist temple in Malaysia or something but it was run down and most of the rooms had been turned into tacky shops so it was a bit disappointing. We then tried to navigate to the snake temple using free maps...which had most of the roads missing. However a long time later we made it there and had snakes put on us for a photo. We were appropriately girly with quite a bit of squealing. The snakes behind glass were much better (!) and so colourful.
I then drove to a fruit place where we got health fix for the day before letting Sophie drive us a bit towards the butterfly farm. She did...very well...and Bon and I didn't fear for our lives. (Sophie: "I drove really slowly but after about 5 minutes of people revving behind me I decided enough was enough!")
The butterfly farm was amazing but I got very upset because butterflies kept landing on Bonnie and Sophie but none would land on me...the smiles were wiped off their faces when the BEST butterfly in the whole place landed on me (Bonnie: "She cheated, she picked it up so the butterfly really didnt have a choice...!"). There were also some horrible scorpians and insects there, and lots of dead butterflies on a display on the walls with pins holding them in place...they were very pretty though!
We drove along the coast, on the way to Penang Hill and got the fernicular to the top of the hill. We grabbed some dinner there then drove what was supposed to be an easy drive home, but one-way streets got us a bit stuck.
Friday 2nd October
We safely returned the car then did a bit of shopping. In the afternoon we went to a choclate boutique where we were given numerous samples much to our delight. It is now now so i don't know how our Malaysia time will finish...we will grab some dinner from up the road then have an early flight tomorrow morning to Chiang Mai
Written by: BONNIE!!
Saturday 3rd October: Penang to Chiang Mai
We flew into Chiang mai airport and went out for dinner. There was an alcohol ban due to the elections but we ate in an english-owned restaurant so he happily served us red wine in coffee mugs: something we're familiar with as it's not been many months since leaving uni!
Sunday 4th October: Chiang Mai
It was so weird being in a new country as we realised we'd taken the indo and malaysian 'english alphabet' for granted - suddenly it was all squiggles and swirls, we couldn't even TRY to pronounce stuff right!
Jo somehow managed to persuade us to go to the Arts & Cultural centre because she wanted to explore buddism!! It was pretty rubbish because they'd just tried to pack as much information into all the rooms so it was really boring and tedious - and jo didnt really come any closer to discovering buddhism.
After this we went to Wat Phrasingha Woramahawiharn (a temple, to put it more simply). It was big and grand but apart from some pretty buildings and monks there wasnt much to see. There were lots of signs with various phrases on them but when Jo realised the main concept of buddism is that everyone is equal and you can't be competitive she abandonded that idea.
After a 70p lunch we got a free tuk tuk to 'Tiger Kingdom' - on the way a crazy frenchman on a moped started chatting to us while we were driving along and decided to follow us to the tiger kingdom for fun, but he was a bit mad - you can take the frog out of france....
so we left him to his own devices and jo and sophie went to see the big tigers (you can lie with them and cuddle them etc but they're clearly v drugged up - the ones that arent there to be cuddled were angrily pacing their cages so we felt bad paying to fund this!)
I paid a little extra because i wanted to cuddle the new-born cubs - they looked so CUTE! but they were selfish and only wanted to play with each other so i had to keep pulling them towards me to get any attention from them!
That evening we went to a night market then ate at the riverside bar and restaurant with Gordon (thanks for the recommendation Em) but the alcohol ban was still on. To compensate, i had fried chocolate bars for the first time ever - OH MY BUDDHA, WHAT A COMBINATION!!
Monday 5th October: Chiang Mai [Trek Day 1]
We met Laura and Priya on the minibus and set off to see the 'karen longneck' tribe who are famous for wearing coils around their necks. They start wearing them from a really young age and the coils are increased until they have really long necks, and the coils weigh about 5kg - crazy. Unfortunately, despite being an interesting concept, the village itself was v v touristy (and the money they get from the tourists is the only reason they continue the tradition.....and, yes, we funded it further!) - there was just one street in the village and every house was its own shop selling the same handicrafts.
