Luang Prabang-ing the waterfalls

Getting to Luang Prabang was adventurous with the bus ride taking us through the mountains, with huge drops on either side of the road. I don't think our apprentice Vince enjoyed it too much but he's a bit of a wimp. We got there in the afternoon and luckily found a decent guesthouse to stay in, which was close enough to the action. Nothing much happened on the first day as me and Danny passed out early from hardcore travelling.

The plan for the next morning was to be ready for 10am and hire some motorbikes to go and see Pak Ou caves and the huge waterfall but Vince did his normal disappearing act to the internet cafe, so we had to change our plans and got a tuk tuk, because motorbikes was surprisingly expensive. We had Beth, Kate, Chris (who we met in Vang Vieng), Eddy, Steve, Shakira and Lianne on our little tour of Luang Prabang and when we finally got going, it seemed that we we were really pushing for time and for no particular reason, we visited Pak Ou caves first. We had to get a boat to get across the Mekong river to visit the caves and some of them decided to swim across. With my swimming skills, I decided it would be best for me to look after the bags and get on the boat. Dan, Chris and Vince made it across but were shattered, but Beth on the other hand, thought she could live up to the task, had to be rescued from a rock because the current was too strong - NUMPTY! There were 2 caves, which were Buddhist related so we didn't find them too interesting and ALL of us made our way back across on the boat.

We had to get 2 tuk tuks because there were 10 of us and the tuk tuk that I was in made it to the waterfalls within an hour of it closing but the tuk tuk Danny and his crew were in broke down and they got there a little later. The Kung Si waterfall is a tired fall that flows over limestone formation and has turquiosed water pools to swim in. It's probably the most beautiful waterfall I've seen with it being a "natural waterpark" for kids or us. We climbed to the top of the falls, which wasn't too interesting but the climb backdown was slippy and required me to concentrate - BAD TIMES. We weren't supposed to, but we swam under the huge falls. I tried swimming towards it but the power of the fall wasn't allowing me to get close. Best way to describe this scenario was like swimming on a treadmill, as I wasn't getting any closer! We made our way down the waterfalls, with loads of mini falls on the way until we hit the main area for us, where there was a rope swing. Obviously this meant we stayed there for a while until darkness hit us, and we all wished we got here earlier because we could have eaily spent all day here.

Luang Prabang Photo Link:

http://www3.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=4646400011/a=2264773011_2264773011/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Tubing in the Vang Vieng

The amount of people you see in South-east Asia with a 'Tubing in the Vang Vieng' vest is ridiculous. We were determined to vist the place and NOT buy one of those scumbag things. All though I did get a 'same same but different' vest, but there way cooler. Yeah.

Vang Vieng like Yangshuo and Halong Bay has the incredible karst teeth potruding from the earth, making the landscape look incredible. The Nam Song River runs through the town and with it holds the world famous tubing spot of Vang Vieng.

What happens here is everyone goes North up the river to an area where there are lakeside bars and gets completely hammered, basically. Im sure you can guess that the place is completely flooded with British backpackers since we are the binge nation. What a horrible label to hold. The bars have lots of different activities for the pissheads to entertain themselves with like beer pong, bucket pong or some shit? and the numerous number of trapeze swings, zip wires, death slides and straight freefall jumping spots into the river. At this time of year as well the water is considerably low for the stunts that some people perform on the apparatus. Legend has it that a few deaths have occured here, mainly from knocks to the head on the rocks that jurt out of the water. We wernt taking any chances.

We had to have a go on the trapeze swings of course, but the water was deep enough there (I checked). I did manage to get a nasty rope burn from some little kid running the trapeze who threw the excess rope of the swing around me by an accident. I managed to remove it from around my neck but still came off with a burn to the arm. No biggie. We also covered one another in black marker pen, with the mark of the day being 'the punch spot' on Vince's arm drawn by yours truly. The following day, he had the biggest bruise, but we just kept telling him he needed to wash the pen off properly.

After the big river piss up, everyone heads back to the main town and continues the drinking there. Theres a lot of drug usage in these parts, primarily shrooms and opium. Im sure I could list a hand full of people who would be in their element here but thats another blog I think. During the night a thunderstorm struck the area and all the power went out, causing the parties to come to an early end. But it was a great day to say the least. We have heard about peopel staying here for 2 even 3 weeks, doing the same thing day in, day out. Once was definately enough for us. There was even talk of a girl who had been working there a year, getting paid 2 quid a day but also recieving free drinks and accomodation........what a loser.

