TravelStream™ news feed for member helenoreilly on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/helenoreilly en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Wed, 15 Nov 2006 05:44:28 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/helenoreilly/travel_2006/1155356520/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/helenoreilly/travel_2006/1155356520/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/helenoreilly/travel_2006/1155356520/tpod.html Wed, 15 Nov 2006 05:44:28 -0500 Exploring Australia, South East Asia and China.

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Nha Trang, Vietnam

Ah Nha Trang, what fun was had! Rocked up looking hot and bothered after a long bus ride, fell into our beds and caught up on some much deserved horizontal sleep! Woke up, sun screened, put our sunnies on and wandered to the beach to get caught in the rain - typical! Still enjoyed lazing around in a cafe and watching the world go by. Had a legendary night out which included an Italian meal, the cheapest cocktails ever at Crazy Kim Bar, a random sing-song and free beer downing session with a bunch of Korean teachers on a street corner (actually sung Auld Lang Syne despite it not being New Years and Happy Birthday despite it being no one's birthday - queue nightmares from my moments in the spotlight in China!!) and a late night at the legendary Sailing Club. This was proceeded by a drunken detour home ("where the hell are we staying?")in which we were followed by a group of English lads with good intentions ("is it ok if we watch you girls walk to your hostel?" "huh?" "we got mugged last night and just wanted to check you were safe..." In other words there were on the hunt for the culprits but we agreed.) We also found the cutest kitten ever, which we tried to smuggle into our room when the receptionist let us in - he was having none of it! After a lie-in, we actually had a very productive hangover day. Recruited Matt from our dorm and went on a mission to find Than Long's photo gallery - was amazing, really moving, inspirational black and white photographs (he understands the need for black and white - makes everything look good, seriously!)and then zipped off to see the Cham Towers, which were really cool with some fantastic views. Ate Mexican that night and even managed to stomach the free shot of tequila ("it makes me happy"). The next day we went on Mama Linh's boat cruise - groaned/grinned our way through the tour guides monologues which included much crudity and many innuendoes - quite a character! Stopped at a few islands for swimming, snorkelling (got bitten by jellyfish - they mustn't have been too bad cos didn't hurt much - either that or I'm just too cool), sunbathing (under a cloudy sky) and floating around in rubber rings with plastic cups filled with 'delicious'red wine (love the floating bar - every beach should def have one!) Also stopped off at an aquarium - it umm had some fish... not much else to say about that really.Met up with the people we'd met on the boat that evening for drinks - Crazy Kim's and The Sailing Club again, why change the routine if it works hey? Excellent night - after The Sailing Club chucked us out we stayed on the beach until about 7 in the morning. At about 6 the sun started to rise (one of the best sun rises yet - so beautiful) and a bunch of us decided it would be a great idea to run into the sea with all our clothes on (may have been my bright idea...). Spent the next hour attempting to do the classic "Karate Kid" pose on this stump in the sea (you know the one, both arms up, knee up and balancing on one foot). Needless to say Daniel son was somewhat better at it than us and we fell in over and over again (attempting to avoid the rocks and short hidden stumps)! Cut my feet to shreds, but didn't feel the pain at the time so kept going - was in the zone, man - Mr Miyagi would have been proud at our dedication. Anyway after never quite mastering the balancing act but acquiring an intrigued Asian audience we waded out defeated (I swear it was more narrow than Daniel's!) and soaking wet (obviously) - wasn't the most comfortable walk home! Got back, showered (?!) and then went straight back out to meet up for breakfast - you know it's a good night when you go to bed at 8.30 in the morning with scrambled egg in your tummy! Spent the next day recovering in Guava, which does the best breakfasts ever and has extremely comfortable sofas (mmmm), with the survivors from the night before - all good!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/helenoreilly/travel_2006/1156169280/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/helenoreilly/travel_2006/1156169280/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/helenoreilly/travel_2006/1156169280/tpod.html Mon, 13 Nov 2006 11:42:05 -0500 Exploring Australia, South East Asia and China.

