monkey_moore's TravelStream™ — Recent TravelPod.com entries TravelStream™ news feed for member monkey_moore on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/monkey_moore en-us Copyright ©2012 TravelPod.com Mon, 30 Jan 2012 13:52:37 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com Mekong Delta and War Stories — Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monkey_moore/7/1322818200/tpod.html http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monkey_moore/7/1322818200/tpod.html#comment Travel Blogs http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monkey_moore/7/1322818200/tpod.html Mon, 30 Jan 2012 18:52:37 +0000 5 weeks to remember in South East Asia
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Where I stayed
Ha Vy Hotel (I think!)
(Ho Chi Minh City hotels)


I arrived at the tour office and unsuprisingly it's closed. Now I know where it is I feel much happier about wandering to find some breakfast as I'll be able to find my way back pretty easily. I find a street bakery where I have a pain au raisin type thing and a pineapple shake. The pastry is so good I get another one to take away as emergency food whilst I'm in the Mekong Delta. It's pretty cheap too but looking at the prices in the restaurants it's going to be more expensive in Saigon than the rest of Vietnam. I head back to the tour office where I leave my main pack and then join the overnight tour to the Mekong Delta. It's very regimented and there's a sales pitch at every turn but overall I feel like I've seen the bits of the delta I wanted to and the day ends with a homestay which is the part I was really looking forward to.

There are 8 of us (3 couples, another girl and me) doing the homestay and we separate from the rest of the group. We meet our 'dad' who take us on a boat to his home about 30 minutes down the river. We arrive to meet his mother, wife and son. They are cooking us dinner and it looks fabulous. We are shown to our rooms (he has specially built 5 rooms to accommodate the home stays and there are 2 toilets and showers for our use) to dump our bags and then it's back to the kitchen to help carry stuff out to the table for dinner. We are having fresh spring rolls. Dad gives us a lesson in how to make the rolls and we're off. In brief: take a bit of rice paper; add a lettuce leaf, rice noodles, some cooked carrots/cabbage/green beans and some fish; fold the rice paper to create a parcel; dip in fish sauce and eat. My first attempt pretty much falls apart but still tastes fabulous. My second attempt reached professional status and I am very happy. I eat quite a few and I honestly think it's some of the best food I've had in Vietnam. Once we've finished eating Dad brings out the rice wine. Having tried some in Laos I respectfully decline the offer despite being told it will keep the mossies away. Between the 8 of them (7 travellers and dad) they drink a whole bottle of the wine. We sit and chat for a while but soon head to bed as we're up at 5am to walk around the rice fields and local village.

I have a fabulous night's sleep and wake refreshed before my alarm. I get up and have a shower before setting off with everyone to the rice fields. Dad explains a little about what happens at various times of the year and what it involves keeping the crops growing and harvesting. It's about an hour before we're back 'home' to find breakfast waiting for us. For me that's an egg and a couple of bananas (they're small, I'm not greedy) and there is bread and coffee for everyone else (they didn't forget me I just don't consume those). It's back to the boat to be taken back to meet the rest of the group who chose to stay in a hotel last night rather than the homestay. We meet them in the middle of the river and have to climb from out little narrow boat to their much bigger boat. There are a couple of wobbles but everyone and everything makes the transfer safely. We say goodbye to dad and it's off to the floating markets for us. Massive disappointment. From the images I've seen previously it looked like it was a lot of small boats laden with goods that you had to weave in and out of to get around. It is actually much larger boats and not that exciting. We do stop to buy (if you want to) fresh pineapple which I do as dind't have much for breakfast and it's 60p for a whole pineapple trimmed to perfection. It's very juicy and I make a bit of a mess of myself but am happy. The rest of the day is a bit like yesterday, very regimented and we stop a lot of places where there's the option to buy something and nothing else to do. We have lunch back at the main town in the delta before getting on a bus back to Saigon.

I arrive in Saigon in the early afternoon and have a wander round looking for a room at a reasonable rate. I bump into Miguel outside a travel agent. They are booking various things including a day tour to the Cu Chi tunnels which I join them on (it was on my to do list anyway so is perfect timing!). I manage to find a room in a hotel opposite theirs for $10/night which is great as I don't think I'll find anything cheaper or better for the price. Once I've collected my bag from the tour office and checked in we all head off to explore Ben Thanh market where I buy my secret santa present. It's quite good having a fixed price I can pay as I don't give in and pay more than I want to. It's more expensive here than in Hoi An but it's heading into high season and a main city so I'm not suprised. I still think I get a bargain and a seller wouldn't accept less than the item was worth so everyone's a winner. Heading back to the area our hotels are in we stop for street food. I have noodle soup which is every bit as good as I'd hoped and it's the girls first experience of street food so I'm very happy they got a good one and won't be put off by it! We then head to a roof terrace bar for a cocktail. It's very peaceful up here compared to street level where it's hectic. We chill for a while before heading back to our rooms to prepare for tomorrow's adventure.

On today's itinerary is a trip to the Cu Chi tunnels and the war remnants museum. A quick trip to my bakery for breakfast before getting on a coach to the tunnels. The coach slows down but doesn't actually stop to let us on! We are the last 4 to join so have to sit separately which isn't a problem except that Sheila gains a very friendly American who follows her round for the whole time we're at the tunnels. For those who know very little about the 'Nam War the Cu Chi tunnels are where the locals lived and hid to avoid being found by the Americans. They are a large network of tunnels and only a few are open to tourists. Those which are open have been made bigger to allow for the larger physiques!

We first watch a video showing us the history of the area and the importance of the tunnels during the war. From here we walk to one of the covered entrances to the tunnels. If you didn't know it was there you really wouldn't see it. The one we look at is one that has been made 40% bigger so tourists can get inside to experience it. Even at 40% bigger very few of the group we're in would fit. I give it a go and it's a tight squeeze particularly around my shoulders. Disaster strikes though as I climb in: my foot slips a little and my Havaiana breaks!! I emerge from the hole to check the extent of the damage and it is not repairable and I can't even continue to wear it. Ah well, barefoot it is! We wander round the rest of the site and there's an option to shoot some guns. A quick look in my wallet tells me I will not be one of those people as I have very little dong left and I don't really want to take any more out as I leave the country tomorrow. I settle for an ice cream instead.

One of the last things we do at the tunnels is actually go down into them. There are 3 levels and each section is about 30m long. You then get the choice to go up or down a level. Most people come down to the first section and choose to leave which is what I'd anticipated I would do as I'm not keen on not having fresh air to breath however I feel ok after the first section so carry on. I suprise myself and actually go through the entire part of the tunnels that is open to the public. It gets very hot down on the bottom level but I find it exhilarating rather than terrifying.

We leave the tunnels and get dropped off at the War Remnants museum. Time for a bit of lunch before we head in. Narrowly avoiding Sheila's stalker we have a look around the military machines (tanks, planes etc) outside before heading inside. The museum is set out so you start at the top and make your way down. It's a highly moving museum and I am unable to stay in some of the exhibits which are mostly collections of photographs and extracts from published articles during the war. Having read a few reviews of the museum it is allegedly very one sided but regardless of who did what to who it was a devastating time. I won't go into details but I would highly recommend visiting the museum if you do ever find yourself in Siagon (Ho Chi Minh City).

For my last meal in Vietnam we go for something really traditional: KFC. By the way I am still barefoot and I'm not sure my feet will ever be clean again. Thankfully I haven't been turned away from anywhere for being shoeless and it's just one of the reasons I love this country. We just spend our last night chllin and wandering round the city before heading to my bakery to pick up a bun for breakfast (I need to leave for the airport around 7am tomorrow as do the girls on their coach to Cambodia). We wander back to our hotels and say goodnight and goodbye as I'm not sure I'll see them in the morning. It's then back to my room to pack my stuff in preparation to fly to Thailand tomorrow morning.

To be continued...

]]> Mud, motorbikes, cable cars and cocktails — Nha Trang, Vietnam http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monkey_moore/7/1322792838/tpod.html http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monkey_moore/7/1322792838/tpod.html#comment Travel Blogs http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monkey_moore/7/1322792838/tpod.html Sat, 28 Jan 2012 12:51:51 +0000 5 weeks to remember in South East Asia
Nha Trang, Vietnam

I arrive in Nha Trang at 6.30am and I have no idea where the bus has dropped us off! Out comes the iPhone again so I can use the GPS to figure that out and then walk in the right direction. I constantly have to say no to offers of hotel rooms as I know what area I want to be in and set off in that direction. I soon realise that there is a man following me on his motorcycle but trying not to let me see him so I stop for a few minutes whilst he had no choice but to carry on. When I started moving again he soon was tracking me again! I found the area I wanted to stay in and started looking for a hotel room at a price I wanted to pay. Not as easy as I thought it would be. I discovered the man following me on his bike was trying to get commission by introducing me to a hotel and turned out to be useful in the end and I found a very nice double en suite room for $6 on my 4th attempt.

Once I'd dumped my bags I wandered out to find somewhere to eat breakfast and find a computer to add the girls on Facebook. I managed to find an internet café who would 'unblock’ Facebook for me as a non-Vietnamese person and added the girls as friends – just needed them to check their Facebook and accept me so I could find out where they were staying and meet up again. I then proceeded to wander around for about an hour looking for a bakery to get some breakfast before giving up and eating at a restaurant. Best breakfast so far! I’m really glad I couldn’t find a bakery as I got fabulous food and sat in a lovely restaurant just chillaxing for a bit. Use GPS to check where I was again as wandered quite randomly to find food and then head back to my hotel to change as it’s got a lot warmer in the couple of hours I’ve been out. At my hotel I check my lonely planet and decide to hire a motorbike to drive to some of the local attractions.

First stop is the Giant Seated Buddha which sits behind Long Son Pagoda. I figure it should be pretty easy to find seeing as it’s visible from the town however I drive straight past it as it’s not visible from the road. I realise after a mile or so that I must have driven past it so u-turn at the earliest opportunity without being run over and head back towards the town. I eventually find it after a local child could see how lost I was, staring at my map with a look of complete bewilderment on my face, pointed me in the right direction. I enjoyed the Buddha and pagoda but the highlight for me was being given a flower by a monk. I collect my motorbike and head to my next destination: Po Nagar Cham Towers. These monuments are unlike any other I’ve seen so far in Asia. They are made of orange brick and are fantastic in design, very ornate. I spend quite a bit of time just sitting here and taking in the atmosphere.

Once I've had my fill of the atmosphere I head back to my bike and off to Thap Ba hot springs. Again, not as easy to find as I thought it would be. The lonely planet suggests it very simple however there are no signs or street names to follow and it turns out to be down a road which looks like an alley. I drive quite a way thinking I may have got it wrong again but perseverance pays off and I end up at the springs. First stop is my freshly run bath of muddy water where I wallow for about 30 mins. Next stop is lying in the sun until it dries and then a shower to wash it off. The owners obviously think that people don't shower properly as you then have to walk through what I can only describe as a jet wash before getting in a bath of very hot water. Cleansing complete! There are also swimming pools etc here but I realise I am meant to have the bike back at my hotel in about 30 mins so it's a quick change and back to the bike - at least I know where I'm going this time. Uh oh... the bike seems to not be responding properly, I almost instantly have the realisation that I've run out of petrol as it just hadn't occurred to me to put any in when I got the bike. Nothing for it but to push the bike down the road until I find a petrol station. As I'm pushing the bike along the road a local stops and via the power of charades I communicate that I have run out of petrol. He points down the road to indicate to keep going and then drives off. I hope that means I've not got far to go. After a couple of minutes of hard work (motorbikes are actually very heavy) he appears again pointing to a coke bottle on someone's doorstep. A lady comes out and indicates for me to open the seat and she pours the contents into my tank and holds up 3 fingers. I hand over 30,000 dong (£1) and try the engine. W'hoo... starts 1st time and I should have enough petrol to get me back to the hotel.