The day after the madness, is usually spent in one of the million and one bars/cafes showing either continuous repeats of 'friends' or 'family guy'. Since Maj was training me up to watch more friends it was a great way to realx the day away. But once again the shitty food of Laos made an appearance. Apart from that, it would have been spot on.

We met a few more people here including 2 sets of 2 Mancs (Beth and Kate, Claire and Kim) a guy called Chris from Tumbridge Wells, who was travelling with Beth and Kate, and a lad from Wakefield who was travelling with the other two, we just knew him as Wakey for the time being.

Since it was unwise to take the camera tubing, we only have a couple of pics here, one of Vince's sore arse. I think him and Maj are getting too close.

Vang Vieng Photo Link: Sorry! Lack of pics here. Couldnt afford to risk losing the camera when drinking. But Check Luang Prabang for the two pictures we did take of the misty mountains!

Squeeling piggies to get to the Capital

We made our way to Tha Khaek, where there are meant to be some caves that are worth seeing but this meant that we had to get a local bus. We thought we would be ok to say we have travelled India, which has the worst buses ever. The travel wasn't too bad as we got seats but the bus kept stopping, either to pick up passengers or pigs- Yes Pigs!. They would take them from the van and put them in bags squeeling,fastened to the roofs along with motorbikes and luggage. We got there really late in the evening and stayed in a motel at the bus station. It looked really dodgy with loads of prostitutes hanging around trying to get some work. We stayed in prob the most ghetto room on our trip but we were only there for one night and it were cheap so it did for us. The next morning, we made our way to a guesthouse that spoke English and foundut that we need 2 days to get there and back and we wanted to do it in one day so we can get our visa for Thailand. Me and Danny walked down the street to rent a motorbike whilst Vince was licking his wounds from his motorbike. We decided againts it in the end because it was too much hard work so we got another local bus to Vientienne.

The bus journey to Vientienne was a lot quicker then we thought but we had to endure the ride sitting on plastic stools in the aisle of the bus. Vientienne is probably the best capital that we have visitied in terms of how clean it was and how quiet it was for a capital in the are we were staying. Our main objective was to get our visa for Thailand, which we did on Friday morning. They told us to pick up the passports on Monday, which meant we had to stay extra days in the capital, which was slighly expensive but we didn't have much choice. This gave us a good chance to catch up on the blog so you folks can share our adventure.

We did some sightseeing on the Sunday by hiring some uncomfortable bikes and cycling to Putoxia, which looke like Char minar in India but uglier. There was no real purpose of it being there so it didn't interest us much, so we moved onto Pha That Lung, which is Laos national monument. It was gold and that's probably the most interesting thing about it but I suppose if your into Laos, then it would be cool. Danny carried on cycling to see the Buddha caves, as I was in pain from the run the night before. It had a huge buddha laying on it's side. If you've ever played street fighter on Sagat's stage, you will knwo the resemblance between the buddha that Danny saw and the one in the game.

On Monday afternoon, we picked up our passports pretty swiftly, as we came a little earlier to que up, got a tuk tuk , and then got a bus to Vang Vieng-our nest destination.

Vientiene Photo Link:

http://www3.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=4645840011/a=2264773011_2264773011/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Pakse and The Bolaven Plateau

We reached Pakse and the idea was to rent some motors and go explore the Bolaven Plateau, which is the most bombed area of the most bombed country in the world.....ever. I think we would be safe enough. This was Abbies final stop with us, and she was flying over to Thailand to meet Screech, Monkey Boy and The Arab. So she didnt come on the bikes with us. Vince however sneaked his way in there with Maj and was brought along for the ride.

