Unlike our previous bus journey's we decided to do this one during the day as the prospect of being awaken at 3am to cross the border was not appealing at all. At least during the day we could appreciate the scenery and watch where our passports went. For $25 the process could not have been any smoother. The $20 was for the visa and the $5 was for the guy who was running around filing in the form, collecting the passport and telling us where to go. Talk about smooth! The only thing I didn't expect was a drunk German man's foot secretly pop up next to my face while I was on the bus! I then turned and nudged Charlotte and we both burst out in laughter and looked back at Charlotte's other travelling friends (who'd we had bumped into after watching and reading about their travel through Charlotte's Facebook) who were trapped as the German man had also pushed his seat way back. What a man! Throughout the whole journey he was grunting and drinking beer and when the bus stopped before the ferry crossing, he was subject to children hanging off him! He was a very strange man.., Even Charlotte and Mark had a brutal experience as they walked outside; kids grabbing her bracelets because she wouldn't give them money and poor Mark had a punch in the stomach for also refusing to give money.
After arriving safely into Phnom Penh it was interesting to see how developed the city was. Not what I was expecting Cambodia to be! The main road we were on was clearly developed for tourists as the alleys, we were told were a little dangerous at night because of the poor kids who would attack you for money. We'd heard a little horror story from our roomie about kids who raided a tuk tuk full of tourists too, which so didn't help the imagination from thinking the worst.
One Stop:
Apart from being on the fourth floor and in a place with no elevators the atmosphere of the hostel was pretty chilling and calm. On both nights we watched movies until on the last night we heard a massive bang behind us (me, Charlotte, new girl Vanessa and a guy who asked me if I was from India- not the first time I was asked that) downstairs and the transformer had blown. The poor guy at reception had no clue and called the owner who turned up and started to bat the outside switch with a broom whilst balanced on his motorbike. Nice! We were later reinstated with a bit of electricity (think I was more wounded about not finishing the film. Luckily once the power was back on, I got to finish it! Phew. It was World War Z) once I made it up the stairs I realised the wifi wasn't working so made my way back down to tell the man at reception. I found him sleeping so I got ready to write a note when the pen clicked and he woke up! Uh oh! Think I have a WiFi problem.
The morning was a little tragic... No electricity and no lights in the bathroom meant Ed pulled out his head torch to visit the loo What a genius! Whilst myself and Mark found that the bathrooms had electricity on the second floor so we scooted on down the many stairs to have a hot shower and light.
Killing fields:
The journey there in a tuk tuk was mental at one point we thought we were going to fall out of it! But as we drove towards the outskirts of the town you could see the real Cambodia, similar to India, it had a quiet work ethic feel about the place where the parents were wrking and the children were at schoo. We were individually guided around the fields with an audio guide and learnt of the horrific tragedy which occurred here. The skulls, bones, pieces of cloth and even the weapons used to kill the innocent people we all on show. The worst part of it was the tree which was used by the Khmer soldiers to kill babies. I won't gross you out about it on here but the film 'the killing fields' is definitely worth a watch. One of the more hardest places I've had to visit whilst travelling.
A bumpy road into the sunset and onto Siem Reap:
And what a bumpy road it was! We all took it in turn to a sit on the back seat in the corner which endured the hardest of the bumps... what a journey! The boys were so traumatised by the thought of going back by the road that they chose to fly back to Phnom then stopover in Singapore and on to Krabie (what a journey)!
Siem Reap:
What a city, equipped with its own pub street and a brand new One Stop Hostel (with only two floors because none of the buildings can be taller than Ankor Wat) it's another unexpected gem. Equipped with its own night market and street of bars and restaurants it was an awesome night out on the street, deciding which song from which bar to dance to!
The whole city has a safe and friendly feel to it and everyone knows a good amount of English to help us get by. Definitely one place I will be back to visit if any.
Temples:
Obviously the main reason to come to Siem Reap was for the temples and they did not disappoint! They were tiring to walk through but beautiful all the same. The heat was the hardest to get past but once you did boy was it epic. We ended the day watching the sunset on Ankor Wat and escaping from the monkeys! What a way to end the mainland...
