Chad and Sharon Moore

We have been blessed with beautiful weather in our final week in Thailand.  Sharon has been making the most of it whilst I have been taken over with suduko addiction.  I can't really tell you much about Hua Hin apart from it has a lovely long golden beach and a new shopping mall complete with western shops and multi-screen cinema.  We have been very lazy with regards to sightseeing. 

We are staying in a lovely studio apartment and have been enjoying the benefits of a great swimming pool and free dvd hire :-)  We have ignored our $50 a day budget, something we have stuck to for 6 months, thrown caution to the wind, and living as king and queen on $70 a day instead :-)

Everything must come to an end and so, this is it, tomorrow we will be back in Bangkok for a final flurry and then home to Sydney.  Sharon is treating me (and herself of course !) to a fancy meal on top of some skyscraper on Monday for my birthday and our final night, so hopefully it will be a fitting end to what has been, as Bill & Ted once said, "a most excellent adventure"!

We both look forward to seeing many of you reading this again, some sooner than others, but hopefully all in due course.  Until our paths meet again, enjoy your own adventures on life's great journey.

PS Sydney boys, when's the next poker night?  I need to win some of your money :-)

PPS Anyone know of a good place to rent in Manly, we're homeless :-)

We're back in Bangkok after 5 days in Pai (pronounced 'Bye'), a chill out town in a gorgeous green valley amongst the hills of northwest Thailand.  The town attracts artist and musicians from Thailand and beyond creating a somewhat laidback hippy vibe.  We hired out a moped for a few days exploring the surrounding area, splashing in deserted waterfalls, wandering streets of local tribal villages and admiring the temples that overlook the valleys. Something you notice whilst in rural Thailand is the Thai sanuk culture. Sanuk means fun in English and it is part of the Thai way of life to make fun in whatever you are doing.  Even when watching hard labour in the fields you get the sense of playfullness amongst the workers.  It's nice to see and something we should have more of in western culture.

We initially stayed in a cheap guesthouse (Abodaya 260bht/night) but the mattress was sooo lumpy that we had to move.  We paid out a bit more money and stayed in a great riverside bungalow.  It had amazing views, not only from our huge private balcony, but from our super king size bed too.  Sharon was very happy :-)

Whilst in Pai we managed to check out a few local and touring musos in the small bars dotted around the town.  It was great to be so close to the bands and being able to appreciate their talent and passion.  On one occasion, we were treated to a musical experience when a group of maybe 8 locals performed a few songs with fire dancing, bongos, didjeridoos, bells, etc.  Their performance attracted a rather large crowd of hippies and I was very glad that Sharon wasn't wearing a t-shirt we saw earlier on in the evening, the slogan was 'hippies smell' !

Pai has some lovely little shops and stalls selling the local tribes' handicrafts and some dazzling coloured clothes, bags and hats.  We wouldn't be brave enough to wear them in Thailand let alone back in Australia!

So, after enjoying a few days relaxing by the river in a beautiful valley, we headed back to Bangkok on the overnight bus.  For our last week in Thailand (I can't believe I'm typing that!) we are off to Hua Hin, a few hours south.  It's supposed to be the Thai royal family's choice of beachside retreat and is popular with Thai holiday makers.  Let's hope the weather is nice!

PS Happy birthday Alison M x

Whilst in Chiang Mai we have been pretty busy, the end of our travels is fast approaching and it won't be long till we'll be back in Manly.  Some people might be sad to come to the end of such a fantastic trip but we are both looking forward to catching up with friends, etc, so I'm sure it won't be that bad.  How bad can living on the Northern Beaches be? :-) 

Anyway, what's keeping us busy?  Sharon and I attended yet another cooking class, at this rate I may well learn something!  There were 4 of us in the class and it started off with a market tour in Chiang Mai followed by a 15 minute truck ride out to a lovely open air cooking classroom.  We cooked some fantastic dishes, shared our food and had a great time.  The cooking class has only been running for a month or so and Nancy, our teacher, was excellent, very professional and definately recommended.  Check out their website www.siamricethaicookery.com to see photos of us on the 21st August class. (just checked and they are not up yet).

We've enjoyed an evening of Muay Thai boxing at the local stadium sitting in the front row seats feeling the tension of the trainers in the corners as their fighters combat.  We watched bouts of various weights, of which only one was heavier than Sharon!  These guys are small but being so close to the action soon made us realise that they can pack a punch, kick, knee and elbow for that matter!  All the fights were accompanied by enchanting music and with the ceremonial starts to each match, it was more than just a bit of violence.  Whilst visiting the bathroom, I noticed one of the defeated fighters cleaning blood off his face, even though he looked worse for wear he still turned and greeted me in the traditional Thai way of wai and smiled.  Even battered and bruised Thai people are still friendly and welcoming!

