TravelStream™ news feed for member nicolabailey on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/nicolabailey en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Mon, 16 Feb 2009 05:57:47 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nicolabailey/2/1234781700/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nicolabailey/2/1234781700/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nicolabailey/2/1234781700/tpod.html Mon, 16 Feb 2009 05:57:47 -0500 Goodbye London - next comes Europe and Central America

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Fes, Morocco

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]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nicolabailey/thailand_2006/1180093320/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nicolabailey/thailand_2006/1180093320/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nicolabailey/thailand_2006/1180093320/tpod.html Tue, 03 Jul 2007 17:50:37 -0400 To Thailand for the start of the big trip

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London, United Kingdom

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]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nicolabailey/thailand_2006/1172563860/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nicolabailey/thailand_2006/1172563860/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nicolabailey/thailand_2006/1172563860/tpod.html Fri, 02 Mar 2007 04:15:56 -0500 To Thailand for the start of the big trip

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Delhi, India

So India!Where do I begin. Its been a crazy month which seems to have been pretty non stop, much like the pace of things here generally. Having been here once before (albeit for just two weeks) I had a rough idea of what to expect and so the culture shock I felt then (I called my mum up nearly in tears as soon as I had stepped out of the airport), was not nearly as intense. I had also done my best to pre-warn Candy and Yo yo about the onslaught of noise (non stop car horns), the smells, the poverty, the masses of people and the leery men and both coped suprisingly well. IN fact, maybe it was the 6 months in south east asia that Candy and I had just completed, but INdia came as a refreshing change and no major shock at all.

First off we spent some days in Mumbai which is a blend of amazing colonial architecture with sad poverty stricken slums. We strolled around soaking it all up; from the dirty black water of Chowpatty Beach (where Candy nearly got arrested for inciting a riot when she attracted a cast of thousands who were watching her throw fire) to the arc de triumph style Gate of INdia where we felt famous as Indian families and single men alike asked to take our photos (the photo novelty has now very much worn off and now when we get asked we resort to pulling geeky faces or getting the single boys to get in boy band style poses). We had a go one morning at 'laughing yoga' where you join a group of locals in a circle and follow the lead of the master who performs laughing excercises. He gets you to laugh in various ways until by the end everyone is laughing uncontrollably and you feel like a freak but cant help it. It is a great way to start the day! We tried to get spotted as Bolloywood extras, as apparently this is the place to do it but we obviously didnt have the look as we are still not famous.

KNowing that Yo Yo only had a month in India we didnt want to waste too long in the city though so after a few days we booked our first long train trip down to Goa. We were lucky to have a few other foreigners in our sleeper cabin that we could get to know. Having been on other trains since then let me assure you that there is no fun to be had in trying to sleep with 6 INdian men staring at you constantly. Which leads me to a side note, Indian men stare. And they have no shame. They will come and stand next to you at any time and just stare constantly. If you stare back its taken as a come on and so you dont and they just keep going. While it seems kind of rude, in the end you have to resort to saying 'Chelo' or 'Go away' or they simply never do. So yeah, sleeping with Indian men making you feel naked is no fun as I had to discover but moving on, (from what is clearly an issue for me - arrrrghh!!) we caught the train to Goa.

Goa as many may know is renowned for its paty scene. THis has slowed down recently because of new laws but in the beach (Arambol) where we stayed it was pretty chilled anyway. We spent a week there just relaxing. Candy practiced her fire twirling, I practiced my drum (which candy bought me as an early bday present) and Yo Yo practiced her poi's. We also swam a lot which was great after quite a while of being ocean-less. Its an interesting place with sari clad women mingling with bikini clad westerners. then of course you get the single Indian men who patrol the beaches making you feel uncomfortable ( they actually do tours to Goa specifically for Indian guys to oggle at western girls). There is a fair bit of hassle on the beach to buy sarongs and jewellery but this doesnt put too much of a dampener on the whole experience.

After Goa it was up to Udaipur, another long journey by train. It was worth it though as it is probably the prettiest city in India that I have seen so far. There is a huge lake in the centre of the city surrounded by many ghats where the people wash themselves. IN the centre of the lake is a gorgeous hotel/restaurant that used to be a palace and where Candy subsequently took me for my birthday dinner. There is also another palace in the lake and the city palace and many old colonial buildings on its banks. We spent days meandering through the narrow streets and just soaking up the relaxed atmosphere from the rooftop of our guesthouse which had a spectacular view over the lake.ON my birthay Candy and Yo Yo went out of their way to give me heaps of surprises. We had a half day horseriding through the surrounding countryside (quite an act of love on candys behalf since horses scare her to death), we then watched the sunset from monsoon palace which overlooks the city. THis was followed by a light and sound show at a fountain where the CD skipped and the lights eventually died. Finally Candy, as I said, took me for dinner at the lake palace restaurant which was absolutely beautiful. THe food was overpriced for what it was but it was good to eat western food after way too many currys. After dinner Candy made the night by getting violently ill and throwing up into their well manicured garden (you didnt think you could get a travel story from me without vomit featuring somewhere did you??!) I also got a delicious chocpolate cake that Yo Yo managed to somehow miraculously procure. While in Udaipur we made the decision to hire a driver for the next two weeks to take us to the places we really wanted to see with yo Yo before she left. THis would mean we had greated flexibility with travelling and could save time. So we ended up with jamil a 4 foot tall guy who had mastered the sulky boy pout to perfection.

Okay, so thats a bit cruel about Jamil...all started out well really and his pouting didnt come til much later. First off we hit the road and went to a place called Jodhpur which has the Blue City nestled underneath a massive and awe inspiring fort. Years ago the Brahmin caste (one of the highest castes in INdian society) had originally painted their houses blue to signify their status but over time this had changed and anyone could and would paint their houses this colour. It made for an interesting city scape as they were with the big red sandstone fort in the background. It was our first fort and so we found it really interesting to visit. About 100 forts later I cant say we are still loving the fort experience but thats life. Too much of anything is not good i guess... So yeah, that was Johdpur - a big fort and a blue city.