Next stop Singapore!
After arriving safely into Phnom Penh it was interesting to see how developed the city was. Not what I was expecting Cambodia to be! The main road we were on was clearly developed for tourists as the alleys, we were told were a little dangerous at night because of the poor kids who would attack you for money. We'd heard a little horror story from our roomie about kids who raided a tuk tuk full of tourists too, which so didn't help the imagination from thinking the worst.
One Stop:
Apart from being on the fourth floor and in a place with no elevators the atmosphere of the hostel was pretty chilling and calm. On both nights we watched movies until on the last night we heard a massive bang behind us (me, Charlotte, new girl Vanessa and a guy who asked me if I was from India- not the first time I was asked that) downstairs and the transformer had blown. The poor guy at reception had no clue and called the owner who turned up and started to bat the outside switch with a broom whilst balanced on his motorbike. Nice! We were later reinstated with a bit of electricity (think I was more wounded about not finishing the film. Luckily once the power was back on, I got to finish it! Phew. It was World War Z) once I made it up the stairs I realised the wifi wasn't working so made my way back down to tell the man at reception. I found him sleeping so I got ready to write a note when the pen clicked and he woke up! Uh oh! Think I have a WiFi problem.
The morning was a little tragic... No electricity and no lights in the bathroom meant Ed pulled out his head torch to visit the loo What a genius! Whilst myself and Mark found that the bathrooms had electricity on the second floor so we scooted on down the many stairs to have a hot shower and light.
Killing fields:
The journey there in a tuk tuk was mental at one point we thought we were going to fall out of it! But as we drove towards the outskirts of the town you could see the real Cambodia, similar to India, it had a quiet work ethic feel about the place where the parents were wrking and the children were at schoo. We were individually guided around the fields with an audio guide and learnt of the horrific tragedy which occurred here. The skulls, bones, pieces of cloth and even the weapons used to kill the innocent people we all on show. The worst part of it was the tree which was used by the Khmer soldiers to kill babies. I won't gross you out about it on here but the film 'the killing fields' is definitely worth a watch. One of the more hardest places I've had to visit whilst travelling.
A bumpy road into the sunset and onto Siem Reap:
And what a bumpy road it was! We all took it in turn to a sit on the back seat in the corner which endured the hardest of the bumps... what a journey! The boys were so traumatised by the thought of going back by the road that they chose to fly back to Phnom then stopover in Singapore and on to Krabie (what a journey)!
Siem Reap:
What a city, equipped with its own pub street and a brand new One Stop Hostel (with only two floors because none of the buildings can be taller than Ankor Wat) it's another unexpected gem. Equipped with its own night market and street of bars and restaurants it was an awesome night out on the street, deciding which song from which bar to dance to!
The whole city has a safe and friendly feel to it and everyone knows a good amount of English to help us get by. Definitely one place I will be back to visit if any.
Temples:
Obviously the main reason to come to Siem Reap was for the temples and they did not disappoint! They were tiring to walk through but beautiful all the same. The heat was the hardest to get past but once you did boy was it epic. We ended the day watching the sunset on Ankor Wat and escaping from the monkeys! What a way to end the mainland...
Next stop Singapore!