We also had another memorable evening of food and live music at a riverside bar/restaurant called Good View.  They have a band of about 12 musicians who chop and change during the night to give you the widest range of cover songs I have ever heard.  They were full of energy, very talented and looked like they were having fun, perfect ingredients for a great band and they gave us a great night :-)

 You can't come to the north of Thailand without riding an elephant through the lush rain forest.  Maybe we didn't choose the best day to go because after two days of hard rain the ground was treacherous turning our ride into more of a hang on for dear life!  As a mode of jungle transport, our elephant proved to be amazing. Okay, he slipped once causing Sharon to shreek but our guide, on his own elephant ahead of us, led us through some extreme terrain.  Sharon's comments of "We can't go up there!" and "We're not going to get down this way!" fell on deaf ears as we moved through the jungle.  It was fun even though we had to hang on very tightly at times.  Steep slippery inclines and declines definately increase your adrenaline!

We've visited a couple of hill tribe villages, the Hmong tribe and the Karen tribe.  It was really interesting to learn a bit about their beliefs and lifestyle and see how they live and survive in their habitat.

Sharon is also very proud of our bamboo rafting experience.  Due to a large amount of rain a couple of days before, it felt like we were white water rafting on a few pieces of sticks at times ! Even though water crashed around us totally soaking us and with her fear of water, Sharon still though the elephant ride was more terrifying :-)

Tomorrow we head north west from here to Pai, towards the Myanmar (Burma) border.

We started off early catching a shared taxi to the airport.  We actually shared the taxi with the same English guy we caught a taxi with when arriving in Hanoi a week earlier... spooky !  So, after wishing him safe travels again, we settled into the airport lounge only to bump into a couple we had had dinner with when we went out with the Croydon boys.  We were all going to Bangkok so after a pleasant and cheap flight on Air Asia we shared a cab to the Banglamphu area of Bangkok.  Spent the rest of the day sorting our bags out again with our stored luggage and booking the overnight bus to Chiang Mai, and then met up with Ollie and Sophie again for a few beers.  They are off to Oz after Bali so we may see them again in Sydney which would be great :-)  The overnight bus to Chiang Mai was okay I suppose, we've had worse, but the air con was leaking on the left-hand side of the bus so a few unlucky people had to put up their umbrellas or wear their raincoats for 12 hours.  I'm glad we sat on the right-hand side :-)

Chiang Mai is approximately 700 km north west of Bangkok and is the northern capital of Thailand. There are over 300 temples here and the old city is bounded by a moat and partial walls.  We are staying in the old city in a great little corner room overlooking a temple and monks' living area.  It's weird to see all the orange robes hanging out to dry on wash day :-)

We have been lucky enough to experience the Sunday night market in the old city.  I must say it is amazing, even if shopping is not your thing it's great to see so many locally produced handicrafts.  It's a bit like Paddington market in Sydney or Camden market in London only ten times better!  The market is very popular with the locals so it doesn't feel like a tourist trap.  There are cheap food stalls selling some divine dishes and with local musicians playing various instruments every 50 metres or so, it all adds to a wonderful atmosphere.

We are here for a few days so I'm sure there will be more to share soon. I'll spend the rest of my internet time uploading some photos, I'm a bit behind!

Hope everyone is keeping well, we are gutted we missed Paul's 40th in Manly, the porn party photos look awesome!!! Maybe it should be an annual event ;-)

From Hanoi we took a minibus along with 10 others to Halong City where we boarded a Pagoda style boat which would be our home for the next couple of days.  We cruised into the surreal seascape of Halong Bay, with all the limestone pinnacles protruding from the sea, it makes a spectacular sight.

Halong translates as 'where the dragon descends into the sea' and the legend says the islands were created by a great dragon's flailing tail which gouged out valleys as it plunged into the sea.  These valleys have since filled with water leaving more than 3000 limestone islands and a lovely magical landscape.

A couple from New Zealand recognised us from a previous hotel we had stayed in and we got chatting, soon the whole group started socializing and we made some more friends.  These kind of group tours are much more enjoyable if you meet nice people, thankfully we did!

We cruised around the bay weaving between the islands sitting on the top of our boat taking in the panoramic view.  It really does look impressive.  We stopped a couple of times to visit some of the caves and chambers that are on some of the islands and we anchored for a while so we could spend some time kayaking.  I think Sharon preferred the bigger boat though :-)

We ate all our meals on the boat, sharing tables with fellow travellers and sharing experiences too.  In the evening we enjoyed a beer or two together on the roof before the rain came and we retired to our own little ensuite cabin.  It was a memorable trip and something we would definately recommend. 

After the tranquility of crusing around Halong Bay, it was back to the hectic Hanoi. 

We've changed our plans slightly and have decided to fly back to Bangkok and then go up to Chaing Mai in Thailand.    Our craving of Thai food has gotten the best of us.  We got a really good deal on the flight, now we just need to hope our bags are under 15kg each! :-)

So next stop Thailand.... again!

