TravelStream™ news feed for member sharor on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/sharor en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Mon, 21 Dec 2009 08:13:51 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sharor/1/1261044059/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sharor/1/1261044059/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sharor/1/1261044059/tpod.html Mon, 21 Dec 2009 08:13:51 -0500 Sharon, Rory and the Big Wide World!

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Cork, County Cork, Ireland

The flight home was probably one of the scariest flights we had gotten funnily enough. Taking off was a bit rough and a little bit into the flight the plane seemed to drop a bit from the sky. We must have hit strong wind head on but it was terrifying. I think everyone got a fright. I was nervous for the rest of the flight back willing us to get there soon and in one piece. Coming over the Irish Sea and seeing Ireland for the first time was just weird. It was covered in a thick blanket of cloud whereas it had been a gorgeous clear sunny day in London. As we came into land the greeness of the fields really struck us. Its not something you notice living here but if you go away for a spell and have seen many other different landscapes it really stood out to us. While away seeing so many countries I (Ror) really began to appreciate how lovely our country can be with all the scenery and greenery- when at home its not something i really would think of but when away you really begin to appreciate how beautiful it is. The plane touched down and we were both a bit nervous if you could call it that - we were feeling so many emotions really. Our packs came out on the carosel for the last time- it was a mixture of emotions picking up our bags one last time. We had travelled for so long with so many memories that it almost flashed the whole trip before me when picking up the bags. After a quick questioning at customs we headed out the sliding doors to our posse waiting for us with banners, flowers and balloon. Ror caught a bit of it on camera so we could round off the footage and we said hello to everyone who were all excited to see us. We were seperated for the first time in ages as I went in car with my parents and Ellie and Ror with his which was really strange but not for long as we went up to Rors house for tea.


(Shar)I think I have learned so much from the trip, both about myself and others. You see so many different countries, cultures and many situations to make you happy and sad etc. You meet so many new and different people and make some great friends from it all - it's an experience that we have shared with them and more importantly shared together and that's something we can take with us forever. It's an experience that I think is invaluable. In the length of time we were away we experienced more than possibly you could in a lifetime of visiting so many different places and so much more than we would have experienced at home in many ways. It really makes you see what is important in life and I hope that stays with me even after I get back into the routine and life that is living in Ireland.

(Ror) For me, the trip was an amazing whirlwind of an adventure. It was full of so many emotions and memories. In the end, homesickness got the better of me and i had reached my max amount of travel time i feel. Ive always been a homebird but love seeing new and amazing places. It daunted me, and Shar i think, in the beginning but once we got on our way we tore it up. It was such an experience to travel the world so far and to do it as a couple was amazing. Seeing so many places, seeing the ways of life for so many different people and experiencing things that most people will never get to experience was just incredible. The trip was just outstanding in so many ways- when i look back and see what we did it literally blows me away and its hard to believe we actually did all that we did.


Some of the memories:

Perito Moreno glacier................................mindblowing
Hiking the Inca Trail..................................unforgettable
Shar falling off the bike in Paraty...............sore but hilarious
22km 1 day hike in Galapagos..................tearful
Mining in Potosi, Bolivia...........................dynamite
Altitude sickness in Bolivia.......................painful
Snorkelling with sealions in Galapagos......incredible
Skydiving in New Zealand.........................exilerating
Queenstown and Milford Sound................ stunning
Road tripping NZ and Oz..........................fun times
Whitehaven beach, Whitsundays..............paradise
Ayers Rock tour......................................amazing
Making a profit from Robbie Fowler............classic
South East Asian markets.......................same, same...but different
Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia............horrific
Tubing in Vang Vieng, Laos......................buckets
Being ripped off in Ho Chi Minh City..........gutting


Our Round the World Trip 2009.................PRICELESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



.

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London, England, United Kingdom

Coming into London was very strange. It was pitch black at around 5am while in our minds it was midday but we were so tired it did actually feel like 5am which was weird. Our first step off the plane on European soil in over 6 months was cold lol...no surprise there really. I (Shar) actually expected it to be alot colder though in fairness so it wasn't that bad. We transferred to terminal 1 and went through security, me laden down with duty free bags. I was worried that it might be a problem carrying on so much but we breezed through. There is a French Connection Duty Free shop in the departures area so of course I made some purchases there - not on Ror this time but on my flexible friend so I will worry about that another day! We started the trip back in June with a nice breakfast in Giraffe Restaurant in the airport and that is also where we finished it...awww! When we sat down both our heads were really spinny and heavy so we were looking forward to getting home. Waiting at the gate for the Cork flight was just surreal in my opinion. There were Cork accents all around us and it made me smile. We hadn't heard so many together in such a long time and I couldn't believe that we were going home. For me (Ror) it was also so strange being back in London and in Europe- felt so surreal
with all the adventure we had just done. I taught it was so weird seeing all western looking people again getting on with their
daily work. Its such an amazing world with all the different races of
people. We have seen so many different cultures and places on the
trip- it was such a whirlwind adventure for us. It was a mixture of emotions heading back home to Cork, just like when we were beginning but it was such an amazing and memorable trip that gave me some of the best memories of my life.