After meeting with the rest of the group (11 in total) we went to a market where they sold live and fried bugs...mmm. At the elephant place we had a small lunch then went to the elephants. As there were 3 of us we had to share an elephant so Jo and Soph sat on the seat bit while i had to sit straight onto the elephants neck - i was so worried about falling off as they didnt explain how to stay on. We started off going down a hill (which was even more scary) and went to a lake at the bottom where the elephants splashed water all over themselves (and us) and the baby elephant splashed around in the water and rolled around - so cute!
We went back up the hill and the mahout (elephant trainer) jumped off so i was at the front and completely in control...(only because the elephants walk this same route about 5 times a day!)
After this we took our bags and began the long trek! It was 70% uphill and harder than we all expected but had very pretty views; walking through paddy fields and past small waterfalls made it worth while. Shortly before the top the Swiss lady in our group dislocated her shoulder when she slipped. Fortunately she was a nurse and knew what to do but it highlighted the dangers of being somewhere so remote as the tour guide "happy hippy" looked a bit unsure of what to do!
We met the tribal ladies in our hill tribe village and had a beer or 2, then they cooked us very delicious food which we ate sitting on the floor before being treated to card tricks and other magic tricks. All 11 of us slept together in one big room which was fun apart from the cockerels crowing under the hut at 3am....
Tuesday 6th October: Chiang Mai [Trek Day 2]
It had rained a lot overnight so when we set off it was v slippery and a downhill clay slope for the first 2 hours so we moved very slowly, navigating through the least slippery routes. Finally we made our way to an amazing waterfall which i went into for a play - it was SO powerful but quite shallow so you could stand right under it (but it stung my skin from the power). When we'd dried off we continued walking through little villages and crossing the streams. This was quite tricky as we had to hop over small stones and branches with a big risk of falling in - especially at one point where the 'bridge' had been washed away: we ended up taking off our shoes and socks and wading across.
The scenery was so varied as we walked and near the end we went white water rafting for half an hour which was good fun, but far too short! We jumped into the water near the end which carried us downstream really fast, and then we went bamboo rafting which only lasted 3 minutes and was v stupid really - it would have been more fun to swim!
Back in central Chiang Mai we went for dinner with Laura and Priya and 2 of their friends and played a hilarious game of 'ring of fire' before ending the night in a reggae bar. On our way back to the hostel we saw a baby elephant being led along the road - "elephant beggin"...v sad, but cute!
Wednesday 7th October: Chiang Mai [Elephant Training Camp]
We took the car to the market to buy elephant supplies (banana and sugar cane). We had to walk through paddy fields to access the camp which made it feel quite remote. We were kitted out with sexy denim outfits and taught the various commands for controlling the elephant (which we later used on the elephants but were mostly ignored). When we went to see the elephants the first thing we saw was a huge elephant with a massive '5th leg'.....which was quite amusing! We fed the elephants with bananas and sugar cane right into their mouth and then the baby one gave us all kisses with its trunk.
We practiced getting on and off the elephant (song ka: lift leg, soong: higher) and then jo ripped her trousers getting on! (it ripped SO loudly so EVERYONE noticed!) [Jo says it was very embarassing as her knickers were on full display while dismounting the elephant, and they couldnt understand why she wanted a new pair of trousers!]. Then we practiced more commands: pai: forwards.....toi: back....pepe: left/right.....how: stop. After lunch we finally got to ride them. I went with sophie and jo got her own but it was really mischievious and kept stopping to eat. It also got 'a bit excited' while jo was riding it which i found hilarious until i swapped with jo after an hour and the same thing happened with me!
When we'd stopped to swap over the elephants they were allowed to wander off to eat and they were pulling down entire trees and big branches. Also, the baby elephant had been taught to pick a hat off the ground which it put on my head - CUTE!
After the elephant trek we got to wash them in a big pond, then said goodbye and went back to the hostel. We did our own thing for about an hour and then spent the next hour filling each other in on what we'd just been doing - clearly not used to being apart from each other! Matt and Simon joined us at dinner but we were too exhausted for decent conversation.....so much so that the conversation turned to what temperature we leave our a/c on at night!! GEEEKS!!