After our worst overnight bus trip yet, we arrived in the capital city of Vietnam, Hanoi.  The bus ride started well, lots of empty seats so we could stretch out and sleep, but 30 minutes later we had circled Hue 3 times and picked up what felt like any Vietnamese who fancied a ride to the capital!  We eventually left with all the seats full plus people sitting on little plastic stools in the aisle.  Now throw in a couple of people being sick and you can see why the 12 hour journey wasn't a highlight of our Vietnam experience.  Still, at least it's very cheap :-)

We stayed in the Venus Hotel (not recommended) where we hooked up with a couple of English blokes, John and Dihlan, from Croydon (both big Crystal Palace fans you'd be glad to hear, Nicola).  We had met them in Hoi An and it was great to catch up with them again and share our experiences, they are very amusing and have some hilarious stories to tell.

We were staying in the Old Quarter, a lively and unusual place where the streets have been bustling with commerce for more than a thousand years.  Each street seems to specialise in some sort of merchandise, herbal medicine, silks, leather, steel, etc,  It's a great place to stay and provides a good dose of Vietnamese culture even if it is a bit hectic at times.

Whilst in Hanoi we saw a wonderful water puppetry performance at the Municipal Theatre.  The puppets were both amusing and graceful and the music from a live Vietnamese band was enchanting.

We also visited the Ho Chi Minh Complex and learnt about the man himself, he is honoured in Vietnam for his role as the liberator of the people from french colonialism as well as his communist ideology.  Travelling is definately improving our education! :-)

We liked Hanoi, although city life in South East Asia is crazy, it is easy to soak up the experience over a lovely Vietnamese coffee at a side street cafe and feel glad that we have the option of just watching.

Next stop the natural wonder of Halong Bay, something we have been looking forward to.

Hue pronounced "whey", is only 4 hours travel from Hoi An.  We arrived early evening and checked into a cheap hotel called Bao Minh ($10) which is off Le Loi Street and nice and quiet :-)

We had a bit of a look around and stopped for a tasty bite to eat washed down with a few bottles of local beer, Hue and Festival, at a restaurant called Little Italy.  Afterwards, we were lucky enough to nab a corner spot outside the Why Not bar and had a few more beers... hic :-) whilst chilling and watching the world go by :-)  I can't believe I'm still drinking beer!  I did try a bottle of Dalat wine the other night but I felt so bad the next day that I'm steering clear of wine from now on.  I'm sure I'll change my mind once we get back to Manly though :-)

The next day we visited the Citadel which has a 10km perimeter and kept us busy for quite a few hours.  There are many different buildings and ecnlosures within the Citadel walls, each with an interesting history/story to learn. 

Whilst wandering around we bumped into some Aussie friends from Hoi An.  This seems to happen a lot over here as everyone follows a similar route through the countries.  We recently met a girl in Nha Trang, Vietnam, who we had previously met in Ko Chang, Thailand, 3 weeks earlier and 1000 miles apart!

It was sooo humid whilst we were in Hue.  There was absolutely no breeze for most of the day and everyone had that glazed with sweat look.  On one of the many rest breaks we took in the Citadel, Chad left the camera behind. I noticed it was missing about 10 - 15 minutes later so we frantically ran back to the spot.  Luckily we found the camera but running in this weather is definately not recommended, it doesn't leave you with a good look :-) 

We recovered at Tinh Tam Lake (I got excited about this as thought there may be Tim Tams) on the little island where the emporers used to come to relax.  It's a bit off the tourist trail so we were the only foreigners there.  It was nice to chill watching the locals fishing and a few children trying to fly a kite which involved running up and down as there was no wind.  Where do they get the energy from in this heat!

We caught a cyclo (a bike with seat on the front) around the city and back to our hotel.  It's a fun way to travel even if it is accompanied with my squeals as cars and motorbikes nearly hit us :-)

Our short stay in Hue was nice and we treated ourselves to some lovely meals, the benefit of staying in a cheaper hotel :-)

Next is another overnight bus trip to the capital of Vietnam, Hanoi

Hoi An isn't just for clothes, we've found it a perfect spot to take some time out to soak up an enchanting part of Vietnam.  We've taken relaxing strolls around the old town which is a world heritage site so it retains a sense of history and charm.  Sipping Ca Phe Phin (Vietnamese coffee) and nibbling on the delicious french inspired desserts isn't a difficult way to while away the day.

We hired Vietnamese bikes and cycled 4km to Cua Dai Beach, a gorgeous 30km stretch of golden sand and clear blue water that was deserted.  Sharon was a bit unsure on the bike at first but she got better.  The guy who rented out his bikes gave a concerned look when she slowly wobbled away! :-)

We took part in a great cooking course (Red Bridge Cooking Class), the cooking part wasn't really that intense but we had a brilliant day.  It started off with a guided trip to the local market where we watched farmers and fishermen selling their fresh produce, then we took a cruise down the river to a beautifully set restaurant on the waterfront.  We learnt how to make 3 or 4 local dishes as well as some decorative touches to make it all look pretty.  The teacher was an absolutely hilarious chef, he had a very dry sense of humour and an accent like a Vietnamese Borat. He had us in stitches so many times.  I must say, my cooking expertise far surpassed Sharon's on the day, she had a shocker.  For example, she flipped her rice pancake straight from the pan onto the gas stove where it instantly burst into flames... whoops :-)  though her tomato skin rose looked a lot more like a flower than my effort :-)

After the lessons the whole class had lunch together enjoying the dishes we had learnt to cook but which were prepared by the restaurant staff (thank god, I didn't fancy eating Sharon's efforts).  We then took a cruise back to Hoi An Town where a few of us finished up with mouth watering desserts from a great patisserie (The Cargo Club).

