Home sweet home

Well here I am, back in Blighty.
It's nice to see not much has changed in the 10 months I've been away - ie the kitchen my dad had started to install the Xmas before I left, is still not finished! ;)
It was odd that I'd completed 11 flights and had absolutely no problems until the final 2! St Petersburg Airport, bless them, do not have computers at their check-in desks. They also force you through the security section before you get to said check-in desks. So when you arrive with a ticket that has a different date on it to the day you're traveling on, they send you back out to the ticket office in the waiting area (regardless of the fact you have an email confirmation print-out of the change of date), only for you to get a sticker placed onto your original ticket. Then it's back through security.. again.
Then Heathrow airport in London, have decided in their infinite wisdom, to only allow one piece of hand baggage per person for flights leaving the airport. I had two - complete with fragile objects and valuables that I did not care to part with into the checked-in luggage. I was told I either had to check one bag in, or squeeze one bag into the other. This I did, although I've no idea how I managed it (let's just say thank God for large combat pant pockets). I was forced to do this, despite the fact that: I saw many people with 2 items of hand luggage at the gate; my two items of hand luggage combined were not as large as your allowance for one piece of luggage; I saw two Japanese gentlemen in the gate waiting area both traveling with massive double basses! Now if that's not over the bloody one piece of hand baggage size limit, I don't know what it! This country has descended into an over-cautious, paranoid society since I've been away.
And then my flight back to Manchester was delayed by 30 mins. Ah well, can't win them all. ;) Let's just say I was glad to get home.
So I'm now settling back into home life again. It was very strange at first. It was odd to brush my teeth with tap water rather than bottled water; it was odd not to shower in flip flops (or thongs to you Ozzies out there ;)); it was odd to throw toilet paper into the toilet again; it was odd being driven on the left side of the road again; and it was odd to see my parents!
The weather has been pretty naff since I returned too, sadly. I must have brought it with me from St Petersburg as apparently it was gloriously hot before I returned. Shucks. Still, I think I've seen enough sunshine to last me the next decade... I've certainly seen a hell of a lot more than I normally see anyway.
The only thing about a lack of heat is that my skin has dried up like a prune again - now if that's not a reason to migrate to warmer climes, I don't know what is. I'm looking for any excuse now...;)
So, here is a brief low-down of my excellent adventure:

Favourite countries: Japan; closely followed by New Zealand; Laos (north) and Vietnam.

I survived: Skydive; the Tongariro Crossing mountain trek; surfing; the Canyon Swing; Laos public buses; crossing Vietnamese roads; Vietnamese buses & their kamikaze drivers; Cambodian roads on the back of a motorbike; a monkey attack; being ill; and the thousands of miles of air travel.

Highlights: Paul & Hiroko's wedding in Japan; Skydive; Tongariro Crossing; Elvis in concert; seeing whales in Kaikoura (New Zealand); surfing; Uluru & The Olgas; sailing with dolphins near Adelaide (Oz); Siam Paragon shopping centre and cinema in Bangkok; Luang Prabang (Laos); Tam Coc and Hoi An (Vietnam); photography course in Phnom Penh (Cambodia); Angkor temple complex (Cambodia); ger camp in Mongolia; Moscow; and of course all the FAB people I met along the way (too many to list).

Total number of countries visited: 10

Total distance traveled: 36, 609.93 miles (or 58, 905.38 km)

No of flights taken: 11

No of times visited a doctor while away: 7

No of Doxycyline (anti-malarial) tablets ingested: 135 (roughly - over 5 months)

No of antibiotics have ingested: Lost count

No of photographs taken: Lord only knows and He ain't telling! ;) (rough guestimate is around 12,000 snaps, possibly more).

New fave food combinations discovered while away: peanut butter and honey on toast; muesli and yoghurt; Laughing Cow cheese triangles sandwiched between sour cream and chive Pringles; banana and chocolate on anything - especially in pancakes and croissants.

No of good friends made: Again, lost count - a priceless number though.

