Bangkok Round Two and Koh Tao

Helloooooo (shouts and waves from Thailand!)

Sorry its been a while we have been awfully busy! I hear the weather at home has been a bit stormy :( I hope the sun comes back soon! We are currently in Koh Tao a small island in the south of Thailand. So from Chiang mai we headed back to Bangkok on Thursday evening. We had booked to go on the train as we heard it was a little easier to sleep as they had beds. We arrived at the station ready to get on the 530pm train. Chrissie went to ask about the train to be told it was late and wouldn't arrive until 730pm. We had been told by many travellers along our way that the trains in Thailand are notorious for being late! But we thought oh well two hours isn't too bad. We then heard an announcement that it was delayed some more until 9pm and if we wanted we could get a refund which was rather good. As this meant we wouldn't get to bangkok until 12noon the next day we opted for the refund and jumped in a cab to the bus station. Luckily we got on a bus just about to leave. I had a bit of a to-do with a grumpy french man sat behind me as every time I reclined my seat he was tapping me saying he didn't have enough leg room. I did feel a little bad for him but he shouldn't take the bus if its really an issue! I explained I needed to recline the seat to sleep and he got super stroppy and moved seats! The bus was nice and quick (only 10 hours :-) ) and we arrived in bangkok at 5am. We got to the hotel around 6am to be told we couldn't have a room until 1130am. I have now become quite a pro at falling asleep in hotel lobbys so I did just that. Our hotel was just off the famous area in bangkok for back packers which is koh San road. Lots of party's going on! We had some drunk dutch guys offering us beers at 730am! After we politely refused they finished them with their morning toast ha! At around 8am I woke up thinking I wonder when John will arrive from the airport to hear his voice attempting to check in! We surprised him, don't think he realised it was us asleep on the chairs. He was a bit jet lagged and dazed but we all went for a nice breakfast to try and kill some time before check in. As we were all quite tired we spent the day seeing a couple of temples but mainly just recovering. Having John there and seeing him after 6 weeks of being away was so lovely but at the same time I was a bit sad knowing it was only a couple of days before Chrissie had to leave . We spent the next day exploring Wat Pho (big temple) and also went to a famous restaurant called cabbages and condoms. It was pretty cool and quirky- lots of statues made of condoms. It was set up by a charity to educate people and raise awareness about pregnancy and how to reduce unwanted pregnancy. Sunday was a sad morning as Chrissie headed to the airport to go to Kuala Lumpur for her flight home. Was very strange her leaving after spending 24/7 for the last 6 weeks with her I felt a bit like i had lost an arm! John and I had to get a bus at 6pm to Koh Tao so weren't too sure what to do for the day. We ended up wandering into an art center which turned out to be so interesting! There were a few small art exhibitions but lots of quaint arty shops selling all sorts from lamps made of absolute vodka bottles to a cats autobiography (I kid you not!) . We spent ages just absorbing the atmosphere and even got a drawing done by a local artist which turned out quite funny! As we were leaving there was a big protest going on against the government which was quite interesting. Lots of people in freaky white masks and a lot of police with riot shields!

So on Monday morning we finally made it to Koh Tao- bit of a manic journey! The bus took us from bangkok to chumphon where we arrived at 3am. We waited about an hour for a local taxi type thing to take us to the harbour. We then had to wait til 6am for the boat. There was nothing to do and we were both shattered. I'm quite lucky as can sleep pretty much anywhere (great skill on this trip) so I slept on my rucksack but poor John hadn't slept much on the bus and now had to wait and couldn't sleep either. The boat finally came and it was a bit full so we had to sit on the floor. This turned out better really as I was able to set up a little bed with bags (felt like a child falling asleep on the coats at a wedding!) And went back to sleep. The boat got quite choppy and a lot of people vacated seats to go to the deck. We were fine thanks to magic travel sickness pills! Hoorah for those on this trip!! I think we were still glad to be on dry land though. I had left John in charge of booking the hotel for Koh Tao and when we arrived I was seriously impressed! Its on the east side of the island near a few snorkelling bays. Its on a hill and made up of a few bungalows all with sea views! We've got a balcony with a hammock and waking up to the sea view and falling asleep to the croaking of the resident frogs is just heaven! Its run by a Scottish guy who was really helpful too. Monday and yesterday we explored, went down to the main beach- sairee beach. We ate some food and just relaxed really. We had a bit of a spider drama (more like tarantula drama) but luckily John was brave enough to remove it. Today we went down to Aow Luek bay near the hotel to snorkel. I was much less wimpy than last time (apart from a brief moment when I thought a scuba diver was a giant squid) and we went pretty deep. The coral was beautiful and there was soooo many fish! My favourite was a big parrot fish who swam towards us looking like he was smiling- this made me chuckle quite a lot! There were small black and white fish too who were very curious and kept swimming up to our masks! After snorkeling and lunch we headed down to sairee to watch the sunset. Tomorrow we are going to another bay to do some more snorkeling. We keep having to blink and remind ourselves that we are actually here as its such a little paradise. We were told the whole island is almost full with respect to the hotels yet this morning we were saying how surprised we were at how empty the island seems so definitely a destination for anyone who wants a chilled break away from the crowds!