As was mentiond in our previous journal, we are staying at the Green Field Hotel. This place has turned out to be a great place to mix with fellow travellers and we have made some wonderful friends, the free happy hour cocktails brings like minded people together ... hic :-) 

Next stop Hue.....

From Nha Trang it was our first overnight bus journey in Vietnam to our next destination, Hoi An, as we continued our journey North. So, after 10 hours with the ever honking horns we arrived, suprisingly we managed to get a few hours sleep so we must be learning to sleep through anything.

Hoi An proved to be well worth it! Our $20 a night accomodation at Greenfields Hotel was great, luckily I emailed them the evening before as it was fully booked when we arrived. It has a swimming pool, cable tv (which meant I got to watch Manly beat Parra and the Brisbane!) fridge, a/c, free buffet breakfast (waaaaay too much food) and best of all free happy hour alcoholic fruit cocktails every evening around the pool!!! happy days! ;-)

Hoi An is billed as a ’shoppers paradise’ as it is one of the cheapest places on the planet to buy tailor made clothes!  Having known all this before we arrived, I must admit Sharon was looking forward to our time in Hoi An more than me but we actually both really enjoyed our time shopping in Hoi An! I discovered that buying clothes is actually fun if they are being tailor made, I got used to ladies fussing over me. The tailors of Hoi An are extremely talented, you can choose any design of clothes or shoes, select your material, and within 2/3 days you have a perfect fitting, carbon copy for significantly less than you would pay at home! 

We ended up getting a little carried away and probably bought a bit too much but it is pretty hard not too. Speaking to other travellers we seem to have held back pretty well as many people have ended up with complete new wardrobes (they can send stuff back home for you).

The city itself is relatively quiet by Vietnamese standards (i.e. only 2,000 motorbikes per sqaure inch), with gorgeous old buildings and cobbled streets. The town has a unique feel, with every other building either a clothes / shoe shop, the workers producing the material or the cutters and tailors making the alterations. Suits and jackets replace the usual pigs and chickens as the main cargo on the back of the motorbikes that fly around the tight streets all day and night!

Without doubt, Hoi An has been our favourite place in Vietnam so far. The town centre has some great old buildings, a lovely river setting and there is a great feel to the place, oh, and the clothes aren’t bad either!

After the sleepiness of Mui Ne, Nha Trang seemed lively and bustling and we were ready for it !  Nha Trang has a lovely long beach but you do get bothered constantly by touts selling everything from drinks, snacks, massages to pedicures.  I have noticed that in Vietnam they tend to invade your personal space. There will be miles of empty beach and they will choose to sit within a metre or so away, and it won’t be one or two people but about 10 !  They are also very touchy feely and think nothing of manhandling you.  Aside from this, they are very friendly and trusting and go out of their way to help you. 

We arrived late on a Friday evening and after knocking on about 10 or so hotel doors, we finally got the last (windowless) room in a cheap place.  Nha Trang ís very much a Vietnamese holiday/party place so gets especially busy at weekends.  We actually stayed in another 2 places, one of which was La Suisse ($22) which was nicely furbished but our room was above the kitchen so it got rather noisy early on in the mornings.  The last place was Perfume Grass Inn ($12) which was not as posh but had a great shower, fab breakfasts and was cheaper :-)

We went on a boat trip and visited four islands which was great.  The first time I went into the sea I wore a life jacket, tyre and my float !  I could hardly move and the jacket kept sliding up to my ears!  I was so buoyant I could have saved everyone on the boat if it went under :-) We đid a bit of snorkelling first which was amazing, there were so many wonderful fish.  I did actually go into the water with just the tyre on and it was an awful lot more comfortable !  Chad and I got stung by jelly fish and I have to say, it was quite painful.  Loc (our tour guide aka Funky Monkey) put some white vinegar on me which helped.  Chad had to suffer with his as he is a man :-)

We stopped for lunch which was a huge table laden with soooo much yummy food such as tuna, prawns, noodles, spring rolls, etc :-)

When lunch was over, we were introduced to “Nha Trang’s Boy Band” which was Loc and a couple of the other guys from the crew.  They were very entertaining.

After lunch it was time for free happy hour at the floating bar.  I donned my new best friend, my tyre, and I was in the water like a shot and merrily splashed my way over for a drink or three… hic :-)  The stuff they serve is a bit strong but it is such a fantastic feeling just bobbing around in the water.  There are even cup holders on the bar.  I was allowed to take the tyre onto the next island with me which was great.  I am soooo going to buy one when we get back home.  I can just see myself at Shelly Beach bobbing around with a nice chilled bottle of Hardys…. he he :-)

We actually did the same boat trip again a few days later as it was such good fun.  Funky Monkey remembered us and gave us a free beer….. sweet :-)

 We even managed to fit in a couple of rugby matches which were showing at a local Irish bar called Shamrock.  We watched Australia lose in the Tri-Nations against the All Blacks, the bar was heaving so even though we lost, it was a good atmosphere.  I treated myself to a manicure/pedicure whilst Chad was watching the rugby and it was very cheap. 

