During the remainder of our time in Sihnoukville we found out we pretty much aren't going to be able to go Thailand, not only is the political situation unpredictable but our insurance would be invalid if we did! (insurance is BULL! lol) So we've changed our plans, we're flying home in THREE WEEKS time, from Hanoi because Laos is not very well connected with airlines and beacuse the travel in Laos is very slow and we may now find ourselves pushed for time! It sucks that we're now not going to Laos but it means that we can not be too rushed through Vietnam and we'll be able to go as far up as Hanoi and perhaps to a cruise on Halong Bay! Pretty sweet end to the trip! lol
After making all these decisions we booked a coach to Ho Chi Minh with Monkey Republic, thinking it would be a reputable travel company and we would get to HCMC with relative ease, this was NOT the case! lol.
We got picked up at 7AM and drove to Phnom Penh where we were supposed to get on another coach which would take us through the border all the way to HCMC. However, when we arrived in Phom Penh we were told there was no bus coming because the bus for HCMC that day was full. The guy at first said we could either have a refund or get a partial refund which would get us to the border! We were lucky enough find ourselves thrown together with 9 lovely people! There were: some other girls travelling (one of which was from Redditch, small world! lol); a couple who teach in a British international school in HCMC; an argentinian guy who is currently living in Kabul; an unusually tall japanese guy; a swedish girl travelling alone and another guy travelling alonwe. We all tried to reason with the guy at the travel company who refused to pay out any money for us to get a minibus so in the end we decided we needed to get a move on because the border crossing would close, so we got refunds and got ourselves a minibus for $9 each. The bags were shoehorned in, we took the back row and had to have our feet on bags wedged under the seats! lol. After an uncomfortable but very sociable 4 hour drive to the border we all got stamped out of Cambodia and filled in arrival card to enter Vietnam. We queued (like good brits!) to get stamped into Vietnam, there were constantly tour co-ordinators and bus drivers bringing piles of passports to the front of the queue and bribing the officer guy to do them before ours! This only stopped when we PHYSICALLY stopped the pushers-in getting through! lol. Eventually we all got through the border (by this point it was dark!) and so we found another minibus that would take us to HCMC for $5 each. This was an easy journey, Emma was chatting to the teacher guy about teaching and we were all larking about, there was a great sense of comradery between us all and we headed to the backpacker district of the city and all found places to stay before meeting at a restaurant run by a friend of the teacher couple. We three all had an amazing Vietnamese Yellow Curry. In the end we made some friends and were only down $1, que cera cera! lol.
We spent yesterday around the city we visted the War Remnants Museum (which used to be called the museum of American War Crimes!) and saw all these amazing photos of the war, amazing! After that we went to Notre Dame Cathedral (not as good as the one in Paris I must admit! lol) before taking refuge from a downpour in the 'Diamond Plaza' where they had port merion stuff! lol. This morning we've been hanging around, we're catching a bus upto Mui Ne at 3.
xxx
Monday, 3 May 2010
Sunday, 25 April 2010
Ahhhh Phnom Penh, Angkor WHHHHAAAaaattt?! and more tales from Cambodia
So we got the night bus upto Bangkok which wasn't too bad until we got of the coach and there were taxi drivers swarmed around the door of the coach asking where we were going. They remained in a swarm around us while we got our bags and even when we were reading in the lonely planet about where we were going to go they were looking over our shoulder. This was pretty traumatic after 12 hours trying to sleep on a coach! In the end we got a taxi across Bangkok to the Airport Hotel we decided to stay in before our flight to Phnom Penh. We had a pretty boring day of reading and a cheap dinner of pot noodles in our room. A highlight was watching Thai MTV, they love Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga! lol.
The following day it was 'Songkran' day, Thai New Year so there was supposed to be water fights all aroudn Bangkok but they had been cancelled because of the political unrest. However, we did see a few people with water guns on the way to the Airport. We arrived in Phnom Penh in the afternoon and got a taxi to our hotel, Top Banana Guesthouse. There were two flights of really steep stairs which were a challenge with our increasingly heavy bags! lol. We then spent a few days in Phnom Penh seeing the sights. First we saw the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda, then we went to S-21, this school that the Khmer Rouge converted into a prison. It has pretty much been left as it was, we saw the bedframes they chained prisoners to, the old school PE equipment they used to torture people and a set of old classrooms filled with photographs of the prisoners. They imprisoned Intellectuals and their families, tortured confessions out of them, then sent them to the Killing Fields to be executed and buried in mass graves. We also visited the Killing Fields, you can walk around the edge of the graves they've excavated but all around the outside there are mass graves that haven't been excavated. Also, the stuff that has been found (clothes, skulls and bones) have been displayed in a Stupor, a buddhist grave type thing.