Tomorrow is our last day here before Friday we start our journey to Malaysia. We didn't want to get a night boat with the choppy seas so we have to stop at a port town for a night before getting the bus to Penang on Saturday morning. We have decided to alter the plans a little and miss out langkawi. This is a bit sad as it looked lovely but we just couldn't figure out a guaranteed way of getting there and most of the travel agents here said it was difficult. The last thing we wanted was to end up stranded in a port town in southern Thailand what with all the recent trouble and clashes down there. So the next leg of the journey awaits. I will be really sad to leave thailand. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I did actually love it here especially after loving Cambodia so much. We only managed to fit in a couple of places so will definitely be back to see more of this country. I hope everyone at home is doing well. We are missing you all lots and lots and looking forward to being back to catch up. Lots of love to all xxxxxx PS attached is photo of view from our bungalow and guilty creature of tarantula drama, oh and our resident cat she hasn't left our bungalow since we arrived!

Chiang Mai, Thailand

Hello from Chiang mai!!

So we have had lots going on since my last email! We arrived in Chiang mai on Saturday morning. We took a night bus which wasn't quite as comfortable as the ones in Vietnam as this one didn't have beds. The chairs reclined quite a lot so we did get a little sleep and the driving wasn't anywhere near as mental as Vietnam which was nice! When we arrived our room wasn't ready yet as it was 6am so we had a little snooze in the lobby on the sofa! Then when the room was ready we went back to sleep up there for a while. The hotel is nice and does food so we got a decent breakfast before going out to explore. They had pancakes which made me happy as I hadn't had one since Vietnam! On exploring Chiang mai even just a little we really liked it. There's a very hippie bohemian atmosphere and its surrounded by stunning mountains. We walked down some side streets and saw lots of quirky cafes and restaurants. We stopped for a drink in one called little angels and chatted to the owner she was a Thai lady married to an american. She was lovely and explained that she closed at four each day so she had time to do baking which I thought was amazing! She was telling us to be careful of the mosquitoes as its rainy season and there are a lot with dengue fever. Her husband had been in hospital with it and when she explained the symptoms it sounds a lot like what I was poorly with which is a bit scary. On returning to the hotel I looked it up and think I probably did have it. Luckily even if you do go to hospital they can't do much for it they just keep an eye on you so I should be OK and now feeling so much better. On Sunday we decided to go and explore all the temples in the town center. There are a lot in Chiang mai! We wandered around them just absorbing the culture . As it was Sunday the whole town is taken over by the Sunday market so many of the temples had food stalls set up in the courtyards. There were some spectacular BBQs going on! The main street in the town is where the main market is and they were selling all sorts of goodies. I bought some really pretty cushion covers made by Thai hill tribe people so they should brighten up my new place when I get home! We managed to find the most amazing restaurant for lunch where I had a big plate of vegetable tempura so delicious! Already we were both feeling so much happier and more relaxed than Bangkok. We have also noticed that here in Thailand and also Cambodia the people are very friendly and cant do enough to help you. I think this was something we found hard in Vietnam as people there were quite the opposite!

