I cannot believe Christmas has come and gone. Whilst you have been sitting around your Christmas trees opening your presents, we have been lying on sun beds and getting massages on the beach and getting engaged! Christmas eve at 12 midnight, Terry got down on his knee and proposed to me. He gave me a gorgeous wooden ring, carved by hand with a love heart on the top by a local Thai guy. We spent Christmas day celebrating and swimming. We’ve been taking trips on the long tail boats around the island and taking long walks down the white sands. The cottage we are staying in is beautiful. All made out of bamboo and local woods, beautiful bed and gorgeous surroundings, also with our very own hammock and sarongs! We left Koh Ngai with anticipation and excitement as we travelled to Krabi airport to meet Amanda and Lewis.
Shattered and disorientated, Amanda and Lewis came through arrivals with thie backpacks and smiles attached. I was so happy to see them. We spent a day on a bus over to Surat Thani and then another night on a boat to Koh Phangan island. The guys were exhausted and we were cramed in like chickens, each with our own mat and mosquito ridden window that wouldn’t shut. It left port at 11pm and arrived at 5am this moring. We took a tuk tuk to our resort and arrived at ‘Cookie Salad’. We stayed in really big rooms overlooking the beach and the ocean from our balcony hammocks. It was paradise, palm trees swaying in the slight breeze and the sun beaming on our faces saying welcome to paradise, all the travelling became worth every second. Today we have been lazing around together, catching up and sunbathing. Theres an infinity pool here so the boys have been somersaulting in the water and a few cocktails have been drunk.
We have the famous full moon new year party coming up, its suppose to be out of this world, 40,000 people on one beach, hmm...wish us luck!!
Saturday, 29 December 2007
Saturday, 22 December 2007
Merry Christmas from Thailand!
Merry Christmas everyone! I hope everyone is enjoying the Christmas build up. Sorry we haven’t written a blog in a while we have been travelling from Cambodia to Thailand. From Siem Reap, we flew to Bangkok airport and took a taxi to Koh San Road for our first experience of Travellers Bangkok. Our taxi pulled up outside Burger King and we turned around to see a street full of advertising, take aways, hostels, people, markets, children, basically everything you need in one street. We walked up the road, backpacks on our backs and looked around for a hostel. After 30 minutes of searching we found an ok hostel down a side street named ‘Marcopolo’s’. The hostel was 300 baht a night and was basically 4 chip board walls, a cupboard for a toilet and shower and a bed with bright white sheets. We dropped our bags off and went our exploring. The streets surrounding Koh San were filled with market stalls, internet cafes, children with things to sell and smells of Thai food cooking on an open stove. The noise was overpowering, clubs pumping out music and the sounds of horns as the taxis all try and get by. This was so different to the serenity of the sunrise over Angkor Wat, this was commercialisation at its best. We decided that, even only being in Bangkok for about 3 horus, we needed to get away and see the real Thailand. We walked past a travel agent, popped in to meet an English guy named Dave and booked a course in Scuba diving on the island of Koh Tao. The next day we were on a bus to Krabi and a rough boat ride over to Koh Tao. Once there we were met by the diving school and shown our beach front accommodation. The island was incredible, palm trees everywhere, sun blazing down on the turquoise sea and a lush swimming pool to laze around in. Or so I thought. I actually got roped into Scuba diving with the crew we had met and we all started our PADI course the very next day. It was exciting at first, putting the wet suit on and laughing at each other trying to walk around with our flippers on and then the hard work began and we were swimming around under the water learning how to use all of the equipment. After a day of practising, taking our masks off and on under the water and breathing without our respirators, we were ready to try the real ocean.
We boarded a boat and dove 3 times with the crew, up skilling in diving and passing all of the requirements for the PADI. On the last dive though, disaster struck and I had a seizure at 12 metres deep. Very unexpected, but my regulator fell out, my goggles came off and I plummeted to around 18 metres before being rescued by one of the instructors, Jessie. He took me straight to the surface; Terry followed and said I was blue and unconscious. I was given mouth to mouth and pure oxygen and slowly came round, screaming hysterically. I don’t remember anything until I woke up in the hospital bed hours later, after another boat ride and car journey and x ray. That put an end to any PADI qualifications and we spent the next 4 days in the hospital.