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Bangkok, Thailand

We got to Bangkok and said bye to the lads who were trying to get up to Chiang Mai by train that night and we went upstairs to check in for the last long flight :( It was emotional handing the backpacks in knowing that we wouldn't see them again until we got home. I might add here that I have no attachment to my backpack - it was a pain in the ass most of the time and it's not fun having to tear all your clothes out of the pack each time you have to look for something and repack it AGAIN but it meant that it was really all over sniff sniff! Maybe I compensated for this with some retail therapy but I did buy a good bit in the airport - it was like "Ror....... money!" (Ror had dollars left so I was spending them but theres just the little matter of repaying it all back to him now!) (ROR- It was gas seeing Shars splashing the cash in the airport but she was dead right- why not cap it all off with some retail therapy and that she did lol.) The flight left Bangkok at around 00.40 on the 10th Dec - before we got on we both said a few words into the camcorder which along with this site has documented the whole trip for us - there will be some marathon sessions of viewing ahead of us. I hate getting on long haul flights because you have to walk through first class first with their lovely full length beds - how unfair is that. We don't need to be reminded of what could be and then you have to walk further back to the economy section and it looks so cramped in comparison! Anyway I'd say I fell asleep around 1 turning down a dinner at that hour (gross) and woke at 6am so slept straight through until then. Ror had more of a broken sleep but still it was ok. There was a guy across from us and both of us saw him watching his tv screen non stop - he must not have been able to sleep at all. We both slept on and off then until around 10/10.30am (Thailand time) when breakfast was served and it was our first proper fry in ages. The only one that came close was the fry in Jacks Cafe in Cusco, Peru before the Inca Trail.(Best Fry Ever- ROR) Australia and New Zealand have funny sausages, rashers and beans for that matter (although they do sell Heinz beans, English receipe) so it was lovely to taste it again. We landed 1 hour before schedule so I think the flight took about 12 hours or maybe even less. Now we were ready to face the weather lol!!

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Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

We left Phonm Pehn on Sunday morning. It took a while to get out of the city with the traffic but I was having fun looking out the window. Loads of mopeds were passing us by and on one I saw 5 people - its mad the things you see up on them. The next one though had me in bits - there was a big dog with his front two paws hanging over the bike and his hind legs standing in front of the driver - look at the photo for a better visual than I can conjure up! We got a short ferry then and before we got on it there were alot of street sellers. Sher they saw the dollar signs when they saw us and kept showing us their goods. One woman was selling drinks and she started getting a straw and firing water up on our window - it was a clever ploy and had me in stitches as she looked up at us with her toothy grin. One fella had waffles and naturally I couldn't resist so I hopped off the bus and got one and went looking for my lady for a drink because I liked her style. She asked me my name and when I asked hers she took a wet tissue and lobed it on my cheek - I don't know what that was in aid of but it was all good natured and I went back on bus skitting. As we were pulling away she was waving up at us so I took her picture - see the one of the lady giving us the thumbs up! So the journey took about 6 hours to get to Ho Chi Minh. The border crossing was a bit different to normal where the bus attendant seemed to do all the work for us - happy days. Coming into Vietnam I noticed that it seemed a richer place than Cambodia - for one thing nearly all of the people wore helmets on the mopeds whereas in Cambodia hardly no one has them and that includes the children...and the dogs lol. We got off the bus and there were some taxis waiting so we told him where we were going and he said it was a meter taxi so we were happy. A few minutes into the journey Ror noticed that the meter was racking up really quickly and was on 2 dollars already and we were barely in. We asked him to pull over because it wasn't a proper meter. He was a bit taken aback. We asked him how far away the hotel was and he said 17 minutes and by meter that would cost over 10 dollars. I couldn't control myself and was like no way are we paying that knowing he was ripping us off. He said he would take 7 dollars so I said no 5 dollars is all we would pay. He said yes to that straight away and we knew we were being had even at that. Next thing he goes to turn the taxi back in the direction we had just come in. The 2 of us were like where are you going, we just came from there and he ignored us but changed his mind about turning the car around. We knew we were being taken on the scenic route at this stage and low and behold he turned left shortly up ahead and then left again until we were on a parallel street and going back the way we came. We were so pissed off but just wanted to get there and no it didn't take 17 minutes...maybe another 3 minutes tops. So basically where the bus dropped us off was so near the hotel and that fucker (excuse me!) couldn't even tell us that. I was annoyed with us that we didn't check a map first to see where we were but sher we had just come off a long bus journey and were tired and just wanted to get to the hotel and it was our last stop. Ror gave him the money and told him it was crazy. What a shitty start to Vietnam and it's the first time we were blatantly ripped off all trip which is so annoying since its the end but I guess if thats the worst that has happened to us we have done unreal. So we checked into our hotel which is savage by the way! We said we would go all out for the last few days so we got a deluxe room in the Metropole Hotel which cost us about 50 euro a night which is still a bargain compared to home prices. It's really plush and definately fancy schmancy compared to all our previous accommodations (which on the whole have been nice but not a patch on this place!).