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Phnom Penn, Cambodia

Woke up relatively early for us and reunited with Mhairi over a cup of PG tips and cheesy beans on toast (and actually cheddar - yes!!) Felt so spoilt! Haggled impressively with a tuk tuk driver to hire his services for the day and went on our way to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum; a former high school used as a prison and interrogation centre by the Khmer Rouge regime, also known as S-21. It has been preserved as it was when the Khmer Rouge were eventually driven out including extensive records and thousands of photographs of the prisoners. There are literally rooms filled with mug shots of victims - men, women, children, even babies; many look terrified, others defiant and others completely confused - it's really upsetting. Other rooms contained rusting iron bedframes, beneath black and white photographs showing the room as it was found by the Vietnamese. In each photograph, the mutilated body of a prisoner is chained to the bed. Other rooms preserve leg-irons and instruments of torture. These are accompanied by paintings showing people being tortured. There are also exhibitions upstairs about the Khmer Rouge and the main instigators. There had once been a map made with 300 skulls and other bones to serve as a reminder of the events that had taken place at the prison. However this was taken apart in 2002, although the skulls of some victims are still on display in shelves in the museum. A really hard-hitting museum all in all.After the museum we opted for a more light-hearted activity and went to explore the Grand Palace and the Silver pagoda - both of which are simply stunning and very peaceful. Actually got stuck in the Silver Pagoda whilst a storm raged on outside - best place to get stuck if you're gonna, I guess!The next day we visited The Killing Fields, where many people (anywhere between 1.3 and 3 million out of a population of 8 million) were killed and buried by the Khmer Rouge. Victims were usually bludgeoned to death to save on bullets and then buried in mass graves. At the site there is a commemorative stupa filled with the skulls and bones of victims, underneath which lies their raggedy clothes. As you walk around, you still see bones, skulls and scraps of clothing on the ground. There was such an air of sadness there as we walked around under a gloomy sky and smatterings of rain.That afternoon we volunteered an hour of our time to work with some street kids. Basically we signed up, went to a meeting to be briefed and then went to the local Mosque grounds to be met by kids with huge smiles. We sang songs, helped them learn the words for body parts, did a couple of fun activities and then played games with them in their 'free time' - a really wonderful afternoon and a really successful project. I hope the programme continues to do so well.In the evening we decided to try out the club we'd heard about called Heart of Darknes - hmmmm... It looked like quite a cool building but definitely had a dodgy feel to it. Dancing on the dance floor was a bit of a challenge due to many sleazy men - called for some big arm movements - they eventually got the picture and we managed to gain a small amount of personal space! Funny place, pretty good evening - give it a go!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/helenoreilly/travel_2006/1154751420/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/helenoreilly/travel_2006/1154751420/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/helenoreilly/travel_2006/1154751420/tpod.html Sun, 12 Nov 2006 16:46:35 -0500 Exploring Australia, South East Asia and China.