I seem to have made a friend in the Vietnamese man who helped me find petrol as he drives next to me the whole way back down the road to the main road. He is saying the same word over and over to me which I don't understand. He continues doing this even on the main road and it starts to freak me out. I decide that I really don't want to be driving next to him as I think I'm starting to understand what he means and try to lose him. I do manage it eventually but have got a little lost on my way. I decide to head to the beach and then figure out which way to go, I recognise where I am immediately and all is good. Get back to my hotel with a few minutes to spare. Check my Facebook and Meg and Sheila have both added me as friends and it turns out they are in a hotel about a 5 minute walk away. I take a walk down to their hotel and find them in the lobby waiting for a taxi to take the to the hot springs! We organise meeting for dinner, drinks and dancing and I walk back to my hotel to chill for a bit before having a shower and commencing the transformation into party girl - aka properly drying my hair and putting on make up - it feels weird!!

Miguel is staying with the girls again but has hurt his ankle and won't be joining us tonight and Amanda (who the Scottish girls met previously) has arrived which means... girls night out! We have dinner and cocktails at Salut bar where we have been offered a free cocktail with dinner and BOGOF on all other cocktails before heading to another bar (a cyclo man very optimistically thinks he can take all 4 of us which when we get in he soon realises he was wrong - it's only about 50m anyway) where I also manage to pursuade them to give us free cocktails. It's a short stroll to one of the 2 clubs in the area however Sheila and Amanda decide to take a cyclo. I race them on foot and win! We try to sneak in via the beach without paying entrance fee however whilst I and another English boy we seem to have picked up along the way manage to get in without being noticed, Sheila, Meg and Amanda are escorted off the property by the security guards. We decide to end the night now as it's actually quite late and we have a day at an adventure park tommorow which won't be fun with a hangover. I say goodnight to the girls and head back to my room where I collapse in to bed and am asleep in no time.

It’s a shaky start to the morning today but a bottle of water and some Oreos soon stop that. I get myself prepared for the day and then head off to meet the girls and Miguel for breakfast. It’s a big breakfast which I thoroughly enjoy before heading off to the bus stop. We are going to Vinpearl Land which is a theme/water park on an island just off the coast of Nha Trang. Whilst waiting at the bus stop a taxi pulls up to offer us a ride. A quick bit of maths and some bargaining later we are in the taxi for only a few pence more that the bus would have cost us (travelling as a 5 makes private transport sooooo much cheaper per head!). The taxi drops us off at the entrance to the cable car which takes us across to the island. I think it’s awesome but the others aren’t convinced!

We arrive on the island and enter the park. We head straight for the rollercoaster which we go on 3 times in a row as there are so few people here! Miguel gets off for the third run and the guy actually lets him control the ride!! I’m guessing it’s just a start button and he doesn’t really have control but it still would never happen in England. Next stop is what I can only describe as the worst ride in the world ever. We are the first to go on it that day and it looks like The Claw ride (google it!) so I expect it to behave like the claw ride. It starts of very similar however after about a minute we are completely upside down and spinning very slowly. I was made to take my glasses off before the ride started but they were perfectly happy for me to put them in my pocket. I spent a long time clutching my pocket so they didn’t fall out! It feels like an eternity we are left upside down but our eye-witness (Miguel) tells us it was about a minute. When we are eventually let down we have been on the ride for about 3 minutes and we all feel very shaky… never again. We decide to calm ourselves down by going on the bumper cars… yes they are bumper cars and not dodgems J. It works and we are ready to walk to the waterpark. First ride we chose is called Tsunami and it is the best water ride I have ever been on, this is shortly followed by another called Kamikaze which feels like it’s skinning me alive, so incredibly painful! A lot of the rides are only open during certain times of the day as it’s low season so we have to be aware of the time and where the rides are to be able to get on them, something we actually manage to achieve! Once we’ve had enough we get some lunch and sit in the sun to dry out before heading to the aquarium (which is actually a very good one) and back to the theme park.

There is a monkey show going on which we join the crowd to watch… I only watch about 30 seconds before deciding it’s cruel and walk away. Sheila follows about a minute later and we head to the pirate ship. We manage to persuade the attendant to run it with just the two of us… we end up staying on for 4 rides! More people migrate from watching the monkeys on our 2nd and 3rd rides and by the 4th the ship is full! Now feeling a bit shaky again it’s time to head back to the mainland to get showered and ready for dinner. As we’re walking past Salut, the bar where we spent most of last night, the Vietnamese girl we were talking to last night is working again and we get chatting again. We don’t want to eat here again but promise we’ll be back for pudding (I have my eye on the cheesecake).

We decide on a restaurant for dinner which looks lovely and quite busy but I am disappointed with my prawns and the vegetables I ordered never turned up. When the bill arrives we have been overcharged but I soon sort that out. Not the best experience but could have been much worse! We head back to last night’s bar to get my cheesecake. We are all absolutely knackered and decide an early night is the only way forward. I say goodbye to Sheila, Meg and Miguel as they are leaving in the morning for Mui Ne where I do not leave until tomorrow night for the Mekong delta (I should see them again in a couple of days when we all arrive in Saigon). I head back to my room and eat my cheesecake in bed. Go to sleep feeling very tired but happy.

I have a lazy day today, the only thing I have on my to do list is to book my Mekong delta tour to start tomorrow morning when I arrive in Saigon (it is possible to do independent exploration but expensive for just me and time consuming so wouldn’t be able to do it in the 2 day I have). I get it booked early and then head to breakfast before walking down to the beach. It’s not great weather today but I lie on the beach anyway reading my book until it looks like it’s going to rain. It’s then off to the supermarket to get some snacks and drinks for the sleeper bus before going to Salut bar to spend the afternoon (water has started falling from the sky enough now to be annoying but not enough to call rain). I read, use their Wi-Fi and play pool until it’s dinner time. I order the same meal I had 2 days ago as it was simply delicious, unfortunately the wrong meal arrives. I ordered from the really nice Vietnamese girl so I don’t mention it (I don’t want her to get into trouble or have to pay for the food) and eat what I have been given. I am quite disappointed but it still tastes good and I’m not starving so I have nothing to complain about. At 7pm I board my last sleeper bus of the trip – it is also the most comfortable! There seems to be a lot more room on each bed and more space between beds too. There are a lot of locals on the bus and we seem to stop very frequently for the first couple of hours, which I’m hoping stops once I’m trying to sleep as it’s quite disturbing to keep stopping. My luck is in and from when I turn my light out at about 10pm to 5am we do not stop (at least I’m not woken by it!). As we approach Saigon there are a few more stops but it’s light and I can see where we’re going so it’s quite enjoyable. I arrive in Saigon to the usual hoard of people trying to get me to stay in their hotel which I manage to get away from quickly and head to the tour office where I will be starting the Mekong Delta tour from.

To be continued…

Thailand: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set= a.10151074793885228.775144.562300227&am p;type=3&l=2097182b59
Laos:http://www.facebook.com/media/set/ ?set=a.10150983922150228.766182.5623002 27&type=3&l=43fa7d51ff
Vietnam:http://www.facebook.com/media/s et/?set=a.10151075170050228.775180.5623 00227&type=3&l=ae48bc9f9e

]]> Shopping anyone? — Hoi An, Vietnam http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monkey_moore/7/1322792761/tpod.html http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monkey_moore/7/1322792761/tpod.html#comment Travel Blogs http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monkey_moore/7/1322792761/tpod.html Mon, 02 Jan 2012 15:15:49 +0000 5 weeks to remember in South East Asia
Hoi An, Vietnam

Where I stayed
Tan Phuong hotel
(Hoi An hotels)


Feeling refreshed I head out to wander the streets a little and find some food (I realise I haven't eaten since breakfast!). Sheila and Meg should be arriving sometime soon too so need to keep an eye out for them. I bump into the Argentinian girls from my Halong Bay trip who point me in the right direction to find the nicest part of the town - the old town. I reach the river and it's so much more picturesque than the other towns I've stayed in. I opt for Cao Lao from a street vender and sit by the river to eat it (Cao Lau is a local dish made of noodles, bean sprouts, lettuce, mint, dried shrimp and soy sauce soup which I have with fresh shrimp and simply delicious). Once I've eaten and orientated myself a little I go back to the hotel to make sure my big bag made the trip safely and settle myself in my room. At 9pm I am hungry again and decide to get another Cao Lai from the same lady as it was so good, I opt for beef instead of fresh shrimp this time though. It's not being piggy - I just had a very late lunch and late dinner! As I wander back to my room I have a look at some of the clothes on offer as Hoi An is renowned for tailoring (this is where Jeremy Clarkson had his shiny purple suit made) and try to decide what, if anything, I want made to measure for me. I stop at the only shop (called 27) who left me alone when I said I was just looking to have a better look. I talk the the lovely girl in the shop about what I'm thinking about getting and decide to order a very simple day dress to start off with to see why the quality is like before deciding if I want something fancier. It's $15 (~£10) and it will be ready at 1pm the next day. She takes my measurements and I pay a small deposit before heading home for the night. I wake early the next day after good sleep and wander the streets again, I walk through the market which is partially aimed at tourists (souvenirs) and partially at locals (fresh fish and vegetable etc). I have a look in a wood carving shop where I nearly get bitten by a puppy! I leave without buying anything however I do buy quite a lot from other places today. I won't need to do much more shopping now but if I have money left over I'm sure I'll manage it!! I collect my dress and it fits very well, time to think about what else to order!! I wander round trying to gain inspiration from the selection of dressed they has on display. I also resort to eBay for some ideas while I eat lunch! Street food again but I use the wifi of a nearby restaurant for my research. I decide what style I want and then go looking for a 'display' one to check it suits me/ the idea works in reality. A dress catches my eye as almost perfect for what I want and I realize it's in the same shop as I ordered my first one! The girl recognizes me and I try it on... It's a perfect fit! I think she made it with me in mind :) I order one with a few amendments to her design and it's $30 as it a more expensive fabric and complicated design. Still cheap for a unique made to measure dress! I just need an invite to a wedding now for a chance to wear it. I wander round some of the sights of Hoi An and bump into the Spanish guys for my Halong Bay trip. I get the feeling that I will keep seeing the same people over again in Vietnam as people follow the same route wither going north to south (like me) or vice versa. I wander round the night market a little but it starts to rain and all the vendors have a scurry to ensure their stalls are covered enough not to get wet. I abandon this idea and get street food again for dinner, they have set up an umbrella so I sit in the dry with my food. I would have been eating street food anyway as its so good but it's good to balance my extensive shopping with cheap food. Still no sign of Sheila or Meg, I'm sure I'll find them eventually but I haven't been able to add them on Facebook as for some reason the search function on my app doesn't work and the computers I've had access to block Facebook. Ah well it's off to bed to rest after a long day of wandering. I wake refreshed again and try my first dress on again. I think it would actually be a better fit with a small adjustment to the shoulders so I take it out with me to drop it off at the shop. I show the girl what I want doing - no problem and it will be ready at 1pm with my other dress. I also go to another shop to order a skirt which keeps catching my eye - that will be ready at 3pm (it's 10am now). A late breakfast today which I have in a small restaurant by the river so I can watch the world go by while I eat. A fellow Brit stops to look at the menu and invites himself to join me! He's Nigel and lives near Brighton - I have managed to gain a leech for the day - he is traveling north or I think he would tag along for the rest of my trip! I have to go back to my hotel to checkout which Nigel follows me there - thankfully as I am walking out of my hotel I bump into Sheila and Meg who have gained Miguel since I left them in Hue. They are also leaving on the night bus tonight so I spend the rest of the day with them (and Nigel who even follows us to the post office). I have lunch and then it's time to collect my dresses, the first one looks much better now and the second is perfect. Nigel leaves us around 3pm when we say we are just going to wait for our night bus at the hotel, we find a coffee shop type place to sit and have a hot chocolate as it's the coldest day I've had yet in Asia and I am not dressed appropriately for the cold. It's then off to pick up my skirt before saying farewell to the girls again for now (I am booked on the night bus through a different company so may not see them again until we arrive in Nha Trang). I then head back to the food stalls to get some early dinner before wandering to the tour office to get the night bus. I am picked up by a motorbike to take me to the bus - I feel like a local with all my bags on the bike! There are a lot more local people on this night bus than previously and they are all allowed on the front 'beds' whereas us tourist are relegated to the back. The girls and Miguel are not on this bus so I will have to wander the streets to find them in Nha Trang - I can't search for people on facebook using my phone and everywhere I've had access to a computer since meeting them blocks facebook. Night bus is quite uneventful and I'm getting used to them a little bit now - that doesn't mean I get good sleep though as massively paranoid that someone is going to nick my stuff... if I believe all the claims we get at work then it happens all the time! To be continued...
]]> Top Gear eat your heart out!! — Hue, Vietnam http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monkey_moore/7/1322817910/tpod.html http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monkey_moore/7/1322817910/tpod.html#comment Travel Blogs http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monkey_moore/7/1322817910/tpod.html Thu, 08 Dec 2011 00:07:44 +0000 5 weeks to remember in South East Asia
Hue, Vietnam