We are off tomorrow to relax on a deserted island named Koh Ngai, i cannot wait and then only a few days until Amanda and Lewis get here to see us!
Hope everyone is ok, miss you all so much!!!
We boarded a boat and dove 3 times with the crew, up skilling in diving and passing all of the requirements for the PADI. On the last dive though, disaster struck and I had a seizure at 12 metres deep. Very unexpected, but my regulator fell out, my goggles came off and I plummeted to around 18 metres before being rescued by one of the instructors, Jessie. He took me straight to the surface; Terry followed and said I was blue and unconscious. I was given mouth to mouth and pure oxygen and slowly came round, screaming hysterically. I don’t remember anything until I woke up in the hospital bed hours later, after another boat ride and car journey and x ray. That put an end to any PADI qualifications and we spent the next 4 days in the hospital.
We are off tomorrow to relax on a deserted island named Koh Ngai, i cannot wait and then only a few days until Amanda and Lewis get here to see us!
Hope everyone is ok, miss you all so much!!!
Saturday, 15 December 2007
Cambodia
Batu Caves
Me in a temple..Angkor Wat temples
Terrys favourite...the jungle temple
Sunrise Cafe..Battambang, Cambodia..check out my meal..homemade chips too..and yes thats a brownie there!!
Me and Chan..our moto driver..2 of us on the back of that!!
Wednesday, 12 December 2007
The temples of Battambang
From Phnom Penh in the South West of Cambodia we travelled by bus to Battambang, a small town 5 hours away from Siem Reap. When we got off the bus we were hounded by moto drivers and so picked the one that had the nicest hostel picture. Basically that’s the best way to choose! Our first moto experience, me, the driver and my huge bag on the back of a motorbike...was a little anxious, but it was fantastic, the wind in your hair and the freedom! They say the best way to get around Cambodia is by moto as the roads are few and far between. Our hostel was really nice, a little noisy but had everything you need for $2.50 a night, we found a local restaurant that was recommended in the Lonely Planet and then headed to bed.
The next day we took a moto each to the remote temples surrounding Battambang. There are still thousands of mines left over from the Khmer Rouge so we could not get off the moto unless for a temple. We walked around all the temples, covered by vines and moss and were greeted in one of them by a big group of school children, all individually wanting their picture one by one with Terry and then with me. We took a train half way back to Battambang, well an example of a cargo train. We had to move the whole thing of the track every time a ‘real’ train acme down the track. Village children came out to see us when we were there and we handed out our supply of biscuits to the kids.
The next day we took a slow boat to Siem Reap. The boat was really small and we piled on, tightly packed for the journey. They estimated the journey anywhere from 4 hours to 24 hours depending on how many times you break down. We broke down around 4 times and managed the journey in 8 hours. We stopped along the way for lunch in a floating shop, a random shop on stilts ready for our arrival. The journey passed floating villages, schools and people surviving on fishing. All the children were running out onto the edge of the embankment to wave hello.
When we arrived in Siem reap we were hounded by tuk tuk drivers, they piled onto the boat and tried to grab our bags. We had to literally fight them off as we had a prearranged booking for a hostel. We spotted our hostel and took the 20 minute journey and collapse on oru beds for a rest. The hostel was really nice, clean and had air conditioning which was delicious at this point, oh and with the odd gecko in the room! We booked the same tuk tuk for the next day’s trip to the Angkor temples.
Yesterday we spent the whole day visiting the temples, say no to every child begging you to buy their post cards or guide books and drinking water as the sun was so hot. The temples, built in the 9th-13th centuries, were incredibly grand and were very intricate in design. Tourists were using elephants to take them around the sites.
This morning we awoke very early (4am) to travel to Angkor Wat and witness the sun rise. It was quiet and peaceful when the sun finally woke up and spread its light across the eastern hemisphere.