So there you have it folks. That's it. Finito. It's over. I can't believe it all went by so fast. I've had such a blast and loved every minute of it (well, most of it, apart from being ill obviously).
So it's back to the real world and the grindstone for me (when I find a job). Obviously my blog won't be anywhere near as interesting from now on, but hey, I hope you'll still drop by to see what I'm up to...
You never know when I'll start planning the next excellent adventure.. ;)
Adios til then. x

'Ra Ra Rasputin'.... all together now, sing along! ;)

Zdrastvuytye (hello in Russian).
And so we entered Russia around 09.00am on Friday 11 May. We were stuck at the border station for a good 4 hours or so while yet more forms were filled in, passports checked, cabins searched and customs declaration forms were stamped. We had to stay in our cabins this time, although there was a friendly Mongolian guard who let us disembark to use the station toilet. And the enterprising ladies in the station toilets were selling everything, from loo roll to toothpaste! The guard even let us brush our teeth on the train tracks - seeing as he was freely spitting onto the rails, we thought why shouldn't we?! ;) I wish we'd gotten a photo of me, Laura and Becks brushing in unison. That would have been one for the album.
And so the train rolled on, with another 4-5 hour stop at the border town in Russia! I didn't need the loo there, thankfully, because you needed Russian Ruebbles, and of course we didn't have any. Some of the girls forced their way into the lavs, but others opted to wait until the train was moving again.. plus the Russian guards did not look quite as accommodating as the Mongolian ones so we thought best not to disturb them.
We arrived in Irkutsk (which I actually thought was still in Mongolia until someone pointed out we'd be going over another border crossing when we boarded the train in UlaanBaatar) around 07.00am on the Saturday and were promptly met by our new honcho, Eugene. He had his team leader with him who supervised our drop off at a local hotel to use the ATM and money changing facilities. There are only around 50 Ruebbles to the British Pound, so that was a lot easier to work out than Mongolian Tukrig, or whatever it was).
Then we were wisked off Lake Baikal: the world's largest freshwater lake (and the deepest too). A few of the gang ran into the Vodkatrain group which did this trip the other way around in Beijing and they'd said the lake had been frozen and they'd been hovercrafting out on it. That sounded like fun! Sadly it was no longer frozen - still very pretty though with snow-capped mountains on the far side (when you could see them through the haze).
Our bus pulled off down this track through some very traditional houses to get to our accommodation and we all wondered what we were going to be deposited into, but it turned out to be a very comfortable Swiss-style chalet! It was a sprawling place and even included a sauna, which several of the team tried out later in the day - although the thought of being beaten by birch twigs and then being covered with freezing cold water was not really my poor chest's idea of fun, so I passed.
The rooms were really nice - complete with own toilet, but there were only 2 showers to the entire annex of around 7 rooms in which we were all staying. Plus they didn't stay hot for very long either - especially on the last day when the owners turned off the hot water while everyone showered and prepared to leave! People were not happy - especially when they said all meals cost 250 Ruebbles each and then charged 300 for one of them. They did the same for laundry (which of course we were all in dire need of by that stage): 250 R per bag, but people with large bags got charged a lot more! Of course you have no choice as you're stuck in the middle of nowhere... the cheek of it.
The food was nice though - always 3 courses and there were vegetarian options too - and we even had karaoke! We walked up to the (closed) observatory on top of a hill that afternoon (it was cold and blustery around the lake but up the hill it was scorchio) which offered some nice views of the lake. After dinner some people went to a local bar, while others settled down in the communal dining/lounge area to do some karaoke. Of course, as we were in Russia, I had to do Boney M's Rasputin - a disco classic! Sadly this quickly highlighted my age in the fact that only one of my travel companions kind of knew the chorus: no-one else had heard of it! Sacrilege. Still, I let rip without caring and it was excellent fun. Michael did a wonderful rendition of German band Scooter's techno classic How Much is the Fish?. We were all in stitches - it fast became his theme tune and a running joke.
Other highlights of our stay here included a nippy boat ride across the lake and a trip to Taltsy Museum of Wooden Architecture, which was essentially a traditional Russian village taken from Peter the Great's time. Fascinating. There were some nice stalls selling Russian dolls and all kinds of handicrafts too, which made it more interesting. Nice woodwork.