We arrive in Hue at about 8am and are greeted by a group of reps from the local hotels/hostels/guesthouses. Sheila, Meg and I try to get away from them to think about where to stay. A Swedish couple (who Sheila and Meg met in Hanoi) come and tell us they have a double room for $10 at a hotel just down the road. We find we can get a triple for $12 (after negotiations) which is much cheaper than staying in a dorm! We chill for an hour or so before heading out to breakfast and a walk to the old town. On our way to old town we are asked about every minute or so if we walk a cyclo lift by the same people who are following us - I find myself longing for Laos where they left you alone as soon as you said no. By the time we have reached the citadel (our destination) I am so annoyed at them following us that I tell them they are ruining our day. They get the message and leave us alone. We walk around the external wall of the citadel not really sure where the entrance is, it's a pleasant walk but 1/2 way round it's a little frustrating that we must have walked the wrong way for the quickest route to the entrance. We walk nearly full circle before we find the entrance. The citadel was the capital of the Nguyen Dynasty but has been partially destroyed over various wars not least by the Americans when it was bombed during the Vietnam War. There has been restoration going on for over 20 years but there are still vast areas that are just fields. The buildings that are there are certainly worth a look.  As we walk back to our room we realise just how hot it is and that none of us have suncream on - I'm very glad for my base tan as I think I will survive with just a little pink where Meg will probably be rather red. We have a light lunch having run into the Swedish couple and organised having dinner with them in a few hours time. I go off to organise my motorbike for tomorrow's Top Gear challenge and have a shower whilst the girls catch up with internet stuff. It's a very nice dinner in a posh restaurant (by my standards anyway!) before bed as I've now had 4 nights of very little sleep and will be up early again tomorrow. Wake up after a very good nights sleep before my alarm goes off - its Top Gear day and I'm very much looking forward to getting on a bike as it's been a few years! I've opted for a manual bike - which I've never driven before but it is apparently very easy as it's just a case of clicking up and down with my left toes and heel, there's no clutch to worry about - as I've been told the automatics struggle a little on some of the hills. I say goodbye to the girls - I should see them again in the next couple of days on Hoi An - and go and collect my motorbike from across the road. I get shown very briefly how to use the gears, I'm given a map (and advised which route to take) and I'm off! First thing is to fill up with petrol then head off to Thien Mu Pagoda, which is in Hue but you need transport to get there. It's different to the other pagodas I've seen along the way and is the official image of Hue. It's very peaceful and has free entry (I do have to pay 10,000D (~30p) to park my bike) and worth my detour. I was also originally planning to go to the Emperor tombs but decide I would rather have a leisurely day on my bike than be worrying about time. I need to be in Hoi An at 5.30pm at the latest and I've been told it's a  6-7 hour drive non-stop, I plan on stopping in various places and it's 9.30am now I've done the pagoda and have made it back to the junction where I need to decide to go to the tombs or start my journey. I'm going to take this opportunity to sell the iPhone as the ideal travel accessory (I'm sure other smart phones would also do the job but I have an iPhone!). The GPS works from the phone signal and doesn't need internet connection so, providing you have loaded the maps whilst you had wifi, you can use it without being charged data roaming. It was very reassuring to be able to check where I was as the signposts are not great here. I have to add that I didn't once go the wrong way! I did however fail to find the Elephant Springs which were allegedly along my route - I have no idea what they are but was on the flyer about the trip!! Back to my day, the route I was taking took me on the smaller roads through villages which was lovely, I didn't see another obvious tourist for the two hours I rode along that road. There were lots of kids walking and on push bikes who kept waving at me. I felt very safe the whole time - well, my brakes didn't exactly work and my helmet was too big for me so it kept falling off when I was travelling at high speed but the people weren't a threat! After the peace of that road, the main road was a bit of a shock but was nice to get a bit of speed up (other than the fact that I had to hold my helmet on with my hand - James May's colander would have been just as much use!). I went over the Hai Van pass which offers stunning views before descending into Da Nang city and a boring bit of road with lots of motorcycles - I'm glad I didn't do this when I first got to Vietnam, I am used to the bikes and I think some of the etiquette of the road - essentially the biggest vehicle wins, use your horn a lot and don't hit anyone. My lack of brakes make the last one hard but thankfully not impossible. On the last stretch of road I pass, and detour to, the marble mountains. They are exactly what the say on the tin and mountains that are marble. I drive down one of the side streets and find people who are carving/grinding (Jason I'm sure there's a proper word for it but I don't know what) the marble into statues. It's fascinating to watch but I don't stay long as I have no face guard and there's marble dust everywhere. I head back to the road where there are loads of shops selling the marble statues/figurines, I decide against buying a massive marble statue of a ballerina and settled instead for 2 reasonable sized (i.e. not too heavy) dragons : Happy and Lucky. I arrive in Hoi An with plenty of time but struggle to find the hotel where I am dropping off the bike. After several u-turns I find it and say goodbye to the bike. I manage to bargain my hotel room from $10 to $6 (I love that it's low season and not many tourists are around) and take a well needed shower to get the dust and dirt from the journey off me. Top Gear challenge completed successfully :D To be continued...
]]> Organised chaos — Hanoi, Vietnam http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monkey_moore/7/1322556714/tpod.html http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monkey_moore/7/1322556714/tpod.html#comment Travel Blogs http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monkey_moore/7/1322556714/tpod.html Wed, 07 Dec 2011 14:31:29 +0000 5 weeks to remember in South East Asia
Hanoi, Vietnam

Where I stayed
Hanoi Backpackers Hostel
(Hanoi hotels)