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| Pub street all lit up at night. Its one big party every night on the street. |
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| The killing fields. |
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| This is the place where women and children a were killed. |
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| A road in Cambodia on the way to Siem Reap |
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Friday, 10 January 2014Getting Stuck Inn In Hoi Chi Minh
(thanks for the title Charlotte)
Unlike Bangkok when we got dumped in the middle of a crossroad, we arrived in Hoi Chi just opposite the hostel and all that was required was a morning stroll through the park. We'd read that there was a small tradition of waking up early to exercise in the cities and had always said we should go see it but I'm going to say none of us are morning people (especially not me. There's been times where I've skipped breakfast for an extra ten minutes in bed)! Walking through the park you see people of all ages, including old, playing the feather game, traditional Vietnamese stretches and badminton. It was a little bit of heaven walking through and seeing badminton being played outside in a park in a massive city. Kill me now we're my exact words! Obviously we knew our room wouldn't be ready but we carried on heading towards Vietnam Inn Saigon (little note: I'm guessing there are better hostels in Hoi Chi Minh the best thing about this place is the rooftop bar) and decided to put our bags down and do breakfast. Compared to the hostel's we'd been staying in this was definitely at the bottom. No service with a smile, lack of English, mix up with money during check in- the best bits about this place are the other travellers you can meet, the centrality of the place and the spa sofas we napped on till our dorm was ready! I'm not even going to get started on the showers... but I just want to say ew. Hoi Chi and it's history: Before coming out to Thailand and Vietnam I think I was just naive to the history of the countries and areas. Leaving now, no longer is that the case and it's made me want to understand and read more about what has happened here, when I get home. And to an extent also learn about my family history and if any of my family was subject to any of this. It was horrendous. The way the museum remembers what happened during the war made me physically upset. The images of the soldiers shooting children and slaughtering families was disgusting, especially seeing one which had an American solider smile whilst holding a corpse! As if that wasn't bad enough there were horror stories about the effect of Agent Orange, a toxic gas the US released during the war, and its impact on the children born in the families of those involved or in the area at the time. It was hard walking around the museum knowing maybe in 20 years time there may be a museum in Afghanistan telling similar stories. As well as visiting the War Remnants Museum we also took a half day trip to the Chu Chi Tunnels. Even today I still can't really understand why the US were attacking families so far away from the main Saigon city making them find shelter under the ground and creating tunnels to live in. I even had a chance to crawl through a tunnel (it wasn't one of the originals as no way in hell would I have fit through one of those) and found it so hard to move and breathe whilst in it. At one point I also encountered a spider on the wall just after an exit but knew it was only a little way to the end but powered through. Little did I know the tunnel would get a little narrower towards the end and was grateful to hear the tour operators voice (and the light) at the end of the tunnel. The rest of the time in Hoi Chi Minh city was pretty cool. Amazing night skyline where a lot of the bars and places lit up at night, amazing food (as always) and friendly people. During our walk to the museum we decided to indulge in a light snack (and Vietnamese coffee) and met a lovely local who directed us to the museum and just wanted to talk to us to practise his English. There was a big thing about safety though as crime was high. During our stay we were told of a few horror stories about people's stuff getting pulled off them and pick pocketed in public by motorbike people so we were extra vigilant (even though one night I was openly walking and playing with my phone and purse in my hand... stupid stupid stupid)! One night we had a fun little game of the feather in the park with a local boy (who was purposely 'bumping' into Mark before), a lovely local man (who was teaching Charlotte how to kick it) and two Australians (who called us Poms- I hadn't heard that in ages, not since being in India with my lovely cousins years ago)! It's a really cool kind of culture seeing the park being used, again at night by all ages. This would be our last stop in Vietnam and we had decided to catch a day bus to Cambodia for the visa thing! Myself, Charlotte, Ed and Mark had travelled from the top of Vietnam to the bottom in nine days and what an adventure! Sleeping on sofas, sleeper buses, double beds and bunk beds its been an awesome historical, cultural adventure... bring on Cambodia (fingers crossed they let us in at the border)!
Thursday, 9 January 2014Happy Birthday in Hoi An and Bumps In Nha Trang
(Mini apology about the length of this one. You should definitely get comfortable!)
