The flight only took 3 hours but we slept most of the way. The bus journey through Manila and the countryside in the Philippines wore us out. We arrived at the Changi International Budget terminal late at night but surrounded in festive cheer. Trees lined the walkways, adorned with brightly coloured baubels. The next shuttle bus to the city was departing in nearly hours so we opted for the taxi option. This turned out to be cheap enough and brought us direct to the door of our hostel. Over the past 8 months or so we’ve always landed in a town [View Full Entry]

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Coron town on the island of Busuanga was our next destination. We nearly didn’t make our flight due to a late dive on Boracay but managed to get a rickshaw in time and pushed aboard the shuttle boat despite protests that they were full. We were the last to check in but Neena, secretary at dive shop, had called ahead so they were expecting us. We had to be weighed for the flight but managed to smuggle our excessive hand luggage on board without paying for it. Our hand luggage was excessive due to the 40kg or so of diving manuals [View Full Entry]

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The first thing we noticed about Manila was the guns. Outside the airport a security man guarded a cabinet where everyone had to leave their guns before entering the airport. Police and security men all carry guns. The next thing we noticed was the God mobile, a long, silver jeep with benches facing each other in the back and purple disco lights flashing and the words, God is Good, emblazoned across the front above the windscreen. They’re called jeepneys and we came across many of them, they operate a bus service all over the place for a cheap price but they [View Full Entry]

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We arrived in Nha Trang at the glorious hour of 6am. You just have to love the timetabling guys over here. Dan, our friend from Koh Tao, had already given us his hotel name so we found it easily enough, checked in to a double room with ac and a fridge for only $9 then crashed for another few hours. When we felt a little more recharged we found the dive shop where Dan was taking his Divemaster course and signed up for our EFR (Emergency First Response) and Rescue Diver courses. The shop was Rainbow Divers and they have a [View Full Entry]

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The first thing we noticed about Hanoi was the strangely melodic sound of beeping horns. The rules of the road don’t seem to apply here. Scooters park on the footpath and pedestrians walk on the road. Scooters and bicycles are by far the most frequently used modes of transport with even taxis operating on them and the roads are literally wedged full of them. Helmets are not common but speed isn’t really an issue as streets are so short and narrow. Crossing roads is a leap of faith; just step out and keep on walking slowly in a straight line and [View Full Entry]

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For our last few days in Thailand we took a 3 day trip out to Kanchanaburi, most commonly known for the famed bridge over the river Kwai. Most hotels and travel shops offer trips but we found the cheapest by far is the big Israeli travel agent across from the top of Koh San road. We got tickets here for half the price other places were offering. We were the only Westerners on our bus sharing with 2 monks, about 8 Thais and a guy from Singapore. We had to kill some time before we took off and a nice couple, [View Full Entry]

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We arrived on the island of Koh Phangan in time for the legendary Full Moon party. We flew from Siem Reap to Koh Samui via Bangkok the day before and got in to the party spirit en route. Quite a few people on the flight were on the same trail and the ferry port was heaving. There was a fantastic sunset and thunderstorm to keep us entertained while on the boat across which we tried to snap out of the window while attempting, poorly, to dodge splashing waves. We didn’t have enough foresight to book ahead so upon arrival bags were [View Full Entry]

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We were greeted by straight faced customs officials upon arriving at the Siem Reap airport. The system operated on a production line model and was quite efficient but not exactly friendly. We didn’t have to hang around for long though and plenty of taxis were waiting outside at the prepaid side of the queue. Our driver was particularly pushy and unpleasant and kept insisting we give him a time to collect us later to take us to the temples around the city. We explained we had no plans yet but we’d take his card and maybe call him if we decided [View Full Entry]

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As Emilie was only on a three week holiday, we needed to race around Thailand, Cambodia and Laos so we weren’t able to spend too much time in any one place. With a little help from our guide books and stories we’d heard from friends we’d narrowed down the places we wanted to see in Laos to Vang Vieng and Luang Prabang. As it turned out we weren’t able to get out of Vientiane the day we arrived so we spent the first night there..... We woke up on the train that morning in Nong Khai and watched the rice paddies [View Full Entry]

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We had one night to kill in Bangkok before Emilie arrived so we decided to check out the night life on Khoa San Road. This infamous street has had a lot of negative press and isn’t very highly regarded by some travellers but we are happy to report we quite enjoyed it. Yes, there are back to back stalls stretching the whole length of it on both sides. Yes, there are numerous mobile food carts selling fruit, bbq meats on a stick, tiny bags of boiled quail eggs and the like. And yes, there are more white and asian tourists than [View Full Entry]

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