Our first day of riding took us past some coffee plantations where we had a try of some fine quality fair trade, it was really strong stuff, and I would have loved to have sent some home, but I dont reckon the drug squads would have been to pleased with that transaction, so I decided against the idea. A little later on the road we stopped at a random village just to make sure we were on the right track and we were dragged into a new years party (bare in mind new years was like a week ago, these guys really make the most of these celebrations) so we had water poured over us (they say its good luck????) given some colourfull wristbands to bring us luck again and were forced to have some beer lao (not much, since we were driving, and Maj had water the big poon). Then our faces were covered in talkum powder and we had a dance with the locals. It was great fun, and we recorded this one short dude (dance moves comparable to those of MJ) who was so funny and completely pissed. His face was masked in talkum powder, and were pretty sure he was semi blinded by the stuff. It was great to watch. After getting confirmation of the correct route we continued onwards to find our first waterfall.

It took a lot longer than we thought to reach the falls and after a few trial and error attempts at finding them we asked directions once more. This time and even more rural village was again partying the year away till 2011. We were once again pulled into the fun and games, this time to try the home brewed lao-lao whiskey, which is probably even more potent than the rice wine of China. We had to sit around a keg/basket on the floor and suck through these long straws to drink the stuff, and it was horrendous. Paint stripper would have been a treat. We quickly made an escape and within the next hour managed to find Katamthok. It was worth the hunt, this waterfall was gigantic. The biggest any of us had ever seen, standing about 120 meters tall, we had a perfect view of it from the other side of the valley.

The day was drawing to a close and we stayed at a little road side gusethouse (lucky to be found actually) and had a delicious dinner of sweet sausage, mixed chicken kebab (including liver, balls, and other parts that were unidentifiable) and sticky rice (which is rock hard stale rice basically). The next morning we skipped breakfast, and made our way to the next set of falls. This time they were really wide but only a max of 10m tall. We had our morning wash in the river and I joined some youngers for some jumps off the top of the falls. Great fun. They had some slingshots that they used to go around killing lizards with, and they had already sniped two that day. They were an amazing shot. Me and Vince tried hitting Maj while he was taking some pics.

After a photo shoot with about another 10 or so kids (one who was smoking too the little shit) we headed out for Tad Lo. After getting lunch we were shocked to see the thickest blackest clouds making there way towards us on the road. Just by chance, and again, sheer luck, there was an abandoned shack on the roadside. Just as we were climbing over the barb wire, the rain started to reach us. We made it inside the cabin and decided to wait out the storm. It was pretty intense at times, with the rain being so loud on the roof that we couldnt hear each other speak. Once the thunder and lightning kicked in, and made its way closer it got scary, I wont lie. Maj and Vince were hugging one another for moral support. Afterwards, I think Vince was a little too shook by the strom and nearly shat himself, haha. He made it to the back of the cabin in time, but a complete mess of the back steps. Im definately adding that photo so take a look over his right shoulder for the abuse he committed in Laos.

After the storm moved on, we found our way to Tad Lo and had a fool around in the falls here. It was a nice little spot to relax for the evening and the digs were pretty high standard for the price, so everyone was happy. We headed out early again the next morning on our way back to Pakse. About 30km away from Pakse, with me and Maj sharing a bike in the lead, we noticed through the wing mirror that Vince had unexpectedly tumbled off his bike. We did a quick U-wy and went to help him out. Turns out that his back tyre had suddenly just blown and sent him flying off the bike. He did well to avoid any serious injuries. A Canadian couple were driving past at the time and helped us to fix up his really sore looking foot (all the skin had been torn off) but like I said, he was extremely lucky to come away with these minor injuries. I pushed his bike back tot he previous village where a mechanic (theres always one about out here) fixed his tyre for us, and we were able to complete the journey back to Pakse without any further problems. Big thanks to the two Canadians, who were also kind enough to give us a spare inner tube. Raised their countries rank in my eyes. Them and Terrance and Philip of course buddy.

We travelled about a total of 320km on our motorbike adventure through the Bolaven Plateau and saw some beautiful scenery. Too bad the food sucks here and Vince wiped out.

Pakse and Bolaven Plateau Photo Link:
http://www3.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=4644780011/a=2264773011_2264773011/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

4000 islands (Si Phon Don)

With the Leeds boys all pissed up and drugged up, the 4000 islands sounded promising. Once the border was successfully crossed, we got a bus for a short while and then hopped on a small boat to Don Det, which is one of the 3 islands that is open to tourists. The Leeds boys were truly hammered by the time we arrived and the big lad of the group nearly tipped the boat over when he got off!