Then on Yo Yos birthday came Jaisalmer, a town in the desert which (drum roll please) surprisingly had another fort only this was a residential one. While many parts of it were still inhabited you could stroll through the maze of sandstone streets and get lost amongst the different stalls selling everything from recycled paper diaries and cushion covers to ancient toy horses. Jaisalmer was also home to a number of gorgeous havelis - old houses where the rich used to live which have amazingly intricate and detailed stonework. Yo Yos birthday dinner was unfortunately not quite as glamorous as mine. We looked in Lonely Planet for a restaurant selling western food since she was adamant she didnt want masala coming anywhere near her on her 20th bday. we ended up at a place with really crap pasta and having to eat with Jamils really creepy and arrogant friend Dave. I tried to make it up to her the next morning with chocolate cake but i dont really think it will go down in memory as the best birthday ever.

After Jaisalmer we went to Bikaner, another desert town but with nothing much to offer except desert camel safaris. So we organised a tour and headed out a couple of days later with three camels, a camel cart, our guide Kamal and three camel handlers. Im guessing you think the idea of a camel safari is pretty cool, almost a bit romantic like the photos you see of the camels walking in front of the setting sun. Well its not really like that. Camels are really uncomfortable and within minutes of being on them you want to get off. THey have a really jerky walk and they give you bum chafing. Nice. We passed through a couple of villages though which was cool and eventually settled in the desert at the spot where we would sleep the night. A couple of local kids from the village turned up at some stage and one mentioned being a musician. He looked all of about 10 and I was a bit dubious but in no time him and his brothers had run off into the desert darkness and then returned with drums and harmonias (hmmmm is that what they are called - those things which have piano keys but that you pump with air to make sound). So yeah, maybe we weren't quite in the middle of no where as I had envisioned but it was close enough, with sand dunes on all sides and now we had a sudden impromptu party happening. The three brothers played traditional music for us for a couple of hours before we gave them some money and they headed back to the village. After a dinner of very salty dahl (with lots of sand in it) we went to sleep for the first time ever, under the stars. It was a beautiful experience to stare up at the stars as you are drifting off to sleep. and i woke up several times in the night just to look at them again.

After the camel safari before heading off to our next destination we went to what is commonly called the 'rat temple'. You may be thinking of some rat like god or something but let me assure you these rats are very very much a part of this earthly world. Apparently some people believe that certain people get reincarnated as rats and that this is not a bad thing. So this temple has become a breeding ground for the disgusting rodents which people come from far and wide to see. You are particularly lucky if you should see a white rat at this temple. Well, the temple was swarming with rats and when Candy announced loudly that she had seen one within about 2 seconds of arriving hoards of people rushed over to see where we were looking. Candy and Yo yo then abandoned me to the people who demanded that I take photos of them in front of the white rat. All of us were feeling completely repulsed as rats ran about between our feet, up the walls, across the deitys, everywhere! Needless to say we did our best to disinfect our bodies afterwards...

So we left the rats behind and moved on to Pushkar which is a very significant place on the Hindu pilgrimage trail. People come from all over to bathe in the lake and pray at some of the 400 temples in the town. Its a strange place really because there are so many extremely religious people mixing with all the hippy tourists. INterestingly its the only place in INdia where I have seen lots of INdian people with mental illnesses. Whether there is any connection between this and the religious fervour is anyones debate. It is wedding season in Rhajistan at the moment and so we also got to witness a couple of traditional weddings passing through town. These are always extravagant affairs with lots of colour, music and fanfare and they are a joy to watch.

IN Pushkar was when our driver Jamil first started to get sulky. He would not speak unless spoken to and then only yes or no answers. From that point on his mood swings fluctuated wildly until one day he trapped me in the car and confessed that he really liked me and was just sad that I was going to be leaving him. When, he asked, would I be back to India and was there any hope for him. Hmmmm, what to say except that Jamil I have a long term boyfriend (!!) in Australia and while I think you are a lovely man, I think you should focus your attention on your wife and baby son...

Candy and I had taken to telling all Indian men who asked (which are most) that we have boyfriends/husbands (depending how we feel) in Australia called Carlo and Ryan (yes,Carlo and Ryan - they are based on you!). If its been a long day and we have been asked about relationships many times, sometimes we also have children. Maybe one, two or four and once even eight. Another common question is "Which country madame" meaning where do you come from. Its the way most men start conversations and no joke, I think we get asked about 40 times per day. Usually we tell the truth though lately the repetition has been too much. THe other day Candy was feeling hassled and replied "Mars" to which the guy said "Mars, I dont know that country - where is it" to which Yo Yo added "Near Saturn - you know that one". It was a cruel joke but sometimes when the hassle is too much you need to have a laugh...

Anyway, we left Pushkar behind and headed to Japiur which is home to the Pink City so named because (another drum roll please) it is pink. Several blocks of the city were painted pink by the King in honour of a guest many years ago and it has stayed that way since. ONe night while we were there Candy got a bit sick. Yo Yo and I headed out to get some drinks and were invited to attend a wedding which was happening in the same street. So we ran upstairs to tell Candy and then off we went. It was a great night. About two hours were spent moving up the street with the musicians with the women and men taking turns dancing. THe locals loved to see Yo Yo dance with her height and her long limbs and I was pretty content to blend into the saris and take pictures. We were entrusted to a group of women since men and women had to keep a bit seperate and that was pretty funny. They couldnt speak english and so there were lots of hand gestures and half understood conversations. THe groom followed up the rear on his well adorned white horse. Eventually we reached the wedding venue and went inside to eat and for the groom to meet his bride. It was an arranged marriage and they had never met before, only chatted on internet as she had been living in the UK. We then had to get on stage and be photographed with the new couple which felt a bit weird since they didnt even know us.