Missing you all, especially as its coming close to christmas, is so strange to think that we will be in Thailand for Christmas!
The next day we took a moto each to the remote temples surrounding Battambang. There are still thousands of mines left over from the Khmer Rouge so we could not get off the moto unless for a temple. We walked around all the temples, covered by vines and moss and were greeted in one of them by a big group of school children, all individually wanting their picture one by one with Terry and then with me. We took a train half way back to Battambang, well an example of a cargo train. We had to move the whole thing of the track every time a ‘real’ train acme down the track. Village children came out to see us when we were there and we handed out our supply of biscuits to the kids.
The next day we took a slow boat to Siem Reap. The boat was really small and we piled on, tightly packed for the journey. They estimated the journey anywhere from 4 hours to 24 hours depending on how many times you break down. We broke down around 4 times and managed the journey in 8 hours. We stopped along the way for lunch in a floating shop, a random shop on stilts ready for our arrival. The journey passed floating villages, schools and people surviving on fishing. All the children were running out onto the edge of the embankment to wave hello.
When we arrived in Siem reap we were hounded by tuk tuk drivers, they piled onto the boat and tried to grab our bags. We had to literally fight them off as we had a prearranged booking for a hostel. We spotted our hostel and took the 20 minute journey and collapse on oru beds for a rest. The hostel was really nice, clean and had air conditioning which was delicious at this point, oh and with the odd gecko in the room! We booked the same tuk tuk for the next day’s trip to the Angkor temples.
Yesterday we spent the whole day visiting the temples, say no to every child begging you to buy their post cards or guide books and drinking water as the sun was so hot. The temples, built in the 9th-13th centuries, were incredibly grand and were very intricate in design. Tourists were using elephants to take them around the sites.
This morning we awoke very early (4am) to travel to Angkor Wat and witness the sun rise. It was quiet and peaceful when the sun finally woke up and spread its light across the eastern hemisphere.
Missing you all, especially as its coming close to christmas, is so strange to think that we will be in Thailand for Christmas!
Friday, 7 December 2007
Malaysia - Kuala Lumpur
Thursday, 6 December 2007
Cape Town
Here is a snippet of Cape Town, Malaysia to come!
The penquin colony at Boulders Bay, just south of Cape Town
Table Mountain, the view from our backpackers.
Terry up table mountain, it was so windy that they shut the mountain down just seconds after this shot!
Tel in the township, this kid just loved terry and held his hand.
Shark Diving!
Malaysia and Phnom Penh, Cambodia
The Petronas towers were by appointment only so the KL Tower had to suffice. We climbed its huge mountain to get there and jumped in the life before being greeted by a set of headphones and a PDA. We walked in platform looking over what Kuala Lumpur has now become. A city of high rises, trees and motorways. We walked its street for the first 2 days, exploring every museum and park that we could fit in. We ate delights from the Indian section and may have had a sneaky pizza hut to satisfy our cravings. The hotel was great, very comfortable and quiet with ear plugs in. After having enough of city life, we ventured 30 minutes out of town to the Batu caves. When we arrived we were greeted by a huge 135 feet gold statue of a Hindu deity of Murugan which cost approximately 24 million rupees and is made of 300 litres of gold paint! We climbed the 272 stone steps to the entrance of a huge cave covered with Hindu statues and religious devotees kneeling to their gods.
After experiencing a little of the real Malaysia we decided to take an 5 hour bus journey to the Cameron highlands, land of tea plantations and jungle. The journey was pretty breathtaking, in terms of view and height, many times we felt as if we were going to tip over to our deaths. Waterfalls used part of the highway to escape further down the mountains and monkeys regularly jumped in the driver’s way as we drove higher and higher into the Malaysian highlands.