Thursday 8th October: Chiang Mai - Chiang Khong
We were picked up by a minibus with 6 lads in. I saw it had a DVD player so STUPIDLY asked if i could play my DVD. The driver said 'yes, later' so after 5 hours of driving we stopped at a mechanics for an HOUR(!!) to fix the dvd player - i had no idea that was the deal i'd somehow struck! Everyone clearly blamed me so i apologised profusely but back on the bus after the hour wait the dvd worked for 5 mins then the dvd player broke again, raaaaah!!At the hostel there was a big fuss about getting our 'stamps' out of thailand which we finally agreed to for 1 dollar, and then i had my first Thai massage which was the best 3 pounds i have EVER SPENT!
Written by: BONNIE!
Friday 9th October: Chiang Khong (Thailand) - LAOS [slowboat trip]
We walked for 10 mins from the hostel to the thai border, where, thanks to getting the thai departure stamps, we avoided the long queues (so it was worth 1 dollar!). A boat took us across the small river (2 minute trip) and all of a sudden we were in Laos, pretty cool. We had to hang around for a bit while everyone sorted out their visas as we already had ours sorted, then the guy tried to convince us to take the bus instead, but fortunately at this point we had done enough travelling to understand scams and we avoided all his 'bad advice about the boat'!
Eventually we were shown to the boat! It was very crowded with narrow, v upright wooden benches. We sat as a group with all the lads which was fun. We mostly ended up lying on the floor up against the wall and chatting - missing most of the sights! but although it was really pretty seeing all the locals working on their land beside the mekong it did get a bit repetitive! We moored up in Pakbeng and joined the others for a very tasty indian dinner. There wasn't much going on so we went back to our rooms at about 9 and were thinking we may as well go to sleep when there was a knock at the door. Fortunately we hadn't QUITE turned off the light as it was Pete and Nicholas who came in and played cards with us for a bit - which was way more fun than bed at 9:30pm!!
Saturday 10th October: Pakbeng - Luang Prabang
It was unclear what time the boat was leaving in the morning so we did what the rest of our group were doing and by the time we arrived at the dock at 8:45 the boat (half the size of the previous day) was completely full. We would have had to stand up the entire way, despite not enough head room for standing, and probably wouldn't have all fitted on so we stayed on the shore demanding another boat! Finally after about 15 minutes they agreed to another boat for the remaining 40 of us - we had so much space while everyone else remained crammed on the other boat just because they'd arrived early! We lay on the floor reading and sleeping and it was v comfortable. The views were similar to the previous day - not incredible, but really interesting to see: people working on their crops, buffalo feeding, an elephant, small villages etc. Tim (Jo's boyfriend for those that dont know) met us at the small jetty and showed us to the hostel he'd found us. We ate dinner overlooking the Mekong River then joined the group for drinks later.
Sunday 11th October: Luang Prabang
We got a large tuk tuk (jumbo) to the 'Pak Ou Caves'. we had to get a boat to cross the river (2 minutes) as this temple overlooks the mekong river. It was essentially just a series of caves with dusty buddhas in. 222 steps up there was a deeper cave which we needed torches to see things (but had forgotten to bring them so just kept taking photos and using the camera flash to guide us!) It was quite a rubbish temple. When we got back across the river a 7yr old laos girl was carrying a live ratty-looking thing, hanging by its foot which she tried selling to us, "mole, 5 dollars"!!
We stopped off at whisky village to try the various local whiskys. After a 1 hr drive we got to the waterfalls where we saw a small bear sanctuary and then went to the bottom pool. It was mostly just us there so we swam in the beautiful creamy blue pool with the waterfall in the background. When we continued walking up the path there were loads more mini waterfalls and pools - one with a rope swing into the water which tim played on. The top of the path was just below a HUGE beautiful waterfall which was very impressive.
We had a cheap meal in chiang mai with v cheap beers so the rest of the group joined us and after a few cocktails (including the 'luang prabang knockout') we went to the bowling alley (as bars close at 11pm but the bowling alley is open until 3am). We were bowling until about 2am as there were 12 of us sharing 1 lane and I came 2nd, woohooo! We got a tuk tuk back with some people on the roof and some hanging off the back
Monday 12th October: Luang Prabang
Sophie had been very poorly overnight so stayed in bed. I had a lazy morning sitting over the mekong reading while Jo and Tim had some time to themselves.