There is a sunrise and sunset side of the island and for no particualr reason, we chose the Sunset side. All the guesthouses had bungaolws with hammocks outside on the porch, which promoted the art of 'chilling'. We stayed here for 3 days in total and could have easily stayed here longer but we do have to carry on with our journey at some point. The island has such a chilled out vibe that you would always want to relax and that;s what pretty much happened for the 1st and 2nd day. Me and Vince just chilled on tubes in the river for most of the 2nd day and then Danny and Abbie had their chance on the 2nd part of the afternoon. We decided to do some activity on the 3rd day and walked to the other side of the island, where Don Khon joins to Don Det via a bridge. On the way there, Danny and his love for animals took over him and he decided to annoy and pester a monkey that was tied up to a tree. The monkey had enough when Danny took his crisp packet and went for his head-served hime right lol. (This is caught on video, and its hilarious). It costs to visit that island, so we decided against it. We chilled in the river for a while and then me and Abbie went back to chill on the hammocks.

Danny went and ventured off by himself and got confronted by three dogs, which led him to steal a fisherman boat for his escape. The boat journey was smooth, going up the river until the current was too strong and he had to park the boat but when he did get off, there was a buffalo eyeing him up for his afternoon meal. In his head, he had a fight with the buffalo, got him in a head lock and elbow dropped him, but really, he went up the river a little bit more, ditched the boat and walked through the jungle to find the path back to ours-Attenborough at his best!

The great thing about the island is that they've left it untouched as much as they can. Yes there are loads of bungalows and restaurants but the locals are very much still locals and hardly speak English. We were there over the Laos new year, and although it's meant to last 3 days, the locals on this island decided they weren't done with partying and carried on while we were there.

They didn't have an ATM or a western union so we were fucked but our friend Abbie National, had to get us out of trouble by lending us the money until we could withdraw in Pakse. It's not the first time she's saved our arse (motherly care-bless her!)

4000 Islands photo link:
http://www3.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=4545832011/a=2264773011_2264773011/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Cambodia Summary

Days travelled- 11 days (1 week, 4 days)

Distance travelled- Approx. 2,200km (1,367 miles)

Hours on transport- 37 hours (1 day, 13 hours)

Destinations- 5

Top 3

3 - Ban Lung - This was a really rural area for us to visit, and the lack of tourists here made it more special. Even though we only spent the one day here (Laos New Years day at that) we had a wicked time riding from waterfall to waterfall causing mayhem as we moved.

2 - Phnom Penh - The capital has a lot of recent history to it. Its quite emotional at times but educating and interesting aswell. Learning about how and why the tragedies occured, shows us what human beings are capable of commiting and hopefully will prevent anything so inhuman happening again. I doubt it though. The shooting range was great fun, but you have to go there BEFORE you visit S21 and the killing fields. I guarantee you will not be up for it afterwards.

1 - Siem Reap & The Angkor Temples - This was an easy selection for the top spot in Cambodge. The Angkor temples are the countries biggest tourist attraction and its easy to understand why. Reaching Angkor Wat for sunrise was pretty magical to witness. Too bad the entrance fee is $20, but its worth it all the same. Feeding ducks to crocs was quackin stuff too (lame attempt).

Final Advice

There are not that many tourist destinations in Cambodia as it is a progressing country. We only went to 5 different places but it was absolutely worth the visit, even if it was just to see the Angkor temples. The currency situation in Cambodia is very strange. They use american dollars (4000 rial = 1 US$) but anything under a dollar is used in Rial - local currency. This way they make profit everytime they use there own currency through the exchange rate. But its shrapnel. I hate the fact that you have to pay to recieve your exit stamps in this country, even if it is only US$1, its not right. The people here were really friendly to us, more so than Vietnam at least. And the general food here is pretty good standard. In Phnom Penh they have petrol stations/coffee shops/grocery stores dotted around everywhere, and it just reminded me of being in an American gas station - no official dunkin doughnuts though. I can guarantee there will be some really beautifull unexplored areas to this country, and the tourism here will probably continue to increase over the years.