Once we arrived, we were grabbed left and right by local taxi drivers and hostel owners but we had already booked ‘fathers guesthouse’ for our accommodation. We arrived to our room, a lovely little room overlooking tea plantations and met with our local guide to be taken on a 2 day exploration of the jungle and plantations. It all began the same afternoon, we drove to the local plantations and ate cake and drank tea after having an introduction into how the plantation works. After this we drove further and further into the jungle before jumping out and starting a nice hours trek through jungle that looked like it directly came out of Lord of the Rings. Mossy forest it was called for all of its distinct features, moss and ferns everywhere. We were shown amazing new plants, brightly coloured and massive. After an hour, we finally arrived at a small community village. The village elder came to greet us and allowed us into his house for some local food and music. The children ran around the village and tried to peek in at us with the elders but they were shooed away at each attempt. We tried out the local musical instruments, one that you had to place up your nose to blow! Once we were accepted into the community we went outside to be shown how the village people catch animals for their dinner by using a blow pipe. We all, of course, had a go and were all equally terrible! The children were beautiful, all with no hair on their heads and scruffy attempts at clothes. After an hour playing marbles and stone throwing with the kids we left the village and trekked back to the car, being shown on the way local face painting techniques.
Once we arrived back in KL, we went straight away by taxi to the airport for our flight up to Cambodia. Although only having a whistle-stop tour of Malaysia, it was still an amazing highlight.
Yesterday we arrived in Phnom Penh. A hot, smelly and busy city. Coming from a very clean, modern and rich capital was a shock to the system. After getting our visas on entry we left the airport for a herd of taxi drivers. We accepted the cheapest price and went to the hostel we have prearranged in Malaysia. The hostel was fine, a very small place with lots of hidden rooms. The bed was absolutely massive and we had a school just outside of window so lots of screaming kids when we arrived but it was sufficient for the purpose. The hostel movie of the night was an eerie ‘Killing Fields’ so we sat down to some chips and pizza and cried our eyes out at the horror of Cambodia’s recent history. The hostel had 2 options for a day trip around Phnom Pehn. As it was our first day in the country we thought we would take what they were offering and we chose option number 2, a day visiting the Killing Fields, the Toung Seul Musuem and the Russian Market, omitting the option to shoot AK47’s (why anyone would want to do that after going to the Killing Fields I have no idea!) The road to the Killy Fields was full of people, children and adults alike but so many of them begging and wounded from previous injuries caused by the Khmer Rouge such as lost limbs. The fields were full of visitors all facing the graveyard of thousands of people murdered by the Khmer Rouge. There is a tower of skulls shadowing over the uneven ground and emerging clothes of the graveyard. The place of eerily quiet and sorrowful. There was no a visitor in sight with a dry eye. The graves were organised by type of person, whether a child, male, female and were placed so close to the surfrace that the ground was full of bumps and clothes were everywhere you looked.
We left the fields in silence and moved on to the Toung Suel Musuem, a school that was used to execute and torture people during the evil reign. Within 5 minutes, I personally had had enough and could not stare into the eyes of people murdered by looking at theier photographs or witness the rooms with the original instruments in used for torure. It was too much. I decided to sit outside and wait for Terry as he finished the trip around. Whilst waiting, I was pretty much hounded by disabled and effected people who needed help.
After this, we really needed cheering up, our first impressions of Cambodia was sadness and devastation so we took our driver and tuk tu to the huge Russian market and spent a few hours walking around and looking at all of the nice souvenirs they sold. Our bags were tightly around our fronts due to the fact there were thousands of kids running around the tightly spaced corridors. We brought 4 children their lunch as they were so sad looking. They sat in front of us and ate the whole place in seconds. In 2 days we are leaving Phomn Penh by bus to travel to Battambang. From there we are taking a slow boat to Siem reap. We have left our passports with the owners of the hostel to get our Indian visas for us at the moment, fingers crossed we get them back!
After experiencing a little of the real Malaysia we decided to take an 5 hour bus journey to the Cameron highlands, land of tea plantations and jungle. The journey was pretty breathtaking, in terms of view and height, many times we felt as if we were going to tip over to our deaths. Waterfalls used part of the highway to escape further down the mountains and monkeys regularly jumped in the driver’s way as we drove higher and higher into the Malaysian highlands.