Arriving in Vietnam means another currency I need to get used to. There's about 30,000 Dong to 1GBP and I do a quick calculation and decide I will withdraw 6,000,000D however I panic at the ATM and only take 2,000,000D (max set amount) before getting a taxi to Hanoi Backpackers. The taxi costs 400,000 (I think I was probably ripped off though) so I will burn through my money at that rate!! Arriving at the backpackers they have space in a dorm for me which I take even though it's $6 (as I won't be able to stay in the luxury private rooms we've been having on my own given that I am now in high season rates). Today the plan is to wander the streets and see what Hanoi has to offer as well as booking my Halong Bay trip. I walk pretty aimlessly avoiding being hit by the motorbikes which rule the roads (crossing the street gets some getting used to, you walk at a steady pace and hope everyone avoids you) for a while seeing very few westerners but lots of souvenir shops before I happen across Hoan Kiem lake (Hoan Kiem means returned sword and has something to do with a giant turtle returning a magic sword to the gods) which is a little bit of tranquility amongst the madness of Hanoi. However I appear to have walked into a photo shoot for a wedding magazine!! I carry on being the tourist that I am and ignore them. As I'm standing admiring the view a Vietnamese woman walks up to me with her baby and places her baby's hands on my arm! She's all smiles so I don't freak (the only thing of value I have on me is my camera and that's tightly grasped in my hand with the strap wrapped round my wrist so she can't steal it) and she seems very grateful to have her child touch me and walks away happy - I think it must be my white skin (which i'd like to point out is no where near as white as when I left London). I wander around the lake a little bit and 2 other women touch my arms and smile at me with no apparent intention. On my way back to the hostel I see a man get knocked off his motorbike by a car. He just gets up, dusts himself down, nods to the car driver and continues on his way! Other than that incident it all seems to run pretty smoothly and what looks like chaos works. Back at the hostel I ask a couple of the other girls in my room if they've had women and children touching them but I appear to be alone on that one! I book my 2 day Halong bay tour at the hostel (I go for the budget option) to leave the next day and also a sleeper bus for when I get back to take me to Hue (pronounced something like Hway with a bit of throat clearing on the H). I am determined to find some street food for dinner in a non-tourist street. I walk I the opposite direction than I did this morning and after about 20 mins I stop at a street stall and get noodle soup. There are a couple of locals eating when I arrive and shortly after a family arrives too. It's very good soup, very filling and a bargain at 30,000 (£1). I continue my wandering and find a random park where there are at least 100 locals exercising. Some are playing badminton, others a version of hacky sack (sp?) and a few are doing press ups. It's very random but looks like fun! I get out my map to figure out where I am so I can head to the night market to see what Vietnam has to offer!! I personally don't think the market is any where near as good as Luang Prabang or even Chiang Mai in terms of the merchandise on offer but I still sample a couple of chicken skewers and some coconut bread (which is so good I go back to buy a 2nd one for a snack for tomorrow!). Back at the hostel there is a DJ playing and find out that it goes on quite late - I have to be up early tomorrow and have been up since 5am so it's off to bed with earplugs for me. Unfortunately, my bed is on the first floor directly above the 'disco' downstairs and I can feel the beat of the music so it's not very easy to sleep. It doesn't help that a hostel worker comes in at about 2am and turns the light on to do something with the aircon. This experience has made me feel very old and I plan to avoid backpackers (at least those with bars) for the rest of the trip! Wake up early (before alarm) feeling surprisingly refreshed given how little sleep I've had and have the hostels free breakfast which consists of baguettes, anonymous/unrecognisable jams, bananas and coffee. I have a couple of bananas and am glad I bought the coconut bread last night - pretty sure I'll be eating that soon! There's only 2 people from the hostel doing the tour I've booked - me and Andreis - everyone else is doing the hostels own your which was much more expensive and consists of organised drinking that starts in the morning (again being an old person I avoid that like the plague, well at least until after dinner). On our way to Halong Bay a car and a van crash a couple of cars in front of us and we narrowly avoid joining the pile up. Thankfully it looks like nobody is injured but the road (like a 1 lane motorway) is blocked. Not a problem in Vietnam... We reverse up the road to a junction where we drive down the wrong side instead to pass the accident and then rejoin the correct side at the next junction! After a few hours we arrive safely at Halong Bay and board our junk for lunch. Halong translates as 'Bay of Descending Dragon' and is over 1000 limestone islands created by a dragon's tail as he made his way from the mountains to the sea. Fact. I lunch with Ruth, Portia, Justine and Andreis. It's very good lunch including some tasty fish - Ruth who doesn't eat fish gets a massive plate of peanuts instead. Peanuts are a logical substitution for fish of course. After lunch we stop at Dong Thien Cung which is a fantastic cave that is lit up by different coloured lights. The guide points out stalagmite and stalactite formations that look like dragons and married couples but Ruth and Portia find much more interesting things in the formations! It's back to the boat for a cruise to some floating villages where Justine and I attempt to kayak around however I soon discover that Justine has no idea how to paddle and it's much harder work than with Jo. We soon head back to the ship and 'dress' for dinner on our way to where we dock for the night just off Cat Ba island. Portia and Ruth go for a swim once we dock which you couldn't pay me to do as the water has a film of diesel on the top from all the tourist boats. Whilst I'm on the subject, Halong bay is stunningly beautiful naturally but has been a little bit ruined by the masses of tourists (unfortunately myself included) that descend here daily in diesel powered boats. It would be nice if Vietnam could find a way of restricting the diesel boats without pushing up costs (steam power maybe?). Rant over. Dinner is not as good as lunch but there's enough food for all of us - we had heard rumours that the cheaper tours don't provide adequate food. The girls and I decide to get a bottle of vodka to split between us for the night as it's only sold by the bottle! Once the vodka is drunk it's time for karaoke (which the crew have been trying to make us do since dinner). We dominate the mike whilst trying to get others involved. Three Argentinian girls join us in the fun but they seem to prefer singing along without the mike so we compromise - they chose English songs which we sing into the mike whilst they sing along! Very randomly 'No Limit' by 2 Unlimited comes on which nobody takes responsibility for choosing but we all enjoy and change the words to suit the surrounding 'Halong, Halong Halong, Halong Halong, Halong  Halong Bay'ay'. By the end of the night I have sung myself hoarse and drink over a litre of water in an attempt to salvage what little voice I have left. Go to bed where I have to contend with the sound of the diesel engine (which stays on all night and makes me want to rant again) - I am thankful for the vodka which I'm sure helps me sleep! Wake up after 3rd night of little sleep still feeling normal but I'm sure it can't last... My throat on the other hand is messed up! I can barely talk, it's not painful though so could be worse. I do however have to say goodbye to my new friends after breakfast as they are all staying in Halong Bay (on Cat Ba island) for another night. We cruise back to Halong City with some extras who have just had their day on Cat Ba island for lunch where I sit with the Argentinian girls and Spanish boys and am pleasantly surprised by how much of their conversation (which is in Spanish) I understand and can contribute a little to. We make it back to Hanoi without any accidents blocking the road and I discover a pair of Scottish girls, Meg and Sheila, are getting on the sleeper bus tonight too. I have dinner with them at the hostel before a quick shower and joining the sleeper bus to Hue. I chose my seat (top level by the window) but soon regret my choice as I have a piece of plastic sticking out a couple of inches cutting into my precious space and the handle for reclining the seat has lost its cover so it just a piece of metal sticking into my side. You have a sort of cubby hole for your feet which is also the only place you have to put your belongings so that leaves very little room for your feet. I get very little sleep at all for the first part of the journey before I decide to rearrange my belongings and only have valuable in with my feet and my main pack hanging off the handle to my chair which would be annoying for the person below if they were awake and for anyone who tries to walk past if there was any reason to. With more room to get comfortable I manage to sleep for a few hours before we arrive in Hue. To be continued...
]]> A little bit of paradise — Krabi, Thailand http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monkey_moore/7/1321781194/tpod.html http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monkey_moore/7/1321781194/tpod.html#comment Travel Blogs http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monkey_moore/7/1321781194/tpod.html Mon, 05 Dec 2011 11:47:13 +0000 5 weeks to remember in South East Asia
Krabi, Thailand

Where I stayed
K. Guest House Krabi
Sand Sea Resort Phi Phi
Mountain View, Ton Sai, Railey
(Krabi hotels)


Arriving in Krabi  we head to the guesthouse we want to stay at but she is fully booked. We are taken to her family's place through her garden where they have a twin room - its very basic (one room, 2 single beds and a small table) but very cheap (150B for the room) and we decide to stay as its only for one night (its about 9pm so have to stay somewhere). Off we go to dinner armed with leaflets of things to do in the area as we has no plan. In the end we decide we will get the earliest ferry to Phi Phi tomorrow, stay a couple of nights and then move on. It's started to rain a little bit, not a problem, it can get it out of its system overnight and be beautiful for us tomorrow! The closest forecast we can find is Phuket and that's said there will be thunderstorms all week since I started checking it a few days ago :( Up early to get breakfast before our transfer to the ferry. On the transfer we meet a couple of Dutch girls and get chatting, they have prebooked their accommodation on Phi Phi, we hope that there's still the cheap (whilst still more than twice we've paid up to now) place available! We sit outside on the ferry with our feet dangling off the side - its a little overcast but a very pleasant day so far - I put on suncream as its a deceptive sort of day and I don't want to burn! When you arrive on Phi Phi there are loads of people there trying to get you to stay at their hotel. Jo and I walk straight past them all to a wall which displays all the accommodation available in Phi Phi and the price range. Jo and I chose the cheapest available (1000B) in a quiet area and pay before walking down to the hotel (they asked us to wait but we said we were happy walking and it turns out they wanted us to wait for a trolley to put our bags in). As we walk down we realise we are staying in the same hotel as the Dutch girls and hope they don't think we're stalking them!! A quick change before heading to get some lunch and charter a boat to take us snorkelling and to some beaches. As we're walking towards to restaurant area we pass the Dutch girls and discover they have he same plan as us! We agree to charter the boat as a 4 to make it cheaper and continue to lunch. I order noodle soup after making sure its runny like water to help me get over the awful airport experience - it works and my soup is fabulous!!   We charter a longtail boat for 1500B between the 4 of us, so about £7.50 each, for 4 hours. Our fist stop is Maya beach which is where 'The Beach' was filmed. We stop to snorkel first and it's very good, lots of sealife! The coral isn't as vibrant as in the red sea but still good. It's then down to the beach for a spot of sunbathing for the other girls while I have a wander inland. It's no very busy at all which is contrary to what we've heard. We have to pay 200B entry fee each as the island is a national park. I follow the tsunami evacuation route to see how far we would have to go if there was a 2004 repeat and it's quite far! I learn that there are signs displaying tsunami evacuation routes all over southern Thailand particularly on the islands. Once I've had a look inland I wade out to sea where we'd past a massive shoal of fish on the way in hat turned the sea black due to be quantity of them. I stand facinated by them for a whole when I notice them parting down the middle... A baby black tip reef shark appears less han a metre from my feet! It has no interest in me and turns round to head back through the shoal. I decide to wade into the middle of the shoal, they separate as I walk in and within a minute they have reformed around me so I am surrounded by black! I keep an eye out for them separating again (I don't want the shark mistaking me for a fish!) and pretty soon I become a tourist attraction myself... The longtails coming into the cove stop to have a look and I appear in a lot of tourists photos!! I wade back to shore to see if the girls are cooked yet, they are so we head back to our longtail. The beach has become a lot busier since we arrived so I think we timed our visit perfectly (on purpose of course!?). We head to another spot to do a bit of snorkelling but it's deeper which in my opinion leads to not as good snorkelling and there's Alston a very strong current. There are still lots of fish but not as good variety and we're too far from the coral to see that properly. Our last stop before heading back to Phi Phi beach where we are staying is monkey beach - so called because of the troop of monkeys that frequent the beach. I am the only one to venture onto the island after our boatman tells us to be careful because the monkeys bite! I stalk one for a couple of minutes before heading back to the shoreline where another couple are. The younger one stands up next to me gently grasping my leg, he then bares his teeth and slowly moves his mouth towards my leg... I move swiftly away to avoid getting bitten and after a couple of pics get back on the boat to head to our beach. I book a scuba dive for the following day with a reputable looking company who claim to adhere to UK/USA safety standards rather than Thai and as most instructors are western I believe it. Jo is coming along for the ride and to snorkel (opting not to do the scuba intro dive). It's pizza for dinner - we order thinking we'll eat 1/2 a pizza each and have the other 1/2 tomorrow but as with all well laid plans it doesn't happen, before we know if we've both eaten our pizzas. Whoops - tasted great though! We wander to the other side of the island which looks very much like a massive party beach, on our way back to our side we end up back on the party beach!! That doesn't bode well to be able to do that if you've had a couple of drinks. That won't be us tonight though as I've scuba'd after drinking before and it wasn't a pleasant experience! We have a look at a couple of market stalls on our way back to our room, Jo sees a t-shirt she likes but doesn't buy it. Once in bed Jo changes her mind, gets dressed again and goes back to buy the t-shirt... I think she's not wanting to be like me and the culottes and not be able to find them tomorrow! It's a very early start to get breakfast before arriving at the scuba shop at 7am. Breakfast for me is an absolutely fabulous coconut bread - its so moist and delicious and I almost buy a 2nd one on the way back past to get to the boat but manage to control myself. It's about an hour on the boat to the first dive site. I have a really good first dive: excellent visibility and lots of sealife. As I said before the coral isn't great but still good. I see 2 turtles this dive :) the first is sitting under a rock just chillin whilst the second swims past me. They are so elegant and beautiful (and if you believe QI absolutely delicious) that is has to be my favourite underwater creature.  We go to 'The Beach' alcove to moor for lunch and there are sooooo many people here! Jo and I go for a snorkel but it's not as good as yesterday - its high tide now (so all the big boats can get here hence the volume or people) and it was low tide when we were here before. A tip for anyone conk g to Phi Phi, make sure you take a long tail if you go to any if the islands/beaches and tell them you only want to to at low tide - you avoid the crowds and the snorkelling is much better! The second dive is a shark hunt! We ate guaranteed to see reef sharks and there's a possibility of leopard sharks. We see quite a few black tip reef sharks swimming quite close but unfortunately no leopard sharks. We are back on shore by 1pm in plenty of time to get some lunch and catch our 3.30pm ferry to Railey.  We decide on sitting inside this time as have had quite a lot of sun over the last couple of days and I'm very glad we did - the sea is a lot choppier and the spray is absolutely soaking the people on the side of the boat. The ferry can't dock at the mainland and so longtail boats come out to meet the ferry. Jo and I sneak onto the one destined for Ton Sai which is next to Railey but we've read it's cheaper, less touristy and you can easily walk to Railey in about 30 mins. We didn't realise that you had to prebook which beach you had to go to  but I'm pretty sure it cost the same speaking to other people. It just meant the longtail was crowded and sitting just above the waterline... I envisaged newspaper stories about the boat that sunk in Thailand due to overcrowding but we made it to shore ok. A short walk up a dirt path brought us to Mountain View hotel (800B/night) which was quite pleasant and hopefully quiet at night. The only downfall was that there was no electricity during the day only 6pm to 6am!! Whilst Railey and Ton Sai are on the mainland, they are cut off but impassable mountains so can only be accessed by sea - this makes it more like the islands and therefore more expensive than the mainland I general. A short walk further along the dirt path takes us back to the beach were we landed but the other end. This is where most of the restaurants and bars are to be found. We opt for fresh king fish for dinner wih salad and rice. The fish is delicious, really flavourful and much better than the Mekong river fish! We stop at a really chilled bar on our way back and get a booth which is a platform with loads of cushions. The Malibu and pineapple flows quite freely and is so refreshing, we end up deciding that we should open a similar bar in the UK! It would be awesome but probably unachievable... I think I may just need to win the lottery, get a huge house and turn one of the rooms into my bar like this. We have a well deserved chilled start to the day although it's not a lie in. We get breakfast (pancakes with maple syrup, mmmmm...) and then hire a sea canoe to get a closer look at the magnificent karst rocks jutting up out of the sea. We also have a bit of a swim off West Railey beach and I have my snorkel - it's not thrilling stuff but I do see shrimp and crab. We get a little bit rained on but it's only drizzle and have to get back to Ton Sai Before low tide or we'll have a painful walk over the rocks with our canoe to get it back to the owner! We have booked a 'Sunset' cruise that promised excellent snorkelling and seeing backs the size of dogs and phosphorescent plankton. We grab lunch and are just about to walk to the meeting point when the guy it booked it with finds us to tell us it's been cancelled due to clouds! The excuse is that the sunset will not be good to watch, we said we didn't care about the sunset but we have our suspicions that we were the only ones who booked so they're not running it today. It's fair enough but I wish they would tell the truth!  With an unexpected free afternoon we decide to sunbathe a little and then walk around the shoreline to West Railey, this involves a little clambering over the rocks and wading through the sea but we make it in one piece. West Railey is definitely more geared towards the tourist trade and there are souvenir shops everywhere. There are also monkeys roaming and taking advantage - we spy one stealing bananas from a shop! We walk across to East Railey where it is cheaper and there's a reason - I wouldn't stay here if you paid me to. We walk back to Ton Sai to watch the rock climbers scaling the cliffs, there are a couple near the top and it's fascinating to watch them. We have dinner at a restaurant where we can see them. I had noodle soup and still find myself checking that it's going to be runny and not thick even though I no longer believe I was served noodle soup at the airport. I finish my day with a cornetto. We have a relaxed start to our last day in Thailand packin and them having breakfast before getting a longboat to Ao Nang which is the closest place we can get the airport shuttle from. We book the last shuttle of the day (16.30) and leave our big bags at the tour office. Have a wander round and discover that Ao Nang is very definitely a tourist resort, the prices are extortionate in my opinion compared to the rest of Thailand (we find out a lot of package holidays come here so the prices are still cheap relative to western prices really). We decide that our best plan of action is to sun/shadebathe until lunchtime. Once cooked we head to lunch and it starts to cloud over. Just as we leave the restaurant there is a scurry as everyone rushes to bring their merchandise inside before it rains. The heavens quite literally open and torrential rain falls, it's not cold though but we still take shelter at our tour office for the worst of it. It lasts about 90 minutes and then stops as quickly as it started. We find a street seller and buy ham and cheese rolls for dinner. Within 30 mins of the rain stopping the streets are dry again and we're ready to board the shuttle. It's running a little late but we're due to arrive really early at the airport anyway so not a problem, we arrive at the airport before the check in desk is open. No problem with the flight and we arrive on time in Bangkok but face the long wait for our bags that comes hand in hand with Air Asia at Bangkok airport. Once I have my bag I fish out the stuff I'm leaving with Kayleigh (thanks again) until I'm back in Bangkok just before I come home and then leave Jo with my big pack at the transfer place and head off to Kayleigh's on skytrain, taking a taxi for the final part. Her apartment is lovely and has a pool on the roof which is fabulous! I don't hang around for long though unfortunately as its nearly midnight and I have to leave my hotel for my flight tomorrow at 5am! Back at the hotel our room is awesome - its a shame I don't have much time to enjoy it! It's 00.40 when I get into bed and the alarm is set for 04.40. I wake without problem (not sure I really slept), say goodbye to Jo and leave for the airport. Yet another really smooth flight (I have 3 seats to myself as the plane is practically empty) and my adventure in Vietnam begins. To be continued...
]]> Thai food anyone... I'm a professional cook now! — Chiang Mai, Thailand http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monkey_moore/7/1321781066/tpod.html http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monkey_moore/7/1321781066/tpod.html#comment Travel Blogs http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monkey_moore/7/1321781066/tpod.html Fri, 02 Dec 2011 02:23:23 +0000 5 weeks to remember in South East Asia
Chiang Mai, Thailand