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Halong Bay, Vietnam

Trip to Halong Bay was excellent. Cruised along the Gulf of Tonkin passing thousands of islands and islets on a wooden boat with our tour guide Tintin (so sweet!) and a friendly bunch of travellers. The scenery was stunning, as the UNESCO site puts it a "spectacular seascape of limestone pillars". Was jam packed with boats and tourists when we got to the dock, but after sailing for about ten minutes we somehow lost them all and felt like the only ones at sea, so relaxing. Sat out on deck chatting and soaking up the sun until we reached our first stop "Surprising Cave" which we wandered through whilst having odd shaped rocks pointed out to us - one in particular made us giggle (when the photos are up you'll see what I mean!) Back on the boat and then a beach stop for a swim (such a hard life) and then a later stop for a swim as the sun set - lots of fun swimming under the moonlight. Slept on the boat that evening (cute little dinky room) which was really cool - sat out on the deck looking at the stars and drinking beer until we got sleepy. Woke up in the morning to a huge thunder storm and cracking lightning strikes, very dramatic - although I basically slept through most of it (it's a talent - one of few unfortunately). Luckily the weather eased up (otherwise i imagine I would have spent the day with my head over the side of the boat feeling sorry for myself) and we went kayaking that morning. As always Caz and I were super speedy and led the way... (mmm really)... More cruising and swimming ensued and then in the afternoon (desite the downpour - we were soaked) we went for a trek on Cat Ba Island - gorgeous. That evening we all went out for drinks and ended up in a karaoke bar, belting out classics such as Sweet Child o' Mine, Lithium, Born to be Wild, Zombie, With or Without You, We Didn't Start the Fire (?) etc until they chucked us out. Needless to say, none of us looked too bright-eyed the next morning. Stopped for a final swim and then headed back to Hanoi. Had a couple of hours and then boarded our night bus - a long night to Hoi An!!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/helenoreilly/travel_2006/1154492160/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/helenoreilly/travel_2006/1154492160/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/helenoreilly/travel_2006/1154492160/tpod.html Sun, 12 Nov 2006 16:43:37 -0500 Exploring Australia, South East Asia and China.

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Hanoi, Vietnam

Half an hour after landing and Caz has already received a proposal from a worker at the Immigration desk and I am being bugged by a cute kid with a mushroom haircut in the airport transfer bus which was sweet for about 2 minutes. Another half hour later, I give a huge sigh of relief to have escaped from the kid's game of sticking Nemo in his mouth before taking it out to show off the saliva covered fish. For some reason he doesn't care how many nods of approval his parents give him and continuously poked me for my attention - great... So out of the bus and into a herd of hostel touts trying to scam us into coming to their hostels. We head off, amidst warnings from the schemers that the hostel we have chosen is a rip off, to find the Mushroom boy and his parents have decided to come our way. Luckily we are assigned to different floors and thus the start of our Vietnam adventures have begun. We spent the first night wandering around the Old Quarter and checking out the moonlit lake. Decide on an early night because we're both still feeling pretty queasy - unlucky!Found Hanoi brilliant and crazy! Thought the roads were hectic in other places, but they were nothing compared to this! Every single piece of the road is used by bicycles, motorbikes, cyclos, cars, vans, buses and pedestrians. And the paths are designated parking spots or for stalls - so basically people are forced to risk their lives by sharing the road with an immense amount of speeding vehicles - scary stuff. Nearly got run over a few times, but generally figured out that once again crossing blind was the only way to do it. To make it even harder, it's rare if you can walk more than a couple of metres without someone trying to sell you something - a lift, fruit, books, frogs... On our first day we were cornered by a woman who literally wouldn't let us past - she proceeded to adorn us with her conical hat and those balancing basket things. We gave in and posed for a picture, which of course we had to pay her for - suckers...Spent a lot of time getting lost in the Old Quarter, which is really bustling and colourful with shops and stalls selling all sorts of bits and bobs and certain roads specialising in chosen items - a shoe street, a clothes street, a fruit street, an art street - you get the picture. Took way too many pictures of the lake and the primary red bridge before realising we were getting a bit over snap happy about a lake. Bought a couple of toiletries in a store and when the cashier opened the till I saw there was a wad of chewing gums, one of which she handed to me as my change. When Caz and I begun to giggle she looked at us as though we were really bizarre because apparently in her world it was perfectly normal to use gum as currency? Needless to say, I left happy with my gum, feeling it was more satisfying than the 5p she owed me! Found a budhist-shrine-house-thing - which we were enticed into by a very sweet little man. We then found ourselves roped into a lengthy photo shoot with a tall wise old man - he whipped my camera off me and put us in various positions of worship around the place leaving us in fits of giggles. On our departure from his clutches we gave a small donation which he was thrilled with and he returned the gesture to us with bags of wafers and fruit! Also went to see a traditional water puppetry show - very impressive.Felt like royal idiots when we got a lift in a cyclo (the chairs are at the front)to see the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. Unfortunately when we got there it was shut so we never got to see Ho Chi Minh's embalmed body or his wispy white beard. We did however, have a mosey around the One Pillar Pagoda and the Temple of Literature - both of which were lovely. Got a motorbike (the first of many now!) back to the Old Quarter and enjoyed the buzz of weaving dangerously inbetween the traffic - Caz and I have now mastered the art of mounting and riding a motorbike without flashing Vietnam!Not much news on our evenings out as they were pretty tame (good food and fruit shakes) - our excuse being we were still quite ill. Did sit on the Bia Hoa Junction which was pretty cool - good spot to watch the world go by and for the cheapest beer ever, which I didn't get to take advantage of, being sick - poor me! As we were quite ropey we stayed longer than planned so that we could basically get lots of sleep and recover. And then onto Halong Bay we went...
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/helenoreilly/travel_2006/1154144220/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/helenoreilly/travel_2006/1154144220/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/helenoreilly/travel_2006/1154144220/tpod.html Sun, 12 Nov 2006 16:36:43 -0500 Exploring Australia, South East Asia and China.