Once we arrived, we were grabbed left and right by local taxi drivers and hostel owners but we had already booked ‘fathers guesthouse’ for our accommodation. We arrived to our room, a lovely little room overlooking tea plantations and met with our local guide to be taken on a 2 day exploration of the jungle and plantations. It all began the same afternoon, we drove to the local plantations and ate cake and drank tea after having an introduction into how the plantation works. After this we drove further and further into the jungle before jumping out and starting a nice hours trek through jungle that looked like it directly came out of Lord of the Rings. Mossy forest it was called for all of its distinct features, moss and ferns everywhere. We were shown amazing new plants, brightly coloured and massive. After an hour, we finally arrived at a small community village. The village elder came to greet us and allowed us into his house for some local food and music. The children ran around the village and tried to peek in at us with the elders but they were shooed away at each attempt. We tried out the local musical instruments, one that you had to place up your nose to blow! Once we were accepted into the community we went outside to be shown how the village people catch animals for their dinner by using a blow pipe. We all, of course, had a go and were all equally terrible! The children were beautiful, all with no hair on their heads and scruffy attempts at clothes. After an hour playing marbles and stone throwing with the kids we left the village and trekked back to the car, being shown on the way local face painting techniques.
Once we arrived back in KL, we went straight away by taxi to the airport for our flight up to Cambodia. Although only having a whistle-stop tour of Malaysia, it was still an amazing highlight.
Yesterday we arrived in Phnom Penh. A hot, smelly and busy city. Coming from a very clean, modern and rich capital was a shock to the system. After getting our visas on entry we left the airport for a herd of taxi drivers. We accepted the cheapest price and went to the hostel we have prearranged in Malaysia. The hostel was fine, a very small place with lots of hidden rooms. The bed was absolutely massive and we had a school just outside of window so lots of screaming kids when we arrived but it was sufficient for the purpose. The hostel movie of the night was an eerie ‘Killing Fields’ so we sat down to some chips and pizza and cried our eyes out at the horror of Cambodia’s recent history. The hostel had 2 options for a day trip around Phnom Pehn. As it was our first day in the country we thought we would take what they were offering and we chose option number 2, a day visiting the Killing Fields, the Toung Seul Musuem and the Russian Market, omitting the option to shoot AK47’s (why anyone would want to do that after going to the Killing Fields I have no idea!) The road to the Killy Fields was full of people, children and adults alike but so many of them begging and wounded from previous injuries caused by the Khmer Rouge such as lost limbs. The fields were full of visitors all facing the graveyard of thousands of people murdered by the Khmer Rouge. There is a tower of skulls shadowing over the uneven ground and emerging clothes of the graveyard. The place of eerily quiet and sorrowful. There was no a visitor in sight with a dry eye. The graves were organised by type of person, whether a child, male, female and were placed so close to the surfrace that the ground was full of bumps and clothes were everywhere you looked.
We left the fields in silence and moved on to the Toung Suel Musuem, a school that was used to execute and torture people during the evil reign. Within 5 minutes, I personally had had enough and could not stare into the eyes of people murdered by looking at theier photographs or witness the rooms with the original instruments in used for torure. It was too much. I decided to sit outside and wait for Terry as he finished the trip around. Whilst waiting, I was pretty much hounded by disabled and effected people who needed help.
After this, we really needed cheering up, our first impressions of Cambodia was sadness and devastation so we took our driver and tuk tu to the huge Russian market and spent a few hours walking around and looking at all of the nice souvenirs they sold. Our bags were tightly around our fronts due to the fact there were thousands of kids running around the tightly spaced corridors. We brought 4 children their lunch as they were so sad looking. They sat in front of us and ate the whole place in seconds. In 2 days we are leaving Phomn Penh by bus to travel to Battambang. From there we are taking a slow boat to Siem reap. We have left our passports with the owners of the hostel to get our Indian visas for us at the moment, fingers crossed we get them back!
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