Once you get off the bus at any new place you are always surrounded by taxi drivers asking where you would like to go and if you've got accommodation booked. Don't get startled by it! Even if you've just been woken up and shoved off the bus and looking for a piece of warmth, don't do it. So glad we were part of group. Once we arrived in Hoian we were ambushed by multiple taxi drivers offering to take us. But lucky for us our hostel (Sunflower) emailed us to say let us know to call them when we arrive so they can send a minibus to pick us up. So good. Within ten minutes of being there (and a quick run to the loo because I was dying after holding it for 18 hours. To be honest I only needed to go in the last six hours) they were here to pick us up. Hospital trip and adventure out: So first mission as soon as we got there (and once we had sorted out our four bed room... amaze beds and beautiful heavy duvet- such warmth) was to get Charlotte's stitches out. Bless her, she had been stressing about it since we took a visit to Han oi hospital where we stepped into A&E and was horrified at the cleanliness and patients sprawled everywhere! It was not a pretty sight! The hospital here was a ten minute walk away from our hostel and wasn't as shocking as Hoi an. At least here they knew what to do with her foot and with her hand in mine, we stood by Charlotte as her stitches were removed (even one which had horrendously disappeared) and she had her foot back. Now it looks so much better and is healing really well. The trauma was over. We made our way back to the hostel and met with Faith (a girl we met back in Chiang Mai) and went for dinner with her. The place we went served nice food but just took the absolute time about it and when I ordered ice cream it came out in a martini glass with a tiny spoon and in a blob of ice. My face so did not hide the disappointment. After a short taxi ride to the backpacker area for a cocktail and a dark stroll home we made it back to the room in one piece and knocked out. Fusion shopping: After a really good buffet breakfast consisting of an omelet, fruit, french bread and pancakes I was well charged up and ready to tackle the market. The market was beautiful and the small cobbled streets by the river was lined with tailors, souvenir shops and traditional Vietnamese stuff shops. So tempting to buy stuff especially because it is so cheap! I did stop to buy a few gifts for family and friends and also a few postcards. I was also really really tempted to get a pair of suede boots made (which were only $60 dollars and would be customed made- sadly I didn't give into my temptation and walked out of the shop... regretfully). Myself, Charlotte and Ed then keenly made our way across the river to find somewhere to chow down. We found an amazing place called Fusion Lounge which made the most delicious food. The decor and feel of the place too completely made it. I had an amazing fruit juice and a mmm and yummy prawn curry which arrived in a coconut shell. So yum... Later that night we then made our way to a garden restaurant where I again chowed down to an amazing chicken hot pot and delicious golden bags of dessert. I was in food heaven (the Pina Colada also went down a treat too)! Happy Birthday To Me: It was sung to me in the morning by Mark, Ed and Charlotte as we all woke up and got ready to check out (honestly these guys that I'm travelling with are so awesome and great). We then headed back down to the market to eat at Fusion where the guys paid for my lunch and mango daiquiri! :) We then headed back to Sunflower to be picked up for our next sleeper bus to Nha Trang. The journey: I actually had no choice but to sleep at the back on the double. The driver literally shooed me to the back of the bus with two other guys and I was like no way! Luckily for me, one of the guys was a lovely Australian man who we were with during the rest of the Nha Trang trip, and suggested Charlotte come join me instead. In the end it was me and Charlotte clinging on for dear life at the back of the bus whilst we drove over the bumpiest bumps ever. At one point in the night one of the bus people jumped onto the spare sleeper seat next to Charlotte with his duvet and pillow and fell asleep (on the bright side he did share his duvet a little when he felt like it). We were shivering like penguins under the one blanket they supplied us and Charlotte's beach towel. Stupid me was wearing my denim shorts and a white top to sleep... Not the most comfortable pyjamas ever! I made a promise to myself that I would find my fluffy socks for the next journey. The air conditioning was on all night and I found myself awake through most of the journey. The bumps, the little prospect of death as we overtook around a bend on a cliff and the cold air made it the worst bus journey ever. And when we stopped we witnessed an agitated Ed say to Mark he will never travel on a sleeper bus again and angrily storm off the bus (little did he know we'd be on it one night later). We arrived in Nha Trang at 6.30am and the five of us (including the Peter, the Aussie) caught a cab to Mojzo Inn. The most cutest and friendliest Vietnamese women met us at the entrance and introduced herself and handed us an ice cold cloth to wipe our face and a bottle of water and told us our rooms weren't ready but we were welcome to wait in the common area on the sofas. We all melted onto the sofas