Monday brought a whole new adventure! We had booked to go on a two day trip into the mountains doing trekking and other activities. We got collected at 9am and there were 12 of us in total. It was a really nice bunch of people all around our age, 4 Spaniards, 1 Israeli, 1 Argentinian and 6 Brits! So off we set. We had a windy journey into the mountains but got there after about 90 minutes. We stopped at a spot on the way where you could ride elephants. I didn't want to ride one which I had decided before going away. I just think they are wild animals and don't really agree with using them for a luxury purpose. I know some hill tribes will still be using them for logging or other working purposes but to use them for pure luxury I didn't like. These ones also didn't look too happy. The babies had been separated from the mums and were quite distressed and some were chained up with no shade or water. Quite a few of the keepers had to drag the elephants to make them walk. So while the others had a ride I sat quietly and fed sugar cane to one cheeky little elephant while she had her break. The guide did his best to convince me the elephants were happy and at 3pm went back to the jungle to eat but I'm glad I didn't partake. After the elephant stop we set off walking and the views were just indescribably stunning. We were in the jungle so mostly all you could see was bamboo and trees but every so often we would see a clearing and views of mountains and valleys with no one for miles. Some of the paths were quite treacherous and we had to navigate through rice paddies and over some difficult bamboo bridges but our guide (named himself 'jungle man') kept reassuring us it was just in the name of adventure! He was a quirky man and was part of the karen hillside tribe himself and seemed to know these jungle paths inside out. Part of me did stop and think if one of us fell and hurt ourselves or did get bitten by a snake we would be rather screwed as no way to get help or even land a helicopter. I asked jungle man about this and he said this had happened to him before and he just had to keep walking with a broken bone and never went to hospital! He also reassured me that the snakes in this jungle were king cobras and if one bit you then you only live for another 30 seconds so a hospital is a bit irrelevant! I'd kind of wished i hadn't asked! He said there were monkeys and tigers here too but they tend to be active at night.

We walked for about two hours just enjoying being out of town before we got to a secluded water fall. We all had a little swim which was so refreshing before we set off for camp. We reached camp around 2 hours later all a bit tired and hot. Basic doesn't even cover it! We had three huts. One to sleep in, one for the loo and one for jungle man to cook in. We were on the edge of a hillside village and I have huge amounts of admiration for their way of life. They have no electricity or running water and live so simply just living on what they can grow or gather from the jungle. The only noise all night was the frogs and cicadas. It was so refreshing to have a night of simple living. We all sat around by candle light eating a Thai curry that jungle man cooked for us over the fire and he came to sit with us and we played silly games. It was just wonderful. Sleeping was a bit tricky as there were a lot of insects! We had mosquito nets which kept most of them out but there were termites in the wood of the hut so we all fell asleep listening to the chomping of termite jaws. The second day we had some more walking to do. It had rained in the morning so it was a bit slippy. We had more beautiful views and saw a couple of disgustingly large scary spiders! We stopped for lunch which was a bit more civilised than yesterday (a banana leaf parcel with fried rice inside!) As there was a camping restaurant type place. After a quick lunch we drove to a river where we were doing bamboo rafting. The rafts were made of long bamboo canes tied together. I was with two of the Spanish guys who found it hilarious to stand up and rock the raft making me squeal a bit! It was really fun though and started pouring with rain which was quite cool. Our raft only capsized once and the guide reassured me by saying there were only small snakes in the river ha ha! We went down a few small rapids and the boys had a go at being on charge of the raft too. After rafting we headed back to town all very soggy, tired but overjoyed. We all went out for dinner together last night which was lovely too. It was probably the best time I've had so far since being away and anyone coming to Thailand I would say you must go to the north and see the countryside. Today we are relaxing by the pool for a bit to recover and let our feet rest! We were very grateful of a proper bed last night!

Tomorrow we will see a few more temples before getting the night train in the evening to arrive in bangkok again on Friday morning. Johns flight gets in Friday morning so we will meet him and have two days all together In bangkok before sadly on Sunday Chrissie heads home and we will head to the islands. I have now been away for 5 weeks so starting to miss a few home comforts (lasagne cravings are massive! As well as chocolate orange and beans on toast). I will be sad for Chrissie to go home as this is probably the longest I have spent non stop with anyone! But still really excited for john to arrive and for the next 7 weeks of the trip. We still have to see the south of Thailand and what Malaysia and Indonesia have to offer. A little apprehensive about going back to bangkok but we spoke to a couple who stayed on koh San road which is the backpacker area we will be staying in and they said it was easy to find food and things. Hopefully as we are both recovered from illness it will be easier too.

I hear the weather is really hot at home! I hope you are all making the most of it and managing to enjoy it around work etc. Hope you are all keeping well and missing you all loads!!! Lots and lots of love to all of you and speak again soon :-) xxxx

Bangkok, Thailand

Hello from bangkok!

Sorry its been a while since the last update but we are alive.. just! We left siem reap on Tuesday morning. The last two days there we saw a few more temples and explored the town. I was a bit out of it as had a nasty cold/ flu type thing so after dragging myself out for a couple of hours needed to be back in bed. Tuesday I had lots of medication to survive the journey! The border crossing was actually fine although we did have to wait ages on the Thai side for the bus. Eventually they sent an odd pick up truck thing to take us to the mini bus and we were off! Chrissie and I ended up in the front with the driver who was a very strange character! He kept squealing so I went to sleep. We made it to bangkok around 6pm. We had had problems finding a decent hostel as we booked a little last minute so the one we booked was really nice but slightly out if town on the sky train. Deciding we didn't have the energy to lug our bags on the sky train we got a cab and finally got to the hostel at 9 ish. A long day! Its very nice though more like a posh hotel (with proper duvets!) And only £6 per night !

