DarynHayley

Hey all Well I certainly have been slacking with this blog bonanza - obviously because we are having such an action packed, fantastic time and there are far more interesting things to do than spend my precious moments updating a blog. Well, that's a far better reason than my sheer laziness. Since the last entry (which, if my memory servies me correctly, was from Saigon) we have enjoyed visits to Nha Trang, Hoi An and Hue, with a definite mixed bag of weather but lots to see and do. We took an overnight 'sleeper' bus to Nha Trang (about 10 hours) which was quite a novelty, albeit a not altogether comforable one. There are basically three rows of seats, each of which has both bottom and top seats (like bunk beds). The seats don't quite lie ... read more

So.....the last entry was all very mundane, but i'm sure you all will be pleased to here that recovery is complete and the trip is in full swing once again. The last couple of days we had in Phnom Penh we spent not doing a hell of a lot - we did go to the killing fields which are, as you would expect, a very sombre and sobering place. The fields are about 15km (or a 30 minute fear-for-your-life tuk tuk ride with a blundering drunk Cambodian, if you prefer to look at it that way) and are where the prisoners of Tuol Sleng detention centre (which we visited earlier) and a number of other 'prisoners' (read women, children, intellectuals etc) where slaughtered and buried in mass graves. I think there were about 8000 people buried ... read more

Well this entry is not going to be quite as exciting as the last couple, as we haven't really seen/done much due to us both, at different times, being sick. We went to Sihanoukville the day after our visit to the Tuol Sleng museum - it's a really nice beach only 4 hous away by bus, and it was great to be by the sea again. The beach is absolutely jam packed with umbrellas, loungers and a seemingly endless stream of hawkers (lady you want massage? lady you have hairy legs, you want shave? lady you want lobster? no? Why not?) and it is unfortunately not the cleanest beach in the world (apparently Cambodia has no rubbish bins and no organised rubbish collection or landfills, so most rubbish is either burned or dumped, which obviously creates ... read more

Hey again Well I just read Daryn's attempt at an entry from yesterday - you should have seen him trying to describe Angkor Wat, I thought his head would implode. Needless to say it was absolutely amazing, and it's hard for us to comprehend the age of all the sites.....we do have the stone cottage in NZ though, which i'm sure is comparable. I think neither of us realised the sheer scale of the whole area, or that Angkor Wat is just one huge temple in an area covering around 40km that is absolutely littered with them. As we were on bikes and only had one day to explore, we stuck with the most famous temples - Angkor Wat and Bayon and two smaller ones called Banteay Kdei and Ta Prohm (which is the one where ... read more

With Takeaway shops back home named "Lucky Golden Horse" and "coming Soon Horse" and guesthouses on our travels promoting such features as "bland new renovations" I thought nothing further of a city full of pizzarias promoting "Happy Herb Pizzas". Siem Reap delivered much more than just a pizza but a pizza that kept on giving. Hayley was adamant on trying one, whereas I was a little wary and unsure, but with a little peer pressure and a price hard to refuse ($6) we were on our way. We were up early Sunday morning to make our way to Angkor. We hired bikes and made our way through the chaotic streets until we reached one of the most amazing spectacles we had ever seen. I have just spent 10 mins trying to start describing the day spent ... read more

Well well well. Where do I begin? That title probably has all the avid readers (all two of you) intrigued.....but before I jump into that fiasco, i'll back track a bit on what we've been doing since the last entry. We spent out last day in Bangkok in the Siam square district, shopping and revelling in the chaos of Bangkok. We found a gourmet food supermarket which was, as you may guess, Daryns idea of heaven so we spent alot of money getting heaps of tasty bits and pieces for a picnic..it was sooo good. We went out for a few drinks on our last night in Bangkok and Daryn played numerous games of pool with a lovely Thai man and no, he did not lose anymore money. I went home before him but must have ... read more

Hey guys Well we are still in Bangkok and have had a great couple of days here, although we have been quite lazy and are 100% in holiday mode now which is fantastic. On Friday we went to the Grand Palace which was absolutely amazing. The walk there was a bit of a mission, we were walking down a really wide footpath with 100's and 100's of pigeons when these two Thai people come up to us and thrust little bags of corn in our hands to feed the birds. Although we were adamant we didn't want to, they literally forced some of it into our hands and made us throw it to the birds (which seemed even more flying-rat like than pigeons in NZ, if that's even possible), after which they predictably turned around and ... read more

Hey all! Well we made it! We are in Bangkok and are loving it. It could have been the trip that never was - as Daryn managed to misplace his bag containing passport, money etc etc within 20 minutes of Glenys leaving us at the airport. Turned out he'd left it outside after having that all important i-won't-be-able-to-smoke-for-12-hours cigarette, but luckily it was still there when he went frantically searching for it. Classic Daryn. The flight was long and cramped and all those things that flights ususally are, but uneventful - the highlight was probably the movie I watched about a lonely girl who befriends a misunderstood horse, and starred Becky from Full House. Dubious taste in movies, those executives at Royal Brunei. We got into Bangkok just after midday and caught the bus to Khao ... read more

Well, I know we haven't left yet, so this isn't technically a travel update, but I thought it wise to get the hang of this whole thing in the land of trustworty internet connections before hitting the road. We're leaving very very early Thursday morning (which i'm thinking of as very late Wednesday night, as it makes seem tantalisingly closer), and will arrive into Bangkok about lunchtime on Thursday. The plan is to spend a couple of days in Bangkok before heading down to the island of Koh Chang for a few days beach bumming en route to Camodia. Although i'm sure we'll both love it when we're there, we haven't spent much time reading about Cambodia or planning what to do there, as I think we've both been thinking of Vietnam as the main destination, ... read more