http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Joeandnicky/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Joeandnicky en-us Wed, 23 Dec 2009 19:47:49 +0000 Wed, 23 Dec 2009 19:47:49 +0000 Our flights back were delayed or cancelled it was not exactly clear but this had two outcomes the airline paid for a night in a hotel near Colombo airport we were a day late arriving back to the UK. We felt so excited arriving back in familiar Colombo with its gloriously lackadaisical approach to everything. A 5 minute chat with the immigration officer in which he did everything short of i http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/West-Midlands/Stourbridge/blog-439947.html Our supposedly poshest coach service in the region was a significant improvement on the other coaches that we had taken through Cambodia but sadly had major wheel issues within no time of setting off. In fact this was a blessing in disguise as we stopped in ldquoMechanicsrdquo village. Seeing the team leap to work sliding mats under the bus and jacking it up was interesting but better stil http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/Central-Thailand/Bangkok/blog-433173.html Siem Reap is the town closest to the magnificent 11th 15th Century temples of the Khmer civilisation. Built by GodKings they are huge magnificent and undoubtedly one of the wonders of the world. The town itself is clearly fundamentally a small town that has sprawled in recent times with the incoming tourists and yet it retains a charm even in the obvious tourist traps such as Pub Street.On http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Siem-Reap/blog-432015.html Dismounting from the boat at the dock in Phnom Penh we were met by a jostling crowd of hawkers hotel reps and moto tuk tuk and taxi drivers. We had a hotel organised and the address but they are not that helpful in Cambodia where street numbering seems utterly random. Perhaps this nation is psychologically secretive now and does not want an address to give away where they are. With our hotel http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Battambang/blog-430586.html The days after leaving the tranquil idyllic Phu Quoc could not have contrasted more with the lazy days we spent there. Planes taxis buses taxis boats taxis minibuses cyclos tuktuks and taxis all blur together as we look back at it. With less forward planning that usual Nicky had decided it was time for some hardcore travelling and refused to consult our lonely planet bible for this sec http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Mekong-River-Delta/blog-429934.html We have had several holidays within the holiday that has been this trip. Unawatuna was the first followed by Mirrissa Kota Kinabalu and now Phu Quoc. What they have had in common has been staying for a period in one place and beaches. The children are instantly happy doing very little but urgently. They run around and cast spells dig holes build sandcastles and irrigate water trenches. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Mekong-River-Delta/Phu-Quoc-Island/blog-428391.html From Hoi An we returned to Hue on a slow train. We had supposedly paid extra for a tourist train but suspect that all we got was tourist prices. The carriage was crowded with resigned looking locals who unlike us seemed unfazed by the state of the compartments or the fact that most of the chairs were broken. The ones in front of the boys were jammed in the reclined position and although ours http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Southeast/Ho-Chi-Minh-City/blog-427727.html Granny and Grandadrsquos departure did not mark the end of our regular trips in and out of Yaly our tailors in Hoi An. In fact it is a close thing as to whether we spent more time there or in our hotel while in Hoi An and remember the hotel had a decent and refreshing swimming pool We ended up with 3 suits 2 dresses 9 shirts 3 pairs of trousers and 2 pairs of Harry Potter robes between t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/South-Central-Coast/Hoi-An/blog-425525.html The train was clean and provided sheets pillows and duvets unlike our interrail experiences and being crammed into a hard sleeper for the 6 of us was quite a pleasurable one off experience. Grandadrsquos neck was suffering a bit post kayaking and he lay down and was asleep almost immediately. The boys were up and down to the top bumk where eventually they settled too excited to sleep and t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/South-Central-Coast/Hoi-An/blog-424380.html The contrast between laid back Luang Prabang nestled peacefully by rivers among hills and manic Hanoi must be as great as that between any two cities in the world. Elliot exclaimed ldquoItrsquos massive And itrsquos flatrdquo We got a large taxi along the first major motorway we have seen since KL. Mum demonstrated why she has no peer for entertainment value at least in games li http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/blog-423310.html We arrived in the bus station and squeezed into a jumbo tuk tuk with several others. It is amazing how many youngsters late teens and early twenties we meet who are absolutely astounded that we are doing this trip with children they really seem to think that life stops with children I guess that in our desperation to discourage teenage pregnancies this is the message we convey. Our fellow http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Luang-Prabang/blog-421115.html Arriving our fears were washed away. We were right especially since there was an off season discount at the hotel The setting is breathtaking. Jake and Elliot were keen to tube and we figured if we went early the next morning we would miss the worse of the alcohol fuelled backpackers. It is certainly true that the town is hideously developed and mobbed with backpackers apparently we are http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Vang-Vieng/blog-419988.html Our time in Sandukhan or Sandustink as the boys have named it was again spent with the boys watching HP and Rowan Atkinson and us on the internet. We tried we did go for a walk along the coast but it was dreadful. It is hard to believe this town exists in a place as beautiful as Sabah and I am sure most tourists pass by without even stopping other than at the airport.We were relieved to r http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Vientiane/blog-419301.html Sapi was a wonderful island for our final beach day for a month. It was quiet still wonderful snorkelling and a decent but not too expensive caf. There were also water activities and the boys went for a banana boat ride. Jake loved it although Elliot was not too sure and we had to call the boat in for him after a bit. He too loved the finale which was jumping into the sea from the boat whi http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Sabah/Sandakan/blog-416363.html Our next day in KK followed a very similar but more successful pattern. After breakfast and having collected clothes from a laundry service the first washing we have not done by hand since we left what luxury we purchased another mask and snorkel 4 between us now and caught the boat to tiny Mamutik. Our initial disappointment at finding more people crammed into the tiny 300m long island th http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Sabah/Kota-Kinabalu/blog-414339.html After another afternoon in KL where we succeeded in acquiring at no charge the missing memory card for our camera and eating we flew out to KK Kota Kinabalu. One of the inevitable attractions of travel is the people you come across. On the coach back from the rainforest it was a very military looking German guy who we were put off because he was smoking and looked like a neo fascist. First http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Sabah/Kota-Kinabalu/blog-413168.html We were late to sleep on Tuesday night having been out sampling street food in KL and when we returned organising and packing for going away while simultaneously trying to set up and use our new camera. Sadly despite having set our phone as an alarm we failed to set the phone to Malaysia time. This gave us an ideal opportunity to teach the boys what is meant by the phrase a rude awakening. On http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Wilayah-Persekutuan/Kuala-Lumpur/blog-412451.html Officially today marks the transition from our volunteering phase to our travelling phase. It is not as simple as that are things ever. We have of course travelled throughout our stay in Sri Lanka but particularly during the last 2 weeks which have been like a training course for what lies ahead. We are convinced that the idea to volunteer was a good one. We have integrated into a communi http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Malaysia/Wilayah-Persekutuan/Kuala-Lumpur/blog-411516.html We arrived in Galle and got a tuk tuk round Fort to Khalidrsquos guest house. We had to direct the driver and felt on familiar territory especially as the 3 wheeler turned into the fort and swung right up past the ramparts. The calm solidity of the metres thick wall with the sea rushing pointlessly against it was both beautiful and instantly reminiscent of happy times. Eventually the sea http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Sri-Lanka/Southern-Province/Galle/blog-410668.html We have been incredibly strict on the boys while being here. On one day we did some numeracy from books brought from England and made them stick stuff in journals and email home. The next we had real lessons set up. We headed off in beach kit stopped and hired surf boards and made our way in blue tuk tuk with boards strapped to roof off road cross country to the delightful Peanut Farm Bay. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Sri-Lanka/Eastern-Province/Arugam-Bay/blog-410423.html