IN Japiur we also went and saw a guru and an astrologer. While I think both were fraudsters really, interestingly they both told me that I would be getting married in 2009 as well as having a promotion at work the same year. Apparently I will also be having a boy and girl baby and will be a good mother! How exciting...

After Japiur we went to Agra for a day to see the Taj Majal which is without a doubt the most beautiful building that exists in my optnion. Its the second time i have seen it and I would see it a million times more.

After Agra we have come to Delhi which is where this VERY long story ends. We have really done nothing here except try and sort out candys UK Working Visa which is proving to be a bit challenging. We plan to do another couple of weeks of travel together in India before she heads to the UK to find work and I go on to Nepal and Tibet (ever so briefly). I will join her a month or so later.

Expect more from me in a few weeks. For now, its time to put this travelpod to bed. Good night :)
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nicolabailey/thailand_2006/1170664080/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nicolabailey/thailand_2006/1170664080/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nicolabailey/thailand_2006/1170664080/tpod.html Thu, 08 Feb 2007 09:58:13 -0500 To Thailand for the start of the big trip

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Mumbai, India

It's been a while between travelpods. Last I wrote I think I was still in Laos...since then we've had a hectic month or so in Thailand and are now having the inevitably mental time in India.

Nadz and Mel came over to Thailand to join us for New Years and so as soon as they arrived in stinky Bangkok, we whisked them down south to Ko Phangan, where we went straight to the beach bungalows that Candy and I had stayed in at the very start of our trip, which now seems many lifetimes ago.

Getting to the island was a mission in itself, starting with an overnight bus trip, followed by a four hour wait, followed by a four hour boat trip on enormous seas. I had skidded in dog poo on my way to the bus the night before and in the haste with which I had to race for the bus had been unable to clean myself up before having to settle down for the night on the bus. So I was already feeling a bit foul and un-showered when we got on the boat the next day.

The sea as I said was huge and in no time at all I was feeling extremely ill. I went on the deck to get some fresh air, only to discover others in a similar predicament as me; people were being sick everywhere I looked. Trying not to focus too much on anyone else, I put my face to the wind and hoped for some refreshing sea spray to make me feel better. Ahhhh, there it was washing over my face and clothes, the spray I had longed for...or so I thought. Suddenly it dawned on me that the spray was not as cool and refreshing as it should have been. I looked down to my shirt to see someone from the top decks spew all over me. It was on my clothes, on my face and in my hair. It's quite amazing I didn't vomit myself, then and there. Horrified I stumbled inside to get some paper to clean myself up (I couldn't get into the bathroom because of all the sick in there as well!). Mel and Nadz were looking dire and both had little chunder bags in their hands. I think the sight of me very nearly pushed Mel over the edge as she dabbed thoughtfully at my shirt. Never have I felt so repulsive.

And so eventually getting to the island was a beautiful thing. We were joined there by Amy and Jazz, two girls we travelled with in Cambodia who we had obviously stayed in touch with. The beach there, as I would have said in the travelpod many moons ago, is gorgeous and the perfect place to unwind. We spent days swimming, drinking beer, playing cards and just catching up on many months worth of goss. We hired motorbikes one day to explore the island, which was going well until we reached the hills of Had Rin and one by one (well all except Amy), we all came off the bikes. Nadz and I are convinced our stack was the most spectacular though and couldn't have been staged had we wanted to. While trying to ride both of us up an enormous hill, I tried changing into first gear and did an enormous wheelie that bucked Nadz off the back and threw me to the ground, with the bike landing on top of me. I ended up with a burn to my leg and arm and a torn leg muscle but was otherwise unscathed. After that Nadz refused to go up (or down) any more hills with me, which meant lots of walking for her.

Then came New Years Eve. We were joined during the day by Julian and Helen, a great Brit couple we had hung out with in Vietnam, an awesome Scottish guy called Chris who we managed to accumulate on the beach and a very cool girl called Miranda who was a friend of Jazz and Amy. So New Years Eve our big group got pretty pissy at the bungalows before heading to Had Rin Beach which is home to the infamous full moon parties. We suspected that this would be where the action was and we were right.

There were about 20,000 people piled onto the beach and everyone was to put it mildly, off their chops. People were drinking buckets by the...bucket load...and vomiting up everywhere (for those that haven't been to Thailand, buckets are the sophisticated (!!) way of consuming large quantities of extremely cheap whiskey/red bull. A full hip flask of whisky is tipped into a bucket with a corresponding bottle of redbull and drunk by one or more people through straws). People were having sex all over the beach. People were vomiting while they were having sex and all 10,000 boys at the party were at one point or another pissing straight into the ocean. It was a revelation of a night to say the least. Nadz at one point was being her usual devious self (Naughty Nadz!) and kicked sand at one girl who presumed it was me and ran across the sand to tackle me to the ground. Hmmmm, fun...

And so 2007 began as the year of vomit and friends...

After Ko Phangan we headed over to Koh Tao where we got to see our old friends Mike and Shel who have been running a dive shop for the past four years. Jazz and I did our first ever scuba dive course which was very cool, while the others did some snorkelling.

We finally left the islands on extremely choppy seas where I once again suffered extreme sea sickness but was smart enough not to stand under the top deck. We headed back to Bangkok where my youngest sister Zoe (Yo Yo) met us (she was on her way home from the UK) and we hung out with Mel and Nadz for their last few days. In between drinking more beer we managed to get to a ping pong show, which Nadz had been convinced until walking in, was some kind of Asian table tennis tournament (what a surprise she had). We also went to Bangkok's only girl bar called Sheilas which had a very hilarious female cover band and lots of Thai dykes with big hair. T'was a fun night had by all...