We were in Phnom Penh over Khmer New Year so alot of stuff was shut but we did find an amazing cafe which had an AMAZING range of sandwich filling, which I have been missing! lol. We left Phnom Penh by bus and travelled to Siem Reap and Angkor Wat, the 8th wonder of the world! Siem Reap is one of the most touristy places in Cambodia and because of how recent the Khmer Rouge was and how many landmines remain throughout the Cambodia there are loads of beggars with missing limbs. Also, because Cambodia is still so poor parents force their children on to the streets to sell things and to beg. On the plus side, there is initiatives which you can give money to in the knowledge it's going to the right places, for example, in the town we're in at the moment you can but paintings the children do and they get given money without begging or selling things on the streets.
We planned to see Angkor Wat for sunrise 'the done thing' and so woke up at about 4.30 and met our driver for the day. Angkor wat was pretty incredible but my favourite was either Angkor Thom, these ancient ruins of a city, or Ta Prohm, where trees grew through all the ruins. We came back to meet our driver after Ta Prohm and couldn't see him anywhere, eventually we recognised our tuk-tuk and he was asleep in it! All the other drivers were laughing and he woke up pretty sheepish! lol. The last stop of the day was this temple where we were to watch the sun go down (except that it was overcast so there was no sun to watch go down! lol) and we rode an elephant up the hill to the temple, it was AMAZING!
After Siem Reap we decided to take a boat journey from Siem Reap to Battambang where you are supposed to be able to see floating villages and endangered birdlife. We saw all these things in the first hour, which was really cool! However, more and more people got onto the boat each time we went through a village and we were all so cramped! I've never had such a numb bum in all my life! lol Whats more, we were told the journey would take 6/7 hours but it ended up taking ELEVEN because it is just before the rainy season and the river is really low. So low that the boast kept getting stuck and some people got off and walked four about half an hour. We were pretty weary of this because the worst place for landmines is on flood plains! NO THANKS lol. When we finally arrived in Battambang I lugged my bag onto my back and trudged up this hill to the road where we met a tuk-tuk driver called Mr.Tim who took us to our hotel. We were pretty traumatised by the journey and spent a day recovering (our hotel had a pool, YAY! lol) The following day we planned for Mr.Tim to pick us up. He showed us round this temple which had been used as a prison under the Khmer Rouge and described how when they took over everyone was forced to live in the countryside and to farm rice which they weren't allowed to eat. He also told us how girls were made to be nurses and were the only people who could provide any sort of healthcare. The converted temples into hospitals and used pepsi bottles to administer what they were told was medicine through a drip. Mr. Tim then told us that that is how his mother died and that he had lived through the Khmer Rouge, he was an incredible man to have met!
We arrived in Sihanoukville the day before yesterday by coach (ten way more comfortable hours! lol) and have been staying in a really cool place called Monkey Republic, they support all the good causes around the town (we have a picture from the above mentioned charity in our room! lol) It is run by four guys from Cambridgeshire and there is 2 free TV rooms where you can borrow and watch DVDs for free. Today we watched Marion and Geoff, it was really funny!
I am fully aware I have not done justice to Cambodia in this blog, its been incredible and there is too much to write in one sitting!
xxxxx
The following day it was 'Songkran' day, Thai New Year so there was supposed to be water fights all aroudn Bangkok but they had been cancelled because of the political unrest. However, we did see a few people with water guns on the way to the Airport. We arrived in Phnom Penh in the afternoon and got a taxi to our hotel, Top Banana Guesthouse. There were two flights of really steep stairs which were a challenge with our increasingly heavy bags! lol. We then spent a few days in Phnom Penh seeing the sights. First we saw the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda, then we went to S-21, this school that the Khmer Rouge converted into a prison. It has pretty much been left as it was, we saw the bedframes they chained prisoners to, the old school PE equipment they used to torture people and a set of old classrooms filled with photographs of the prisoners. They imprisoned Intellectuals and their families, tortured confessions out of them, then sent them to the Killing Fields to be executed and buried in mass graves. We also visited the Killing Fields, you can walk around the edge of the graves they've excavated but all around the outside there are mass graves that haven't been excavated. Also, the stuff that has been found (clothes, skulls and bones) have been displayed in a Stupor, a buddhist grave type thing.