Tim, Jo and I hired bikes - pink and pretty! - and cycled out of town. We saw more of the local area, including a lot of building work, local farmers etc. Back in the town centre it was v scary cycling so we went to the edge of the Nam Khan river which loops around the town. We followed the road round but Tim got a puncture so had to sit on the back of jo's bike, wheeling his bike alongside him which looked v funny [Jo says the locals were very impressed by the skill!]. We went to the night market in the evening.
Tuesday 13th October: Luang Prabang - Vang Vieng
At 1:30pm a bus with a crazy driver (kept giggling when people cut him up and chatted in Laos non-stop about the english and the americans being enemies) took us in a packed minibus, but fortunately stopped off at a bus station where we split into 2 buses. The new driver would NOT let us have a/c on - rude! The drive through Laos was a lot like Flores, with windy roads through villages. A noticeable difference was the water barrels in every village - which it seemed everyone used for showering from (in sarongs). There were also loads of kids - most of them were very happy just sitting right on the edge of the road so that we had to keep swerving or breaking suddenly to avoid them! When we asked for the loo our driver stopped and pointed to a grass verge....fortunately strategic positioning of a sarong saved much embarassement. Once it got dark there were cows/buffalo resting on the warm road which we kept swerving around so i ended up closing my eyes and putting my ipod on to feel less scared. At the bus stop we were ripped off by a tuk tuk to get to our hostel because it was the only way to get there. Xerri (my uni mate) had booked us a room so Soph, Tim, Jo and I all shared as it was the only room available.
Wednesday 14th October: Vang Vieng
We moved to a new hostel to be with all the guys. Then Xerri, Chris, Sophie, Jo, Tim and I and the guys met for breakfast/lunch and then went tubing. The tuk tuk took us to the first bar where we had our first 'bucket' and there was a HUGE rope swing that you had to climb up an 8-10m wooden ladder to get to. I wasn't going to do it but for some reason managed to be convinced it was a good idea! I swang down but as i was swinging back for another swing my hands slipped due to the suncream and I fell very ungracefully into the water (apparently everyone watching was like 'ooooooooooh'!) and i had a HUGE bruise on the back of my thigh for a few days after that from hitting the water so hard! We all got into our tubes (tractor tyre inner tubes) and floated to the next bar (only about 8m downstream) - still in our group of about 15, where we were pulled into the bar by a rope and had free shots. From what i had heard about tubing i thought we would stay in our tubes for the shots but we had to climb out and stood around on the raised platform. There was a zip wire at this bar which we all went on. After this Benji attached a rope between all our tubes and we floated to the next bar just across the river (you could see all the bars within the next 100m, so the floating bit wasnt v far!) Afer a beer here we went to the next bar but a bit of miscommunication meant that Jo, Tim, Xerri and I sailed off to about 2 bars ahead but the others stopped at an earlier bar and we'd already gone too far to get back upstream! Xerri and I did a tug of war into a mud pit and when everyone else arrived we played mud volleyball/wrestling where the pitch was just SO muddy and it turned into a mud fight, covering us in grey mud! At the slide bar we realised it was getting late so got in our tubes and began to float back. I drifted to a bar by mistake and got stuck by the current so got 4 free shots of local whisky - this was NOT a good idea! we stopped at 'the end' a bit early so had to get a tuk tuk back. After changing quickly at the hostel we all had dinner together. I decided I shouldn't drink anymore but at the bar they were giving out free t-shirts for every 2 buckets bought so i had another bucket and sensibly asked Neils to take me home at 12 when i realised id had a bit too much! [Jo: the rest of us went to sunset bar for a few more drinks]
Thursday 15th October: Vang Vieng
I woke up feeling pretty terrible! ....Sophie said 'Bonnie, where's our sink?'.....and i wasn't sure what she was talking about! The story soon unfolded that when she had got back to the room there was no sink, there was water everywhere and I was just happily asleep! I still to this day do not know what happened to our sink! I wasnt wet or bruised so pretty confident i didnt do it!!
Despite feeling very hungover i manned up and off we went tubing again! It was much the same as the first day but I drunk a lot less! After the last bar we all held onto each others tubes and floated for half an hour together with a beer - SO relaxing! Young kids helped us to the shore then demanded money - which when they got they just said, "no, more!"....manners cost nothing children. We spent the night in Q bar and Sunset bar.
