Poni

The description of this hike: The minibus will drop us half the way up Tai Mo Shan (Hong Kong's highest peak) but we'll still have 550m of climbing to get to the top. After descending down through Leadmine Pass, we pass through monkey country, around Shing Mun Reservoir , before finishing at Pineapple Dam. This is a moderate hike with 550m of climbing in total (equivalent to about 180 floors of a building), and requiring the stamina to walk for 4 hours. It was 16 degrees when I left Central and by the time we reached our drop off point, the temp had plummeted to 11. We (20 of us) hiked most of the way in the clouds. It was a hard slog up the hill, but in hindsight, probably harder as we went from the ... read more

Stel popped over for a visit friday 10th through to Tues 14th June. We had lunch at Wagyu, which was pretty good, though a bit flash for us? Good set menu. I left them to it after lunch and they went out drinking. At 8.30pm I was reading a book in bed when they stumbled in. Scott wanted me to order room service because they hadn't eaten, Stell was running around like a madman turning out all of the lights, yelling it was bedtime. The next morning they swore they'd been given the rufies! it can't be that they're getting older, they must have been drugged! Stel had a covered one of the suede chairs with a lovely black vomit - all in all they thought a pretty good night....... We went to Yum Cha at ... read more

* icy Lime juice * Banana & mango yoghurt smoothies * Chicken porridge * Cheap tshirts, silk and jewellery at the Markets * The blue pumpkin cafe, Siem Reap * Titanic restaurant, Phnom Penh omg 5/6 are food related, im such an oinker... read more

had 6 hours on bus from siem reap to phnom penh. the snack was disgusting, a slice of a sponge cake with some kind of fish paste and some kind of fluffy stuff stuck to it that reminded me of dandelion spores. met lovely sth african lady called pauline who had been in phnom penh for 2 years and her church had started up a school. got into sisowath quay a tad early. drivers were swarming me, when Taun magically appeared and whisked me to nyemo for a couple of hours, enough time to have some great food and a smoothie. He picked me up at 5 to go to the airport. flew the 45 mins to ho chi minh (saigon) funny things about cambodia: * taun on his cellphone under his helmet while hes driving ... read more

good evening actually, I arrived into Vietnam around 20:00ish. the plane was cold, so had cardy on. It was pissing down outside, but 26deg and a bit humid. i jump into bus and its freezing and need a jacket. then to terminal where its just right. i fill out a convoluted form and pay $25 to get landing visa. the airport is deserted - am I the only one on an adventure here? when i get to the luggage carousel, my bags have been taken off and are sitting by their lonesome and theres no one in sight. though lonely planet says that it should cost $USD6 to get into town, i get quoted $14 first and when i protest vehemently, he "discounts" to $12, i flag it, and go down to the sasco counter where ... read more

A little about the temples: Angkor Wat - * the largest religious monument in the world * 12th century * was a city in its time is a pyramid of 3 levels representing hell, earth, heaven. stairs to hell are easy, earth harder, and heaven, very steep * orientated to face west, east is usual Bayon - Preah Khan - In the same style as Bayon, and similar to Ta Prohm, but bigger, pretty, and overgrown with trees. note to self: if you're going to bother with sunrise, pray for a clear cloudless morning otherwise being there at 5.30am is a waste of time. After sunrise, all the tourists bugger off to town for brekkie, so good time to stay and explore. Bear in mind that the climb to the top of the temple doent open ... read more

Left neth at 9am after a roof top brekkie with one of the other guests. my tuktuk driver, Phally (pronounced paully) headed straight for the furthest out temple - it took an hour. Temples: nb - get a copy of the guidebook ancient angkor, take it with you so you can read a bit at each site. you will see plenty of copies peddled at the temples or you can head to the blue apsara or d's books on pithnou. Banteay Srei - a petite temple with amazing intricate and detailed carvings. Banteay Samre - mature green trees and grass all around. not many tourists come here so was quiet and peaceful Ta Prohm - once choked by jungle, you can still see gnarled trees growing through the roof and the huge roots struggling through lower ... read more