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Bangkok, Thailand

Left the centre on the 28th - didn't get chucked out over our drunken escapades - woo hoo! In fact, Edwin returned back to the centre in an extremely good mood, because he had managed to finally free the Orangutans, a project he has been battling over for awhile now. Last few days at the centre were really good - was sad to say goodbye to all the animals (had an intensive photo shoot which I forced Caz to sit through when we met up - bless her!) and the volunteers.Laura, a friend from the sanctuary, joined me on the bus back to Bangkok, where I then met Cazlan at the airport - was fabulous to be reunited! That evening the three of us went out for dinner and drinks on Khao San Road. Tuk Tuked it to Patpong to check out the infamous ping pong show - ummm interesting... Then back to the Irish pub on Khao San Road where we stayed til about six in the morning playing truth or dare with some other people we met up with - great night!Spent the next day suffering in bed. Went out to catch about an hour of daylight, ate soup and basically went back to bed!! Woke up the next day hoping we'd feel better, but we were just as bad. Forced ourselves to go to The Grand Palace cos we'd missed it our first time here - despite the nausea, it was v nice! Asia sure does love its sparkly stuff! By Monday, post much grumbling, napping and soup eating, we decided it was time to splash out on antibiotics - was so frustrating to be back together but not be able to do much cos we were so poorly. Got a plane on Tuesday to Hanoi, Vietnam - hoping our stomachs will like it better than Bangkok!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/helenoreilly/travel_2006/1156428900/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/helenoreilly/travel_2006/1156428900/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/helenoreilly/travel_2006/1156428900/tpod.html Sun, 12 Nov 2006 16:32:17 -0500 Exploring Australia, South East Asia and China.

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Sihanoukville, Cambodia

On the day we decided to go to Sihanoukville I basically threw up the whole time. Had a pretty low day in general - was fed up with getting sick every few days. Actually had to throw up into a plastic bag on the bus - not pleasant! Anyway we reached Sihanoukville which is basically a beach and party town, got wet in the rain and went to bed :(Felt a bit better the next day although it was still raining so took it easy - watched films, played cards, walked on the beach during a dry spell, had dinner with Anya and Patrick who we had met in Halong Bay and went for drinks at Eden, where we also danced some salsa (very cool)! A cool town for chilling out really!Headed off the next day back to Phnom Penn. Only stayed there a night because we wanted to head off to Siem Reap the next day...
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/helenoreilly/travel_2006/1138327800/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/helenoreilly/travel_2006/1138327800/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/helenoreilly/travel_2006/1138327800/tpod.html Sun, 12 Nov 2006 16:29:09 -0500 Exploring Australia, South East Asia and China.