We returned to Irkutsk to catch the train to Moscow on the Monday. Thankfully we visited a really nice, modern supermarket to stock up on noodles, Pringles and the like for the 3 night and 3 day train marathon ahead of us! A stable diet for the train included: bread, Nutella, peanut butter, Pringles, nuts, noodles, pot mashed potato, and of course, chocolate. ;) All good, healthy stuff...
Moscow proved to produce our best honcho yet: Anastasia. She was right on the ball with any info we needed and she had a list of top ten things to see in the city - you see, it's not hard! The only drawback was the hostel: us girls were plonked in an 8-bed dorm and the boys were in a 4-bed dorm (not very fair on the couples after 3 days and 3 nights on a train!). And there was only one shower per floor too, and we shared our floor with at least 4 other rooms. Plus the hostel was in a little bit of a building site state while we were there. Still, at least some of the showers were hot!
We ate at a really cool Russian buffet place the first night - lots of choice of delicious food and loads for veggies too! Bargain. Other highlights of our 2 days in Moscow included: Red Square (again, not how I imagined it would be) and St Basil's Cathedral; Tretyakov Gallery; the very swanky Moscow subway with its marble walls, statues, stained glass and mozaics; the elaborate/ wooden toyland-esque flea market; and of course, the Kremlin. Sadly the armoury in the latter was sold out so I didn't get to see any real Faberge eggs. :( But I did buy a faux Faberge egg for my mum from the market.. ;)
One of the downsides to the trip were the pricey club entrance fees and the fact we saw some guy smack another guy on the subway: not a pleasant sight (or sound). There are also police everywhere checking tourist passports. You have to register your passport every 3 days (traveling on the train does not count) with the police - usually your accommodation does this for a fee. Prices vary: it cost us 240 Ruebbles in Irkutsk and 400 R in Moscow, but it was free in St Petersburg?!
I could really tell we were back in Europe in Moscow. It was really nice. Large, old, colourful buildings, expensive clothes shops. There was even Oasis, Accessorize & Top Shop in one of the malls. It was good preparation for coming home I guess, in terms of the prices, as well as the shops.
The journey to St Petersburg was only an overnight train hop - our last leg of the Trans-Mongolian Express. It would have been a poignant journey, if it had not started at 00.50 and ended at 08.48, ie we were all asleep for most of it...
St Petersburg was a real mix of different European cities. Apparently Peter the Great wanted to turn it into Venice - I didn't realise that the city would boast that many canals! Parts of the city reminded me of Rome, parts of Venice, and part of Paris. It is certainly European. Many of the old buildings are bright, vibrant colours (mostly yellow).
Our honcho for the final leg of the journey was tiny Olga. And bless her, she wasn't really cut out for this kind of job. She didn't really know how to handle a large group and she was really too quiet. I had to feel sorry for her, but when I thought about how much I'd spent on this trip, I kind of changed my mind..
Particularly when we wasted our time on a boat trip on the Sunday morning after arrival, when we could have spent a good 3 hours at The Hermitage - Olga failed to mention it was closed the following day. In the end we only got to spend 1.5 hours there - nowhere near enough sadly.
We did, however, get to see the ballet at the Marinsky Theatre. It was in 3 acts - the second was my favourite: Rubies - lots of bright red, sparkly costumes. Tha last act was very pagan and there was not much ballet, just a lot of stomping around, although the music was good. The funny aspect was the Russian gentleman sat next to me: he knew which female dancers he liked and he was heard to shout 'brravo' a fair few times.. ;) It kept us entertained. I'm glad because it cost us 2000 R each - around £40! One of the dancers in the first act was not too hot though: she fell over once and then failed to keep up with the other 2 females dancing around the male who represented Apollo.
We took in the Petrodvorets (a very grand palace an hour's bus ride out of St Petersburg, where we managed to lose half of the group for an hour after they went to find the toilet!), the exterior of the Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood and climbed the colonnade of St Isaac's Cathedral. The Grand Palace was quite spectacular, with cascades of fountains in the sprawling gardens, which reminded me of Versailles - the building was certainly easily as large. Just not quite as impressive.
And so it was on Tuesday, May 22 that I bid farewell to Russia and the rest of my 10-month trip! I couldn't believe it was over. Beck, Laura and Mike were all on the same flight as me to Heathrow so that was great cos we could share a taxi. But more of that on my next entry...
Spasiba (thank you in Russian) to whoever has been keeping tabs on my blog for almost a year. I hope it's kept you all entertained and has inspired you to plan adventures of your own to see this weird and wonderful world that we live on for such a short time!
Ciao for now. CJ x