Mel and Nadz then left us, and Yo Yo, Candy and I headed up north. We hung out in Chiang Mai for a bit before then moving on to a place called Pai which is a very bohemian town with lots of hipPai types, relaxed bars and cafes and picturesque surrounding scenery. We arrived on the day of the reggae festival and got to listen to yet more Bob Marley covers (Thailand it seems loves Bob Marley) in between hours of ranting by the MC who was getting more and more drunk as the night progressed.

Candy had hired a motorbike to ride to Pai while Yo Yo and I took the bus and her luggage. So when it came time to leave Pai, she rode and we took what turned out to be yet another horrendous bus journey (do they ever end...) Met Candy for a day in Chiang Rai where she then went off to get a visa extension while Yo Yo and I made the journey back into Laos to do the Gibbon Experience.

And what an experience it was! Certainly one of those 'better life experiences' that I wont forget I am sure. From the shitty border town of Huay Xai we got taken with 9 others in a jeep to Bokeo Nature Reserve some 3 hours away. There we got split into three groups and each chose our separate tree-houses which we would stay in for the next three days. Yo Yo and I ended up staying with Liz, a fantastic girl from Brisbane and two German girls called Julia and Wilma who were, well, very German...You could only get into your tree-house (which was about 50 metres off the ground) using a zip line/cable/flying fox thing. You used a whole network of other zip lines to explore the surrounding forest and go to the other tree-houses.

Some zip lines were half a kilometre long and 200 metres above the ground. Others were shorter but equally as exhilarating. There was something so amazing about flying through the sky strapped in only by a harness, high above the canopy of the trees with forest and hills all around you. Check out the videos I have uploaded to get a vague idea about what it was like. On our second day there we got to listen to a whole crowd of Gibbons making their Gibbon sounds and then saw them swinging across the trees. On our second night there we got to stay in tree-house 3 which had a resident wild pig living underneath who fed well on the contents of the toilet which dropped straight from the tree house to the ground below. Yum...

It was a shame to have to leave after just three days - it would have been easy to chill out there for a week at least but on our way back we got an unplanned treat when we got invited to a wedding which was being held in this tiny remote village where the jeep had planned to pick us up. All 11 of us got herded to a table at the wedding and had way too many plate loads of meat (some of it intentionally raw) put in front of us to eat. While a few of us tried to be polite and eat a few morsels, most people were pretty repulsed by it and wouldn't touch it. Liz who is a vegetarian, was practically gagging by the sight of it. Fortunately we were able to be distracted from the pressure of eating by the Lao men at the wedding who made it their mission to get us all as drunk as possible. At any given time I must have had at least 5 cups of beer in front of me which they practically forced me to drink, and then there was the Lao Lao, the local whiskey that is pretty awful and gets you extremely drunk. Down it went, one shot after the other until we were all so pissed we had no reservations about getting up and dancing traditional style with all the men while all the local women and kids stood back and watched us. It was a pretty hilarious experience in all and made the jeep trip back to Huay Xai much more interesting.

After that it was back to Thailand to do a very quick stay in Chiang Mai and Bangkok before getting our flight to India which is where I will leave this travelpod for now. Having been here only one week there is already so much to say but already this is getting so very long. Needless to say though that we are having a really good time in this very crazy country and are loving the change it has brought after so many months in South East Asia. Stay tuned for the India update, which, Lord Shiva willing, should reach your inboxes soon...


]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nicolabailey/thailand_2006/1166328480/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nicolabailey/thailand_2006/1166328480/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nicolabailey/thailand_2006/1166328480/tpod.html Tue, 19 Dec 2006 02:37:53 -0500 To Thailand for the start of the big trip

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Luang Nam Tha, Lao Peoples Dem Rep

So we made it to Laos and what a trip it was. 31 hours in an overcrowded bus where Candy was periodically getting groped by some seedy Vietnamese bus man. The only good thing about the trip was meeting a couple of cool Kiwi girls, Selina and Kate, who we later hung out with for about 5 days and who we ran into several times afterwards.
Getting to Laos was like walking into a room full of opium fulled yogis - it was seriously chilled. Not only that, but the people were genuinely friendly and kind. After our pretty negative experiences with the people in Vietnam this was an enormous relief and we spent the first day just kicking back in Veng Vien and letting the stress and tension leave us.
Veng Vien is a total tourist mecca but we welcomed it at the time and relished in the opportunity to meet new people, soak up the Lao energy and just take it easy. Selina, Kate, Candy and I got a couple of bamboo bungalows right next to a river which were surrounded by mountains on all sides.
The small town has a disprportionate number of bars and restaurants and the first night we met up with some other people we had also met on the hideous bus journey and got stuck into the whiskey, coke and redbull buckets. Needless to say we all got pretty sloshed (and energised) and when we tired of that bar we headed to the full moon party in another bar right on the river. The party was pretty uneventful with the highlight of the evening being the discovery of a black and white goat. The poor thing tried to make a speedy goat getaway when we started singing Michael Jackson's "Black and White" to it.
The following day we headed out with hoards of other tourists to partake in the Veng Vien ritual of 'tubing' on the river. This basically involves hiring an inner tube tyre for the day, floating down the river and stopping at any of the numerous bars along the way. The owner of the bar would haul you to shore using a bamboo pole and the bar itself could be anything from a crate of beer at the edge of the river to a pumping party with music, volley ball and the highlight...enormous swings that drop you in the water. When i say enormous, they are probably about 10 - 12 metres off the ground, but when you have clambered up a rickerty bamboo ladder to climb onto a dodgy looking platform and are looking at the water below it is really daunting. You basically just hold on to the swing with your two hands, jump and then let go whenever you want over the water. You had to be careful how you landed because if you were like Candy you could wind yourself and have trouble making it back to shore as a result. Or if you were like me you could get a boob smacking so hard you end up with broken blood vessels and hickey type things on your breasts as a result...nice...
So Veng Vien was a whole lot of fun but after that we headed to Luang Prabang which is a nice city on the Mekong. From there we did a two day mountain bike/trekking/elephant riding and kayaking trip. We spent the night in this taditional village sleeping in bamboo huts. It was good that despite the fact that tourists come to the village regularly on these sorts of tours, the village had managed to remain as they had previously been and didnt seem too affected by it all. Just about everyone just went about their lives as if we were not there. Everyone that is except the kids who loved having their photos taken and who were enthralled by Candys juggling.
From there we headed further up the Mekong to a place called Nong Kiaw which is a tiny little place with a cave to visit and not much else to do. We spent a couple of nights there then went even further to an 'isolated' place called Muang Ngoi Neua which only has electricity for three hours at night, has no vehicles and is reached by boat. So it is isolated in many respects but since its inclusion in Lonely PLanet it must have changed a lot as the town itself is filled with guesthouses and restuarants for tourists. But we did a really nice walk to some villages further away where we checked out some caves along the way. It was good to relax, which we did in the bamboo bungalow we took overlooking the river.
And now we have moved on and we are here in Luang Nam Tha which is a pretty shitty town. I hired a mountain bike today though and went to a waterfall and the surrounding countryside is actually very pretty.
Tomorrow we head toward the Laos/Thai border before crossing over. We have about a week to make our way down to Bangkok to meet Naz and Mel who (joy joy joy) are coming to spend new years with us. So exciting times ahead, stay tuned for that trashy new years installment!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nicolabailey/thailand_2006/1165487460/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nicolabailey/thailand_2006/1165487460/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nicolabailey/thailand_2006/1165487460/tpod.html Sun, 17 Dec 2006 03:04:58 -0500 To Thailand for the start of the big trip

