Blogs from Asia - page 13028

After many recomendations I have realised that the easiest (and most fun) way to keep everyone, including myself, up to date on my trip is to start a travel blog. And behold I have done it! It includes photos and will be sent out to everyone on my e-mail subscribers list every time I update it. Handy Dandy eh? So I'll start where the last e-mail left off, with Ally and I crashed uselessly in a hotel on Khao San Street (Th) in the tourist / backpacker district of Bangkok called Banglamphu. It is central to all the main sites and full of markets, shopping, allies with tastie little restaurants, scaming tuk-tuk (little mini taxi motor bike cart) drivers, and lots of late night fun :) We stayed at Kwain Place guesthouse (see photo) and ... read more

Hello again from hot and sweaty Cambodia! So... we arrived in once piece- just about! Our bus broke down in Thailand before we had even got to the border (still not sure if this was a bit of a scam to make us late and tired and fall straight into the comfort of the tour guides guest house...!!) But we didn't fall for the 'there aren't any ATMs in Cambodia' malarky and kept hold of our baht to change up in the city. Well done us! Eventually arrived early in the hours of tue morning having left Bangkok at 8am on Monday! Was the bumpiest and dustiest road ever- rivalled the dust of the Serengeti!! Its rumoured that the airline actually pays the govt not to resurface the road so that more people fly (the cheek ... read more

Rin is a 23-year-old widow. Her husband died one year ago at age 29. Rin has two children: a son, Kin, age six and in grade one at school, and Thao, her two-year-old daughter. Since her husband’s death, Rin has had to return home to live with her parents. The Vietnamese poor commonly die of treatable illnesses because they cannot afford medical treatment or medicine. You have to pay for everything at a Vietnamese hospital—and I mean everything; nothing is free. For example, if you need a drip, you need to buy it. If you need a plastic bowl to bathe yourself, you have to buy it. You need to purchase your own blood, food, water, pillow, blanket, etc. (I’m sure you get the picture.) Consequently, many people, knowing that payment is not possible, do not ... read more

After Varkala, anything we did was bound to be somewhat of a disappointment. Unfortunately, we decided to do the most expensive activity scheduled on the whole trip: House Boating. In all the guide books and on all the websites, house boating in Kerala’s backwaters are toted as the “chose a fair” while in Kerala. It is the one must see in the whole state, and floating peacefully along on a barge, through meandering canals sounded like an excellent way to spend a day and an evening. So, we headed from Varkala (sadly) on Thursday, on route to Kollam which was the less crowded of backwater tourist places. Upon arrival however, we were persuaded that Allapey, the more active backwater departure point, was the only place where a punting boat (man powered, not stinky or loud or ... read more

Here are some messages from the students. SITI AMIRAH BTE NORHAM Haloo…Wat’s up….I got something 4 u guyz….The homestay was really great. My buddy’s parent gave u something. Ltr when I reach S’pore I give….Me buddy n her friends were great n fun to be with…Wish could stay here longer….GTG…byE…. OW KAI TONG YAY!3 more days only…I coming back!!! don eat finish my chocolate okay? muz wait 4 mi! see u all soon. LOW CHIEW PING Hi everyone! I’m coming back in 3 more days..so looking forward to see all of you again..=*) SUM AO SHUN please type me some messages, OK? Having lots of fun here. more messages in bro’s hotmail. LEE WEI QING Father don’t ever let yan yi type message because I don’t know what she saying. OK? NADHIRAH BINTE AHMAD Assalamualaikum..adik miss ... read more