J&J Guesthouse
(Chiang Mai hotels)


Yet another smooth flight later and it's into a tuk tuk to the hostel, Julie's, we've been recommended. It's definitely a hostel and not nice compared to the guesthouses we've been staying in but it's also significantly cheaper. We check in for 1 night just to give it a chance but decide to have a look at guesthouses on our wanderings round town today in case. We actually find a really nice guesthouse 2 doors down from Julie's and book for the following night! We also book a cooking course with them for the next day and are charged less than we should be... Result! Chiang Mai is definitely a city and not the town I was expecting and it feels weird to be here having been in Laos!! Next on the to do list is dinner which we have at the hostel - we both have Thai meals but Jo's not a fan of hers and it doesn't seem to be a fan of her either. We head out to the night bazaar to see what Chiang Mai has to offer compared to Laos. It's about 30 mins walk from our hostel and when we get there it's huge!! We stick only to the main street and it still takes us over an hour to walk it... There are a lot of similarities in the goods on offer to Laos but with subtle differences, I'm glad I did most of my shopping in Luang Prabang. On the way back to our hostel we stop for a foot massage, 120B (~£2.40) for 1 hour, as our feet are aching from all the  walking!! It's not very technically correct but does the job and is cheap!! It's off to her with earplugs as we're right next to the common area of the hostel and I get the feeling that it's not going to get quiet any time soon!! We get up early for breakfast and to move to our guest house before our cooking course. We are collected by Sammy who owns the farm where our cooking course is and is obviously quite a character! There are 8 of us in total on the course which is a good number and between us we are cooking all the dishes on offer. The first stop is the market where Sammy shows us the different types of rice available in Chiang Mai and then how coconut milk is extracted. Sammy goes to get ingredients that he doesn't grow on his farm whilst we have a look around then it's off to the farm to start the lesson. First up is curry paste - I've chosen yellow curry and abstain from adding more than 1/4 of 1 chili from the 3 I have been given for the paste. Sammy explains the ingredients as we add them and a lot of them are picked fresh from his garden as we are making the paste. I won't bore you with all the details of the cooking but it you're interested I may be nice enough to cook you a meal! I made yellow curry with chicken and potatoes, stir fry chicken with cashews, coconut soup with chicken, vegetable spring rolls and mango with coconut sticky rice. If you don't like coconut then my menu wouldn't suit you!! It was a very enjoyable day and I would highly recommend Sammy's organic farm cooking class to anyone who finds themselves in Chiang Mai. There was so much food and everyone got to try a little of everything (although I avoided the spicier dishes) and we had no need to eat dinner - I did get a fruit smoothie though as I need to have at least 2 a day to satisfy my addiction to them! After having a much better nights sleep in the guesthouse (compared to the hostel) we head to Chiang Mai zoo. The zoo is ok as zoos go, the animals don't seem mistreated but I have seen better. One thing I really like is that the visitors get to feed some of the animals (10-20B per bowl) and the first one we come across is hippos!! Jo is ecstatic :D we pay to get a bowl of potatoes each. The hippos seem to love it and wait by the edge of their enclosure with their mouths open waiting to be fed (either that or they're starving). You are close enough to them to touch them (which is slimier than I thought it would be) and we thoroughly enjoy feeding them. We wander round the zoo for about 4 hrs, also feeding giraffes and zebras, before heading back to town in a res shared song-thaew. We brake unexpectedly on the way back to avoid crashing and the 9 passengers including us end up in a bit of a pile up in the back - the only injury is a broken nail that an Asian girl is rather melodramatic about! As its Sa************** to the Saturday market. It's much busier than Laos markets or even the night bazaar here and you have very little choice but to follow the crowds (walking up one side of the street and back down the other). It's street food for dinner again which is very spicy for me - I persevere and eat it all but have to find a drink pretty quickly! It's just a short walk back to our guesthouse to turn in for the night. Our last full day in Chiang Mai is spent wandering the streets. I have a pedicure to prepare my feet for the beach (I really only needed to change nail varnish but seeing as it was so cheap I thought I'd go for it). The lady who does the pedicure is so nice and chatty. We wander to a local market recommended by her to have a look around (Jo gets some lemongrass tea) and then down to the night market street to find lunch (I'm sure I saw lots of restaurants here). We end up getting McDonalds which as McDonalds goes is standard - its the most expensive meal we've had in Asia so far though!!  We walk back to towards our guesthouse in search of a massage place and it's been a few days - Jo gets a hot compress massage and I have a Thai head, back and shoulders). It's good although a little rough at times, I wasn't in pain like Karl Pilkington (aka an idiot abroad) seemed to be! Today is Sunday so, you may have guessed it, there are Sunday markets!! These are even busier than the Saturday markets which I didn't think would be possible. You can only shuffle with the crowds today and have an exit strategy for if you spot a stall you want to look at - a bit like Marlin and Dory trying to exit the EAC. I'm looking for a pair of culottes that I've seen all over the place and have decided to buy but do you think I can find them?? I find 2 pairs in the whole market and neither are the colour I want (deep red). It's street food for dinner again and this time we opt for rice salad with meat (I'm told chicken and pork) kebabs which is delicious and not at all spicy - yey for me. We trek to the night bazaar in search of my culottes as we know there were lots here the other night but yet again the is not a pair in sight. It is much quieter tonight as people are at the Sunday market. So frustrating but I decide it's fate that I can't find them so give up looking and head back to the guesthouse to pack for the flights to Krabi tomorrow. Today we spend traveling, first up is a flight to Bangkok where we have a 5 hour wait for the flight to Krabi. There was a flight with 90 mins connecting time but I didn't think we would make that and quite rightly as we arrive to check our bags in for the flight at the time the earlier flight departed. Annoyingly we can't actually check our bags in now and have to wait an hour which we do with a Starbucks. I have their Christmas special white chocolate and cranberry frappuccino which is rather nice. Once checked in we have lunch, I have the worst noodle soup known to man. It's so gelatinous and slimy that I can't bring myself to eat it, I ask if they can wash the the 'soup' and just give me the vegetables. It comes back still in the gloop but with less of it, I pick out the veg and scrape as much goo off as possible before eating but have to leave the noodles (which are blending in well with the mushrooms) as there's no way I can get the goo off them. I question the waitress to check they brought me the right dish as it's not like the picture they have of it - she insists it's 'same same'. Oh well, I must not let this affect my opinion of noodle soup which I have grown to love over the last couple of weeks. We land at Krabi airport without any problems and get the shuttle bus to Krabi town. To be continued...
]]> My favorite place in Laos part 2 — Luang Prabang, Lao Peoples Dem Rep http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monkey_moore/7/1321781337/tpod.html http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monkey_moore/7/1321781337/tpod.html#comment Travel Blogs http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monkey_moore/7/1321781337/tpod.html Tue, 29 Nov 2011 01:43:38 +0000 5 weeks to remember in South East Asia
Luang Prabang, Lao Peoples Dem Rep