So Wednesday we set off to see Bangkok. I thought I was feeling better but started to feel quite iffy again on the way into town. To top things off as well the upset stomach I had had for the first three weeks decided to start being silly again. Not a great start! The sky train was cool its like the tube a bit but not underground and it has air con!! So nice! On arriving into the city a lady approached us for a chat and was explaining that the next two days are public holiday or something so we should go and try to book our onwards travel now before all offices close. Her friend was there too and he had lived in Ireland for seven years so had an Irish accent! Rather surreal seeing a Thai man with Irish accent! They were both so helpful though and told us where we could book travel to chaing mai. So off we went. We found this travel office and the guys there spoke good English. He booked our travel and hotel in chaing mai as well as a two day trek through the hill tribes which sounds really fun. It was a booking office for students so we got some sort of discount too which is good! The kind man also wrote us two signs in Thai for if we wanted to eat street food explaining our dietary requirements!!

First impressions of the city were busy and very cityish. We did see some really cosmopolitan looking parts and some cool buildings with fancy architecture. The tuk tuk s are all brightly coloured and taxis are green yellow or bright pink which adds a lot of interesting colours to an otherwise quite grey city! We found a small restaurant to get a bite to eat. We wanted to try street food but still a bit overwhelmed and my tummy feeling strange we decided to wait a while. Having had a mooch around we headed home for a rest.

Thursday we wanted to go see some of the temples. Once we got into Bangkok we decided to walk .. big mistake! Bangkok is definitely not a walking city! It took us ages and still looked like we were no where near the area we wanted. We ended up getting a tuk tuk. By the time we got there we were both so hungry and couldn't see anywhere apart from street stalls to get food. We finally found a subway which was a god send! We usually try to eat local food but desperate times call for desperate measures! We had a wander around the grand palace area where there was a small market which sold anything and everything . There were lots of odd trinkets a bit like a car boot! A man from the stall asked where we were going and asked if we wanted to go see some temples for 40bht (just under £1) we thought this sounds too good. We clarified and he said he would take us to three temples and then back to the sky train just go via one shop. We had heard about these tuk tuk drivers and they take tourists to jewel shops and the shops give them free fuel vouchers in return for bringing customers. We thought we would give it a try as we could just browse them leave. It was all fine, he took us to the temples which were cool we saw the standing golden Buddha (very tall) and a couple of others. Although we were getting a bit miffed when he took us to three shops. The actual driver didn't have much English so we stayed patient and kept our side of the deal so he go this free vouchers. When we had been to the last temple he said he would drop us here and we could get a boat across town. We said no that's not what we agreed and we didn't want to start trying to get a boat across town at 6pm. He did not like this! He must have thought he coukd get away with dropping us miles away and we would sort ourselves out. In his anger he started driving like a mentalist and doing tuk tuk wheelies! We were a bit scared! Anyway we got back to the sky train in one piece and learnt if a deal sounds too good to be true it is!!! We were both a bit stressed after this, I was still feeling poorly and Chrissie also felt ill so not a good day really! One of the things we found hard and also experienced in Hanoi is having to really hunt for food. We were spoilt in Vietnam and Cambodia as so many restaurants ad nice local cheap places too. We didn't see any here. Which could be that we were in the wrong place maybe. There were lots of street food stalls but again with two sensitive tummys we weren't sure. We finally found a littke place on the walk home which was a small american type place with a storm trooper in the window and some cool art. I had Mac n cheese and chrissie had a chicken burger. So off we headed home feeling like we had two rubbish days in bangkok both still not feeling great and a bit beaten really. We were so disappointed in ourselves that we couldn't be more enthusiastic. I'm sure bangkok has so many quirky spots and good things to offer but this time it just wasn't for us. We have to come back after chaing mai to meet John and we have booked somewhere different which is in the backpacker areas so we are hoping we will see better bits then. Think we have both had a rough few days feeling pants and being in such a big city was hard work. So a bit if a rubbish start to Thailand but tonight we go to chaing mai for 6 days. Were just going to relax near the hotel until later. We are hoping it will be easier to find good food and we can recover and enjoy proper thailand. Hopefully on our return to the city we will be in better spirits to fully appreciate it!