We thought we’d have a break from the beach so took a stroll to Long Son Pagoda and climbed the 152 steps :-( to the white Buddha (14m high) which is seated on a lotus blossom and has great views of Nha Trang.  Luckily it was early evening so the steps were not too much of a struggle.

We enjoyed ourselves at Nha Trang and were impressed by how many restaurants and bars there are. 

We have bought ourselves ‘open tour’ bus tickets which take us from HCMC to Mui Ne, Nha Trang, Hoi An, Hue and finally Hanoi.  All of this for only $18 each :-)  We have our first overnight trip coming up so we'll see how that goes.

Next stop Hoi An which i've been looking forward to as i've heard so much about the tailors.

We arrived at Mui Ne, a quaint little fishing town on the south central coast of Vietnam, and it was a welcome break from HCMC.  The beach was lovely and long and best of all, quiet :-)  We checked out a couple of places and managed to get a bungalow on the beach so that we could hear the waves ... sweet :-)  It also had a couple of pools, one of which was a baby one which was perfect for me! :-)

Mui Ne is known for its sanddunes, they are lovely and remind us of Maspalomas in Gran Canaria.  Chad was disappointed that there was no nudist section here though :-(  He is developing a cute pair of flesh coloured boardies (shorts) that only I get to see :-)

We did absolutely nothing in Mui Ne, just relaxed and chilled out :-)  We did get back into our romantic evening activities, no, not that, I mean jogging along the beach at sunset together :-) We even woke up early one morning to catch a sunrise, how romantic.

We've sampled the cheap Vietnamese rolls, baguettes typically filled with pate, cheese spread, salad and soy/chilli sauce plus choice of meat, a great little snack for about 40 - 50 cents.  We've also sampled some beer, Vietnam doesn't have a national beer as such so there are quite a few local breweries.  I'm looking forward to trying more regional beers as we travel north.

We have had to hang about Phnom Penh for a few days in order to sort out our Vietnam visas.  It’s not the best place in the world but it does have a certain charm about it.  It’s a largely french designed city due to being part of the old French Indochina and was once known as the Pearl of Asia.  Wars have since ravaged the city and it wasn’t until the 1990’s with help from the UN that Phnom Penh really returned to life.

One of these wars that happened in our lifetime was when the ultra communist Khmer Rouge took control.  Many people will remember the film “Killing Fields”, the harrowing true story of a journalist trapped in Cambodia.  We took a tuk-tuk out to the Choeung Ek memorial which is built at one of the many killing fields across Cambodia.  There were over 100 mass graves and about 20,000 people, including foreigners, executed there.  The memorial itself contains thousands of skulls and does serve as a horrific reminder of what took place.

Sharon had read the book “First they Killed my Father”, a true story of a young girl’s fight for survival during Pol Pot, Khmer Rouge reign and was keen to learn more so we also visited Toul Sleng.  Toul Sleng is a former high school which was converted into a prison and interrogation facility and renamed S-21 by the Khmer Rouge.  It now serves as a museum and much of it has been left in the state it was abandoned in 1979.  It contains thousands of photos and extensive records which send a shiver up your spine.

It hasn’t all been depressing though, Phnom Penh Royal Palace and the National Museum were a lot more pleasant J  The Museum contains many Angkorian artifacts taken from the Angkor temples we visited when in Siem Reap.  It was good to see the real thing and helped lend context to the whole era.

We’ve once again been spoilt with delicious food, Cambodian food or Khmer food as its know here, continues the high standard of yummy asian tucker.  Especially loving the local curries, not spicy but absolutely full of flavour.

Being woken up early by the traffic isn’t really part of our plan but it has enabled us to watch the various types of exercise going on in the park across from our balcony.  Cambodians have waaaaaay too much energy in the morning, Thai Chi, football, badminton, jogging and general aerobics and all before 6.00 a.m !  It really is quite tiring to watch whilst straining with our own workout of drinking a coffee J 

Whilst touring around the city we noticed a queue outside a local hospital, I thought maybe they were there for free vitamin shots or vaccinations but later on we watched a news report from Cambodia on Australia tv which gave us a bit of a scare.  It turns out that Cambodia is in the midst of a dengue fever crisis and the hospitals are struggling to cope.  Deaths are at a record high so let’s hope our super tropical mosquito spray keeps up the good work!

Talking of watching tv, we have managed to watch the Aussie football team play terrible in the Asian Cup.  I can imagine the papers are saying “bring back Guus!” At least the mighty Sea Eagles are still soaring, it’s been more fun watching them J

The money situation is confusing here as they use both American dollars and the local currency, reil at the same time.  The reil isn’t that strong so sometimes you can end up with a wad of cash that is worth next to nothing but it does make you feel like a drug dealer J Have I mentioned that I have been asked many times if I’d like to buy drugs ? Maybe it is the way I look.  

