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Published: February 6th 2009
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Hi everyone, i hear there is some serious snow back in the UK. I haven't seen any snow here yet, but maybe it's on its way. We have been traveling for under 3 weeks but already there is so much to tell, so i will be brief (ish)....
Thailand
We have passed through Bangkok twice so far and i still haven't made my mind up about it. We proceeded t straight to Kho San Road, obviously, and were met by a horde of locals trying to screw us over at every turn. Still, i got some nice fake clothes so im not complaining. I was nearly foolish enough to try and buy a tag heuer watch, but the fact that it had stopped working even before i had put it on my wrist didn't exactly fill me with confidence. Still, there were some nice Ballaboing boardies, Timmy Hillfiger shorts and Hugo Bo55 shirts kicking around. We also thought it would be nice to go on a boat trip around Bangkok - however, our decision to go for the cheap option resulted in us being taken on a tour of what can only be described as the slums of outer
Bangkok. Our hotel made up for it tho, just of Kho San and with an excellent swimming pool, so not all bad. Olly has taken a liking to Thai girls. Im not sure they understood his skinny jeans when we arrived - at least 3 different people shouted 'ladyboy' at him!! But after some wise shopping he now fits in and is sweeping up with the locals. We are now on Kho Pha Ngan. We arrived yesterday without anywhere to stay but luckily have managed to get some Bungalows on Haad Yao Beach for $2 a night. An absolute steal. Didi some snorkelling today and am going up to Kho Mao tomorrow which is suppossed to be a really good dive spot. The Instructor said there was a whale shark there yesterday...but he was french so im not sure i trust him. It is full moon on the 10th, then back up to bangkok amd off to Oz for bob's wedding.
Cambodia
So far we have been travelling pretty luxuoriosly....we fly everywhere. Not the typical travelers but it is much better. However, the journey from Bangkok to Siem Reap was anything but comfortable. Getting to the border was
fine, but it appears the cambodge people don't know about tarmac yet. We were driven for 5 hours on the most ridiculous dirt/stone track i have ever seen. When our first taxi broke down i wasn't surprised, but then we got into another one and within 30 seconds it had decided that driving was not its forte. 3 cars and 12 hours later we arrived in Siem Reap. Siem is a really strange place, the result of money suddenly rushing into a small town and destroying pretty much every fabric of it. There are countless hotels that look like they belong in Las Vegas, yet a few hundred metres away from these there are wooden huts and gravel roads. Still, we stayed at Garden Village hostel which was pretty cool and the food was amazing all over Siem. You could eat for a dollar and the street stalls or treat yourself to traditional Cambodian food at restaurants for a couple of quid more. Lok Lak was pretty excellent. It is a little worrying, though, that they don't identify what meat they are giving you. it is rice with meat or without meat. I was nearly a vegetarian. Ankgor wat was
a massive dissapointment for me. We did the standard thing and got up at dawn to see the sunrise - along with 1,000 japanese tourists with about 4 cameras each. I much preferred Angkor Thom, a wat nearby with far more character and archeological interest than the bland grandeur of Angkor Wat.
Laos
Laos is absolutely amazing. Everything about it is excellent - the people, the food, the countryside, the towns. Luang Probang is the gem in the crown. We traveled for 36 hours to get there from Siem Reap (including a bit of a dodgy Lao Airlines flight) but it was worth it. The Kuang Si and Tad sae waterfalls were really nice. We rented mountain bikes and went to them, which was cool apart from two minor hiccups - lauren and harri both wiping out on a corner and getting a couple of colourful cuts and bruises.Managed to find cheap beach huts on the river and so lived in the forest for a few days. Vang Vieng is the complete opposite of LP. A horrible, culture-less place. We got there and wanted to leave straight away....and then we went tubing. We quickly realized that the sole
purpose of this place is to get drunk: floating down the river from bar to bar then over the bridge at night. I have never seen steve so happy!!
I have added a couple of photos on to this blog, but there are loads more to come....hope all is well with you guys, let me know if im missing anything.
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