Waterfall hunting Ban Lung

We only had one full day in Ban Lung and we used our time as best we could. We hired some motorbikes and went to visit the 4 waterfalls in the area (although one was lacking water). The second one we visited was easily the best, and most crowded. The entertainment included a giant waterfight and wrestle around with the local kids. And also watching the crazy sons of bitches jump from the top of the waterfall which must have been 20 meter high. These kids probably weighed about 20kg anyway, so they didn't go very deep. Insane stuff, but brave none the less. There was also a massive rope bridge here that everyone was swinging on (again very stupid) and making all the little kids cry.

When we left, Maj forgot to take the chain off of his bike so when he tried to drive off the chain just snapped, luckily no damage, but got blessed with the name meathead from Abbie. You deserved that one bruv. The last area we went to in Ban Lung was a volcanic crater that was now a lake. We went swimming here and found a floating log, so we were trying out the cartoon methos of running with the log on water. Didnt go down too well in real life.

This was the most secluded area of Cambodia that we have visited and the language barrier was strong here. There wasn't any banks or western unions here so we had to wait until Laos to get our monies.

We met Vince in Ban Lung, a designer from Brick Lane in London, who recommended a bus that was travelling over to Laos the following day. Since we were having problems finding one we joined him on the bus to cross the border. On our travels we switched minibuses in Stung Treng (Cambodia side still) and met 3 lads from Leeds. Now these guys were straight loonatics, as you can imagine, leeds scum at its finest. They were drinking the Cambodians answer to guiness known as 'Black Panther' (nothing to do with any racial uprising group) and they were snorting diazapan aka valium, on the way to the border (and had knocked back over a hundred in the last few days) What a great idea guys.

We got the border and were made to pay a dollar fee for our exit stamps (taking....) and our visa's (the.....) and our entry stamps (piss!!!!). When the Cambodian customs pursposefully stamped my passport on a blank page after I asked them not to, I lost my temper a little and started having an argument with them. Maj managed to calm me before the Ak's were drawn luckily. Im running out of pages god damnit!

Ban Lung Photo Link:

http://www3.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=4545171011/a=2264773011_2264773011/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Irrawaddy dolphins at Kratie

The journey to Kratie wasn't too bad until they crammed 8 people, including us, into a 5 seater car from some town near Kratie, which took around 3 hours. Kratie wasn't much of a tourist destination, with only one main guesthouse that spoke English and served western food. It was only a brief stay at Kratie, as we only wanted to see the Irrawaddy dolphins, the fresh water river dolphins, so we arranged a tuk tuk the following morning to take us to the main area where these dolphins are chilling.

It cost us $7 for a ticket and a 1hr boat trip on the river. At first it was hard to spot the dolphins because they only just came up enough to breathe but once we spotted our first few, we were like pro's finding them. So now, our mission was to get a good pic, which took a bit of a while but we did manage one. These dolphins weren't as fun as the one's you'd see in the sea and these were a lot uglier with a bottle nose so we got pretty bored once we got our pic.

We had to rush back from the dolphins, so we could get our bus to Ban Lung, our next destination. It was Laos new year on the 14th and we weren't so sure about transport on new years day, so we thought it would be best to move today on the 13th.

Kratie photo link:
http://www3.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=4544707011/a=2264773011_2264773011/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Siem Reap and the Angkor Temples

Siem Reap is a must for anyone travelling south-east Asia just to see the Angkor temples. There is a really pathetic and un-looked after crocodile farm, but you have to catch the feeding as its only once a week. Orrrrr you could buy a live duck for 6 bucks and feed em yourself! Hands up for those who thinks we did it? Not I says me. Quack, quack, quack, SNAP! onedeadduck.com

Angkor Wat is single most treasured construction in the whole of Cambodia. Everything is named after it in some way or another - the beer, cigarettes, hotels, roads and so on. It is known as the Khymer pride built in 1112 -1152 by King Suryavarman 2, and it really is quite incredible. We made the effort of waking up at 5am, and cycling the 15km from Siem Reap so that we could watch the sunrise. Everyone had recommended that we be there for it. The Angkor Temples are spread out over a grand distance (not sure of the exact). So it was best to cycle between all the different areas. After a quick walk, climb and scramble around the temple we moved onto Angkor Thom and the Bayon, which was erected in 1181 -1219 by King Jayavarman the 7th. The Bayon has 54 towers with a total of 216 huge faces carved into them. They are supposed be the likeliness of the king. After we went to see the elephant terrace and the leper king terrace, where we took the time to find out a hidden carving of a nine headed horse creature in one of the exposed rooms.