Its abit strange being greeted by a doorman lol after all our travelling but hey.. we were not complaining and deserved it. The doormen here are really friendly and really helpful. One night we were going somewhere and one of the doormen told Shar to wrap her bag safely around her as it could be robbed. Just a simple thing like this was nice of them we thought. Our plan for Ho Chi Minh was to look around the shops on Sunday night and Monday in order to collect our last few momentos and Shars had a few things to get. The shopping here was only so so- its very expensive and has alot of more high end stores like Louis Vitton etc... Shars did manage to get a Guess bag at a really good price and also 2 pairs of glasses at cheaper prices than home. The markets here are good enough- alot of the same stuff as in other cities so we didnt go look too much as we were marketed out by now.

The city itself is crazy- approx 9 million people living here. You have to see the mopeds here to believe it. There are so so many its unnatural. Its crazy crossing the road. You have to edge your feet out one by one all the way across as mopeds fly around either side of you- lol they dont really have the best traffic infrastructure. On the first night we were here, the place was crazy- there were hundreds and hundreds of mopeds flying around beeping their horns and loads of people were waving the Vietnam flag. Shars asked a group of young locals what it was all about but their english was not the best and all they could say was they love Vietnam. As we left them one guy came running after us to give us one of their Vietnam flags- cool little momento to have. Later on we were told that Vietnam had won a big soccer match that night against Malaysia and this is why the place was going nuts! Lol we were kind of ripped off again going home that night. We decided to join the crazy traffic in a form of a taxi known as a cyclo. Its basically a push bike that has a high seat in front of it and you're driven along with all the crazy mopeds. It was a brill experience. We each had our own driven cyclo. Shars took the flag we had been given and wrapped it around herself for the journey- she was like royalty lol- people were flying past us on bikes and waving to us and giving the thumbs up to Shar and her flag- she was well chuffed!! (Shar: I now know what it must feel like to be a celebritiy!) Anyway before the journay we had agreed, or so we thought, on 15000 dong per person which is about 1 dollar each but when we finished we were told it was 150,000 dong each. They were pure chancers like. They defo agreed and heard me saying that it was 1 dollar. In the end we gave them 2 dollars each which was a bargain for them. We had to laugh at them. We said we could have gotten a taxi for 1 dollar but their response to that was they were doing manual labour lol. You have to give it to them lol. We could have gotten a taxi for 1 dollar and here they were asking for 16 dollars!!!!

We went to the Cu Chi tunnels yesterday. The traffic leaving the city was just MENTAL - seriously there are no rules of the road over here or so it seems and the place is thronged with mopeds. Our bus driver was called 'Michael Schumacher' and seemed to have a thing for honking the horn at anything that got in his way - it was seriously wreaking my (Sharon) head. They really need to get proper traffic lights over here and defo seperate lanes for the mopeds which they do in some areas. Anyway we had a rest stop after about an hour and a half which was a sales opportunity in reality..surprise surprise. We were brought to a center where handicapped people make beautiful vases and pictures etc. Apparently the government here doesn't look after them financially so they are only trying to make a living so I didn't mind the stop. On we drove to the tunnels which are an underground network of tunnels used during the American War. By day the villagers lived in the village but at night they all went to dig out the tunnels and they are 10 meters deep - phenomenal. People used to live down there at night when they were completed. We saw the actual size of the holes that they used to go through to get into the tunnel network - claustrophopic doesn't even come close - its hard to imagine anyone but a child fitting through and at that it seems like the tunnel would be just wide enough for the Vietnamese to fit through. We went through a network which was widened for westerners. You had to crouch down and as we went further into it it did seem to get narrower. There were exits down there at 30 and 60 meters so you could come out if you wanted. I didn't mind it too much but Ror found it tough crouching down but he stuck with it and we completed the 130 meters. When we came out it turned out alot of our group had enough and went out one of the earlier exits so we were proud out. It was really hot down there though. It's an amazing feat of architecture though I think to have completed so many tunnels. There was also a chance to buy bullets and shoot an AK49 or an M16 rifle but we didn't partake. When we got to the shooting range the sound of the guns firing was enough to make me jump out of my skin - seriously it was deafening and I know I wouldn't have been able to pull the trigger. They weren't even given ear protection so if you ever go there and want to give it a go ear plugs would be a good idea! We saw some traps that the Viet Cong army also set up - they made trapdoors in the ground and covered them with grass. If the enemy stood on it the door would drop and they would fall down into a pit of sharpened sticks and be squered! They were really ingenious people and made many different traps. The army all wore rubber sandles made out of tyre rubber. They never took them off and so their feet was black from this rubber. If a soldier was suspected of being an enemy all they did was take off the sandle and if the black marks were not on their feet then they would be killed.