I heard news from home that Murray won Wimbledon! Finally a Brit wins! That was great news although we couldn't find anywhere to watch. And I hear the summer has finally arrived and actually sticking around too. I hope you get nice weather for a while longer yet. Hope everyone at home is doing well. Missing you all lots and sending lots of love and hugs xxxxx

Siem Reap, Cambodia

Hello everyone!

Hope you're all well at home and enjoying the summer sunshine and Wimbledon :-) so at the moment we are in siem reap. Since my last email we had one more day in Phnom Penh which was quite eventful! We ended up in a temple which turned out to be Cambodia's centre of Buddhism and chatted to 3 monks for an hour! They were so cool! So so interesting I could have sat there all day. They were all doing degrees and one of them was doing two along with being a monk! It was a fabulous last day, probably one of the best of the whole trip. We ended it going for dinner with lots of people from our hostel who were so nice and there were a couple of Scottish girls from Edinburgh who said we must visit and they would show us around which is very kind! But enough about our last day in Phnom Penh!

So we arrived at Siem Reap Thursday afternoon and our hostel was very nice. Its a small house like building with a lovely leafy veranda with comfy chairs. Its down a small road so you feel out of the town which is a nice change. The hotel opposite also has a gorgeous pool which we can use so that's a bonus! We decided we would get up early on Friday to see the sunrise so we arranged that with the tuk tuk driver, Nean. That meant getting up at 330am yikes! We were quite sleepy but the sun rise at Angkor wat was incredible! (Photo attached) there were a lot of people there which was annoying but we managed to find a nice quiet spot. After sunrise we visited the other temples on the 'grand tour'. These were Angkor wat, Preah Khan, Neak poan, ta som , east mebon and sras srang. My favourite was preah khan as its in the jungle and just beautiful! Neak poan was lovely too, its a small temple in the middle of a lake and you need to walk on a long boardwalk through the mangroves to get there. As we had started so early we got back about 12 had lunch and a nap and then a nice swim :-) today we decided to do the 'small circuit' temples and to take advantage of the free bikes at the hotel. We got given two very rusty precarious looking bikes without brakes but they were the only ones without flat tyres. We met a guy the other night called Phil, and he was from Barnsley! (His accent made me feel right at home!) We saw him whilst we were having breakfast and he hasn't seen the temples yet so we invited him to come and hr looked so thrilled. He is cycling across Asia taking 18 weeks and doing 60 miles per day! Now that is an adventure! He looked around mid 50s and explained he had taken a break from work to do this as it was on his bucket list, although apparently his wife wasn't too happy about it! As we got chatting throughout the day he was so interesting and I really admired him for going out and doing something he wanted to do. Anyway, Chrissie, Phil and I  set off. Needless to say, cycling through the town was very scary as the traffic is crazy! I just hoped the vehicles woild avoid us. Once we got out of town it was stunning and at most points all I could hear was the chattering cicadas and the jingling of my rusty bike. We cycled leisurely and visited lots more temples including one called Bayon which has lots of large heads carved into it, and Ta Prohm which has beautiful trees that are very old and the roots are growing in the stones of the temple. This one and preah Khan were my favourites. The way back was a little scary as it was rush hour and we were losing day light. It also started to rain. But we made it back unscathed! I did take a tumble but while we were stationary (don't ask) so doesn't really count. I think Phil really was a life saver as he held us together through the nervous moments in traffic and stayed back with me when my bike was making scary noises. He was a bit grumbly at having to do 'tourist things' after being off the beaten track for so long but think he also had a lovely day too really :-) we also had fun comparing our knowledge of northern words- he definitely knew more than me!

So we've just dragged our sore bums out for a well earned dinner and now relaxing before we go to see more temples tomorrow. These ones are further out of town so we will take the tuk tuk again. There are some very adorable children around here we've seen a few fishing and playing. There is another side to it with lots also trying to sell you things, one particularly insistent one today almost brought me to tears with how insistent he was so I had to say sorry and ride off. Its very hard. On returning I'm going to look at a good Cambodian charity to support. We are here for two more days before we head to Bangkok on Tuesday. We will stay there 3 days and then go to Chaing Mai in the north. Cambodia has completely won my heart over and despite the difficulty of seeing such poverty the beautiful smiley people and stunning landscapes make me want to never leave. I would definitely recommend it to anyone. I do hope everyone is keeping well at home and enjoying the good weather that's finally arrived! Missing you all lots but still enjoying every minute. Lots of love xxxx

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Helloooo!

