D72008

Spent the last couple of days on the beach doing this......

Best waves since Bondi! The weather has been v.nice, in the 30's most days, so I have a nice suntan. Managed to catch all the action fromt he last day of the premiership which was very entertaining. Champions League final tomorrow so Im adopting a Spanish accent and hitting the streets. Come on Barca!


I have uploaded a few more pics from the islands and the pool party. xxx

He lives under a waterfall

Had a nice few days in Koh Samui doing very little besides lying on the beach and by the pool! We went to a cabaret show at one of the bars there which was interesting...not sure what % were boys and what % were girls (and what % were a mix) but it was basically very bad miming to lots of cheesey songs (tina turner, frank sinatara, madonna etc.) it was entertaining tho and was funny to watch the barstaff singing and dancing along...one day hoping to get themselves on the stage and have their moment no doubt.


Left there on Wednesday to travel down to phuket. the trip was very long. A boat which was fine, then a hot bus to the depot head office place, then a minibus to another office where they tried to sell us an upgrade on our ticket (we declined) then another minibus and a stop when we finallly got to phuket at a travel agents where they were hoping to sell us some accommodation (we declined). Then they just dropped us in the middle of the town and drove off...lovelly! We had a quick look around Phuket town and decided not to stay as it wasn't all that nice so we got the local bus to Patong beach where we are now. it's very nice here, very touristy, but some nice shops and alot of bars. The beach is very nice so today we spent the day there in the sun, and had the best waves we've seen since bondi so had some fun in them aswell. 10 outa 10.x

pix

Uploaded my latest photos...there are some new ones in the Vietnam folder and the rest in Thailand :) x

H2O

In Koh PangNan now, one of the islands in the South of Thailand. Been here 4 days now, but spent the first 3 of those in bed with a headache and a sore throat...I think the headaches were dehydration so have been replenishing since then! Last night there was a pool party at the hostel we are staying at which was quite good. It was all dance music which isn't my scene, but the drinks were cheap so it wasn't too bad. It was entertaining people watching as there were quite a few interesting characters about. It hammered it down too, but it was still warm enough to go in the pool. Today it rained all day so have done very little - tho that is the plan while we are here might I add. Just watched Liverpool, now gonna watch the Chelsea game then go to bed. We're off to one of the other islands tomorrow - Koh Samui - morning where hopefully we will find some sunshine. goodnight.x

Ticket to Ride

To echo the words of Lennon/McCartney....

"I think Im gonna be sad, I think it's the day. The girl thats driving me mad, is going away"


Had a good day yesterday on a trip. We went to the river Kwae and saw the bridge there and went to a museum about it all, then after that we went on the river on a boat (similar to the ones in Malaysia). The highlight of the trip was a ride on an Elephant, and then feeding it some bananas afterwards! Emma left yesterday evening so 3 of us again. Today we are heading South to the islands for a chill out and some R&R on the beach! After that I think we are heading into Laos to see what is on offer there! Will upload my photo's when I get a spare 5. xxx

Thai

We did the day tour to Ha Long Bay which was pretty good....though half of the trip was spent on the bus to and from the Bay. We went kayaking which was fun, but the weather wasn't too great so we got abit wet, then we saw 2 caves which were very nice (they are trying to make them one of the wonders of the world apparently).


Yesterday we flew over to Bangkok, Thailand. It's very nice here and very civilized compared to the busy compact streets and crazy roads of Vietnam. Did a tour yesterday around the many temples here on a Tuk-Tuk which was cheap (20p each!) but they make their money by taking you to shops and trying to make you buy things. We went in 2 suit shops and 3 travel agents and they all tried to sell us stuff but we stood firm and told them where to go. Went out last night which was, as far as I remember, a good night, and a cheap night. Had a few drinks before we went out, watched the West Ham v Liverpool game in the bar, beat some locals at pool, drank some more then woke this morning with a bad head.


This afternoon we went to a massive market which was good. Brought some nice T-Shirts at a very reasonable price, and a few other odds and sods Off for some food later and to watch the footy. Come on City.

Eye is better ;)

The world's as wide as your life is thin

Our whistle stop tour continues and I am now in Hanoi. The 2 days in Hao Ai I didn't see that much, literally, as I had conjunctivitus, or atleast I think I did (My symptoms matched a websites list). Got some eyedrops from the pharmacy and so luckily it has nearly cleared up which is a relief as it was not nice...felt like I had soap in my eye for the whole time!