We spent the rest of our time in Saigon buying the last few bits and pieces and we left for the airport at around 3pm on 9th Dec. It was our last time to be among the crazy driving of Saigon and of course our last time to feel proper warmth from the sun - that will be missed big time. In the airport we bumped into two lads that Ror had been chatting to in our hostel in Phomn Pehn and turns out he knew one of them from home 'cause he lived with Hega and the two of them were in some lectures with me in college so its the tiniest of worlds!




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Luang Prabang, Lao Peoples Dem Rep


Luang Prabang was our final stop in Laos and also the town where we decided we would head
home earlier again(more on this below!). It was the most northerly of the 3 places in Laos we visited. We had one and a half days there by the time we arrived into the town, after our 6 hour bus ride from Vang Vieng. According to Lonely Planet this town is said to be the most beautiful in all of South East Asia. It was a beautiful place alright. It was set in the countryside by a river and by beautiful greenery. The locals there were very warm and the markets were a total different experience to those in say Thailand.



Since we left Australia and got to Asia I have become more and more homesick!! I am a big homebird but up until then we were seeing so much and doing so much that I didnt get a whole lot of time to think of home. Of course at times I felt homesick and sometimes felt it more but we had so much to do that it was going by so fast with all these amazing places to see and things to do. But when we left Singapore and got to Malaysia and from there on, it was a lot different for me. It was a lot more cities with not a whole lot to do. It was tough traveling and the humidity didn't help at times. The activities stopped a good bit and for me I need to be doing things. The time up to then was so amazing but the enjoyment of it all started to go for me and theres not much point seeing other places when it gets that way. Asia too is tough to travel in. The cities are jam packed, the people selling stuff can get incredibly annoying and the food can be very iffy, especially if your not into it like us. I said I would give it a couple of weeks to see if it would change when we were seeing more stuff etc but I still felt the same with it. Regardless of what we did I think I would have felt the same. We have seen and done an incredible amount and have had some of the best memories ever. Its defo the right thing to go home and enjoy other places in the future. Shar would love to keep on traveling as shes a total explorer but she realises how much I've done my max so we are happy to head home on Dec 10th! I'm really looking forward to it now and am delighted to have achieved so much in our RTW trip. Its an incredible experience to have done what we did.




So, back to Luang Prabang. 1 thing we have noticed with buses in Asia is that they can be very unpredictable. Sometimes you could arrive an hour before scheduled time and sometimes you could arrive an hour later. Its also very interesting to see how the bus companies keep it in the family or help each other out. They collect you from your hostel in say a tuk tuk or small van and then drive everyone to the main departure area, which is usually a family run restaurant lol and you wait there for say 20-40 mins before you head off.. On this minibus, the bus driver stopped on route for a food stop and he went in serving the food lol. Its funny to see but I guess fair play to them for looking after each other. There were about 4 or 5 dogs outside roaming around and they were so skinny – it was disgusting. Shar couldn't finish her roll knowing they were around and she gave half of it to them. We were eating some crisps then and one of the bus drivers little girls came around the side of the van and was looking kind of cutely at us. It was obvious she was after food so we gave her the end of the bag after feeding another dog. The little girls were also looking through the bin to see what scraps of food we had all put in there – very sad. On the bus there and on the tuk tuk into the town we got chatting to 2 backpackers, Henrik from Germany and Claudia from Holland. They seemed really nice so we walked around the town looking for accommodation with them. We came across a place on the main street which was cheap so we took that. As I said we were there for 1 and half days so we had 1 full day to concentrate on getting the most out of the area. We didn't know what to do as there was a lot of different outdoor options so in the end we chose a day trip of hiking and kayaking. That night we went to the food market and had gorgeous BBQ chicken and rice. We had a look around the market which was much more laid back than the other markets we had been to as Ror said earlier. A lot of the stall owners had their kids lying on the ground sleeping and playing while they worked – its tough. I (sharon) did a bit of haggling but didn't purchase that night. Since we are going home now in a week I have decided to buy whatever I see that I like since I won't have to be lugging them around with me. I am very disappointed to be going home but I totally get why Ror isn't enjoying it anymore and there was no point continuing then.