Next stop is Ho Chi Minh City or the old name Saigon, so it’s goodbye to the strange smells and strange sights of Cambodia.  Once you get used to the beggers, landmine victims, dust, sewer smells and worst of all, using American dollars combined with the local currency riel, it’s not too bad

The next stop on our trip is Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia.  We hopped onto one of the local buses (US$3.50) for the 6 hour journey.  We were right at the front of the bus and had a great view :-)  Why are Cambodians so horny you may ask?  Well, we first noticed this whilst being at the front of the bus watching the driver honk every time he overtook something, letting them know he was coming I imagine.  On a country road this is fine, a good idea even, but when in a city environment that equals a lot of honks from a lot of people!  Our room is positioned on a busy crossroads, great for watching the hectic goings on from the safety of our balcony but absolute hell from 6 a.m. when the morning traffic begins!  It is great fun watching people try to cross the road - you take your life in your hands just trying to get across!!!  If it wasn't for Chad I'd probably get run over!

Getting back to the bus trip, on one of the breaks we had we pulled into a little place selling all sorts of local food.  The favorite purchase on our bus was fried crickets!  I’ve been on many trips where the person sitting next to me is eating all types of smelly food but the fried crickets certainly get the no.1 prize :-)  Wherever I looked people were munching into their snack.  Chad said he is going to try some, I think I’ll give it a miss.

We are staying at Bright Lotus 1 ($US18 a/c, tv, fridge) which is opposite the National Museum and one road back from the riverfront.   The place is really clean and has the cutest little dog called Pinky (King Spaniel) guarding the reception.

People live wherever they can here.  There is a family living in a public toilet opposite us and also live in tiny little boats on the river.  There are also people living on the streets.  There are so many skinny children running around with next to nothing on begging, which is heartbreaking.  You can usually see their parents sitting somewhere watching the kids and telling them to go and ask you for money!  There are a few charities up and running which are helping the local children such as Child Safe and Friends.  Friends is a Cambodian version of Jamie Oliver’s 15.  It is a fantastic restaurant serving cheap but amazing food and employs and looks after youngsters learning the restaurant trade.  Child Safe employs/trains people to look after children who need help.

There are a multitude of restaurants in Phnom Penh and plenty of different dishes such as Spanish, Italian, British and a huge French influence.  Becks you would love it here, they even put chilli in their sugar for dipping fruits in :-) which I discovered after smothering it on my grapefruit.  Of course, I didn’t tell Chad this and he had the same nasty shock as me …. he he he :-)

We have noticed that pyjamas are very popular here.  Loads of women seem to wear them to go out in.  I’m thinking about getting myself a pair :-)

Update on moped watch – we saw a 3 piece suite being transported on the back of a moped :-)

We are staying in Siem Reap town because it serves as the gateway to the old temple ruins of the Angkorian era Khmer Empire.  We hired Jani, a tuk-tuk driver, for a few days and we have explored most of the legendary ruins.  It was nice not to be tied to a group tour and it allowed us more freedom to experience a bit of the adventurous atmosphere of being in the ancient ruins alone amongst the jungle.  I won't bore you with all the history, etc, of the temples but it is fascinating and being able to roam around them at your own freewill is a pleasure :-) 

Needless to say, we have taken loads of photos which will probably just look like a pile of old rocks, I'm sure they would look better if we had dressed up as Indiana Jones and Lara Croft :-)

As in Thailand, the Cambodian drivers are all  mad!  An organised chaos of every type of transportation possible, they are supposed to drive on the right-hand side of the road but this rarely happens!  We have had quite a few close calls but this all adds to the excitement I suppose.  We have seen countless unusual things whilst on the road, but the amazing use of mopeds still astound us. 

There have been a family of 5 plus suitcases, probably off on holiday.  The 3 live adult pigs strapped on the back, probably off to the slaughter.  The moped with 20 or so scaffold poles tied along the side, probably trying to joust their tea on the way home.  The mother holding a hospital drip bag attached to her child whilst the dad was driving, probably no ambulances.  Not a day goes by without us doing a double-take at the traffic and saying "did you see that?"

It has been a very busy few days, we've even had to set our alarm clock for early morning starts.  It will be nice to get back to the norm, get out of bed when bored :-)

After doing our research, we were expecting the worse, scams galore!  We were picked up at 8am and caught the ferry back to the mainland where we hung around for 1/2 waiting for more customers (a common thing in Thailand) and then we set off to the border town, Aranyon Prathet.  It was an interesting ride as its not a direct route so the driver was taking quite a few back roads so we got to see more of the non-tourist Thailand. 