We were in Phnom Penh over Khmer New Year so alot of stuff was shut but we did find an amazing cafe which had an AMAZING range of sandwich filling, which I have been missing! lol. We left Phnom Penh by bus and travelled to Siem Reap and Angkor Wat, the 8th wonder of the world! Siem Reap is one of the most touristy places in Cambodia and because of how recent the Khmer Rouge was and how many landmines remain throughout the Cambodia there are loads of beggars with missing limbs. Also, because Cambodia is still so poor parents force their children on to the streets to sell things and to beg. On the plus side, there is initiatives which you can give money to in the knowledge it's going to the right places, for example, in the town we're in at the moment you can but paintings the children do and they get given money without begging or selling things on the streets.
We planned to see Angkor Wat for sunrise 'the done thing' and so woke up at about 4.30 and met our driver for the day. Angkor wat was pretty incredible but my favourite was either Angkor Thom, these ancient ruins of a city, or Ta Prohm, where trees grew through all the ruins. We came back to meet our driver after Ta Prohm and couldn't see him anywhere, eventually we recognised our tuk-tuk and he was asleep in it! All the other drivers were laughing and he woke up pretty sheepish! lol. The last stop of the day was this temple where we were to watch the sun go down (except that it was overcast so there was no sun to watch go down! lol) and we rode an elephant up the hill to the temple, it was AMAZING!
After Siem Reap we decided to take a boat journey from Siem Reap to Battambang where you are supposed to be able to see floating villages and endangered birdlife. We saw all these things in the first hour, which was really cool! However, more and more people got onto the boat each time we went through a village and we were all so cramped! I've never had such a numb bum in all my life! lol Whats more, we were told the journey would take 6/7 hours but it ended up taking ELEVEN because it is just before the rainy season and the river is really low. So low that the boast kept getting stuck and some people got off and walked four about half an hour. We were pretty weary of this because the worst place for landmines is on flood plains! NO THANKS lol. When we finally arrived in Battambang I lugged my bag onto my back and trudged up this hill to the road where we met a tuk-tuk driver called Mr.Tim who took us to our hotel. We were pretty traumatised by the journey and spent a day recovering (our hotel had a pool, YAY! lol) The following day we planned for Mr.Tim to pick us up. He showed us round this temple which had been used as a prison under the Khmer Rouge and described how when they took over everyone was forced to live in the countryside and to farm rice which they weren't allowed to eat. He also told us how girls were made to be nurses and were the only people who could provide any sort of healthcare. The converted temples into hospitals and used pepsi bottles to administer what they were told was medicine through a drip. Mr. Tim then told us that that is how his mother died and that he had lived through the Khmer Rouge, he was an incredible man to have met!
We arrived in Sihanoukville the day before yesterday by coach (ten way more comfortable hours! lol) and have been staying in a really cool place called Monkey Republic, they support all the good causes around the town (we have a picture from the above mentioned charity in our room! lol) It is run by four guys from Cambridgeshire and there is 2 free TV rooms where you can borrow and watch DVDs for free. Today we watched Marion and Geoff, it was really funny!
I am fully aware I have not done justice to Cambodia in this blog, its been incredible and there is too much to write in one sitting!
xxxxx
Saturday, 10 April 2010
Malaysian and Thai Islands
We had a nice flight to Langkawi and got a taxi to our hotel, we had a room with a bathroom, nice! lol. Langkawi is a cool place, there were lots of restaurants and little shops. The beach itself was amazing, we spent four nights. One was spent celebrating Emma's Birthday! We had a walk along the street trying to find some sort of nice bar to no avail! We were steadily making our way back to the hotel when we heard music coming from the beach and found that THAT's where all the nightlife is! From Langkawi we booked a ferry and onward transport upto the Thai island of Koh Lanta. This made for a pretty long journey!
We were picked up from the hotel in Langkawi at 7.30 from a ferry at 9, when we arrived in Satun, the first of the Thai Islands and we're ferried on to a pick-up truck with benches, they're called Saammlaws! This took us as far as a bus station where we were told to get on a bus so we waited until 12 when we boarded this bus which was going to take us to Krabi. When we were boarding the bus the ticket lady made us all sit in seats according to where we were going which consequented in moving nearly everyone around, it was LOL-worthy! The journey to Krabi was 2 hours then we were to get a minibus the next 2 hours to Koh Lanta. Between Krabi and Koh Lanta we were sat at the back of this minibus and when we eventually arrived in Koh Lanta we were the last people left on the bus after a while and the driver started making all these drop offs of deliveries and was getting paid every time he stopped to drop something off. By this point we were very exasperated!