We went on the tour the next day and were told that 3 other people were going to be on it but they pulled out so it was just the 2 of us. Our guide was really nice and he brought us through a tribe village. It was pretty quiet as he said a lot of the people were working in the fields but we saw a lot of kids and women. It was more of a walk than a hike which suited me just fine. We went down to river and got in our kayak. We went downstream for about 5 mins until we got to a waterfall which was really nice. I expected it to be a trickle but there were lots of limestone steps so there were lots of levels to it and pools you could swim in but it was too cold. There was a zipline above the waterfall through the forest which Ror did with a Canadian woman. He said it was pretty scary and the guys didn't speak a word of english so they didn't know what they were doing sometimes. By the time they came into view they looked like they had gotten the hang of it! We got back in our canoes but it was tough work – our arms and necks were sore from it and it was tough with the 2 of us in 1 kayak to keep in synch but we got there and apparently we kayaked 12 km which I couldn't believe. We gave our guide a small tip at the end because he was so nice and it was just the 2 of us and he seemed really taken aback by it. In south america we always had to tip after tours but in NZ and Oz we didn't and hadn't heard that it was expected over here but just thought it would be nice to give him something. We went up Phi Si to get an unreal view over Luang Prabang. It really is a stunning place. That evening I got a lovely handmade wooden lamp in the market and Ror got me handmade slippers which we hadn't seen in any other markets so they are a nice momento.



We met Henrik and Claudia for a drink and said goodbye to them as we were leaving the next morning for our flight to Siem Rep in Cambodia.
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Phnom Penh, Cambodia


The bus company to Phonm Pehn was amazing by South East Asian standards. Anytime we passed anything of significance the woman attendant would come on the microphone and explain what it was or a little bit about each province we passed through. We have heard from a friend of ours that Phonm Pehn isn't the nicest of places as its very poor so we weren't
expecting too much from it. We were collected again in a tuk tuk and brought to our hostel. It was grand and we settled in there for a while. There were no night markets only day markets so we went to the Sorya shopping mall as I wanted to pick up some cheap clothes but it was the most depressing mall. There were no western shops and only fake stuff with totally over inflated prices. It was really clinical in there and we felt that the people didn't seem that warm at all. I can totally see why people don't like the place but then we only came there to see the Killing Fields and the Tuol Sleng Museum.

We booked transport through the hostel for the day and the first stop were the Killing Fields at Choeung Ek which were 13km outside the city. From 1975 to 1979 the Khmer Rouge ruled Cambodia under the leadership of Pol Pot (monster). Basically the Khmer Rouge wanted to reduce Cambodia to a nation of peasants who would do whatever they wanted without question. They uprooted millions of people and put them into the country. They destroyed the national banks, temples and even tried to damage Angkor Wat. They imprisoned millions of people many of whom were educated, tortured them and murdered them and they were buried in mass graves. Babies and children were also killed so that no family remained and this ensured that no one would come after them in the future looking for retribution. On entering the Killing Fields there is a huge white stupa which contains many skulls, bones and clothes that were retrieved from the graves. It was surreal to see. In the 80s the land was dug up and the bones were removed. We walked over to the fields and one of the first things we saw was a large tree with a sign saying that a loudspeaker used to be hung from the tree which played loud music in order to hide the sounds from the people being tortured. There was a school nearby and the sound of
children playing and laughing drifted across the fields as we walked around which made the place seem less sombre. Another thing that we both noticed was the amount of beautiful butterflies flying around the mass graves – seriously the amount of butterflies was phenomenal and they only seemed to be in or around the graves. I have heard before that people believe that when they see a butterfly it represents a lost loved one in some shape or form and someone very close to me feels strongly about this and I defo believe there is something to this also. It was so beautiful to see them and also made you feel that the victims were now free. In the earth you could still see some clothes sticking out from the graves which was so upsetting. Even worse was another tree where babies were beaten against. The torture that these people were put through by their own leaders was just horrendous – words cannot sum it up. I think a trip to Cambodia is not complete without visiting here. It happened so recently where 2 million people were killed and the scars still live on with Cambodians today so I think it is owed to them to
understand what happened there. We are all aware of the Nazi regime and having been to a concentration camp in Germany before there are definitely similarities to be made – without doubt senseless and barbaric acts on both counts.

From there we went onto the Tuol Sleung Museum which used to be a secondary school but which was transformed into a prison or security centre S21 by the Khmer Rouge. People were held here in cells and tortured. In the first block there was a room with a single bed in there and a black and white picture on the wall of the occupant of the room dead. In 1979 14 people were found in the prison all dead. These pictures were obviously taken then. One person was killed with a shovel and that was still in the room. Some other cells were made from brick with barely room to move – the shackles that were on the peoples legs are still attached to the bricks and I could see dried blood stains on the tiles. There was barbed wire outside the corridor to stop
people from committing suicide. Many people were recruited to work for the Khmer Rouge and it is these people who undertook terrible atrocities against their own. They did so as they feared for their own lives and those of their families. Pol Pot died a few years ago without being charged but some other members are on trial as we speak. God knows why it has taken so long for them to be charged but I hope it will bring the victims families some peace and closure.
The museum was heavy going but so worth visiting. There was a poem displayed which was written by someone who suffered through this era and one part that caught my eye in particular was that they were not allowed any marbles or popsicles. They were not allowed to laugh or
have fun. They were absolute psycho's the Khmer Rouge – completely and utterly rotten to the core. There were some skulls on display which were forensically analysed by Canadian scientists. A few had gun shots wounds and you can blatently see the hole in the skull while others were hit with hatchets and you can see the blade marks on the skulls and others were hit with blunt instruments like the butt of a gun which was also clearly visible. There were photos up of all the victims which were taken when they were prisoners and the fear in some of their eyes was chilling. The Vietnamese invaded Cambodia over land issues and many people fled back to Vietnam with them. They convinced the Cambodians to revolt against the Khmer Rouge and they fled into the jungle and that was the end of the torture but many Cambodians went in search of loved ones and the harvest was neglected and so a famine ensued where many more died. Its such a brutal but recent history that I found it hard to grasp that this all happened 5-6 years before we were born. It was such an interesting and moving day. From there we moved onto the Russian Market which was indoor and reminded me of the souqs in Dubai as the
passageways between the stalls were so tight and it was so hot in there but I picked up a few bits. Ror is getting shit sick of markets at this stage but its only because I'm going home soon and trying to get all I can – that's my excuse anyway!