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Hanoi, Vietnam

Well hello, hello!

here we are for another installment only this one doesnt involve motorcycles...what a nice change...

So we went to Da nang where we spent 5 days in the Quang Tri province meeting patients who have had their sight restored thanks to The Fred Hollows Foundation. It was a bit of a different experience to when I did it in Cambodia but was equally rewarding. This time round I actually went into the operating theatre and got right up close while they were doing the surgery which was interesting...

After that we went to Hoi An which is a really cute little town that becomes even cuter at night when it is lit up by lanterns everywhere. The architecture is also really nice, so its a good place to stroll around. Its also the tailoring capital of the world i am sure. Every second shop is a tailors and despite the fact that we had not planned to buy anything, Candy and I went completely beserk with our shopping. I bought three suits, two waistcoats, three shirts, one long winter coat, a dress for my niece, knee high leather boots, more leather work shoes, a skirt (!) and a leather handbag (!!). And it all came to only about $400 aussie dollars which is a bargain in the scheme of things but really could have been done without, given the tight travel budget. also, i had my wallet (including keycard) stolen in Da nang so poor candys card had to cope with all the purchases as well as her own which may have even exceeded mine! so all that stuff got sent on to europe for when we arrive and apparently i am going to be a skirt wearing, knee high boot domanatrix donning a handbag when i get there which will be a novel experience...

so after hoi an we headed to hue which was okay but nothing really to write about except that we stayed in a guesthouse where we were given the bedroom of one of the family members who were overseas and they had the most appaling backlit glamour photography all over the wall. did you know that straight men in see through mesh tops apparently look good?

and after that it was on to hanoi the capital. it was hectic as most capitals are and we didnt stick around that long. caught the overnight train to sapa in the north which despite being very touristy was very cute and surrounded by gorgeous mountains. you get all these ethnic minority villages close by and the people come into sapa in their traditional clothes to sell their stuff to the tourists..so candy and i went a little beserk again with all the colourful blankets and things so there goes another box of stuff in the post to australia...

and while we were there candy decided that it would be a great "PERSONAL CHALLENGE" if we climbed Mount Fansipan, the highest mountain in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. I reminded her that Lonely Planet claims it is "treacherous" and that only "experienced climbers attempt the ascent" but she was convinced that despite the fact she has never trekked in her life and neither of us is particularly fit, it would be great fun. So being competitive as i am i agreed and off we went with our guide and porter. The first day was 4 hours of almost enjoyable terrain, then we spent the night at the 'base camp' which was a wooden hut with no mattresses and blankets that had definitely never been washed before and as soon as the sun went down it was absolutely freezing. so we didnt sleep that night and then got up the next day for the ascent up the mountain. Its only 3143 metres and i have been higher than that before so i didnt feel too bad about it but let me tell you it was harder than any trek i have done before. INfact, it wasnt really a trek at all but rather a climb that never ended, a full body work out in every way. Every step required you to yank yourself up using rocks, roots or ropes (with no safety equipment, be assured). Within no time candy was exhausted and affected by altitude and crying her eyes out. So I put on a brave face and encouraged her to keep going and to overcome her fear of heights at ever cliff face she had to scale. Eventually after 5 hours we reached the top where we were rewarded, not with the amazing view of Cambodia, China and Laos, we had looked forward to, but a whole lot of clouds. Then to make it worse our guide announced lunch was ready and whippedf out a bannana and sweet biscuit each. and we were starving. So on an empty stomach we began our descent. The whole climb up and back ended up taking nine and a half hours and Candy hated every step. In retrospect i can say that despite the fact i was extremely exhausted by it, i did enjoy it but..f*ck it was hard...

so sapa ended and we returned back to hanoi to then do a trip to tam coc and Halong bay. the halong bay trip includes going out in a big boat and visiting a big cave and cruising round the many islands of limestone. you then spend the night on the boat. the cave was spectacular except that in true vietnamese style they made it really kitsch with coloured disco lights which kind of ruined the atmostphere. the boat trip was fun though and we met a fair few cool people...

and now we have finally made it to laos and despite only having been here a couple of days i am LOVING it. completely relaxed in every sense of the word...oh can i move here for good??? anyway, more about that when i have been here longer and have more experiences to share... till then, goodbye!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nicolabailey/thailand_2006/1163156580/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nicolabailey/thailand_2006/1163156580/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nicolabailey/thailand_2006/1163156580/tpod.html Fri, 10 Nov 2006 06:37:16 -0500 To Thailand for the start of the big trip

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Da Nang, Vietnam

Well Hello there!