Friday 16th October: Vang Vieng
Everyone was feeling a bit hungover again so we sat and watched 'friends' for a few hours and then later found an empty cafe and watched my DVD at last - appropriately 'The Hangover'...everyone that was, except Tim and Xerri, who somehow managed tubing again! Again, we went to Q bar and sunset and a few of the guys got haircuts at a very random barber 'shack' across the street.
Saturday 17th October: Vang Vieng - Vientiene
After a rough 'jumbo' ride for an hour to the river we were shown some basic kayak instructions (including dealing with capsizing) and off we set down the river. We'd hoped the current would carry us downstream but we had to paddle a lot. Our first rapid was v tame and i said to sophie "oh they just do the safety stuff to make it seem more scary..." and of course seconds later we were in the middle of much bigger rapids when Xerri and Chris ploughed straight into the side of our kayak and mounted it, flipping us out into the swirling water! The guides helped us back in and fortunately we were ok! Later we stopped at some rocks which the boys jumped off into the water but we just sat on the slimey rocks and waited. Turned out to be a bad ideas as in our kayak 5 minutes later Sophie looked down and saw a huge green and black leech on her foot. We yelled at the guides who threw salt on it and pulled it off. Shortly after this we stopped at a sandy bank where the guides made a quick BBQ and put on kebabs which we ate with a baguette and rice. mmmm! After a total of 3 hrs we were at the short/riverbank. From here we had a 2 hour drive to Vientiene which was so bumpy a sports bra would have helped. The first hostels were so dingey but we finally found a luxury-ish one! As sophie knew she wanted to spend the next day in bed because of her cold it was perfect! Jo, Tim and I had dinner on the waterfront at a street stall. My food was disappointing but Tim and Jo had a very tastey garlic fried fish [Jo: which we saw live, then Tim watched it get bashed, prepared and cooked...can't get fresher than that!]
Sunday 18th October: Vientiene
Soph stayed in bed and Tim, Jo and I met up with Chris and Xerri and went to the cute morning market. After this we went to 'Patouxai', the big concrete 'arc de Triomphe' - a monument to celebrate victory. It was built in the late 1950s to commemorate casualties of war, but as the plaque inside honestly states 'it is even less grand inside' because the general unrest in Laos meant it wasnt finished. Despite it being a big concrete block it offered good views of the city from 7 floors up. We had lunch in a restaurant which had a view over the Mekong to Thailand. Then Jo and TIm and I went to a sauna and massage place recommended by the guidbook. We were dropped off by the tuk tuk at the end of a wooden hut, surrounded by green trees and plants. We were given sarongs and sat in the sauna which smelt like pesto. We had free cups of tea then showered like the locals from a barrel of water. Our massage was amazing and all this was just 3.50GBP.
Monday 19th October: Vientiene - Hanoi (VIETNAM)
We said goodbye to Tim and got our first propellor plane, which was v worrying but obviously we survived it!!
Written by Sophie
Tuesday 20th October: Hanoi
I was very excited about going to all the muesums today but getting into them didn't go quite as planned! The military History Muesum was closed for lunch, then Ho Chi Minh's body was in Russia for cleaning (???) and we didn't locate the Ho Chi Minh Museum. After lunch we tried again and were more successful, although the military history museum didnt impress us much the Hao Lo prison was very interesting. Probably the funnest part of the day was, however, crossing the roads! we turned it into a bit of a game and were very pleased with ourselves after every cross. The reason it was so hard is that you don't wait for a gap in the road as you would normally do in england, you must just walk in front of the hundreds of scooters and hope they avoid you! so far so good....!
Wednesday 21st October: Hanoi
We got up early and made our way to Lenin Park where we watched the locals do there morning exercise - everything from thai chi to ballroom dancing! after an ice-cream breakfast we went to meet up with the group of people from Laos and spent the rest of the day booking trips and catching up.