We went out for dinner with a guy from Sweeden that was on the tour with us during the day
and we were all so tired so we decided to go across the road to a restaurant which was full of locals. There was sand on the ground which was bizarre but gave it a nice feel! We ordered stir fry beef but I swear to god I question if it was beef - most of it was hard inedible fat and I just could not stomach it so I just filled myself up on rice and the dish cost us the pricey sum of 5 dollar which is so expensive for here. We were wondering how so many locals could afford that and wondered if there was a separate menu with tourist prices which we were given. Anyway we said our goodbyes and we backed up our backpacks for the 2nd last time – yeah says Ror, aw says Shar!

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Siem Reap, Cambodia


The flight to Siem Rep took 1hr10 mins. Coming in to land so much of the land looked flooded which I had never seen before. I wonder if it's from the monsoon season. We got our visas in the airport and we're collected by a tuktuk driver from our hostel. The tuktuk is so comfy though –
they have nice cushioned leather seats. On the way I saw a pile of chickens hanging off a moped as a guy drove past – it was bizarre. I also saw some ducks and assumed they were dead when I see one duck move its wings – I was horrified. The poor things were hung from
their feet – see picture to see what I mean. I get very upset when I see animals hurt and thought that that was shocking. It would have been different if they were dead. I've heard that Cambodia can be tough going and in one moment you see something that shocks you but the next you see something that makes you smile and didn't a big fat pig in a cage in a moped go past me and it made me laugh. Our hostel was very chilled and our room was nice and spacious. We relaxed for the afternoon and that night we went to check out the night markets but the people were SO annoying there. The minute you look at something they are right over next to you staring at you as you looking around and following you and some of them pick up things and
ask you if you want them. I walk away whenever they do it because I cannot bare it and am sick of biting my tongue.


We were up early the nextmorning to watch sunrise at Angkor Wat. We got up at 5am and our tuk tuk driver was waiting for us outside. We paid him 12 dollars for the day and he brought us to get our 1 day pass which cost 20 dollars. Our picture was taken for the pass and seriously the cut of us in them – bare in mind it was just gone 5am and we were shattered so thats an excuse but they are funny. There were so many tuk tuks all heading towards Angkor Wat and there was a bit of a buzz in the air I thought. It had been a while since we had been up early
in order to see an important site and it was needed to experience something like this in Asia so it was good. It was pitch black when we arrived and we headed in over a bridge and into the complex and joined the crowds of people waiting for the sun to rise. The sun started to change colour and was pinky and Angkor Wat started to emerged from the darkness – it was magical. We went in to explore the complex which was cool for a while but we both get restless with
museums and temples so we moved on to the next one but not before we had breakfast but we were plagued by kids wanting to sell us postcards. We bought one set from a girl but loads of others were asking us and when we told them we had them they said 'same same but
different' which is a saying they have over here! One woman was at us to go to her shop so we said we'd go over after breakfast. We were looking for magnets but didn't like the ones we saw so thanked her and moved on and she started getting odd saying we said we'd buy something which we certainly didn't. It pisses me off when they get like that – I understand that there are so many of them all selling the same crap but they almost expect you to buy something when you just want to look.. We walked through the gate of Angkor Thom gate and into the Bayon which is the temple of the faces. There was also an elephant temple which we caught a glimpse of but didn't linger too long. We went into Ta Prohm which is the temple which is being eaten
up by trees and looks pretty cool. The tree roots are curling around the stonework and some looked like they belonged in an eerie movie. Apparently Tomb Raider was filmed here but I haven't seen it so I'll have to watch that now. Our legs were sore and we were shattered from the early morning so we went back to hostel at around 11am totally templed out. I don't know how people spend days there exploring. I went for a bit of a snooze while Ror sorted out our return flights home which had to be changed – flying from Bangkok in the early hours of 10th Dec. We went to pub street that evening for a nice Indian dinner and a bit of gift shopping in the markets.