The Greatest Train Journey in the World (TM)

Hello!
I just spent 21 days on the Vodkatrain. Wow, you may be thinking, that's a long time to spend on a train, but fear not dear readers, I was only on the train for 3 nights and 3 days at the most in one stretch.
I joined it in Beijing. There were 12 people in our group: 2 Scots (Gemma & Karen); 2 Brits (Elizabeth & moi); 1 Polish/Australian (Michael); 3 Australians (Beck, Christie & Dave); 2 Kiwis (Laura & Mike); 1 American (Greg); & 1 German (Anna). Our first Honcho in Beijing was Mark: a bit of a worrywart and not the most organised person in the world; he delighted us to the culinary treats of a restaurant around the corner: twice. It would have been 3 times if we had not complained...
He was good at writing down tourist destinations in Chinese for taxi drivers (when they could be bothered to take you), so we utilized this skill and took in the Temple of Heaven and The Forbidden City before our departure on Saturday morning (May 5). Mark never joined us on any of the trips - we kind of split off into groups - and he never offered info as to where was good to see, he asked us what we wanted to see - is it not his city?
The Forbidden City was nice, although I didn't really have enough time to see it all. The living quarters of the Emperor's concubines were really picturesque. It would be easy to get locked in after the gates closed at 17.00 - I was tempted! ;)
After yet another failed attempt at grabbing a taxi (they just ignore you or say no - I gues my money is just not good enough!) I ended up in a rickshaw - a Chinese cyclo if you will. It was almost twice the price of a taxi, even though I haggled him down somewhat. He was hellbent on giving me an informative tour of the hutongs though (little historic alleyways), however, I just wanted to get home. I think he was a little disappointed, bless. However, he dropped me off a good 10 minute walk from the hotel and then had the cheek to say I could tip! Not bloody likely mate! ;)
The hotel was really nice. I was in a twin room with Anna (from near Munich) and the bathroom and beds were so comfy. It was certainly one of the nicest rooms I'd stayed in around SEA, and it was a YHA!
The Trans-Monoglian Express train was far more comfortable than I imagined it was going to be. The 4-berth cabins were quite comfortable and we got linen, towels and hot water (at a small price). The only downside were the stern-looking porters - almost as scary as the nuns at the Angkor temples. You didn't want to meet them in a dark corridor late at night, I tell you...
There were 2 toilets (Western-style, hooray!) at either end of the corridor (one male and one female), although no shower. We were only on the train for one night the first trip, so that was not so bad.
The one drawback on the first few legs of the train journey are the border crossings: not because they are long and tedious, but because they lock the toilets... The border crossing from China to Mongolia tookaround 4 and a half hours: they have to change the bogies on the train (no, not someone with a bad cold: the wheels). You can stay on the train for the 2 hours in which they do this or you can sit and wait in the station at Ullan Ude (which has toilets). We did the latter. We all met up with Michael there: he had not managed to obtain a Mongolian visa because the embassy in Beijing was shut as a result of the Golden Week holidays. He had to leave 2 days before us to get to the embassy at Ullan Ude. He was sorted by the time we hooked up, so that was good (there's always one ;)).
After various disturbances once back on the train (fill out forms, let officials search cabins, hand over passports, etc), we finally got some sleep. We woke up to clouds of dust filling the corridors as we passed the Gobi Desert.