However, when we eventually arrived at Bee Bee's bungalows it was like a dream! We asked the guy where a cash machine was because it was our first stop in Thailand and we didn't have and Baht and he said 'slow, slow! Don't worry!' So, for the next 5 nights we stayed in a bungalow by the beach (under 15GBP for all of us! :)) and did alot of reading. I finished Oliver Twist and read both Alice In Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass...'Why is a raven like a writing desk?' LOLz. The people at Bee Bee's were really friendly, it was run by this guy called an who every morning spent about half an hour playing with a boomerang on the beach, hitting various trees and bungalows and the occasional near miss of a guest! lol.
Next stop was Ko Phi Phi, where they filmed the beach, the prices were higher and it was FULL of british yobs and all sorts. When we arrived the guy showing us to our hotel carried our bags all the way in the mid-day heat all the way on this trolley thing! By the time we got there we were boiling and he got us some water, NICE. We ate in this bookshop-cafe before checking into our room, after which we spent the afternoon on the beach, even more perfect than Koh Lanta, check facebook for the pics!
The following day we woke up ready to part with some cash in order to sea the secluded spots of Ko Phi Phi Don and it's uninhabited, neighbouring island, Ko Phi Phi Ley. However, when we came out of our room the guy from the hotel (a different guy to bag guy!lol) he said there was going to be a TSUNAMI! But we were safe because our hotel was up from the beach, so we sat waiting, it was very surreal, we had no idea what was going on, then a police announcer came round saying there was no risk of tsunami. So, we had some breakfast and booked a boat trip (we weren't too worried because apparently they've had 3 tsunami warnings in the last week with nothing happening!) The boat tour we got was with two other couples and a family, we all squeezed into this longtail boat and set off out of the main bay. The first stop was Monkey Bay, where there are monkeys on the rocks, people crowded round taking photos and stuff until one big monkey started attacking this little one, it was brutal! Then, one guy tried to touch one of the monkeys and he slapped him and ran after him, grabbing at his leg! Everyone ran pretty swiftly, the monkeys had TURNED! lol. Also, we haven't had a vaccination against Rabies, so were staying well back! We then went to Ko Phi Phi Ley and stopped in one little cove to swim for a while and then another one where we snorkelled. The snorkelling was really cool, there was this massive fish with all different coloured patches on it as well as a big pouty mouth! Also, the boat-man threw crisps in for the fish around the boat and these stripey fish surrounded all of us! Finally, we stopped at Maya Bay, the beach from 'The Beach,' it has got to be the best beach i have ever seen, the sand was like powder and the water was bright turquoise! On the way back we saw the sunset over the horizon, it was an eventful day! lol.
We woke up in the morning and checked out, it was a BOILING hot day and so we were relieved to hear that we could come back the hotel and get our bags taken down to the port in order to get our ferry upto Phuket. We had time to waste so sat in the bookshop-cafe where they served the most amazing sandwich, it had cheese, cream cheese, bacon, ham, onion lettuce and tomato! Then we boarded the ferry and were pretty euphoric when we realised it was air-conditioned! We arrived at our Phuket hotel at about half 4 and immediately did washing so that it would be dry by this morning, there were three washing lines fashioned using chairs bags, windows and a wardrobe door, as well as some strategically placed fans. We turned the room into quite and obstacle course! lol. After this we went out to book a bus the Bangkok and managed to find the bus terminal where we realised we could haggle the price! We got one for about 11GBP which leaves at 6.3o tonight and arrives at 6AM tommorow in Bangkok. Then we went in search of food and wandered around thirsty and hungry for TWO hours, Phuket town seems pretty empty and is lacking in amenities! We ended up in an expensive italian where we just ate some some starters and water and then headed off to bed!
The Next few days, when we get to Bangkok we have one night and then a flight the following afternoon in Cambodia, however, we have accidentally booked a flight on Thai New Year where Bangkok turns into a giant waterfight! Fingers crossed all will go to plan with making it the airport and Phom Penh on the 13th!
xxx
(sorry to all the adults for all the spelling and grammatical mistakes!)