We got a bus to the capital Phonm Pehn the next morning.

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Vang Vieng, Lao Peoples Dem Rep


Our second stop in Laos was Vang Vieng which was about a 4 hour bus ride from the capital.
The main reason for visiting here was for the tubing. More on this in abit.

Vang Vieng was a stunning little town. It was very small and set in the mountains and country
side. It was mainly a touristy place. Most places to eat had episodes of Friends or Family Guy running all day. Its a great idea actually and it really won over a lot of the tourists. Some people
stayed there for hours watching. We stayed in a little cabin hut near the river. It was dirt cheap (about 3.50 eur a night for the room). The owner didnt speak much english but was a really nice man, just like the majority of the Laos people seem to be. They seem very laid back in Laos and really warm. There was a bridge which we had to cross to reach our cabin and there was locals making tourists pay to cross it. It was cheap enough so we just went with it as we were
wrecked from the walking to the hostel. When we booked into the hostel/cabin the owner told us there was a different bridge further up that we could cross for free. Lol the gangsters. That evening Shar went for a stroll behind our hostel and she saw 2 little girls playing with leaves by the water. They ran up to her and gave her the leaves as a present.


On Sunday we tubed down the Mekong river- tubing was the big attraction here. It was a mad
experience. So bizarre in such a peaceful place. You basically rent a big tube- like a big tyre tube. You get dropped up by tuk tuk to the starting point and basically float down the river in your own tube... well theres a lot more than this. The tubbing part is really only a small bit of it. From the very start and throughout the 3km ride there was a good few riverside bars. These were all mainly near the start of the river ride but there was a few quieter ones also down
stream. What would happen is the workers in the bar would hurl out a rope to you and you would reel yourself in with it. Then you would leave your tube aside and just drink drink drink. It was JUST CRAZY.
The music in each bar was blaring and everyone was drinking. This was about 1 or 2 pm in the day. There were also zip lines you could use whereby you'd climb up a high ladder and zip line off into the water. Other bars had huge water slides and one had an unreal high zip swing that was class but we didn't try them. I'm not the best swimmer so the thought of zip lining from a height into deep water is not one for me lol. Shar was afraid shed lose her grip straight away
and fall in! It was crazy really and the even crazier thing was that people were off their faces with drink and getting up a high ladder and doing this! It was a great experience- really was a mad place. People were writing all over each other in marker but we got someone to spraypaint our backs. Shar got a pic of a bucket and I got one that said 'Fuck it have a bucket!' Some people there had stayed on a few more days to do the tubing every day as the partying was so good.
Others didn't even tube but just went to the bars for the day as they were so good. When we rented the tubes we knew they had to be back for 6pm or else you would have to pay extra. The riverside bar we were in was jointed. The bar was an outside area next to the river with everyone crammed in together drinking and dancing. We were considering heading on down stream at one point but said we would have another bucket ( bucket of vodka and sprite) as the place was
really hopping. All of a sudden we noticed the place getting a bit emptier. We started to worry abit because it was getting to 4.30 and we didnt know how long the tubing would take and also it got dark about 6. (On the way we were told not to let it too late to float down as it can be quiet scary in the dark floating in the river). So we drank up and started off downstream. Well there was only 1 tube left at our bar but we were told go to the next bar and take one from there so Shar swam over there and got one. We thought surely we would make it back in 1 and half hours. Well, it was harder than we thought!! The river was pretty calm in most parts so that meant a lot of paddling was needed to pick up speed. At one point I was getting nowhere fast so I decided to switch my position and try to place my legs on top of the tube rather than in it. (Dont forget lol im not the best swimmer!!) So I started changing position and just before I had it the tube flipped and landed me and our dry bag in the water. At first I kind of panicked lol as the tube was floating away and also my flip flops and the bag were in the water so I just told
myself to get the tube. I got it EVENTUALLY and managed to somehow get in. Shars swam back to me (a la Baywatch style with her tube in tow) and grabbed my flip flops and the bag. [Sharon: lol he was a funny sight with his head bobbing up in the water as he struggled to get to his tube which was moving faster than he was so I had to come to the rescue!) We tubed away on anyway with a few others but at about 5pm we asked a local how long further. He said about 2 more kms which would take about 1 and half hours and we were going places nowhere fast. So us and 4 lads from New Zealand decided to stop along the way and see could we get a tuk tuk back. Thank god we did- we were charged a high price for the tuk tuk but it worked out better than having to keep going and having to pay a fine for arriving back late. We were also freezing and very wet (Laos can get really cold at night time- well cold for Asian standards anyway). When we got to the tuk tuk we noticed that the dry bag with all our gear in it was
actually wet inside. We obviously hadnt tied it up correctly or had too much stuff in it. We had our camera and my phone in it along with clothes and stuff but they didnt matter. The phone and camera didnt work so it was abit of a bummer. Luckily my sim card still works as it had credit in it. As for the phone I would probably have gotten a new one when home anyway as I like to update my phone so nothing really lost there. I also have pics and videos on it but have most of
them saved to laptop. Also luckily the memory card in the camera still works so we lost out on no photos thank god. Maybe when they dry fully they might work again but I doubt it. Either way we were haunted that both sim and memory card were fine so not too bad at all in the end. Lol and main thing is that I was safe!!!