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Cairns, Australia

Arrived in Cairns (last Friday, 20th) and promptly threw up!! Got picked up and taken to our hostel, Asylum - still feeling very shaky! And then unfortunately, continued to feel on/off ill up until basically yesterday (Weds) - grrr...Still been having a good time - just not partying here as much as we would have liked, but now I'm feeling better we'll get back into socialising mode... So my news... It's rainy season here, so we've been getting very wet - more about that later... Went to the cinema twice - two nights in a row! Not very exciting but that's the easiest thing to do if you're not feeling great plus recently read 'Memoirs of a Geisha' so wanted to see what Hollywood had done to it - I recommend the book over the film (cliche opinion, I know, but it's soooo much better!) Explored the city centre to discover quite a few shops, bars and restaurants - all good.On Sunday, we went to the Botannical Gardens, which were luscious and green - got wet. On Monday, we went scuba diving to the barrier reef - threw up three times (not a great sailor!) and got wet. Luckily it was quite clear as we got closer to the Barrier Reef. The fish were pretty big and we even found a Nemo - so cute! Then chilled out on Tuesday, got burnt just before it started to rain - and then, yup you guessed it, got wet!Decided to take a trip up to Cape Tribulation on the Wednesday - officially the most jam-packed day ever! Got picked up, taken to brekkie, cruised along Daintree river where we spotted two baby crocodiles, wandered in Daintree Rainforest, got to our hostel, went swimming in the rain, jungle surfing in the forest, a night time rainforest walk where we saw heaps of big creepy crawlies, got stung by a bee/wasp and then went for drinks! Wowser! It poured down the whole time - but we actually really enjoyed it that way. Being in the rainforest with floods all around you looks so dramatic and is really exciting! Jungle surfing was the highlight - you're literally zipping over the top of the Rainforest - thrilling and beautiful all at once. The last zip line we did hanging upside-down, no hands - brilliant!The next day was also excellent. Went for a walk along the beach - when it begun to tip down, we got quite scared because the beach actually started to disappear (plus it's stinger season) - it looked like the end of the world. Luckily we made our way back ok. Then our tour picked us up and we got taken to some grand lookout points as well as to see Mossman Gorge - the natural landscape here is just breath-taking, really is. Then we were taken back to Cairns.Decided to go out that evening for Australia Day - lots of fun. Went with our hostel to a few bars and then carried on in search for a club - ended up in a pretty quiet one where a couple of 18 year olds tried it on, bless them!! Needless to say, we decided to head back home shortly after that!! Left Cairns for Mission Beach the next day...P.S. Caz and I also got approached by the manager of some bar who told us we were the best dancers there and we had a job if we wanted!! Got a free shot out of it - but decided not to accept the offer -hee hee! Queens of the dance floor?!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/helenoreilly/travel_2006/1136242800/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/helenoreilly/travel_2006/1136242800/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/helenoreilly/travel_2006/1136242800/tpod.html Sun, 12 Nov 2006 16:25:11 -0500 Exploring Australia, South East Asia and China.

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Bangkok, Thailand

Bangkok - neon lights, extreme smells, food everywhere, dogs everywhere(!)- some cute, some not so - plus one with a nappy(?), crazy driving and I'm talking woman on back of bike just holding a baby whilst driver speeds down incredibly busy roads, lots of weird and wonderful things for cheap on Khao San Road and lots of massage parlours. Arrived with Caz on 29th Dec - room was pretty dingy but clean so it does the job plus it's super cheap. Indulged in 2 massages - one traditional and one oil. The traditional one was very painful and a bit bizarre - the lady was literally balancing on me at one point - includes lots of kneading, stretching, hitting and pulling but strangely enjoyable, well, at times, a manicure, pedicure and a facial (facial was wonderful - all kinds of lotions and potions - until the point they put needles in our faces - not so good! Luckily a cucumber mask followed to ease the pain!) Met some nice people and had a good night out - would recommend Gullivers on the corner of Khao San Road. Food is good - have tried a few Thai dishes, although I have to admit it is hard to get used to it at all meal times, so I have opted for pasta on a couple of occasions. I'm missing sandwiches - they don't seem to exist here!!Unfortunately I have no exciting New Year's Eve stories because I was throwing up during the day - wandered out literally for midnight so I wasn't alone but then went back to bed. Thankfully I got better quickly so back on track now. Left Bangkok on the 2nd January.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/helenoreilly/travel_2006/1143788820/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/helenoreilly/travel_2006/1143788820/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/helenoreilly/travel_2006/1143788820/tpod.html Sun, 12 Nov 2006 16:20:39 -0500 Exploring Australia, South East Asia and China.