We were picked up from the hotel in Langkawi at 7.30 from a ferry at 9, when we arrived in Satun, the first of the Thai Islands and we're ferried on to a pick-up truck with benches, they're called Saammlaws! This took us as far as a bus station where we were told to get on a bus so we waited until 12 when we boarded this bus which was going to take us to Krabi. When we were boarding the bus the ticket lady made us all sit in seats according to where we were going which consequented in moving nearly everyone around, it was LOL-worthy! The journey to Krabi was 2 hours then we were to get a minibus the next 2 hours to Koh Lanta. Between Krabi and Koh Lanta we were sat at the back of this minibus and when we eventually arrived in Koh Lanta we were the last people left on the bus after a while and the driver started making all these drop offs of deliveries and was getting paid every time he stopped to drop something off. By this point we were very exasperated!
However, when we eventually arrived at Bee Bee's bungalows it was like a dream! We asked the guy where a cash machine was because it was our first stop in Thailand and we didn't have and Baht and he said 'slow, slow! Don't worry!' So, for the next 5 nights we stayed in a bungalow by the beach (under 15GBP for all of us! :)) and did alot of reading. I finished Oliver Twist and read both Alice In Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass...'Why is a raven like a writing desk?' LOLz. The people at Bee Bee's were really friendly, it was run by this guy called an who every morning spent about half an hour playing with a boomerang on the beach, hitting various trees and bungalows and the occasional near miss of a guest! lol.
Next stop was Ko Phi Phi, where they filmed the beach, the prices were higher and it was FULL of british yobs and all sorts. When we arrived the guy showing us to our hotel carried our bags all the way in the mid-day heat all the way on this trolley thing! By the time we got there we were boiling and he got us some water, NICE. We ate in this bookshop-cafe before checking into our room, after which we spent the afternoon on the beach, even more perfect than Koh Lanta, check facebook for the pics!
The following day we woke up ready to part with some cash in order to sea the secluded spots of Ko Phi Phi Don and it's uninhabited, neighbouring island, Ko Phi Phi Ley. However, when we came out of our room the guy from the hotel (a different guy to bag guy!lol) he said there was going to be a TSUNAMI! But we were safe because our hotel was up from the beach, so we sat waiting, it was very surreal, we had no idea what was going on, then a police announcer came round saying there was no risk of tsunami. So, we had some breakfast and booked a boat trip (we weren't too worried because apparently they've had 3 tsunami warnings in the last week with nothing happening!) The boat tour we got was with two other couples and a family, we all squeezed into this longtail boat and set off out of the main bay. The first stop was Monkey Bay, where there are monkeys on the rocks, people crowded round taking photos and stuff until one big monkey started attacking this little one, it was brutal! Then, one guy tried to touch one of the monkeys and he slapped him and ran after him, grabbing at his leg! Everyone ran pretty swiftly, the monkeys had TURNED! lol. Also, we haven't had a vaccination against Rabies, so were staying well back! We then went to Ko Phi Phi Ley and stopped in one little cove to swim for a while and then another one where we snorkelled. The snorkelling was really cool, there was this massive fish with all different coloured patches on it as well as a big pouty mouth! Also, the boat-man threw crisps in for the fish around the boat and these stripey fish surrounded all of us! Finally, we stopped at Maya Bay, the beach from 'The Beach,' it has got to be the best beach i have ever seen, the sand was like powder and the water was bright turquoise! On the way back we saw the sunset over the horizon, it was an eventful day! lol.
We woke up in the morning and checked out, it was a BOILING hot day and so we were relieved to hear that we could come back the hotel and get our bags taken down to the port in order to get our ferry upto Phuket. We had time to waste so sat in the bookshop-cafe where they served the most amazing sandwich, it had cheese, cream cheese, bacon, ham, onion lettuce and tomato! Then we boarded the ferry and were pretty euphoric when we realised it was air-conditioned! We arrived at our Phuket hotel at about half 4 and immediately did washing so that it would be dry by this morning, there were three washing lines fashioned using chairs bags, windows and a wardrobe door, as well as some strategically placed fans. We turned the room into quite and obstacle course! lol. After this we went out to book a bus the Bangkok and managed to find the bus terminal where we realised we could haggle the price! We got one for about 11GBP which leaves at 6.3o tonight and arrives at 6AM tommorow in Bangkok. Then we went in search of food and wandered around thirsty and hungry for TWO hours, Phuket town seems pretty empty and is lacking in amenities! We ended up in an expensive italian where we just ate some some starters and water and then headed off to bed!