The partying continued later that night in the bars- we went out to one of them but it was
only so so and didnt pick up for a while. Also a lot of posers there-you know the type. Overall, the tubing was very eventful and was a class experience.

We had a bus the next morning at 8.30am to our final destination in Laos.




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Vientiane, Lao Peoples Dem Rep


Our overnight train arrived safely into Laos. We started off in the capital which is called Vientiane. We arrived on the outskirts of the city where we had to apply for our visas. We got a 30 day visa for 35 US dollars-it was the shortest visa you could get. We think they were chancers because Lonely Planet says its 30 USD and when Shar asked why it had changed they questioned her to whether she was here before. She said yes to see what they would stay but didn't have the nerve to keep up the lie so said oh no quickly! It seemed a bit suss though when they asked that but we happily paid it. We got a shared taxi van into the city with 3 other travelers,1 from Spain, 1 from Switzerland and 1 from Canada who was teaching in Bangkok. Vientiane is possibly the smallest and most laid back capital city in the world- well defo what
we know of anyway, and we've been to a few now its fair to say! It has 2 ATM machines in the city (according to lonely planet- travelers bible at times) and is so laid back. There was not a lot to do there really so we just stayed the one day. It had nice places to eat so we treated ourselves to a nice lunch and an expensive enough dinner which was beautiful- I had steak while Shars had pizza. Really good to eat some good western foods again. The city has connections with France and a lot of the street names are in French. This is perhaps why the eateries were so good and the city itself was very clean and had a really relaxed vibe to it- lol even the tuk tuk drivers were not too in your face. It was great!!


We also visited a temple there which is meant to be the most famous in Laos. It was good to
see but nothing out of this world. It was funny to see some of the things people do to get money out of tourists. Outside the entrance to the temple there were locals with little birds in wooden cages and they were looking for money from tourists who could in turn open the cage and set the birds free. Total tourist trap lol but of course we saw a good few do it. We both thought it was cruel and the more tourists do these things the more it will go on. Its very interesting
seeing how different cultures make money in any way possible.


We left Vientiane early on Saturday morning and got a bus to our next destination of Vang
Vieng.

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Bangkok, Thailand

We went back to Bangkok on another overnight bus but the legroom was shocking this time so Ror must have been cramping up big time. We arrived at around 4am so we all got off totally wreaked. One girl had taken a sleeping tablet so was totally drowsy. Some other people figured out where we were and we all went in search of a hostel. We got to Soi Rambuttri and found a nice guesthouse that I had marked off in Lonely Planet. She said the room would be available at 5am but couldn't let us in the room then (4.30am) or we would have to pay for the previous night so we went out for a walk. The area seemed lovely and there were lots of people out drinking but it wasn't a bit messy which was strange for that hour - it seemed like it was 9pm and they were out for a quiet drink with their friends just chatting. Some stall owners were setting up for the day which was bizarre - they start so early. We finally got to bed but sher we couldn't sleep for ages as we had woken up being awake for so long.

The alarm woke us at 9am and we got up as we had to pick up our passports from the Chinese Embassy. The visa had already been processed so we had to pay for it even though we wouldn't be using it this time around but at least we got the passports back. We headed back to hostel and booked a night train to Laos. Ror was allergic to Bangkok but I liked the area we were staying in. It was near Khao San Road so we went for a gander - thronged with clothes and not the best prices either - they weren't really open to much bargaining and I felt like they were expensive compared to prices in Malaysia (obviously still cheap as chips compared to home)

We went to the train station and got the night train to Nang Koi which is the Thai border crossing into Laos. We had gotten a night train to Chiang Mai the last time we were here so I knew I loved them - they are so comfy compared to the buses over here. Ror got the bottom roomy berth of course but I didn't mind - I had a good sleep. There was an old man (about 70) with a Thai woman about 25 sitting near us - it was disgusting. From what I could gather from the conversation he lives with her in Nong Koi. I came back from the loo at one stage and they were kissing - I nearly had to run back in and get sick - mank. He was practically old enough to be her grandad - eugh! Anyway the next morning they woke us up at 6.30am but I stayed in bed for ages. We didn't get there until about 9 so I don't know why the early wake up call. Then one of the attendants told us to 'Get Up' around 8.30am. It was so abrupt but I guess he doesn't speak much english and didn't mean for it to come across so rude. We went through immigration and got another train over the border and across the Friendship Bridge and into Laos.

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