The day we went to the temples was probably our hottest yet, easily in the 40's. And with all the cycling, lack of food and water, Abbie started to feel a little badly, so she headed back. Me and Maj cycled the full distance of the Angkors and as we were on our way back who might we pass but Abbie! Who had stupidly gone the wrong way, she is from Essex after all. By this point she was completely worn out so Maj gave her a backky (thats backky John not backin) and I cycled hers and my bikes back. Good job the northerners were there to pick up the weak southerner.

Siem Reap Photo Link:

http://www3.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=4544535011/a=2264773011_2264773011/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Chill at Sihanoukville

This place is the beach resort of Cambodia, where the sea front i a packed with sun lounges in front of restaurants and bars. The beach is not too big so there's limited space after the sun lounges taking their spaces. We got here in the mid afternoon from Pnom Penh and stayed at a GST guesthouse, which had bungalows for $5. Although we found this out a few weeks after we were here, but GST got done because a 72 year old man was having sex with a 14 yr old girl in one of the rooms and this was all over CNN. Funnily enough, they have a notice clearly stating that sex with girls under the age of 16 is prohibited-tut tut.

There really wasn't much to do for us apart from sunbathe, play cards, read a book or listen to music. It does have a drinking vibe around this place but we're not really into that so we just chilled. There are opportunites to visit the islands but we've visited some in Nha Trang, Vietnam, so we weren't too fussed. I went for a couple of good runs down to the isolated beach, which was nice, especially when we've spent a lot of time in the tourist areas.

Probably the most interesting we did here was update our ipods. They have shops here where you can update your music and videos on your ipod for a $1 an album. It can only work here because they download illegally and therefore make a profit. We left on the 3rd night on a night bus to Siem Reap. Many people have knocked Sihanoukville for it not being much of a backpacker scene but it has a real chilled out vibe so I enjoyed my time there.

Sorry, we forgot to take photos of this place-that's how chilled we were!

Phnom Penh of Cambodia

Ok a little history lesson for you to start with. In a nutshell Cambodia has some really troubled history that dates back only 30 years ago. In 1975 the khymer rouge, led by Pol Pot began the genocidal destruction of their own country in an attempt to wipe out all other political campaigns that opposed them. This includes the imprisonment and execution of 17,000 Cambodians, most of whom were family of the said parties, so that the future generations would not fight back. We visited the S21 prison, that once was a high school, but was transformed to hold the kymers prisoners captive. Classrooms were turned into cell blocks and torture chambers and the halls were used for mass incarceration. It is said that upto 100 people were killed here each day while the masses were being detained. Little of the building has been tampered with since its use in the 70's so it is clear to see the nightmare that those people had to live their final days through.

We also visited Choeungek, better known these days as the killing fields. This is where the prisoners were transported to (about 15km away from the prison and center) executed in the thousands. There were grave sites, that had been excavated and in one in particular over 1000 human skulls had been removed from an area the size of half a tennis court. All these skulls have been placed inside a huge monument dedicated to those people and you are free to see and even touch the skulls (I have no idea why?) The most disturbing images we witnessed were of tiny babies being swung by the legs into tree trunks and added to the body count. Walking around the grave sites it is clear to see the remains of human skeletons on the surface of the ground, real disturbing stuff.

Since those days Cambodia has worked damn hard to reclaim its name as a nation. The people here were unbelievably friendly especially our friend DJ. He was a tuk-tuk driver who took us around on our sightseeing day, and boy was he a character. He told us how he was pissed off that porn was banned and had been blocked on the net in Cambodia, this really upset him. He also explained the difference between BOOM!-BOOM! (sex) and BA-BOOM! (rockets). Great teacher.


Being in Cambodia we took the opportunity to go to a shooting range where me and Abbie fired an M16 assault rifle. She hit a big fat zero out of 5. And I nailed 8 out of ten on the targets. She claims that she was aiming for my target, the video tells us otherwise, haha. But it was great fun. We passed on the option of shooting a rocket launcher at a live cow, it was too bloody expensive.