The Next few days, when we get to Bangkok we have one night and then a flight the following afternoon in Cambodia, however, we have accidentally booked a flight on Thai New Year where Bangkok turns into a giant waterfight! Fingers crossed all will go to plan with making it the airport and Phom Penh on the 13th!
xxx
(sorry to all the adults for all the spelling and grammatical mistakes!)
Sunday, 28 March 2010
Bag trouble, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur
SO when we arrived in Singapore I was told my bag hadn't 'made it' on the flight and it was coming on the next one so would arrive a few hours after me at my hostel and I was given 100 Singapore Dollars compensation, pretty sweet! However, I woke up in the morning and my bag hadn't arrived, so I phoned the office and they were very vague but basically I was told they didn't know where my bag was or when I would get it! This was a HORRIFIC thing to hear! There were tears!
We got up and went out all the same, with my extra 100SGD burning a hole in my pocket I bought some clothes from this Australian shop called cotton on, nice nice! We walked down Orchard Road, the main shopping area in Singapore until we reached the botanical gardens which were nice, as you'd expect! lol. All the while we kept ringing the office to find out about my bag and didn't get a straight answer until about 11pm (after having been for tapas and wine!) when I was told it was coming on a flight tonight! So the following morning I woke up and had my bag back and it was SWEET, especially since that was the day we needed to take more malaria tablets, all of which were locked in my bag!
We spent the rest of the day at Singapore zoo, which was equally as amazing as the Australia Zoo, the ethos was a little less cool but the massive variety of animals was amazing! We saw orang utans and spider monkeys and another kind of monkey with a MASSIVE nose, and many many more! After the zoo closed, we went to this thing called Night Safari where you ride on a tram through these enclosures and see loads of nocturnal animals there were lions, tigers, a tapir and loads of other stuff including the biggest species of rodent in the world!
The following day we ambled around more of Singapore and went to this place called the Mustafa Centre where you can get EVERYTHING!
Yesterday we got a luxury bus at 8.30 upto Kuala Lumpur, the seats were like business class plane seats and we had TVs and were served a meal! lol. We arrived in Kuala Lumpur and checked into a room, our first private room since Japan! Its about 5.50GBP each per night, not too shabby! However, the shower is just a showerhead in the wall of the bathroom! lol.
Tommorow evening we're on a flight to Langkawi, an island just south of the Thai border!
xxxxx
We got up and went out all the same, with my extra 100SGD burning a hole in my pocket I bought some clothes from this Australian shop called cotton on, nice nice! We walked down Orchard Road, the main shopping area in Singapore until we reached the botanical gardens which were nice, as you'd expect! lol. All the while we kept ringing the office to find out about my bag and didn't get a straight answer until about 11pm (after having been for tapas and wine!) when I was told it was coming on a flight tonight! So the following morning I woke up and had my bag back and it was SWEET, especially since that was the day we needed to take more malaria tablets, all of which were locked in my bag!
We spent the rest of the day at Singapore zoo, which was equally as amazing as the Australia Zoo, the ethos was a little less cool but the massive variety of animals was amazing! We saw orang utans and spider monkeys and another kind of monkey with a MASSIVE nose, and many many more! After the zoo closed, we went to this thing called Night Safari where you ride on a tram through these enclosures and see loads of nocturnal animals there were lions, tigers, a tapir and loads of other stuff including the biggest species of rodent in the world!
The following day we ambled around more of Singapore and went to this place called the Mustafa Centre where you can get EVERYTHING!
Yesterday we got a luxury bus at 8.30 upto Kuala Lumpur, the seats were like business class plane seats and we had TVs and were served a meal! lol. We arrived in Kuala Lumpur and checked into a room, our first private room since Japan! Its about 5.50GBP each per night, not too shabby! However, the shower is just a showerhead in the wall of the bathroom! lol.
Tommorow evening we're on a flight to Langkawi, an island just south of the Thai border!
xxxxx
Monday, 22 March 2010
Brisbeen!
I have seven minutes left of internet to write my blog! So here goes! lol
First evening in Brisbane, we went out!
First full day, we got up late (predictably) and ambled around the city, keeping ourselves hydrated! lol, that evening we planned a trip to the Australia Zoo, Steve Irwin's place!
The day we went to the zoo was amazing! Check out the facebook pictures for details!