We arrived at a restaurant in the border town where we were told to change onto a big bus to the border.  I wasn't surprised as I was expecting to be herded together with the other travellers from Bangkok.  We had to wait at the restaurant for an hour or so, apparently the bus was being cleaned which was bull as when we got on the bus it had leftover rubbish in it!  There was nothing else to do but wait and you couldn't wander off as the bus could be ready any minute, so, like everyone else, we had some lunch.  I noticed that when people had finished eating a lady was taking them into an office to sort out visas to Camodia.  We asked around and found that people were being charged nearly double the price of a visa!  When our turn came we refused her services saying we would get the visa at the border.  She didn't like it and told us that you couldn't get the $20 visa at the border and that the bus would not wait for us even though we had paid to be taken to Siem Reap which is 4-5 hours past the border.  We could now see why people were paying twice the amount, even though we knew a few of them were aware of being ripped off, but they didn't want to be stuck at the border.  We stood our ground and eventually we all got on the bus that took us a 5 minute ride to the border.  We all had to get off this bus and once through the border got on another bus so our original driver could have taken us straight through to the border but he was probably getting some commission from the restaurant/visa people. 

A Cambodian guy from the other bus company met us at the border and as we didn't have our visas he escorted us to the various spots - Thai exit control/visa service/border crossing.  When we were at the visa service they said that they wanted 1100bht each (should only be around 700 bht each).  We told them we didn't have that much money and only had US$20 for the visa.  Eventually they agreed to accept $20 plus 400bht each which was still a complete rip off but after a bit of haggling, we finally settled on 100bht each as long as it was fast tracked :-)  It has signs at the office saying that the visa is $20 only so this extra money is for the officials who issue the visas! 

Out of a bus full of about 30 people, only 4 of us didn't cave in! Even though we had left the group behind, the bus guy assured us that we would not be left behind which is contrary to what the woman in the office told us.

We all eventually got into Cambodia and were loaded onto the oldest bus in the world!  It had no air con, the seats were comfortable but didn't recline but it was great being able to look at the countryside on the way to Siem Reap (5-6 hours).  The road to Siem Reap is renowned for being really bad and is quite dangerous in places.   This road won't be paved until the contract with some airline flying between Bangkok and Siem Reap has run out.  We finally got to Siem Reap at about 11pm and it was no surprise to find out that we were not being dropped in the centre of town (as told when booking ticket) but outside a hotel (of the driver's choice) 4km from town!!

We jumped on a tuk-tuk and headed into town ($1 for 2 people).  We decided to stay near the market area of town at Ancient Angkor which is a great hotel with a pool, air-con, tv, fridge for $13 pn.  Our room even has a balcony which is great. It was 11.30pm but we had arrived, safe and sound, a lovely hot shower to wash of all the dust from the bus ride and it was straight to bed.   

We had a long journey ahead of us and set off nice and early.  A 2km walk to the bus station, 2 hour bus journey into Bangkok, a stressful 10 minutes trying to work out where to get the #511 bus from the Southern Terminal to the Eastern Terminal (someone took pity on us and helped us :-)).  Finally got on the bus which took about 45 minutes to navigate across the city, enabling me to spy lots more shops, yeyyyy (Chad not so impressed).  By this time, Chad and I were starving and spied a KFC... yum :-) 

The good thing about travelling in Thailand is that they have many tiers of fares for buses, etc and we usually take the 2nd class option which is a government bus.  Considering how cheap the fares are, the buses are actually really comfortable and even have air con !  We would take the 3rd class option but that's the one that stops off everywhere and takes a lot longer, otherwise I'm sure Chad would make me slum it more!

After a 6 hour journey and a really dodgy vampire movie, we finally arrived in Trat. We checked into a cheap guest house and after a quick visit to the night market for a bite to eat we hit the sack. 

We headed off on the ferry to Ko Chang the following day and was greeted with torrential rain.  I know it is supposed to be the rainy season but it has rained non-stop!  We checked into a hotel on White Sands Beach (SP Place - a/c, tv,etc - 500bht) which is very close to our most popular shop - 7-11, the taxi dropped us off outside the shop and the rain was so bad that we didn't do our usual checking out places we just found cover!. We haven't been doing much here as it has rained every day but it has been nice to just chill out, watch sport, movies, news and read our books.  I even had a few runs along the lovely beach a few times in between the rain.  I have been neglecting my keepfit regime :-(  We did actually have a bit of sunshine the other day and both got quite sunburnt.. doh ! We even caught a few waves in the sea with our lilo and also saw some dude surfing, this is a first for us in Thailand! Chad tells me the currents have been really bad, it's recommended not to swim in the rainy season here ( Oh dear, no swimming for me then :-) ) but it still amazes us that some parents let their youngsters out on their own, they wouldn't get away with that in Oz. We've seen many local thais watch on in dismay, it is embarassing to see they are more concerned than the parents. 

We head off to Siem Reap next, this involes crossing into Cambodia at Poipet. The whole border crossing is apparently riddled with scams so we will have to watch out. Next journal from Cambodia........hopefully! :-) 

It isn't just doom and gloom in the Kanchanaburi area but let's start with the Hellfire Pass anyway.

We visited the infamous section of the death railway at the Konyu Cutting.  There is an official Australian historical memorial site and museum here and they provide an excellent but heartbreaking audio tour which greatly enhances the walking trails.  It's full of soundbites from surviving POW's and gives you real insight into their experiences.  We walked for about 2 hours along one of the trails, it was hot, humid and the mosquitoes were feasting on us, but it did give us a better understanding on how hard it must have been.  This part of the 214km railway line was worked on by predominately Australian and British POW's and every ANZAC day a dawn service is held here.