So I feel like I could make my own film called the "motorcycle diaries". Last I wrote I think I was talking about how I nearly killed some poor Irish lad on the back of my bike. Well since then we have been to Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC)which was pretty cool and from there we have come up north.

While we were in HCMC candy suggested that it would be a GREAT idea to hire motorbikes and drive to Cat Tien National Park which is 125km away. So with one days riding experience up my sleeve I wholeheartedly agree and off we go. Now, HCMC has 3 million motorbikes for its 9 million people (no exaggeration there) and for anyone that has ever been there I am sure you can imagine what it is like to drive in that sort of chaos. There are not only millions of bikes on the road but there are no road rules. Great to learn in I kept telling myself. And in all honesty, the trip went very smoothly on the way there though it did take us 4 hours. When we arrived it was truly beautiful. Forest all around the place and we were staying in a little room right in the thick of it all. The following morning we got up at 5am to go and do a 7 hour trek through the national park. We saw monkeys, heaps of different birds and some really old and very huge trees. When we got back at lunch time though we decided to get straightback on the bikes and head back to HCMC. In retrospect it was a pretty stupid idea but we didnt think a 4 hour drive would be so bad.

As we were passing through this small town on the way back I was cruising along loving myself and my newfound prowess on the bike when i managed, against all odds, to smash right into the back of the only other motoirbike at the traffic lights in this tiny town. And not only that but i was serioulsly going at about 5km per hour, ready to stop, when it happened, and i still dont know how i managed it. But i ended up, again against all odds, going over the handle bars and onto my head. It was lucky i was wearing a helmut as other than a cut leg and bruised thigh, knees and ego, I was unhurt. But I swear the whole town decided to step out onto their doorsteps at that exact moment as i have never felt so many eyes on me. I managed to ever so quickly pull myself together and move on further down the road before i then pulled over again to cry some tears of humiliation...

And anyway the trip ended up taking 7 hours instead of 4 because the traffic got so bad the closer we got back to the city and we were driving in peak hour traffic when every one of those 3 million motorbikes was on the road... and i swear my nerves have never been as frayed as they were by the time we finally got back to our hotel...

So that motorbike saga ended and we headed to the coast for some sun and surf. I took the opportunity to try and teach myself to surf which is, i must say. a lot harder than it looks. I suddenly have a lot more respect for all the surfer grommets back home...

THen we headed up to Da lat which is a really nice energy town where we checked out the gorgeous surrounding countryside and went and saw this place called "crazy house" which is a sort of a bad mix of Gaudi architecure and salvador dali art which was designed by some vietnemese architect. its pretty weird with all these staircases that go nowhere and rooms with mirrors everywhere and different themes. Like, the kangaroo room which has this evil roo with red glowing eyes.

From Dalat we hired two motorbike drivers (called Lu lu and Hieu) to take us further north. We had an awesome trip with them which just ended today. It was four nights and five days of amazing scenery and lots of fun. THe first night we stayed in this ethnic minority village alongside a lake and we had dinner at the village chiefs house. His son got a crush on me and said he wanted me to be his forth wife. He tried (quite successfully i might add) to get me very drunk on rice wine. Lu lu said to chiefs son that I was "THe Gay" (something he would tell anyone who cared to listen) but cheifs son just laughed at him and told him to stop being silly because there was no such thing as women loving women. At that he made me drink more rice wine as he laughed at stupid lu lu... We also took turns singing songs, and candy and i, for lack of knowing the words to any more traditional songs, kept ending up singing things like "Like a virgin" while they sung village hymns or something. At one point they asked Candy to play the guitar while they sung which was quite funny since she cant really play but was trying to anyway...

Another night we stayed at this amazing waterfall where we also got to swim in this turquoise pool of water nearby. Yesterday we drove along the Ho Chi Minh trail which was big mountains, mist, forest...some of the best scenery i have seen so far in Vietnam. Had a strange experience at the restaurant last night though when the owner who was this lady kept feeling my leg (Vietnemese women seem a bit obsessed with my while freckly skin so i didnt seem to phased by this)and then she started telling Lulu that she thought i was beautiful and before i knew what was happening she was trying to whip my breast out of my top. Reading over the last two paragraphs i know it sounds like i think everyone is in love with me but really it is just these two encounters! Anyway, I was so embarresed that i couldnt look at her for the rest of the evening. who would think that I could be so shy in the face of such circumstances!

and thats about it for now. We are in Da nang now where we will spend a few days doing some work for the fred hollows foundation before heading further north. Two more weeks and then we head to laos where Candy is talking about hiring motorbikes to travel round the country...aaarrrghhh!!

Nic

xx
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nicolabailey/thailand_2006/1161402720/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nicolabailey/thailand_2006/1161402720/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nicolabailey/thailand_2006/1161402720/tpod.html Sun, 22 Oct 2006 08:58:11 -0400 To Thailand for the start of the big trip

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Can Tho, Vietnam

So after Getting back to Phnomh Penh after Mondulkiri we decided to do some work at a place for orphans, street kids and other kids from poor families... There is a guy called Kim Ny who rents a house and looks after about 40 of these kids. Only about 8 of them live there permanently but the rest come during the day. The kids are aged between 2 years old and 17 and all are really great. We basically spent the days either playing with them (soccer and volley ball mostly) or teaching them English. Having never taught English before it was a new experience for both candy and I. We mostly just taught them conversational stuff like "whats your name", "where do you live" etc but they were all really eager to learn... I thought it would be a great idea to teach them all those songs from primary school, to help them learn but got as far as 'heads, shoulders, knees and toes' and then couldn't remember any more...