We arrived in the capital of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar, mid-afternoon and all raced to get some food in the rather nice restaurant next to the hotel, and then it was a race to have showers (hence the hot water did not last long) before we all met up again half an hour later to see a traditional Mongolian show. They have throat singers here. It's fab: rather like a cross between a yodle and gargling, it is a talent (?!) which must take years to master. There were times (especially when the notes that came out of one of the singer's mouths was far lower than we anticipated) when it was funny. The contortionists and the dancers were good.
Then it was off to a club after dinner, which I have to say looked more like a working men's club from the outside! We ended up doing Karaoke, which was excellent fun - they seem to love it all around SEA as much as Japan.
The following day we saw the centre of Buddhism in Mongolia (a temple with a large Buddha that you weren't supposed to turn your back on) and encountered our first brush with the Monoglian criminal underworld when Greg got his wallet stolen. Thankfully they only took his Mongolian money and left his cards and US dollars.
In the afternoon we headed out to the Ger Camp. For those of you who don't know, a ger is a traditional Mongolian tent. They were surprisingly comfortable too: a large tent with 4 beds per tent and a large stove/fire in the middle. And we needed it as it was rather nippy when we got there. Again, there were no showers and toilets were far from Western-style (I thought I'd done well to avoid them up until now... ;)) with a lovely 3 foot drop for you to deposit your 'waste' through the gap in the floor. You have to be particularly alert during the night when you could easily take a wrong-footing and plummet to your demise in a load of crap! Nice...
The food in the restaurant ger was again surprisingly palatable with dumplings and a fair range for vegetarians (which I was for the duration of this trip). While we were there we watched a Mongolian film called The Weeping Camel, it won awards at one of the Cannes Film Festivals I think. It was a sweet tale about this camel who had no bond with its baby so it charted the Mongolian people's attempts to bring them back together. It was very sweet.
While we were at the ger camp we visited a traditional Mongolian farming family and scared them to death (or made ourselves look very stupid, probably the latter) by singing English nursery rhymes to them. We split into girls and boys teams. The girls sang Old MacDonald's Farm (Mongolian-style, ie including camels) and the boys sang Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. They fed us Mongolian food which was very fatty - lots of butter and lard and stuff. Not the nicest food, but you make the most of what you have I guess.
We also did a trek to a deserted monastery and some people did horse riding and camel riding. We also played a game which involved flicking chicken and sheep anklebones together to win: I was teamed with our Honcho OJ and we won! Tiny fingers rule!! ;) OJ was such a kidder and she looked as though butter wouldn't melt in her mouth. She told one joke too far though and no-one believed her when she said she had a strip card game to teach us. Many people ended up naked - I'm glad to say I left before that moment. ;)
It was back to the city of UlaanBaatar to get the train to Irkutsk on Thursday, May 10. The city is exactly how I imagined it would be thanks to watching Ewan McGregor Charley Boorman on his trip The Long Way Round - thanks Ewan & Charley! ;) They are at it again I think - The Long Way Down this time from Scotland to South Africa - should be interesting. Good luck guys. UlaanBaatar is about 30 years behind the times and full of concrete buildings. And taxis that are just anyone looking to make some extra money - you just flag anyone down! There are no licence laws! Probably rather dodgy if you're on your own - thankfully I never was...
The rest of Mongolia is rather flat, apart from the Terelj National Park where our ger camp was - that had some hills and rocks. We climbed through a hole in a turtle-shaped rock and were 're-born', although I was re-born with a dodgy knee cos I banged it! ;)
So it was back on the train for 2 nights and over the border to Russia... more about that next time.
Dasvidanya (goodbye in Russian). x