Where I stayed
Mekong Moon
(Luang Prabang hotels)


Today we have a rest day so it's a lie in and late breakfast, I try to get a current bun (as they are awesome) but the stall has run out! We wander down the street looking for another bakery place and have a look at some tours to kuong si waterfalls to see if we think we can do it cheaper ourselves. We are approached by one of the tuk tuk men and we investigate costs with him - we can hire him for the day for 240,000 (after bartering) to take us wherever we want. This is less than the cost of one person on a tour so we agree - he takes us back to our guesthouse to collect our stuff - I need an money from an ATM to be able to pay him too! PANIC. I cannot find my card anywhere but I do find a little but of money stashed away so I can go out today and have a proper search later (I know it must be in the room as I took it out of my camera bag before we went to the elephants). Back to the tuk tuk and on to the falls we go. 32km later I am very glad we didn't decide to cycle here! We leave our driver in one of the 'restaurants' in the village outside the falls where he will wait for us (he tells us that one of his friends owns it do he will be there). We haven't paid him yet so we trust him to wait. The realization that we missed breakfast hits me in the stomach so we get a sandwich to eat (1/2 now, 1/2 later) before heading into the falls. Entrance fee 20,000kip. The plan here is to walk around the falls and then take a dip. The first thing we pass though is a bear rescue centre so we stop for a quick look. There are about 20 bears here that have been rescued from various places (mostly tourist trade) where they were being mistreated. They've just been fed and are napping now so we figure we'll move on and have another look on the way back out. We head into the falls where we are greeted by aquamarine pools with small waterfalls cascading over limestone ridges, it's very beautiful. We cross over to the right hand side of the falls where we walk/clamber up the side of the falls to the top to check out the view. It's quite tough going at times and I hope we can cross at the top of he falls and have an easier route down the other side! We reach the top after about 40 mins and it's well worth the climb. There are spectacular views across the rainforest and you can just about see down the falls too. You can wade across the pools at the top - someone health and safety conscious has put up a wooden barrier to stop people from being swept into the falls even though the current isn't as strong as you'd expect at the top of a massive waterfall. As hoped the way down on the other side is much easier as here are steps to help you on the steeper parts. At one point a group of Japanese pass by us going up and some of them are wearing slippers!! Proper material slippers that are getting soaked by the spray. I have no understanding of the thought process behind putting slippers on to visit a waterfall and I don't think I want any. Back a at the bottom we have a photo stop and in my attempt to get a unique photo I slip a little on a rock and manage to cut my right foot... My feet look a little battered right now but none of the injuries are serious so I shan't moan for long. It's quite hot having climbed a waterfall so a dip in one of the pools has been well earned. We chose a pool where nobody else is and get in - its really cold and virtually all shaded - a quick swim to the patch of sunlight helps but I can't stay in long. We head a little bit further down and find a pool I. The sunlight which also means other people have unsurprisingly chosen the same pool to swim in. Into the water again we go (having padlocked our bags closed and chained them to a tree - yes work people it would be classed as unattended but impossible to steal anything surreptitiously as I have unagi and am aware of everything!) and it's a much more pleasant experience. However, it's not long before something starts nibbling at the cuts on my feet and as the water is a little milky I can't see what it is. I think it's time to get out - I raise I have paid to have fish eat my feet before but I could see them then). I have a go on the rope swing that the local kids are using before changing back into dry clothes and going out to find out tuk tuk man and heading back to town. Back at the room operation 'find debit card' begins. I plan to empty every pocket of every bag I have until I find it starting with where I thought it was - I don't have to look long as it turns up in the first handful of stuff I take out of the pocket I night it was in! Another night spent in the market with street food for dinner (I get a chicken breast as well as the vege plate this time) and then head to my favorite pancake stall for a nutella and coconut crepe. It tastes so good I could keep eating he. If I want so full!! We wander back through the market to our guesthouse and make it through without buying anything for the first time!! Bed time now. It's another earlyish start (well only considered early as we're on holiday!) and it's over to the market for a smoothie and current bun (they have them today) on our way to the tour office to meet our guide for the day 'Y' and collect our bikes as today we are cycling to another waterfall (Tad Sae) and then kayaking back to town. We discover it's only the 2 of us so we set the pace today. Result. We take the bikes for a test ride back to our hostel (which is on our way anyway) so Jo can get her flip flops and are asked if we want the good route or bad route?? We establish this means long or short and opt for the prettiest route - this is the long route! As we set off  from the guesthouse the chain comes off my bike. I put it back on and continue but after about 10m it comes off again! I swap bikes with the guide so the frame is a little big for me and is a mans frame: I have to remember that when I stop or will probably be in a lot of pain. Next attempt to cycle goes well and we head off to the falls (the guide doesn't seem to have any problems with the chain on my bike... I must be too a strong!!) It's quite a pleasant ride to start off with with just a few small hills however it soon becomes big hills and roadworks! I dread to think what the other route looks like if we asks for the prettiest. We reach 1/2 way with only a couple of water stops (Jo and I have had to push our bikes up one of the hills though) and are assured it's mostly downhill from now on. I don't entirely believe him but it turns out there aren't anymore steep hills so it was a kinda truth! The final part of the cycle is downhill through a small village to the river where we swap the bikes for a canoe to cross the river to the waterfalls. The guide seems very happy that Jo and I know how to paddle and tells us not to leave him behind! It's about a 10min paddle down and across the river to the waterfalls where we leave the canoes on the bank and head into the falls. We walk past some elephants (you can pay to ride them into the falls) and have a yearning to climb on, it's one I resist though and continue to the falls. Again the waterfalls have aquamarine pools of water but they look vey different to the Kuang Si. It looks like a different type of rock and the formation is very different. It doesn't look like you can walk to the top of these falls (we do try for a little while) as there's no definitive top to them. Instead we opt for a paddle in the pools (it's quite cold for swimming and there's nobody else in the water) and it's blissfully peaceful away from the other tourists incessant chatting. We are in the water for a whole and then the elephants turn up taking people for a ride. One of the girls doesn't seem at all impressed when her elephant keeps dunking her!! Once we've had our fill of the peaceful atmosphere we head to the 'restaurant' where we get lunch. I have noodle soup with added sticky rice and it's mildly spicy but tastes fabulous. I have to say the food we've had on the tours with the phone travel company has been some of the best food we've had in Laos and is I expect like having home cooked food. After lunch it's back to the canoes for a gentle paddle for 18km down Nam Khan river. As we are getting the canoes back in the water I realise I am being filmed by some Japanese tourists - so many people seem obsessed by my whiter than white skin (I think I have a tan too!), our tour guide asked me if he could swap skin with me as he wants to be this white! I would gladly accept if it were possible as I burn far too easily for my liking! As we meander down the river we pass lots of local life: fisherman, allotments and children playing in the river and it's very tranquil, that is until we pass machinery collecting stones from the river bed for construction. The end of our river journey involves negotiating some rapids which no and I do like pros - Y told us there was a chance of capsizing and even he tied his stuff to his canoe! A short bus trip takes us back to town with plenty of time to freshen up before dinner. Dinner tonight is a crepe from one of the street stalls. My favorite lady doesn't do savory so I have to go to another, I have cheese, egg and what I believe to be dried shredded pork which tastes pretty good. We walk back along the river to check out restaurants for our fancy fish dinner tomorrow night and I get an Oreo shake and current bun for pudding before bed. We then have a couple of lazy days and even go to a pool for an afternoon and drink cocktails. There are massages and posh fish dinners (which has a very distinctive taste - I'm thinking river water - and I'm a little disappointed) and present shopping (don't get too excited people - I don't buy a lot) and watching sunsets (much more peaceful by the river than at the Wat on the hill even if a boat of people coming from upriver arrives and a drunk American jumps into the river thinking its shallower than it is) and crossing the river to see the view back across the river (again much more peaceful than at the Wat) and people watching. At one point a Japanese man asks for a picture with me!!! Seriously people, I'm not that white. Our last morning in Luang Prabang, we get up early to watch the alms - monks collecting offerings from the local people who line the streets. In all the Wats there are guidelines for watching the alms respectfully and they do ask if you don't believe (Buddhist) that you don't give offerings which some people either haven't read or are choosing to ignore. It also says you should keep your distance but most of the tourists show absolutely no respect and treat it like a red carpet opportunity getting in the monks way and flashing their cameras in their faces. Jo and I continue to show respect and keep our distance even though most are not bothering. On our way back to our room there are locals lined up along the street still so we wait for more monks. This time it feels like a much more genuine experience as there are only a handful of tourists about and everyone stays respectful. After breakfast we commandeer our last tuk tuk in Laos and head to the airport. It's the smallest airport I've ever been in and even after you've checked in and past immigration you can wander out of the airport!? We board our flight and say goodbye to Laos. To be continued...
]]> My favorite place in Laos! Part 1 — Luang Prabang, Lao Peoples Dem Rep http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monkey_moore/7/1321780956/tpod.html http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monkey_moore/7/1321780956/tpod.html#comment Travel Blogs http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monkey_moore/7/1321780956/tpod.html Fri, 25 Nov 2011 06:18:13 +0000 5 weeks to remember in South East Asia
Luang Prabang, Lao Peoples Dem Rep

Where I stayed
Mekong Moon
(Luang Prabang hotels)