I've just been told off from the mother for being out of touch for 3 days but don't worry we are still alive! Just a bit too engrossed in Phnom Penh clearly! We made it to Cambodia just fine on Sunday afternoon. The border crossing was fine and now my passport has another cool visa page :-) we arrived at our hostel to find an extremely eccentric owner who is from Leeds! He's called Robert and very nice if a bit odd! His hostel is called nomads and its the first hostel we've been to with a really nice social area down stairs. Robert recommended we ask the other guests if they wanted to hire a tuk tuk with us the next day to visit some of the sights as between four it would be cheaper. So we went and knocked on their door and there was a couple of guys who seemed very nice and were grateful that someone else was organised! So yesterday we headed off in the tuk tuk to the cheong ek killing fields. Wow what a day. (Apologies for next bits being depressing). For those who don't know, in the 70s there was a crazy guy called Pol Pot who was the Cambodian leader. He basically exerted extreme communism on the whole country and didn't like anyone who spoke a foreign language or wore glasses or who showed any type of intelligence. He sent all city people to the countryside to farm many of who having never done manual labour were just worked to death. The killing fields at cheong ek are one of 300 killing fields in Cambodia where prisoners were sent to be executed. There was an audio tour which we did which had some horrific survivor tales. The fields look beautiful and peaceful now so it is very hard to imagine what actually went on. There are still areas where bones and teeth surface during rains. People were brought in trucks and waited over night to be killed. They played to us the music that would have been played to cover screams it was horrendous. A place I'm glad we visited but can hardly say i enjoyed. After killing fields we visited S21 prison museum. This used to be a school but Pol Pot changed it to a prison to house people before they were sent to killing fields. These people has not committed crimes but were just persecuted as they were too skilled or spoke out of turn. There were classrooms full of mug shots of victims and after one classroom I could not take it and had to sit outside with my thoughts. Just before leaving we saw a book stand and selling his story was a survivor of the prison whose wife was killed at cheong ek. I could not help but question why would he want to come back to this place daily when it surely has such horrible memories. I'm sure he has his reasons. So yesterday was tough. Dinner was a little more lighthearted we met a guitar playing traveller. He seemed a bit of a lost soul and wants to be a travel journalist so we tried to convince him to start doing video blogs. He said he would put them on you tube. His name is alex bisby so we are going to check him oit maybe one day he will be the new Attenborough or something!

Today was much more cheerful :-) Phnom Penh isn't all depressing! Chrissie wasn't feeling well so I headed off alone. Once again apprehensive at having to navigate eeeek! I headed to a nearby hill temple which was just beautiful, its called wat Phnom and its said they lady who discovered Phnom Penh built it. Wat means hill and phnom was her surname(I think!) They had a man at the top with a cage full of sparrows saying I could set one free for a dollar to bring me good luck. How could I resist that! I was tempted to buy the whole cage but he had hundreds. Afterwards I thought he probably just catches them each morning but I was feeling better knowing I had set at least one of them free! I then headed to the market in search of a new T-shirt as the only one I have with sleeves is white and getting filthy even when washed. I also got some nice jewellery for some friends at home. I also hit the jackpot and found deep fried tarantulas which was my aim for Phnom Penh! They looked rank and the grumpy lady wouldn't let me take a photos unless I bought them! I'm going to try and find more. I also saw some cool fish stalls which had live eels some sting ray and some bloody looking slimy frogs.

I had read in lonely planet about many restaurants in the city which had social causes. Most of them employ and train disadvantaged young people and things like that. Being warned about the poverty here and seeing many children laid homeless in the park and begging outside the restaurants was so hard. But its also so hard to know what to do. I can't help but be torn between wanting to give them everything I have and thinking that some of them are scammers. Also I am aware that although hand outs may buy them a meal it won't help them long term. So I decided while I was here I would eat at as many of these restaurants with social causes as I can. On returning home I might also look into supporting one of them long term (now I'll be on a proper salary!!!). So I found one of them which was called friends. It was closed today for training but they have a shop next door which was incredible! Most of the things were made from recycled paper but so beautiful and they are all hand made my Cambodian families. It wasn't expensive either. I bought a few gifts here and felt much better now I have contributed to something positive. Coming out of the shop it started to pour as it does most days here in the afternoon. So after a couple of days full of emotion I really like Cambodia. The people here are much friendlier than the Vietnamese. The smiling experiment has continued and many people are waving and shouting hello now too! I had a few chats today with locals and they are much less pushy and quite happy to offer a helping hand the few times I did get lost! We have been told how dangerous Phnom Penh can be but I couldn't have felt safer out alone today and not many westerners around. Another thing which is quite cool is the elections here are approaching so there are lots of political rallies and demonstrations. The locals go mad for it! They seem so excited for the election I just hope which ever party succeeds delivers their promises to these ever hopeful people. Tomorrow hopefully Chrissie will feel better and we can explore the royal palace which looks exquisite.