Anwyay, Hoi An was nice, a small place on the river, so not so busy, and lots of little streets with nice shops and market stalls. It's famous for all of the clothes shops there who make dresses and jackets to measure, so the girls got 2 dresses made each. We ate some good local food there (cheap too - 3 pound for a meal and drinks for 2) and had abit of time to relax so it was nice. Thursday we got the sleeper bus to Hanoi which took us 19 hours! We should have arrived at 7am and gone straight on a tour but arrived at 9am so missed the tour, so instead we are doing the day tour today.....ttfn.x

king of the swingers

Went to Monkey Island yesterday, where you can see monkeys in the wild, which was really good. The 1st time Ive seen them since Ive been away apart from the brief sighting in Malaysia. We then watched an 'animal show' which was dogs doin maths and then monkey gymnastics, monkey weightlifting, monkey cycling, monkey football and monkey handstands to name but a few....it was abit cruel tho and wasn't too tasteful so we were happy when it was over and we were able to and feed the wild monkeys which was a good experience.


After that we went to a big waterfall in the area. We literally climbed up it to a spot near the top..it wasn't a steep one but there were loads of rocks we had to climb around and over. At the top we went for a swim before decending. The last part of the day we went to a mud spa where we bathed in mud, hot mineral water and cool mineral water..neve done that before so that too was an experience.


We got the night bus to Hoi An and are here for two days before we get another night bus to Hanoi which is in the North. Photo's are online. tra.x

King Dong

I am now in Nah Trang, which is on the south east coast of Vietnam. Arrived here yesterday after a 10 hour bus drive from Saigon, also Vietnam. It was forecast storms, but has been sunny all day so spent the day on the beach.


We spewnt the last few days prior in Saigon, whcih is a very busy, nosiy city. everyone here drives round on moped/scooter type things and everyone pips their horn all the time so it's very loud and very annoying. We spent a day at Chu Chi field which was where some of the Vietnam war was faught. When our guide wasn't too busy clowning around and doing stuff like this.....



...we learnt abit about the history and what happened during the fighting and were shown in the tunnels that were dug and shown some of the traps the vietnamese used to catch the yanks.


Thursday we had a lazy day to recharge and sorted out our itinery. Emma has to be in bangkok by the 12th so we are travelling up the coast of Vietnam then flying to Bangkok. we were hoping to leave Saigon earlier than we did but there was a big public holiday here for independance day so we had to wait 2 more days in noisy Saigon. Friday we did a day trip to the Mekong Delta where the Mekong river meets the sea. Spent the morning at the floating market..where loads of people on boats are selling fruit n veg, then saw how they make rice paper, coconut candy and rice chrispies. Had some local food (rice and pork) for lunch then a chill in the hammock before heading to a land market then home. Saturday we spent the whole day on the bus travelling up to Nah Trang so not much to say about that! Our hostel bill came to 2,000,000....but the local money, which is called Dong (dont laugh!) is 23,000 to 1pound, so it wasn't all that expensive.

Billy Goats Gruff

Saturday morning started like a scene from home alone (where they wake up late and have to rush around!). We were supposed to be up at 4am to get our taxi to the airport, but at 4.30 the guy from the hostel came and woke us up saying our friends (Lee & Amey) had left. They hadn't, but we had to rush around and pack to make our plane to Siem Reap, Cambodia!


We had a hostel booked there and we were met at the airport with a guy standing with a sign saying "Amms" - We'd booked under Emma, obviously this was lost in translation! Anyway, the hostel was nice, they helped support one of the local orphanages too so we were doing some good staying there. Seam Reap was very different to anywhere I've been, very simple but very charming. The locals too were very friendly and we were well looked after. Everyone there drives around in Tuk Tuks which are 4 seater tailor things on the back of a moped...every time you step out of the hostel or a shop we had about 5 people asking "Tuk Tuk Sir?" "Tuk Tuk" We spent the 1st day chilling out, and catching up with the footie as they had cable TV. The next day we spent visiting the ancient temples in the area (we had our own driver for the day for just $25!) which was good to see, and again, different to anything else we have seen. It was a hot day and all that walking was very tiring so in the afternoon we went for a swim then went for food where between us we ate goat, fish, chicken, crocodile, beef and snake (I just had goat).


Left for Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, the next day, all arranged and booked by the friendly hostel man, and were met there by one of his friends ( his sign read "Welcome Amms") and taken to our accommodation...a double en suite room with a/c and breakfast was $18 (They use American dollars)...a great bargain as David Dickinson might say. That afternoon we went to the killing fields and museum which was all to do with the Pol Pot regime here in the 1970's where there were a lot of people murdered, and the following day we had more of an uplifting day at the national museum which was home to alot of the artifacts and things they had excavated and found from the temples we had seen previously.


Heard about the Brewers finally sealing promotion which is good news. John I hope you have/had a nice Birthday meal, and Jane, thanks for the email - no word from #1 yet! xxx