Yet another early start to ensure we have time to get breakfast, buy lunch/snacks and get to the coach station in time. We order our lunch sandwiches at the same time we order our breakfast and even though that's a mountain of food the waitress doesn't bat an eyelid. She either assumes we western and so gorge ourselves or is used to people ordering lunch with their breakfast. I wrap my sandwich and 1/2 my fruit salad for lunch and eat the rest of my order. We arrive a little early at the tour op place (from where we will be shuttled to bus station) so I wander down to the River to have a look seeing as I've only see it in the rain! It's very picturesque when you're not being pelted with water. After I've taken in the view I head back to the tour office to get the tuk tuk to the bus station to board our super VIP coach (new with toilet and air con) to luang prabang. We soon discover that it's not the coach we thought we were going to get as there's no toilet - the driver insists there is air con though and that we will stop along the way for toilet breaks (this turns out to be a massive understatement). Once on board it also. Evokes apparent that 1/2 the seats are broken and when you put even the slightest pressure on the they recline to varying degrees. Every takes this in their stride as what else can you do!! The journey itself is long (especially as we leave an hour later than we thought we would) but very scenic. The potholes in the road aren't to bad once we get out of town and Jo I swap between sitting in the window seat and the broken aisle seat.  The journey takes about 8 hours once we leave and we stop 7 times along the way, we were probably only driving for about 6 hours! There are 2x food/toilet stops for the passengers, 1x stretch your legs (and pee in a bush if you need to), 2x petrol stops, 1x driver needs a wee and we also stop once so the driver can buy some live rats (for his dinner??) from a couple of local kids. The rats are strung together by their back feet and then hung from that in the drivers cabin for the rest of the trip. We arrive at the bus station in luang prabang and, as expected, there are plenty of tuk tuk drivers to take us into town and they are each affiliated to a different guesthouse. We pick one at random as we already know where we are heading and once dropped off walk to that area. The first place we look at is not very nice and is communal bathroom (yes I've become a bit of a travel snob! It's easy to do when accommodation is so cheap). We excuse ourselves and keep walking. We then find a load of guesthouses the are fully booked already, just as we are about to run out of road, a helpful passing American tells us 'there are shitloads down there' referring to a side street. We have a look at 3 of them and then go back and book into the first. It's the mekong moon and is 80,000 kip(~£6) a night for the room. We dump our bags and head back out to get some dinner, we walk through the night market to find the restaurants and spot a few potential buys. I have noodle soup for dinner and it's delicious! We pick up a few leaflets for tours on our way back to our room (yes back through the market) and I get a current bun plait thing for pudding. mmmmmmm... Go to bed after watching a film (we have a tv in our room which shows a couple of film channels in English). Wake up refreshed. Today we wander! The plan for today is to explore the city and orientate ourselves. Unfortunately today is also the day that the blister/cut thing on my foot is most painful and a little angry looking! It doesn't look too infected though so I decide to pad it out and suck it up. I have a quick look in the day market for a pair of sandals that don't touch it but they're all ugly and my padding is working remarkably well so I stick to my flip flops. First job of the day is to book the tours we have decided to do (that we can't do independently) and after asking at a couple of places we go back to the place we got our prices from last night as they are about 1/2 the cost of the other places: if you're in Luang Prabang I would recommend them: Phone Travel co. It's a risk as they're so much cheaper but we take the chance. We negotiate a small discount as we are booking 2 trips and it's all systems go - keep reading to find out what we booked!! We stop for some breakfast and when my omelette arrives it is swimming in oil... Not appetizing at all so I steal Jo's egg whites (that she wasn't going to eat anyway) and a bit of bread to go with the fruit salad I also ordered. I'm thinking our extravagant breakfasts must end soon! Once done, we wander up the main road, Xx, being asked every 20m or so if we want a tuk tuk to the waterfalls. It's a little annoying but they do leave you alone when you say no so it's not as bad as a lot of other places I've been. We walk all the way to the end of the peninsula to the mouth of the Nam Khan river, the purpose of this vein to have a look at Wat Xieng Thong which is labelled (by lonely planet) as Luang Prabang's most magnificent temple. I agree with this statement (having only seen 7 of them though). The interior and exterior walls of the buildings deserve a good look and it's very serene in this part of the town. There is a gong inside one of the temples which I am encouraged to hit as hard as I can by one of the monks!! On the exterior wall of one of the temples is an elephant head covered in a mosaic of mirrors which is beautiful. After a good look around we set off again to walk along the Mekong back to our guesthouse. On the way we pass a Laos wedding reception being held in a restaurant on the street - according to the girl we booked our tours with today is a lucky day: 11/11/11; and there will be a lot of weddings today. We stop by the room as the temperature has soared since we let this morning and a change of clothes and suncream is required. I get a mixed fruit shake from a street seller (the stalls have cups full of different cut up fruit which you pick from and they blend for you with ice and a little sugar water) which is delicious (and I will get a little addicted to) and a current bun for an afternoon snack later. Whilst we're doing this 3 fire engines go past which judging by the reactions of the locals is not an everyday occurrence, I still have no idea where the fire was! We set off yet again in search of a Wat: Wat Visoun; which is the oldest operating temple in Luang Prabang. There is a giant Buddha there which is quite cool to have a look around and one of the interiors of the buildings has Muriel's depicting different scenes (of a Buddha's journey before being a Buddha??) including war and prayer. It's not as impressive as Wat Xieng Thong but still worth a look if you're in the area. It's another fruit shake before heading up the hill to Wat Phu Si where the view for sunset is meant to be awesome. It takes us a while to locate the stairs up to the Wat as they're not marked on our map. We practically walk full circle before finding them in the middle of where the night market usually is! We arrive at the top with just a little wheezing for a brilliant view across the whole town and beyond. Unfortunately we didn't time our ascent very well as have nearly 2 hours until sunset. I decide to have a little snooze but get rudely awakened by a lizard trying to nest in my hair - scared the **** out of me! I sit up to wait for the last hour. At 5pm it starts to get really busy with people waiting for the sunset and a Dutch girls comes to sit next to me followed b an English couple. We get talking about where we've been and where we're going as all seem to have similar routes. It's good to know that we haven't missed anything spectacular yet and the things we have planned over the next few days should be awesome. Before we know it the sun is setting and there are hoards of people trying to each it - it doesn't make for a very peaceful sunset. One very inconsiderate European couple climb out on a rocky bit where they manage to ruin everyone's view - I speak for the masses and ask them to move which they do but not really enough. Even without them it wouldn't be a very impressive sunset maiy due to the crowds of people - some of them can only see what the view looks like by holding their camera in the air, taking a picture and looking at it!! We stay until the sun has set (we couldn't get anywhere anyway) and then shuffle with the crowds back down the steps where the nigh markets are mostly set up. It's back to the room to change as its cooler again now the sun has set and then out for dinner. We walk down some of the side streets with stalls for the locals before stumbling across a street that is lined with food stalls. It's mostly cold vegetarian food 10,000kip (~75p) for a plate with the option of buying either fish or meat for extra. We both stick to vege tonight and the dishes are quite tasty (I think they would be delicious if hot but the logistics of that are not possible here). We sit with a couple of Americans (mum & daughter) and chat about what they've been up to and comparing notes. After we all finish eating we say farewell and head off into the market to do some buying! We get some good bargains (in my opinion so I don't care if I overpaid) and enjoy the bartering and get back into the flow of it after 4 years out of the game! The night is finished off with a nutella and coconut crepe which is simply fantastic - really thin and a little crispy and bursting with the flavours. I'm drooling just a little bit at the memory of it!! The next morning we wake very excited as its the first of our tours: elephant bathing day! Not its official title but what we were looking forward to the most. Just a current bun and fruit smoothie for breakfast this morning and we arrive early at the tour office to eat it there. We discover that there are 6 of us today - we were told yesterday there were 3 elephants - this means we don't have our own elephant :( disappointing but not unexpected so it doesn't ruin the day for us. The other places guaranteed your own elephant but we weren't willing to pay twice the price for that guarantee when there was a chance at half the price. The othe people with us today are an Aussie couple (Brendon and Ava (originally from Estonia!!) and a French Canadian couple. We get on really well with the Aussies and spend most of the journu to the elephants chatting to them about other Asian countries and I get some good tips for Vietnam :D Brendon is shocked at how little our room is costing as they paid over a million kip for dinner last night!! That would get nearly 2 weeks at our guesthouse. The elephant place is about an hour from town and ours is the last place before the village across from he Pak Ou caves. I spy the elephants and am so happy they look so happy. I instantly decide which elephant I want and she's called On. The first thing we get to do is meet the elephants and hug their trunks before going for a ride in the woods. We are sitting in wooden seats strapped to their backs for this ride. We are led into the woods by some 12 year olds who don't seem that interested in what they're doing but still get a good ride - the elephants get some food (bark, leaves and straw) and we get some good pics. A win all round! 3 local boys on a moped (yes 3 on 1) stop to take a picture of us on the elephants! His can't be he first time they seem people on them so I'm not sure why the picture?? Back at the camp the Canadian couple announce that they're not going to bathe the elephants which means... Jo and I get our own elephants!! Oh yeah : D Firstly though we go across to the Pak Ou caves with the aussies. This means walking through the village to get a long  boat (essentially a really long canoe: wide enough for one and long enough for about 8) which is less fancy than the other boats as the side of the river but I definitely prefer it! The Pak Ou caves are a couple of that have over 4000 Buddhas in them that have been put there over the years by the local people. Part of their new year festival takes place in these caves which includes having their buddhas for their home blessed for the year. The lower cave has the most buddhas in it but also the most visitors. The upper cave is a bit of a trek up a lot of steps but very few visitors seem to. Other. The upper cave is not as impressive as the lower caves and you need a torch to see anything (you can rent them from outside but Jo and I have brought our own). I am impressed by the giant spider I spot though and you get some good views on the way up/down to the cage but you won't really be missing out if you don't make the climb. Over on the mainland I bump into the Dutch girl I met yesterday who commandeers our boat to take her across to the caves. In Laos we have constantly been seeing the same people all over the place - I assume because everyone follows the same route! Time for lunch and I honestly thi I that this is some of the best food I've had so far, it's very simple food: vegetables and beef in stock (a little spicy for me but fabulous all the same - most of you probably wouldn't have noticed the spice though!!) with sticky rice and omelette. There are bananas for afterwards and then we get to feed the skins to the elephants!! Now for the exciting part: bathing the elephants! I'm first up and climb up (a little undignified maybe) via the frog leg onto the neck and I'm ready to go. I try out a few of the mahout commands we've be told but she doesn't listen to me! I hunk they're so used to hearing their own mahouts hat hey don't listen to anyone else!! Oh well, not really what I was looking forward to today... Everyone is now on their elephants so it's down to the river for the fun :D We take the plunge (quite literally) and we're in the river with the elephants. Brendan had a bet with the tour guide that he'd be able to stay on when the elephant shook its head... He does better than the rest of us but still comes off in the end! I manage to stay on mine for the first few 'gentle' shakes but come off when I feel my leg getting squashed between the elephant and the river bed. Back on we go for a vigorous shake and I'm off within a few seconds!! I climb back onto my elephant and decide that I will be able to stay better if I just stand on its back... Much easier. Before we know it bath time is over and it's back to the camp we go. We say farewell to our elephants. :( I would definitely rate this amongst my top 5 experiences so far in my life! We stop at a local village that makes rice wine and whiskey on our way back to town. I'm brave and try the white wine - it's quite sweet and not as bad as I expected however I cannot bring myself to drink the red wine after smelling it. The smell of the rice whiskey makes me gag and so I do not let that anywhere near my lips either! There are some market stalls selling the normal array of wares but at a much lower cost so a purchase is made at 1/3 of the price of the night markets. Absolute bargain! Back in town it's goodbye to the aussies and off to dinner - I order what I hope will be like what I had for lunch but it's nothing like it when it arrives. I am disappointed but it still tastes good so it's not so bad. Tonight we have harry potter and the chamber of secrets to watch but I'm fast asleep well before the end! That's due to the excitement of the day I think!!
]]> American spring break... — Vang Vieng, Lao Peoples Dem Rep http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monkey_moore/7/1321640367/tpod.html http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monkey_moore/7/1321640367/tpod.html#comment Travel Blogs http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/monkey_moore/7/1321640367/tpod.html Sun, 20 Nov 2011 02:19:44 +0000 5 weeks to remember in South East Asia
Vang Vieng, Lao Peoples Dem Rep

Where I stayed
Nine Noi's
(Vang Vieng hotels)