We've made a few changes to our itinerary so we head to Siem Reap Thursday morning. We are super excited to see the Angkor temples and experience more of Cambodia. We will then head to Thailand to the north to see Chaing Mai. We plan to stay about a week before heading back to Bangkok to meet John. Sorry for a long one today and not always the cheeriest of subjects. Despite all that had happened here it is inspiring to see how happy and hopeful the people are. Hope all at home is good and every one is keeping well. Lots and lots of love with a few fried spiders thrown in ;-) xxxxx

Saigon, Vietnam

Helloooo everyone!!

So we had another safe (!!!!) And successful journey on the night bus. Were getting quite good at this! We arrived in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh city) on Thursday morning around 7am. The bus was only 10 hours this time although was pretty hard to sleep as the driver felt the need to race around some hair pin bends and made it feel like we were actually going to die. Think he was preparing for a grand Prix or something. So we were pretty tired. We saw Ben and Emma again, a couple from new Zealand who have been on every bus we have so far seems we have very similar itineraries! On reaching Saigon a meanie taxi driver saw we looked sleepy and offered to take us to the hotel although his price was ridiculous so I said we were ok. We didn't fancy walking ages but luckily a kind man saw the meanie taxi driver trying to screw us over and showed us on the map we were only 2 mins away. So off we set. 7am in Saigon was already extremely chaotic! There were tons of people playing badminton in the park and another game where they have a few people and they sort of kick a shuttle cock over a net. Finding our hostel proved difficult this time as it was called 'thanh' which seemed to be on almost every hotel! We eventually got there and settled in. Although we were shattered we only have three days here and didn't want to waste one lounging around so we headed out to get some breakfast and revive ourselves.

After brekky we headed off. The roads here proved to be even more ridiculous than Hanoi. So so hectic. Definitely the most chaotic city I've visited. Our map proved to be a bit wrong and not to scale so we got a bit lost but we call it 'exploring'. I got some cool photos getting better at street photography by the day. The Vietnamese are proving to be good subjects. After a bit of a trek we found the remuneration palace which we visited. This was where the president lived and worked and it has been left as it was on the day that Saigon was captured by north Vietnam in the war. I had also read about some traditional water puppet show so we searched for ages for that but with no luck. Whilst we were at dinner we met an Aussie who showed us a giant scar he got last time he was here from being run over by a scooter so that scared us a bit! He was also the fourth person in less than 12 hours to tell us to be extra careful in Saigon so we were cautious on the streets. The place we are staying feels like real Vietnam. Its down a small alley and there are only locals living around here. They all open their doors in the evening and sit in the alleys eating and talking and the children playing. Seems a much more sociable society in that way.

Today was an interesting but poignant day as we visited the war museum. I had never really realised just how tragic the Vietnam war was. There was a harrowing photography exhibition featuring photos from photographers who were killed and their photos recovered. The emotion they managed to capture was unbelievable. There was an exhibition about agent orange, so devastating that there are still profound effects here in the south. Its a wonder how we live in such sophisticated societies yet we still feel the need to resort to such barbaric methods of sorting problems. I wish all governments would destroy every weapon the own and just discuss problems instead. Learning more about the tragic history let's me forgive the public when they are giving us suspicious looks on the streets you can't really blame them when mostly foreigners have caused trouble here in such a beautiful country. Speaking of the staring and suspicious looks we have been getting here I decided to do an experiment in Saigon. I thought every time someone stares at us I will give them the biggest smile I can and see what happens. We have been getting quite confused and a little offended when this happened before. But the smiling worked! A few just continued to stare but most looked slightly shocked but then smiled back and looked so happy. I am now wondering if the 'stare' is just their relaxed look and perhaps they are not as grumpy as they first seemed. Whats more is the vietnamese have so much character when they smile i sometimes wish that my eyes were cameras and could save images of things like that.It was so lovely and felt as though we were spreading happiness through the streets of Saigon . Tomorrow we head to the financial towers where you can see the best views of Saigon before we head to Cambodia on Sunday.

