Scratlin

The journey from Kuala Lumpuh, Malaysia, to Dumaguete, Philippines. Where to start? It was going so well until we landed in Manila and set foot on Filipino soil. Because they are essentially sadists, Cebu Pacific airline insists on overnight flights. We landed in Manila at 6am local time. We were tired, dirty, hungry. Our plane to Dumaguete was at 7am. After a very long wait in the check in queue we were relieved to find ourselves at the departure gate. Then our plane got delayed for three hours. In order to butter up the disgruntled passengers, Cebu Pacific gave out free food to everyone on the flight. It was fried chicken and rice from Jollybee. This meant that the plane reeked like KFC. Grrr...! We finally arrived in Dumaguete and we were immediately looked after by ... read more

'Thailand is a different animal altogether'. Those sage words came from my father when I'd skyped the Aged P's one Sunday afternoon. Whilst my mother knows best, Dad knows everything. Thailand is an entirely different kettle of fish to Philippines and Vietnam. I really get the impression our trip in Thailand was badly planned; we sort of did things the wrong way round. When I take in to consideration that I was in charge of planning Thailand this impression becomes somewhat distended. We deemed to head straight for Phuket in search of beaches etc. We stayed for a few nights in Karon which, in Turkey equivalents, is a bit like the Ishmala to the Marmaris. It's still quite busy and very touristy but not the screaming hell mammoth that is Patong. We had our first experience ... read more

Our camera memory card sadly corrupted the photos of our travels so far. I lost some remarkable pictures so you'll understand why I'm pretty sparse on pictures for this entry! I will add pics when I can and let you know when I do so. Oriel and I are now tying up the loose ends of an interesting excursion in Vietnam. We haven't travelled around as such. In fact we've only been to two places: Hanoi and Sa Pa. As of putting this together, we are in Hanoi for the last few days before we get the plane to Cebu, Philippines, in order to travel to Apo Island for three weeks of isolation from the rest of the world and to get our diving qualifications. In order to get here, we had to get a metro ... read more

We arrived in Dubai at about 7.45am and it was 33 degrees outside. Thankfully, on the first day, it was a dry heat but it was pretty humid for most of the fortnight. The first thing that struck me about Dubai was that it was much bigger than I'd first imagined. The clusters of towers sprawled out around us and in to the distance as we drove to Cam's (O's best friend) flat. A common misconception about Dubai is that it has loads of oil and it is this which financed it's rapid growth over the years. In fact it is the next Emirate along, Abu Dhabi, which has most of the oil. Dubai is in huge amounts of debt to Abu Dhabi due to its attempt to become, not just a business hub for oil ... read more