Thursday 22nd October: Halong Bay
We woke early and met everyone to get the bus to Halong Bay. Our tour guide was called 'success' and was very annoying! once at the harbour we got on our boat for lunch. This is when i realised i was not going to enjoy the food for the rest of the tour - it mostly consisted of whole fish! We stopped off at a few caves which i imagine could have been very beautiful had they not been covered by multicoloured lights and full of tourists. It was a friends birthday that day so we spent the evening celebrating with a little too much drink and lots of swimming and jumping of the boat!
Friday 23rd October: Halong Bay
A loud banging at the door woke us several hours earlier than we would have liked and we got up for an early morning kayak. Bon and Jo were in one and i tactically choose to go with one of the boys (avoiding having to do too much, after past experiences). We kayaked around to some 'caves' which were not nearly as impressive as we had hoped but the surroundings were beautiful even so. Next stop was Cat Ba island where we had to climb to the highest point. This again was not the best way to spend a slightly hungover morning. i had a bit of nightmare, dropping my water, losing (then on the way down finding) my sunglasses and dropping my flip flops! we all had a few problems when we reached nearer the top, having been told it would be fine we were only wearing flip flops. this was not fine but thankfully accidents were avoided. We spent the afternoon on the beach then had a few drinks on the waterfront.
Saturday 24th October: Halong Bay - Hanoi - Hue
We headed back by boat to the main land and after a very cramped bus ride said goodbye to everyone except Sam and Chris who had decied to come with us. We got an over night bus to Hue and made everyone jealous by bringing on pizza and having the 5 back seats in a line.
Sunday 25th October: Hue
We all slept suprisingly well on the bus so after breakfast we went to a very cute market where there were so many old women with conical hats on and huge baskets of everything from garlic to dried fish - yuk! In the afternoon we visited the citadel and i acted as tour guide! it was very beautiful with an amazing history.
Monday 26th October: Hue
Today we did a tour in a dragon boat to visit the tombs of the kings who used to live here. However, there were many stops on the way to actually getting to them, some very interesting - like a kung fu demonstration - and others not so much - temples! The Minh Mang tomb was our favourite and so beautiful.
Tuesday 27th October: Hue
An early start of 6.00am started our tour today - the DMZ (the demilitarised zone). we saw an american airbase - the rockpile, part of the Ho Chi Minh trail, a small muesum and the highlight of the tour - the Vinh Moc tunnels. These are different from the Cu Chi tunnels as they were built for living in not fighting but were very claustrophobic non the less. One of the guides showing us around was born in the tunnels but had been affected by agent orange from birth, it really made the whole thing seem very real.
Wednesday 28th October: Hue - Hoi An
We got a morning bus to Hoi An and somehow found ourselves staying at a 3star hotel complete with pool for only 4pounds! We spent the afternoon in the pool and due to the lack of a ball made up a new game - flip flop frisbee!
Thursday 29th October: Hoi An
Dress shopping!!! so something we had been looking forward to since before we left england was finally happening! the boys stayed (sensibly) by the pool and we set off looking in every dress and shoe shop on the way. After a very tiring day and with many things ordered we set out for dinner then on to the before and now bar. from here a free bus runs you to the beach bar, which we took full advantage of!
Friday 30th October: Hoi An
After some dress fittings in the morning we set off to the beach for a day of relaxing. the sea was quite rough so very fun to play in. after lunch we were all a little bored of sunbathing (well apart from me!) so we decided to have a sand castle-making competition. this was taken very seriously and was boys vs girls. so while we set about making our massive, very cool car the boys made their 'fairy castle' complete with drawbridge made from chop sticks. unfortunatly for them, just as the final details were being added a wave destroyed it! our car was amazing and can be veiwed in my profile picture on facebook!
Saturday 31st October: Hoi An
Halloween! though it's not such a big deal out here. we had a very similar day to the day before - dress fittings and beaches. we had tried to pursuade the boys they wanted to dress up but they were having none of it. we made attempts - i was a witch (i had big hair?!), jo was a frog (in a green dress) and bonnie was a cat (she wore black and drew on whiskers!). We went to the beach bar again and bonnie did mange to get a few free drinks due to her costume(mainly due to her perseverance than anything else!)!
Sunday 1st November: Hoi An - Nha Trang
A very boring day of final dress fittings and posting them home. We finally got a night bus for Nha Trang at 8.00pm.