So it seems just as we start to learn more about the culture and half understand the people we are about to leave. I feel like we have only uncovered a tiny fraction of Vietnam but what we have seen has been immensely exciting and interesting. It is such a wonderful country with some beautiful places and I wouldn't hesitate to come back. But the next leg of the journey along with fried tarantulas awaits. (Today we saw a stall selling intestines and tongues eww) . The thought of Cambodia brings mixed emotions of excitement but apprehension. The few times I have seen children selling things here I have really struggled. In Cambodia there are apparently a lot of children doing this which could be hard. But hopefully there will be just as many wonderful things to see as we have experienced here.

I hope everyone at home is doing well. Missing you all lots and lots of love xxxx

Nha Trang, Vietnam

Hellooo everyone!

Hope all is good at home :) so we are in a city called Nha Trang at the moment. It is south ish Vietnam on the coast. We arrived here Sunday morning after a nice smooth non breaking down bus journey! Our first impressions were a bit odd. We had been told that it was one of the most beautiful bays in the world. Lies! The beach is nice but average at best and I'm convinced its an artificial beach. The sea was warm but not as clean at Hoi An. As we arrived so early we couldnt check in so we left our bags and had breakfast then went to the beach to relax. As it was Sunday there were a lot of families around. I mean there's not much wrong with the beach but its not the way the books describe! There's a lot of high rise buildings on the beach front too. But all the same its an OK place to stop a few days along our route and relax. We also notied tons of signs in russian and lots ofrussian people so must be a popular russian holiday spot. Monday we headed up town to some towers we had read about. They're called ponagar cham towers if you fancy a google! They were interesting architecture and not like anything we've seen so far in Vietnam. It is strange here though because at the holy places they want you to be covered up and take shoes off etc etc but then they allow children to run riot around which I just think is slightly disrespectful. We have learnt to try not to understand the Vietnamese now as they are some tricky people! After seeing the towers we headed for lunch in a dive shop we had found which had a great cafe. We've been missing English foods and they had real Heinz beans and proper hp sauce! It was great. There seems to be lots of dive shops here so that made me smile and think of mum.

We then headed back to the beach for a couple of hours. There was a young boy selling foods on the beach and came to ask if we wanted to buy ' cheap cheap lady yum yum' when we said no thank you he sat on the bed next to us and look so fed up. I gradually started chatting to him and found out he was 13( looked around 6/7) and called 'kang'. He was such a sweet little kid! His English wasn't great but we played with him for about 3 hours just playing football with a can and making sand castles and just joking around. Despite the language barrier we had so much fun, emotion seems universal and he is a cool guy i wont forget! It made me concerned why he wasn't at school and then got me thinking he probably doesn't go. A bit of a tug at the heart strings and a reminder that although we have seen minimal poverty in Vietnam and its a fast developing nation there are still some very sad and needy cases here. I feel Cambodia will be tough for me.

Today we headed off early on a snorkelling trip. Despite mum being a scuba instructor (and a good one at that) water is not my forte! As a lot of you also know I am very terrified of vomit too! I'd made sure I had a travel sickness tablet but a short while into a rather choppy boat ride there were some very green looking Asians! I was tempted to hand my pills around but thought I might look a bit odd trying to force people to take odd tablets! Although I was very anxious the whole way we made it the 45 min trip to the island. I managed to snorkel with no squealing and winging for an hour and half! Even despite flooding snorkel mask. So I'm proud of myself being brave. As I said I'm not good with water! We then stopped by another beach on the way home and managed to make it back to the harbour with no vomiting which pleased me greatly. One of the things I've decided about this trip is to try and do things outside my comfort zone so now that's kayaking snorkelling and going on a scooter! Get me!

Our hostel is at the back of an air force school and this morning at 630am they started their graduation. A bit early but interesting to watch all the same! We have come to the conclusion that there are hugeee culture differences here to the UK. They don't mind walking into you, today I found out that they don't mind stabbing you with broken glass (woman walks past and stabs me by accident and cuts my leg no apology) they don't mind squashing you on pavements , they don't mind staring pointing and laughing, they don't have customer service at all! Despite it sounding like I'm moaning we have had an incredible journey through Vietnam so far and met some also very nice people. I read up last night about the Vietnam wars and their history and seems they have had years of unrest in this country so that may explain some things. But its all a learning curve and good to understand not all cultures are like ours! Tomorrow night we get a night bus to Saigon (ho chi Minh city) before heading to Cambodia on Sunday. We've heard Cambodia is hotter, more poverty, and deep fried tarantulas so we are preparing ourselves!

Hope everyone at home is all doing well. Missing you all lots and lots of love xxx