We spent some time at one of the many waterfalls in this area and also bathed in a fantastic outside hot spa.  We were the only farangs at the spa and the only ones wearing swimmers.  The few Thais there were fully clothed so we felt a bit underdressed!  It was lovely though, the water was very hot and steam was rising all around us whilst we relaxed listening to the sounds of a cold mountain stream flowing past us.  We were even brave enough to take a dip in this cold water afterwards, totally refreshing!

During our time travelling, Sharon has become addicted to baby animals, for example, cats, dogs, goats, cows and even geckos!  The best so far though, has to be a tiger cub!  Local monks run a tiger temple which is an animal refuge looking after rescued tigers.  We were lucky enough to spend some time with a cute but energetic tiger which Sharon of course, wanted to take with us :-)

We did manage to ride on one of the local trains which goes along part of the death railway line, with other backpakers we jumped on a section of the track which is nice and scenic and travelled a couple of stops. The locals must think we are crazy but it's just like catching the manly ferry with all the tourist taking snaps whilst you are just trying to get home :-) 

It has been a strange few days, fun but filled with a reminder that life is short and we are lucky to be able to experience so much.  I have received 2 emails this week regarding deaths.  Firstly, Fred, a close family friend who was in his late seventies died unexpectantly.  He was stationed in South East Asia when he was in the army and would have undoubtedly known surviving POW's from the death railway.  I had been looking forward to sharing my experiences with him.  Secondly, Glenn, an old work colleague whose wife died of cancer a few years ago was killed in a road traffic accident leaving behind his children.  All this has happened to someone who was a few years younger than me.

Next stop Ko Chang, back to the beach :-) 

The trip to Heathrow was worse than the 11 hour flight to bangkok. An accident on the M25 meant that we were stuck on the "London Carpark" for an extra 2 hours.  4.5 hours in a car isn't an ideal start, so glad my dad talked us into leaving a bit early :-)

It felt good to be back in Thailand, the sights, sounds and smells are strangely becoming homely to us. It didn't take us long to check into our usual hotel (New siam II) and be on the streets enjoying a pad thai and Chang beer.  We even bumped into a street hawker, Wan, a woman from the Karen Tribe who remembered us from our previous visit. Who would have thought she would recall so much about us after we only bought one braclet from her - maybe it is because she took nearly an hour chatting to us for one sale!  It's like getting blood out of a stone making me part with 80 bht :-)

We spent a couple of days in bangkok suffering from our worse case of jet lag so far on this trip before catching a local bus to Kanchanaburi.  Most people haven't heard of this place but many know of the local bridge due to the classic old movie "The Bridge Over the River kwai" (a bonus point for anybody who remembers the name of the lead actor?).  The bus station is just over 2k from the main tourist area so we had our first chance to carry our packs, we had to stop halfway for lunch as we were shattered!  As luck would have it, we had an amzing pad thai from a proper local thai stall.  The cook was really helpful too as when I checked about directions she told us about a shortcut through a Wat (Temple), sweeet!  After helping her cute little daughter practice her english (something very common over here) we set off again.  Whilst cutting through the temple grounds we managed to catch a group of monks (is there a collective name for monks?) chanting/singing.  I must say it sounded superb.  I haven't heard such harmonies from a band of baldies since Right Said Fred!  and yes, the monks were better although it would have been amusing to hear them sing "I'm too sexy for my robes" :-)

We checked out a few places to stay before deciding on Tamarind.  Sharon like the look of one of the rooms which turned out to be the most expensive room, typical. I haggled hard to get it down to 500 bht per night.  It had air con/hot water/cable tv and it also had a beautiful river view.

I'm not going to go on about the history of the "death railway", needless to say, it's an unforgettable story that resulted in thousands of deaths and is something everyone should know about, so find out if you don't know. 

We visited a great informative museum and a very well cared for Allied war cemetary.  We also walked across the death railway bridge avoiding the trains as it's still in use today (after a few repairs from WWII bombings).

We enjoyed relaxing on our balcony, taking in the pleasant river views whilst trying to avoid being eaten alive by the mosquitos!  The peaceful setting was also transformed once in a while by my idea of hell, the floating karaoke!  Apart from that, we had a great time:-)

It’s been fun, we’ve been sooooo busy so our blog has suffered, sorry. Our bodies have been pushed to the limits, excess eating and drinking combined with lack of sleep is taking it’s toll on our ever ageing bodies J We’ve tried our best to catch up with everyone in the UK, sorry if we missed anyone out, remember you are always welcome over to Oz, once we get ourselves sorted!

I’ve put up a selection of photos, family and friends in various places. Thank you all for making us welcome and I hope as many of you will venture out to Australia so we can repay your hospitality.

It’s been emotional...but we are about to set off again, south east Asia here we come, first stop is back to the hustle and bustle of Bangkok.