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Singapore, Singapore

Took the train back to Singapore and returned to our much loved hostel! Decided to try out Little India where I enjoyed a very good curry (and starters and breads)! Then it was time to experience the biggest 'Ministry of Sound'! Accidentally queued in the VIP lane but some guy behind us told us not to worry, that he would get us in, which he did; people can be so helpful here for no personal reason, he literally said goodbye as soon as we were in to go meet his girlfriend. We probably seemed really unfriendly to a lot of people at first, because we act really cautious,but then it turns out they were being genuine - it's really nice. Anyways MOS - amazing! Downstairs was the Rn'B room, which is your typical Rn'B room - a tight squeeze, dark, fencing here and there for the 'rough' appeal,people getting down and dirrty,the effects being that there are no effects - just music. Then the middle floor was the huge dance floor - stages, bars all round, metallic, trancey look and upstairs was Studio 54 - a ceiling full of disco balls and squares on the floor that light up in turn, some psychedelic walls and disco music. Here and there were little bars and funky corridors; all in all it was very cool. Got ourselves a bottle of wine and boogied with the best of them. Stayed til the lights came on,such disco divas!The next day was our last together - but that was a banned subject! Went to Orchard Road where I developed some photos from the trip (from the time when I only had my retro camera - they are still very cool, you know - I get so excited when waiting to see what they're like!) and bought some work clothes for teaching in China. We also had a wander along some market stalls and treated ourselves to a "Pizza Hut". That evening we went to an excellent restaurant for a slap-up Italian meal (recommended by Tony - he never gets it wrong) - so delicious!Stayed up for awhile talking and getting emotional before taking our sorry asses to bed. To the airport the next day for some more emotional scenes - it was so hard,man! I love you Cazzy and I'm gonna miss you and all the laughs big time ("I'm shorry but I'm shure" and "Sometimes I talk like an evil PIXIE!" - "good times!" and all that - although I never want to hear "badger" again, ok!!) Most of you are probably thinking "huh" but then most people probably did when they met us :) Anyway, off I went onto my plane - China, here I come!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/helenoreilly/travel_2006/1156947780/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/helenoreilly/travel_2006/1156947780/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/helenoreilly/travel_2006/1156947780/tpod.html Sun, 22 Oct 2006 13:26:33 -0400 Exploring Australia, South East Asia and China.

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Bangkok, Thailand

Arrived late into Bangkok after an exhausting day being bounced around a mini bus. However, the hardcore people that we are we were convinced out for a final night of travellers fun! Went out for an Italian - the smell from the restaurant won us over! After that we met up with some people we knew from Cambodia in Gulliver's Travels (the place of our first ever night out)and had a good time until it was nearly closing time, so we then set up camp on another 'soi' conveniently close to some 'beer sellers' for the weirdest and most disturbing game of "I have never" that I have ever participated in!Spent the next day trying not to feel too sad and sentimental; had an emotional farewell with Mhairi; did some last minute spending on Khao San Road (loving my aviators - see pics!); enjoyed a chat about football (what else?) with our lovely taxi man; had a goodbye drink with my cousin Sharon and then headed for the airport to do some escalator surfing and moping that it had finally come to an end!!So sad to leave - had such a wonderful time! Really can't believe it's over! So 'til next time, your reading duty has been served!
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