and then decided to get some breakfast as our rooms weren't ready. We indulged in a tasty full English then went for a cheeky stroll along the beach (accident proned: Ed stepped on a nail and was bleeding all over the place... what a bunch of accidents we were). During our walk we filled Peter in on our travel stories and introduced the whole 'myth' story (good old Wilson)! Back at the hostel (still absolutely dead) some if slept whilst others wrote blogs and took showers. By 2pm we were back out and about looking for food and making a visit to the temple and a rock. Stonehenge but not: We caught a bus to the temple (Po Naga Cham) and explored around it. It was built of orange and brown brick and looked beautiful when the sun hit it. We then adventured on to eat... we were so hungry at this point anything would do. We stopped at a street stall and decided to eat here (I think I was being a little too cautious as I kind of assumed the predominant meat used in soups and food here was beef). We sat down and tucked into a noodle soup with shrimp or fish and a stick of bread. It so filled the gap. We then went on to enjoy an award winning vietnamese coffee which did not disappoint. We carried on walking towards these rocks Mark told us about that we should see. When we got there the sun was just setting and we clambered over the rocks and boulders (cautiously as my sandles were not designed for climbing) to sit and enjoy the sunset. Mark and Peter also spotted two guys who were crab fishing. It looked like so much fun. BBQ Buffet and Cocktails: Armed with Peter and our new roomy, Shivani, we made our way to a bar for a cheeky drink (buy two get one free cocktails) and then towards a buffet place we passed earlier that day. It was cook your own food kind of BBQ and Peter and another new friend Ryan (an American) were designated cookers and cooked the food amazingly well as none of us had food poisoning the next day. We tried all sorts: chicken, crocodile, duck, oyster, things you wouldn't usually bbq. There was also an assortment of starters including fish bhajya, chips and fresh spring rolls. I hadn't eaten so much since I had left the UK and even struggled to finish my ice cream (the Pina Colada went down really well though)! The lads headed out but the girls headed home. That night my head hit the pillow and I was gone! Beach day and another sleeper: Today was just a complete day of rest! We woke up (the guys went down for breakfast whilst I had an cheeky extra ten minute nap) and we headed down to the beach to lounge for the rest of the day. We were all feeling pretty battered still from all the travelling we'd been doing and needed a day of rest. So I fell asleep!! I yammed a tastey pumpkin and hummus sandwich and then knocked out completely for a good hour. It was so good! We then played a game of feather spring. This is such a cool thinhg and I've now actually brought one so you can all give it a go at home. We spent the whole day on a sunlounger on the beach. What a day! Before we left we headed to Olivia's to eat, nommed pasta, garlic bread and an orange crepe! The road to Hoi Chi Minh was awkward but not as bumpy as the last sleeper. Previously unbeknown to us we could choose our seats and the one time we didn't want our top bunk front row seats we were made to sit in them. I slept in the middle bunk at top and fell 'asleep' listening to gnomeo and juliet and kal ho no ho on the hudl and Charlotte and Ed were right at the front of the bus enjoying front row seats! At one point in the night Mark asked me to mind his bag whilst he stepped off the bus (we'd stopped for a toilet break) and I was startled when he took back his bag as I was fast asleep and was ready to shout as I thought someone was taking his bag! Having to spend diwali, christmas, new years and my birthday away from home was really different for me. I obviously missed my family (especially my mum) and friends but have been really blessed to have been able to spend it with a great bunch of people and especially having Charlotte, Mark and Ed around for my birthday made it one I will truely not forget! Its been an amazing end to 2013 and an exceptional start to 2014! x
Friday, 4 October 2013Hello and ahhhh #travel
So here I go... I've left my full time career and profession at Proactive International PR and now I'm planning my trip to Thailand and beyond in a month! (not terrified at all!)
Follow me as I go on an incredible journey teaching English to children in Thailand to exploring Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia and Vietnam (haven't a clue what I'm doing in these places yet!) and read how a 24 year old girl (yes girl?!) travels on her own (anywhere)... for the first time ever!
I'm currently signed up to complete a 120 online TEFL course before I go and complete a two month teaching experience in Ayutthaya, Thailand. More details of what I'm doing can be found here:
I've been inspired to re-start my blog again as a way to keep family and friends updated with what I get up to as I'm on the other side of the world... I apologise now for the lack of words but I will hopefully capture beautiful moments with my camera and recollect on my experience so you know how I'm getting on!
Passport... CHECK! Visa...CHECK! Flights...BOOKED!
So here it begins... TEFL, Thailand, south east Asia... here I come!
xoxo
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