Monday 2nd November: Nha Trang
After a very bad sleep on the night bus we went to the first hostel we could find and straight back to bed. It was absoltely tipping it down and after lunch i managed to fall down some steps and land on my back. not good! i spent the rest of the day in bed, unable to move and the others went for a walk along the beach in the rain. in the evening they went to meet some of the people from the Halong bay trip and have a few drinks.
Tuesday 3rd November: Nha Trang - Ho Chi Ming City
Due to the bad weather we wanted to get out of Nha Trang as soon as possible but unfortunatly all the buses were cancelled until the evening as the roads were flooded. We spent the day going from cafe to cafe and eventually got a 7.00pm bus. We had to drive through massive floods to get out and our bags got soaking!
Wednesday 4th November: Ho Chi Minh City
We were expertly nagavigated (by me) to the War Reminants Museum. It was very moving and the pictures were unbelieveable. On our way home we saw the cathedral, palace and the market. The traffic nearly proved too much for us and we ended up crossing 4 small roads instead of one big one!
Thursday 5th November: Ho Chi MinhCity - Ben Tre
This morning we visited the Cu Chi tunnels. We saw the booby traps used by the Viet Cong on the americans which all had spikes tipped with snake poison! We had to look for a tunnel entrance in an area and it was so impossible to find. Jo had a go at getting in it and only just fitted. at the shooting range the boys shot an AK47 but we decied against it. Finally into the tunnels - they were so small! I have to admit i was quite scared and i think bonnie and jo felt the same, especially when our guide got out at one entrance and didnt tell us! We went back to Saigon and left for Ben Tre, a place in the Mekong delta later.
Friday 6th November: Ben Tre - Chau Doc
We started the day with a little boat tour. We were all a bit doubious as the area we had seen so far was not very beautiful, however as we turned the corner we found ourselves in a 3m wide river with big leaves either side and little fishing boats, a complete contrast. Having decided to use local transport it took us 3 buses, a taxi, a ferry, a tuk tuk and our feet to get to Chau Doc. I am sure we were ripped off on every stretch of the journey and at one point the bus drove the wrong way down the motorway - we were beginning to see why most people did a tour.[Bonnie: "and on the first minibus i looked down to see a duck on the floor - they let all sorts on these days...."]
Saturday 7th November: Chau Doc
Whilst trying to find some breakfast we took an accidental detour around a very smelly market, making breakfast seem a lot less appealing! After luch we had organised to go to Sam Mountain with a guy from the hotel on the back of motor bikes. Do not panic, we all made it but it was very scary at first! on the way we stoped at a local farm with different coloured ducks (my favourite were the pink ones!) and lots of scary bridges over the river. we all had a laugh at bonnie who has a particular dislike of scary bamboo bridges! We were at the top of Sam mountain for sunset, it was beautiful but rather cloudy.
Sunday 8th November: Chau Doc - Cambodia!
Before the main boat to the border we had a tour around a floating village. It was very strange to see, as we were expecting poverty but i think the people living on the floating houses were better off than those in the town! this was mainly due to the fish farming. We then got a boat to the border and were able to sunbathe on the top!
(Written by Jo)
Sunday 8th November
We got a small boat from the border for a few hours, then a coach to Phnom Penh. We stayed in a hostel by the lake, a little tourist bubble full of hostels and restaurants. Our room was disgusting.
Monday 9th November
We went to the Russian market but on the way our tuk tuk got a flat tyre which was really irritating. Ron, our tuk tuk driver for the few days, got it sorted but we burnt up waiting for him. After the market we went to the Tuol Sleng (S21 Prison). It is an old school that was converted to a prison by the Khmer Rouge (1975-1979) and used to detain and torture all Cambodians who were skilled or educated. 20,000 inmates passed through it and only 7 survived. The rooms has been hardly changed, and bloodstains remained on the floors. This, coupled with images of the dead and dying victims made it a really moving experience.
In the evening we watched a beautiful sunset from our hostel then went out at the Riverside Club. It was fun but loads of locals got very drunk and sick.