We then returned to find our food bags stolen by these nasty lads so resorted to dominoes for dinner! Today we've been to the inland beach and used one of the built in BBQs! Had a salad tonight after buying the ingredients for the second time, now preparing to fly to Singapore tommorow.
This is TOO concise to do Brisbane justice! It's nice! lol
xxx
Thursday, 18 March 2010
Sydney!
We had a polava with being booked into a horrible hostel, and because we booked it through STA we couldn't get a refund because the woman was a BITCH! All I'll say about it is, we were having a reasonable conversation with her about it and she said to me 'End of discussion' - I was so angry!
Anyway, we moved to a much more friendly hostel after one night, and cheered ourselves up on our first evening in Sydney by going to see Alice In Wonderland at the IMAX, the biggest IMAX in the world apparently! Then we walked around Darling Harbour which was pretty happening!
The following day, after checking into our much nicer accommodation we basically ambled around, we walked through the botanical gardens where they had all these flying fox, bat type things nesting in all the trees, there was LOADS! Then we made our way down to the Opera House, I had a maxibon, amazing!
Hmmm, its hard to remember things we did, all the days seem to blend together! lol. One day we went for 'Pancakes at the Rocks' which were AMAZING, Imogen, you would have loved it!
We went out one night to this place called 'The Gaff' which was cool, but the drinks were expensive and pretty nasty! Australians (or Brits in Australia) seem to drink this stuff they refer to as 'Goon' which appears to be cheap cheap wine, it's not even that strong but everyone drinks looads because it's so cheap! I am sure we will have some in Brisbane (but not too much, Mum.) On our last evening in Sydney (before catching a night bus) we made some chilli and had wraps, which was tasty! Then this bunch of guys were so greatful for our leftovers that they washed up! I think it was because a few of them were stooooned! lol
After a nice few days in Sydney we caught a night bus (12 hours!) to Byron Bay, we all took some amazing sleeping pills which made the journey a doddle! lol.
Not alot has happened in Byron Bay, its quite a nice town built for surfers! lol Off to Brisbane tommorow, exciting, we've heard it's really cool!
xxxx
Anyway, we moved to a much more friendly hostel after one night, and cheered ourselves up on our first evening in Sydney by going to see Alice In Wonderland at the IMAX, the biggest IMAX in the world apparently! Then we walked around Darling Harbour which was pretty happening!
The following day, after checking into our much nicer accommodation we basically ambled around, we walked through the botanical gardens where they had all these flying fox, bat type things nesting in all the trees, there was LOADS! Then we made our way down to the Opera House, I had a maxibon, amazing!
Hmmm, its hard to remember things we did, all the days seem to blend together! lol. One day we went for 'Pancakes at the Rocks' which were AMAZING, Imogen, you would have loved it!
We went out one night to this place called 'The Gaff' which was cool, but the drinks were expensive and pretty nasty! Australians (or Brits in Australia) seem to drink this stuff they refer to as 'Goon' which appears to be cheap cheap wine, it's not even that strong but everyone drinks looads because it's so cheap! I am sure we will have some in Brisbane (but not too much, Mum.) On our last evening in Sydney (before catching a night bus) we made some chilli and had wraps, which was tasty! Then this bunch of guys were so greatful for our leftovers that they washed up! I think it was because a few of them were stooooned! lol
After a nice few days in Sydney we caught a night bus (12 hours!) to Byron Bay, we all took some amazing sleeping pills which made the journey a doddle! lol.
Not alot has happened in Byron Bay, its quite a nice town built for surfers! lol Off to Brisbane tommorow, exciting, we've heard it's really cool!
xxxx
Sunday, 14 March 2010
Ohhh,
One last thing, the women that worked there (especially this woman called mere) loved us so much and told us how they liked our towels so we gave them to Mere when we left! She squealed with delight, it was amazing, then she sat with us while we waited for the ferry. Also, she called us first for allll the meals and when we didn't get up for breakfast she saved us a plate and brought it out to us when we went down to buy a drink! it was such a pleasant surprise! lol
xxx
One last thing, the women that worked there (especially this woman called mere) loved us so much and told us how they liked our towels so we gave them to Mere when we left! She squealed with delight, it was amazing, then she sat with us while we waited for the ferry. Also, she called us first for allll the meals and when we didn't get up for breakfast she saved us a plate and brought it out to us when we went down to buy a drink! it was such a pleasant surprise! lol
xxx
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