Whilst is quite an early start we both wake before the alarm so decide on getting a good breakfast. We find a quaint little place who are amenable to our requests - Jo has extra eggs and I don't have watermelon in my mixed juice. It's back to he room to pick up our bags and then on to the tour office to pick up our bus to vang vieng. We arrive early so just do a spot of people watching and eaves dropping (there's a girl on the Internet phone who is talking about what she did in vang vieng and luang prabang and also what she did and didn't like). A little later than scheduled (Laos time seems to be very relaxed) we have a short walk to the river road to board a surprisingly comfortable mini coach. It's a pleasant journey to vang vieng along questionable (unsealed and very pot holey) roads through the mountains. The coach is met by tuk tuks provided by a local guesthouse who is hoping people will decide to stay there - nobody does! We have about a 20 minute walk to find the hostel we panic booked yesterday, it takes us less than 20 seconds to decide we will not be staying there! I should only lose about £3 but it's worth sacrificing. The place is quite literally a shack with a few sheets being used as doors. There are lockers big enough to hold a day pack but if it rains everything will get wet. We walk up the road a little bit and come across an Aussie girl who recommends the place she's siting outside - Nine Noi's. We have a look at a room and it's nice enough at 100,000kip (~£7) per night for the room. We pay for the night and head out to go tubing. I'm pretty sure we get ripped off as we pay a tuk tuk driver (recommended by guesthouse) to collect our tubes and take us to the start of the tubing when the price of the tube includes a lift to the start! I should have trusted my instincts as I though I'd read that somewhere, another £3.50 wasted. You know when you're approaching the start of the tubing as you can hear the bass from the bars long before you're near. When we arrive it's just how I imagine American spring break to be - everyone is very drunk, wearing very little and covered in parafanalia from the bars (balloons/paint/bands etc). Jo and I do not stop at the first bars and head straight into the river on our tubes and start floating down - its pleasantly warm and would be very relaxing if it wasn't for the music which is different at every bar and just noise in between as the speakers battle for dominance. 5 years ago I would have absolutely loved this (I realise I am officially old by saying that!). Each bar is slightly different - different offers, entertainment and music. They quite literally fish for customers by throwing bottles attached to rope to drag you to their bar. We stop at one bar that has a trapeze swing so I can have a go and Jo can get a beer Lao. I have quite a graceful go on the trapeze but think I manage to swallow 1/2 the river as I plunge in. I have a second go and am a bit more adventurous in my dismount with a full twisting straddle and manage yet again to look graceful (I hope) but swallow more water. If I get sick I know why!! Our plan was to just sit and absorb the atmosphere but soon get roped into joining in a game - we have balloons tied to our ankles and have to try to burst other people but not allow ours to be burst. I'm one of the last 2 standing when new players join unannounced and my balloon is popped - CHEAT! I think of this as a win for me. I did manage to get my foot stamped on a little and as I bruise like a peach will probably have a nice bruise tomorrow. We leave the bar and decide against stopping again (it's not actually very cheap as the smallest drink they do is a bucket!) as it's starting to cloud over. As we're floating past the last bar we get chatting to an American guy (who's trying to light a cigarette but can use his hands to touch it as they're wet so keeps dropping it) who tells us it's still about 40 minutes to the end. No problem as it very relaxing floating along in our tubes however after about 10 minutes the clouds start to look a little menacing. A bit of human power is needed to make sure we get back before we get rained on (I know we're wet anyway but rain tends to be cold and painful). Pretty soon I am absolutely shattered and the tuk tuk people at the side of the river sound very appealing but we power through and make it to the end just as it starts raining. As we get out of the river it turns from light rain to the painful stuff... Phew, glad we didn't just float or we'd be stuck out in it! We trudge through the town to drop off our tubes (the men look disappointed that they are handing back our deposits - we've since heard that a lot of people get so drunk they forget about their tubes and get a tuk tuk back from the bars without them) and go back to our room for a hot shower. It's still raining quite hard and we get a few strange looks but that many, presumably people are used to seeing wet people walking through town but maybe not in the rain?? Once we're back in the room it starts raining even harder and I am very grateful to be inside however as I empty my waterproof bag it turns out that it's not all that waterproof and we have damp passports! It's partially done its job and it's good to know for the future that we can't put cameras inside and expect them to stay dry! Once warm and dry we wait for the rain to cease before heading into town for dinner, like with most tropical showers it rains for a couple of hours max and then it's back to normal. Walking down past the restaurants they have the menus outside so we have a look at a couple. Outsid one they have an American working to get people inside - it works as we go in for dinner. What I should explain is that almost every bar and restaurant in vang vieng plays Friends constantly (but not in any order!) and the ones that don't show Family Guy! Our restaurant is playing Friends. I order a red curry which the American has assured me can be made non spicy (I am dubious but the waiter guy seems to agree as they make it to order) but when it turns up I have a little sip and my mouth is on fire! The waiter takes it away and comes back with another version which is white curry and it perfect. Full of flavor but not at all spicy. Delicious. In the spirit of the town we could have got a free bucket as we ordered 2 meals however the buckets are made using whiskey which neither of us drink so politely decline but I do go for a Malibu and pineapple slushie which tastes divine. After dinner is a wander around town to orientate ourselves a little bit and get sidetracked by a maaassssaaage. We chose traditional Laos and are taken to a room which has 3 mattresses on the floor and are left to wait. When the ladies arrive it looks like mine has been called in from home! I enjoy the massage which I can only describe as I felt like I was bread dough being kneaded but it did the job it's meant to do. The fee is 40,000 (~£3) each for the hour but we give then 50,000 as they did a good job. It's back to wandering the streets again and looking at the tours available to see if we want to do an organized thing or Ty to do it on our own. We find a tour we like which is labelled caving/tubing/kayaking/hiking but we take that with a pinch of salt given the following description of the day. It's 90,000 (~£7) for the day and includes lunch which we figure is a good price and wouldn't be able to do it better on our own do book on. The sheet we complete shows that there are other Brits and some Irish due to be joining us. On our way home we stop at one of the many street vendors for a pancake (they are quite literally all over town selling exactly the same thing: pancakes, sandwiches and burgers): I opt for nutella and banana. It's not the best pancake I've ever eaten and tastes salty so I pick out the banana and as much nutella as I can and leave the batter. Jo got hers from a different seller but hers also tastes salty so that must be how they do them here (or they meant to use sugar to make them sweeter but picked up the wrong pot?). We sit overlooking the river eating (well I'm picking at) the pancakes. The banana/nutella mix satisfies my sweet tooth at the bargain price of 10,000 (~75p) and I go to bed happy! The next morning it's up early for breakfast and off to the tour office to join our group, we're about 5 mins late as neither of us have a watch but it's no problem, the tuk tuk arrives a few minutes later and we hop on. There's a Thai family and a Czech couple on the tuk tuk and not the Brits we were expecting - not an issue but we do check we're on the right tour! Once we have all our passengers we head off in the same direction as the start of the tubing but carry on much further. We travel past a lot of kids on their way to school and workers in the fields which is nice to see some of their way of life. We are dropped off at the side of a small river which we cross on foot on a bridge that is made of woven reeds... It's very bouncy. We walk through a little village and across some fields (climbing over the fences on wooden ladders with nowhere to hold on is entertaining) before ending up at the entrance to our first cave: hiking done! I would call the setting idyllic except the Thai family haven't stopped talking since we got on the tuk tuk! Next up is the tubing and caving part of the tour title. This cave is one that you access on water in tubes. There are ropes to pull on to guide you (you could swim but health and safety prevents all that and I don't think all of our group can swim anyway). This cave is called Tham Hoi. Once inside the caves the only light is coming from our stylish headlamps and would be very peaceful except, you may be able to guess, the Thai family are still chatting away! There are times when we have to get off the tubes and walk as the water is too shallow to float along. It feels almost like sand underneath our feet but a little slimy, I spot a bat and realize its probably droppings squelching between my toes. There are allegedly fish in the water but I see me evidence of any. Once we are quite deep into the cave the guide tells us a little bit about it: during rainy season the cave is not open to visitors as the water is too high, at times it is so high you cannot see the entrance from the outside. It was first opened to the public in 2007... The Thais have managed to stay quiet for about a minute now and it obviously gets too much for them as they start chatting again so I don't hear anything else about the cave! We had to paddle a little bit to get this far in and it's apparent that Jo and I are the only ones who have ever done this before as other kind go round in circles or splash a lot but not get anywhere, they end up being towed by one of the guides! We turn our lights off to see how dark it is and the shrieking that ensues means that the lights are turned on again pretty quickly. On the way out of the cave Jo and I are looking like pros on the ropes and leave everyone in our wake. When we emerge from the cave there is beautiful sunshine which is good to allow us to dry a little whilst we eat lunch: chicken and vegetable kebabs with rice and bread (carb overloading??). The kebabs are awesome and the rice isn't bad but I leave the bread. We hang around a little bit longer to dry a bit more before walking back to the village and the elephant cave. It's called the elephant cave because there's a stalagmite that looks like an elephant (it you squint and tilt your head). The guide tells us this is entirely natural but I think the tusks had a little help! Lastly is the kayaking part of the tour title. As its dry season (just) we are not able to get on the river from here so it's back into the tuk tuk to go down the river a little. On the way we talk to the Thai father a little: we find out that he is from Bangkok and they are here on extended 'holiday' as their house is under water. They seem remarkably jovial about the whole affair which is either very healthy or they're massively in denial! Back at he river it turns out that Jo and I are the only ones with experience paddling and get our own canoe (I think they are canoes and not kayaks). The Czech couple also are on their own and pick it up pretty quickly. The Thai family are split with a guide each who pretty much does all of the paddling for them. Yet again Jo and I look like pros (we have passed level 1 kayaking in England you know!) and enjo a leisurely pace (keeping our distance from the others to ensure a peaceful time). There are a few rapids to negotiate but do so with ease by following the guide canoe. After a couple of km we start to he's the bass from the bars on the tubing route. The sky is looking a little grey again do we're probably going to get rained on unless we manage a record breaking time back to town. The guides decide to stop at a bar anyway (which I think the whole group would have been happy to avoid). Jo and I have a pineapple slushie each (pineapple + ice + blender) which is very refreshing. We stay for about 20 minutes when the light splatters of rain start, if yesterday is anything to go by then it's going to get a lot worse in about 5 minutes. The guides decide this would be a good time to get back on the water?? Within a minute or so of paddling we are caught in a torrential (and quite painful) downpour, we are heading to shore again! We wait about 10 minutes getting progressively colder for the rain to lighten up a little at which stage we request to get back on the water as it was walmer whilst paddling. Everyone agrees and we set off again at a brisk pace to keep warm and get back as quickly as possible in case it gets torrential again. As we approach the last bar, Marleys, it's playing 'don't worry, every little things gonna be alright' which spurs us on a bit. Time flies by with a bit of banter from 'O' the guide and we soon find ourselves back at base and yet again walking through town soaking wet (it has stopped raining by now though). After a well deserved shower and time to make ourselves look beautiful (?!) it's off to book our coach to luang prabang tomorrow and grab some dinner. We decide on the super VIP coach which allegedly is new and has air con and a toilet, it's also the cheapest option presumably to get people to use the new service. We plan on going to a restaurant we saw last night with a BBQ spit outside but it's only just been lit and we're too hungry to wait! I settle for a burger at a place that plays family guy (to make a change from last nights friends). I order a chicken burger but it comes in fancy dress as a beef burger, I'm so hungry I eat it anyway and then order some garlic bread to finish it off (there were only about 10 chips that came with the burger so its not that piggy really). The cake that I then set off to find however does border on gluttony but we've seen a bakery that has delicious looking cakes - unfortunately we can't remember where on our travels around town we saw it! We wander round in almost a compete circuit (which in a way makes it less gluttonous in my head) and share a chocolate fudge slice. Feeling full it's a short walk back to our room to pack for the coach to luang prabang tomorrow.
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