One of the days we got some money together (putting in some ourselves and scabbing the rest of other tourists) and took all 40 of them to the water park, which has loads of waterslides, pools and a flying fox into the water. Few ever get to go swimming and none had ever been to a water park before and so they had such an excellent day. It was so good to see them all so happy and enjoying themselves...We ended up spending 10 days with them in total and on the last day when we were leaving both Candy and I were surprised by how sad we were to leave them and how sad they were too! Some were crying and all were clinging onto us and not wanting us to leave...I so badly wanted to take them away with me! When I eventually find a computer with a fast enough internet connection, I will finally upload some photos of them for you to see.

Then a few days ago we crossed the border into Vietnam. You really feel like you are travelling when you have to wade through knee high water to get to the immigration desk...We spent the first night in Chau Doc which is a pretty uninteresting border town where we stayed in this room which had the most appalling décor...I couldn't resist getting Candy to take a few photos of me trying to look all seductive wrapped up in the green velour curtains...

We then we caught the express boat to Phu Quoc island for some 'chill out' time... We are staying in a little bungalow right on the beach so its really nice though the island itself is nice but not that amazing... It certainly has some really beautiful spots and it has a lot of potential (and not very many tourists just yet which is nice) but unfortunately there is just way too much rubbish on most of the beaches and then other beaches are closed to the public by the military.

But we met some nice Irish guys while we were here and spent a day doing a boating/snorkelling trip with them round surrounding islands. That same night Candy and I hired motorbikes to ride round the island the following day. I was not an experienced rider but was convinced I was a natural and would be okay...Just to clarify my lack of expertise, before hiring these bikes I had a 10 minute lesson by one of the moto (motorcycle taxi) drivers in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. I had asked him to show me how to ride a motorbike with gears and he had let me do a few practice rides round the grounds of a mosque. The practice session had come to a pretty abrupt end though when he started inching closer and closer to me while I was riding and then started massaging my love handles and snuggling down on my shoulder... he was lucky I didn't have an accident, he was so foul... so anyway, I was hardly an experienced rider when we hired the bikes here on the island and then that evening the Irish guys decided we would all go to this bar about a kilometre away and me and Candy would take them on the backs of our bikes... So I agreed, though in retrospect I am not sure why. It was pitch black, the roads are gravel with big rocks sticking out at unexpected places and with puddles to ride through and I had no idea what I was doing... I nearly lost it about a thousand times and the guy on the back of my bike was shitting himself. In the end Candy's and my Irish blokes got off the bikes so that we could go alone down a VERY steep and very rocky patch of road with a tight turn at the bottom of it... Candy's headlights weren't even working on her bike so she asked me to go first so off I went jumping about all over the place. Then when I felt myself sliding I freaked out and went to brake but in my panic I accelerated and ended up driving at full speed into these peoples garden who moments before had been sitting there having a peaceful drink... Needless to say, they were quite alarmed but I made it to the bar eventually unscathed though unsurprisingly the Irish guys politely rejected our offers of a lift home...But the next day having day light and feeling I had conquered the worst, I was much better at riding and Candy and I spent a really fun day riding all over the island, getting lost, taking photos, going swimming and eating yummy fresh seafood...

We are now in a place called Can Tho and spent yesterday doing a trip down the Mekong where we went to a couple of floating markets and then down various small canals and things. I swear if my camera takes another photo of 'woman in long boat wearing traditional conical hat' it will shut down... has been really nice but we are heading off today to another twon on the Mekong to check out some of the islands here in the river....

More later!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nicolabailey/thailand_2006/1159598460/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nicolabailey/thailand_2006/1159598460/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nicolabailey/thailand_2006/1159598460/tpod.html Sat, 21 Oct 2006 00:48:53 -0400 To Thailand for the start of the big trip

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Mondulkiri, Cambodia

Well its been a while between travelpods...where do I begin... After spending way too many days hanging out at green lake guesthouse in Pnomh Penh, Candy and I were finally able to meet up with Sam Ath from The Fred Hollows Foundation, Cambodia. He is a lovely guy with the most infectious and honest laugh I have ever heard on a person and over the next five days he took us round in a 4wd to three different provinces to interview people who have had their sight restored by The Foundation. We met eight people and while I did the interviewing (with Sam Ath translating) and I took photos, Candy filmed it...her first foray into doco making... It was a great experience on both a personal and professional level and I really enjoyed it. The people live in very basic huts in tiny villages and most are rice farmers. Being blind meant for most that they were unable to work, had to have their family support them (which meant they often couldn't work as well) and they also had to basically stay in the same spot in their hut all day until someone could come and lead them to the toilet or to feed them. Religion is very important and to many, being unable to go to the pagoda was very hard for them. So they were truly grateful to The Foundation and for getting their sight back and thanked Candy and I so much, as though we were the ones directly responsible for helping them. It was very touching.

After that work we headed up north with a couple of girls we have met called Amy and Jasmine. They have become good friends and we have been having a ball. We have been in a place called Mondulkiri now for about a week though we expect to leave here tomorrow. The locals optimistically refer to the place as the "Switzerland of Cambodia". I don't know about that though it is very pretty here. There are lots of rolling green hills, forest and plenty of waterfalls close by.

We did an elephant trek for a couple of days into the jungle which was quite an experience. I think the most hilarious was watching Candy and Amys efforts to climb on top of the elephants each time. One time Candy just couldn't get up and so the elephants were knocking down whole trees to give her something to stand on. WE slept in this very basic wooden hut in the forest and slept on the wooden floor like the local rice raming family whoi lived there. With the lack of mattress, the little mouse that kept running across our feet and all the other sounds nearby, it was the worst sleep ever but worth it nonetheless...