Our guesthouse, the drunken frog, was a lovely little spot with bamboo huts built above the lakeside, and a bar/lounge area also over the lake. It was a great spot to watch the sun go down.

I also checked out the central palace, Maj couldn't get in because he had a vest on, and he would scare the royal family. He didn't miss much except some beautifully decorated golden buildings. The area surrounding the palace was really nice though, again, next to the Mekong river, it was defiantely where the money was being spent in Phnom Penh.

Phnom Penh Photo Link:

http://www3.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=4544100011/a=2264773011_2264773011/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Vietnam Summary

Days travelled- 25 days (3 weeks, 4 days)

Distance travelled- Approx. 3243 km (2026 miles)

Hours on transport- 76 hours (3 days, 4 hours)

Destinations- 11

Top 3

3 - Hoi'an - Even though we had a lot of crap here from the locals, you have got to appreciate the beauty of the beaches in Hoi'an. Especially as it was our first since our days in India. The nightlife here was really great too, just dont mess with the local mafia, they'll knock you over the head with a bike helmet, or even worse a louis vuitton man bag!

2 - Halong Bay - Very close to taking the number one spot. We referred to this place as the Yangshuo of the sea. We had a really fun group to take in the experience with, which made everything that little bit better. It was such a good cruise. But again, its unlike anything in the world, a real unique destination.

1 - Phu Quoc Island - This was just paradise here. The guesthouse we managed to stay in was the best, and we paid so little for it. Making the short walk to the beach in the morning with a lipton ice tea (lemon of course) and good book to pass the time and your doing some serious chilling. Caution. Watch out for jellyfish.

Final Advice
We were warned numerous times about the scams that can go down in Vietnam, so we were extra cautious here. Especially when it comes to drugs and alchohol the locals and the police will try to trick you into trouble and make you pay a fine. Luckily we were not cheated whilst we were there. The roads are extremely dangerous here and its rare to go on a long road trip without seeing some form of acccident. The people here were friendly in the more rural areas of Vietnam, but in the big tourist spots you can get some pretty rude and unwelcoming sorts, which isnt too nice. On a better note, the country has some great things to offer, from its sights like Halong Bay to its cuisine. The North is very different to the South, with the South being favoured in our opinion. English is very widely spoken in Vietnam as is French, with it once being run by them. Once we have visited other countries in South-East Asia we will be able to compare it to the rest.

The old capital-Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

We spent most of Saturday travelling back to the old capital and when we did get there, we were shattered so some food and it was time to spend some time with my bed. We already spent a couple of days here, before we visited Can Tho, to say our goodbyes to Jeff Burns (Elliot), Arab (Nadine) and monkey boy (Gee) and because we had to come back here, we moved on straight away.

Now we're here to do the sightseeing and main thing we wanted to see was Cu Chi tunnels, which we booked through the guesthouse and ended up going with a huge tour group, which are never good because everything is scheduled. Our tour guide, Bang spoke decent enough broken English to understand if you really concentrated. The first 20 minute of the tour was with Bang speaking about himself and the Vietnamese tradition. The one that we loved the most was that the man is allowed to marry another woman after 3 years if she hasn't given birth to a boy, so he told us that he knew a guy who had 9 wives and each wife shares responsibility of looking after this one kid -PIMPING.

I've always wondered how a country so small as Vietnam defeated America in their own backyard and visiting these tunnels answered this question for me. The booby traps, the bombs they developed and the Cu Chi tunnels they made just baffled the Americans and this system obviously worked. We saw the tunnels they had to get through, they were 40 cm wide and 80cm high-just enough space for a skinny Vietnamese. They even had a hospital and a kitchen that was underground, so they could hide under there for a while. We were able to go through some tunnels that were 5 x bigger than the normal size and even that was a struglle for westerneres, especially a big lad like me.

We came back to Saigon for 2pm and had booked a bus to Cambodia (Pnom Penh) at 3pm-no messing about! We got there around 9pm and got hassled by tuk tuk drivers straight away and for some reason, even though their currency is Rial, they prefer to use US dollars, which is weird but thats they way it goes I suppose.

Ho Chi Minh photo link:
http://www3.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=4299977011/a=2264773011_2264773011/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/