Tuesday 10th November
We went to the Killing Fields. This is where the Khmer Rouge killed about 20,000 people (between 1-3 million were killed in places like this all over Cambodia). The first thing we saw was a pagoda containing 8000 skulls, bones and clothes of the victims. It was so moving. Then we walked to the areas of mass graves (of up to 450 people, many headless) and saw the tree they used to swing babies into to kill them. Along the path bones and fabric from clothes stuck out. There was a museum where we saw a 10 minute film graphically showing the excavation of the bodies. It was such an overwhelming experience and no one could leave there without feeling moved by it
It had been such a graphic and moving day that in the evening we cheered ourselves up by watching a football match between Cambodia and Laos for an Indochina cup. It was a very poor standard but we loved it and Cambodia won 2-1.
Wednesday 11th November
We got an uncomfortable 6hr bus to Siem Reap. Later, after dinner, we went to Angkor What? bar, where we bought buckets, as it got us free T-shirts...! [Bonnie says: we have a 100% record for getting all the free t-shirts on offer - what students!] We met some English guys, one of whom was a chemical engineer...so as you can imagine i got a bit overexcited! As we left kids were begging by putting plastic bags over their heads..so we told them off and told them school was better than begging.
Thursday 12th November
Feeling a bit worse for wear we remembered the boys we'd met the previous night were staying in a hotel with a pool. We headed straight over there and spent the afternoon there. The hotel was surrounded by a really pretty garden and beyond that, rice paddies. It was so relaxing. In the evening we went to Angkor Wat for sunset. [Bonnie: Jo took her Chemical Engineering magazine, TCE with her for the Chemical Engineer to read - what a geek!]
Friday 13th November
At 5am we returned to Angkor Wat for sunrise. As we walked around it we begun to appreciate it more as there was great detail carved out. We then moved onto more temples - Bayon in Angkor Thom, which had carved faces, and Baphuon and the Terrace of Elephants (both in Angkor Thom). We stopped off at Ta Keo then went to Ta Prohm, which was left almost as it was found - with trees/roots covering the stones and statues (this was where lots of Tomb Raider was filmed). It was really pretty. We popped by Banteay Kdei and Prasat Kravan then were back at the hostel at 10.30am.
It turned into a strange day as we slept for 3 hours then watched a film, before a fairly early night.
Saturday 14th November
We bought a 50kg bag of rice for $45, and some sweets, and went with Chris to an orphanage in the middle of rice paddies, called Rice Organisation. Sadly most of the kids were at the local school (where they go at weekends...we didnt realise this until we got there) so there were only about 5 kids. Also the teacher, Mr Kann, was at the market. So for the first hour we talked awkwardly with an 18 year old boy, and a blind 8 year old boy sung to us - he was really really good. Finally Mr Kann turned up and explained to us (for a good couple of hours...) about his long term plans to become sustainable (by rearing 1500 chickens, which he only needs $3500 to do), plus he wanted us to help him get some books as he doesnt have many for the older children. He showed us round, to a shed with a couple of bed frames where 10 kids sleep (the other 15 sleep on the floor of the office or classroom), a loo with a broken door, his chickens and ducks, his office (which had computers but no electricity yet) and a tiny classroom (we're not sure how he teaches 86 children there!). His teacher funding is really low so Chris offered to teach for between a day and 2 weeks, but unfortunately we were restricted on time because of our flight from Bangkok.
After we'd left we relaxed for the afternoon, then in the evening we sat with our feet in a pool, where loads of tiny fish come along and nibble the dead skin off! Everyone else around the pool looked calm and relaxed...us girls didnt! It was so tickly we couldnt stop squealing! Later on we went for drinks which turned into a late one as a pitcher got you a free T shirt!
Sunday 15th November
We got a bus at 12 to Bangkok. We'd paid for a "VIP" bus so when a full minibus turned up and told us to get in, we assumed it was just taking us to the bus station. So I didn't mind too much about resting my feet on top of bags and having half my bum on a seat and the other half on a metal bar of the camping seat that Sophie was assigned...over 2 hours later, with two very dead legs and in excrutiating pain we arrived in our "VIP" bus at the border. As I stumpled out and fell to the floor with the shakes (yes, it was very dramatic!) I wondered, if this was the VIP bus then what was the non-VIP like?!