Then the day before yesterday we decided we would go and see Bosura waterfall, apparaently one of the biggest waterfalls in Cambodia. They claim it takes one hour to get there in the dry season so we thought, two hours in the wet season would certainly be enough. So we left at 10 that morning excited about going for a swim at the waterfall. Within no time our day trip to the waterfall had become a mission requiring Macgiver type instincts and a will to survive... it was raining all the way and the road was thick mud everywhere we looked. Actually, it wasn't a road at all, who am I kidding! . The motorbike riders we had hired left us to walk huge distances as it was too dangerous to carry us with them. Massive Russian trucks were bogged down the road with no hope of getting out. The mud would come up to your waist as you walked or otherwise you would be sliding all the way as though it was ice. We reached the waterfall six hours later, covered in mud and with no hope of getting back before dark. Even at the waterfall, covered in mud as we were, we couldn't swim in the end as it was too strong. It was spectacular though, and it certainly lifted our spirits temporarily!! Then one of the bikes broke down and so we had to walk for four kilometers to the nearest village, which was completely remote and where the hill tribe Pnong people live. Everyone in the village watched us as we slipped and slid all the way into the village on our own as our drivers were fixing the bike. We ended up getting "beds"in this wooden hut and in the morning we headed off back home again.. what a journey... I cant even explain it well in words. In retrospect it was hilarious but at the time it wasn't quite as funny...

And tomorrow we get out of here and head back to Phnom Penh before then making our way to Vietnam... How exciting!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nicolabailey/thailand_2006/1157163900/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nicolabailey/thailand_2006/1157163900/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/nicolabailey/thailand_2006/1157163900/tpod.html Sat, 21 Oct 2006 00:33:18 -0400 To Thailand for the start of the big trip

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Battambang, Cambodia

Last travelpod entry I think we had done the visit to the 'stool organ'man and i was on my way to recovery...right?? Well as it turned out, the doctor had completely misdiagnosed the problem and put me on the wrong drugs... So... just to add to the health crisis that seems to have been our trip so far, some nights ago Candy ended up having to race me to hospital where I underwent a few excrutatingly mortifying procedures over too many painful hours... I thought i was going to die literally i was in so much pain and Candy god bless her was running round like a chicken without its head, and were I not screaming i would have been laughing... Anyway, am on the way to getting better now only to have Candy starting to get similar symptoms as me... Oh when will it ever end... !!!

But on a brighter note, we have been to the temples of Angkor Wat and they are truly impressive. We got a three day pass and traipsed around in the scorching weather looking at the ruins... Some are in much better condition than others but all are such that you can imagine their former glory well. Both Candy and I really enjoyed seeing them...

We had hired a guy called Sam to be our tuk tuk driver for three days and it worked out very well. He is a young, spunky boy that has really looked after us. One night he took us to a nightclub that only the locals seem to go to. There were no other tourists there really and it was packed despite the fact it was a week night. I asked Sam about the weeknight thing and he said "Why would it matter what day it is, doesnt everyone just want to have fun all the time". How could I argue with that. So the disco was quite an experience. THe music switched between bad house, western pop and slow dance Cambodian love songs and between every song the crowd would cheer and throw their arms in the air.

Candy, who has been getting huge amounts of attention since we have been here, was a highlight with the locals who were trying to imitate her style of dance and ended up looking a bit MC Hammer. She was a highlight that is until I stole the show when one of the local lads who had been dancing wit us, lunged at me, mouth wide open, and tounge all over the shop and went in for the pash. It was so totally unexpected and I was so unprepared but i managed to move quickly and turn which meant i got his saliva all over my right cheek. Candy couldnt stop laughing and I actually found it quite funny as well until he tried about three more times. THen I had to reprimand him with a wiggle of the finger in his face which quickly put a stop to his behaviour...

So Candy and the attention she gets is something other-worldy... Kids are obsessed by her red hair extentions and run after her tugging at them, the whole country cant get over her nose ring and every time we walk down the street, boys will yell out "Yo yo yo yo DJ"". IN fact I have stopped counting the number of people who have asked if she is a DJ or just pressumed it anyway. THe other night we were at a bar and she was asked to DJ there on a reggae night coming up. I am starting to feel a bit of a wallflower in her shadow and regretting the "ëasy to manage" classic hair cut that I got before I left... nobody thinks I am a DJ!

After Siem reap we took a boat to a place called Battambang. lonely planet promised the most scenic boat ride in all of Cambodia to get there so how could we pass that up. we got to the "pier" nice and early and were quickly pushed onto our refugee people transporter. IN no time the boat was full and sinking precariously first on one side and then on the other and Candy, me and a handfull of others had to ride on the roof. People down below were crammed in and locals had brought crates of baby crocodiles on board as well and the stench was strong and so we were the lucky ones to be in the open air, surely...Lonely planet was right in that the scenery was gorgeous. We passed through flooded forests, stilt houses, floating villages and got to enjoy watching life happen on the river. THen I started to get sunburnt. No amount of 30plus could save me and in no time i was redder than the reddest of currries i have been eating here. and then our water ran out and it was midday and it just got hotter and hotter and we still had four hours to go. gradually everyone on the roof started getting a bit delirious and candy started trading cigarettes for sips of water. then nobody had any water left and i was sure we were going to perish. but obviously we didnt for i am writing this now. we finally arrived, drank 4 litres of water each and then i settled down for the niht with sunstroke and a migrane...

but the next day was better and we hired motorbikes (with drivers) with a couple of germans and drove around the countryside. THe drivers took us trekking up a mountain to a temple and then on to a fruit orchard. when we arrived they asked me what fruit i would like. What do you have said I.. "we have pineapple, oranges, banannas and marijuana"and sure enough the orchard was full of mull plants. we then got taken to the bamboo train... i had heard of the bamboo train and thought we were going to, well, a train made of bamboo. we got there, paid an exhorbitant amount and then got put on what looked like a bamboo dinner table on some makeshift train tracks. every time another 'train'came along we all had to get off, take the dinner table/train off the tracks and then wait for the other train to pass. It was quite an experience...

and now we are in phnomh penh. arrived yesterday and are staying in a gorgeous room on the lake which has cheep beer and a pool table. it is so my kind of place...
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