I'm still alive - just! ;)

Nee-shiow (hello in Chinese - I think, or something that sounds like that anyway!).
It's been a while since you heard from me. I've been rather busy... being ill. I'm now in the capital of China, Beijing. But more of that later... let me first update you as to what's been happening since Cambodia.
After last updating my blog I had a minor panic with my camera: a virus got into the memory card from the computer I used to download my Angkor images onto my blog. The following morning my camera flashed up 'np pictures' when I tried to take one. You can imagine the panic in my stomach at losing over 1,000 photos, 400-odd of which were of the Angkor temples. Thankfully I remembered that wonderful photo shops usually have programs which can retrieve images off memory cards (one good thing came out of me accidentally deleting Tracey's card in Airlie Beach!) so off I went (well, sprinted) to a camera shop. Even in poverty-stricken Cambodia they can work miracles and I got everything put onto CD. Thank God for modern technology! ;)
So with that crisis over we hopped on a bus to Battambang. If you ever come to Cambodia I really recommend that you DON'T go there. There's nothing really there. It was more of a means to an end to reach the border with Thailand at Poipet. That said we still managed to make 2 nights out of it. There are 2 (3 including the hotel) restaurants that cater for tourists. It's very local, ie not really set up for tourists. Shari did a cookery class and then I joined her on a moto tour of the surrounding area, complete with 'Cambodian snow' (ie road dust). We saw a fruit orchard and lazed in a couple of hammocks, saw fruit bats in a monastery and saw the foot of the killing caves. Angkor it wasn't. Again, not really worth visiting....
After crossing the border at Poipet we got on a PROPER COACH again! Hoorah. Comfort! With DVD movies too. Ah, this is the life. We arrived back At Home (our guesthouse, which was indeed a home from home) in Bangkok on the Wednesday and settled in for a week.
During that week we obtained our Mongolian visas. This was no mean feat as you're very lucky if you can find the emabssy. I think it's one of those magical places that only appears at certain times during the day and then disappears into an other-worldly kingdom. This mean feat included a Keystone Cops-style race against the clock to reach the place before 16.00 on the Monday to collect them. All modes of transport were used; Skytrain, tuk tuk, taxi (for 100 metres) and moto - hilarity ensued - AFTER we made it with 5 mins to spare! There was one sign from the road and then you got lost in a maze of very plush houses in which people lived who didn't seem to know what was in their immedicate vacinity (my moto driver asked a lady in one of the gardens and she had no idea where it was). Fascinating.
Also during that week I got chatted up by a young man with blond dreadlocks called Finn. I was sat in a restaurant reading after a meal and he asked if he could join me. I think he was only 22 or so, bless. Seemed like a nice enough lad but really we really didn't have much in common, apart from liking the band Fall Out Boy. Ah well. It was flattering and boosted my confidence a tad and there's nothing wrong with that. :)
Then things turned slightly wonky: literally. On the Saturday, me and the guys headed to a very plush shopping mall to see a film - yes a cinema! A lovely treat it was going to be. It was a very plush cinema too: very comfy reclining seats etc, cheap and a free fridge magnet of a forthcoming film with every ticket purchased!! It was cold tho - the air-con was on full blast. And sadly the film we picked - Sunshine - did not shed any warmth on the situation (rather naff I thought). I started to feel a bit funny. By the time we'd had something to eat after the film, I really was feeling ropey. I was really light-headed, had sollen glands, a cold and really wobbly legs. I thought I was going to collapse.
Shaz and Andy got me back to the guesthouse, bless them, and raced off to Boots to get me some tablets. They came back with antibiotics which made me feel a bit better. I spent the next day pretty much in bed. I had booked a tour of the ancient site of Autthaya for the Sunday but nothing could be done and I was better off in bed. I felt better a couple of days later and did the tour on the Tuesday - kind of like a mini Angkor but nowhere near as spectacular but I got my shot of the Buddha head in the tree roots, which was my reason for going. ;)
So then we boarded an overnight bus to the Thai island of Koh Samui. Sadly the visions of a tropical beach paradise we had imagined were shattered as it was pelting it down with rain when we got there at lunchtime the following day (we'd set off at 18.00 the night before and got the ferry at 08.00 that morning).
We were very lucky to find cheap chalet-style accommodation fairly close to the beach straight away as it's mostly expensive beach resort and the odd expensive hotel (well, not expensive if you're on a 2-week holiday, but it was on our budget).
Then I spent the next 24 hours hiding in my room because it was the Songkran New Year Festival (yes, the third time I've seen 2007). I spent it hiding because you just get drenched with water wherever you go. And I mean drenched. There were buckets of water every 500m or so on the main street and people with water pistols everywhere. The tradition is that people flick a little bit of water at you to purify you for the coming new year - note I said a little bit. Of course the tourists - more than likely the Brits - always have to take it a little too far and behave like total tossers. Some people had ice cold water and were just depositing buckets over people. Now ordinarilly I would have joined in the fun but as I was still not feeling quite right I didn't want to risk my chest getting bad again, therefore wanted to avoid getting damp. Now when you say 'no' to people when they look like they're going to drench you, they should respect that. But they don't. I was not happy. So I hid. Thankfully the beach was a water-free zone (apart from the sea obviously). I managed to make it to the 7/11 for food! Shaz and Andy bought water pistols. ;)
I relaxed for a few days but my head was still not right: I felt pissed all the time, ie the world was not straight. So I visited the international hospital in Koh Samui - twice. Yes the doc there was useless and didn't know what was wrong. During the second visit he did a urine test (they fed me lots of water and had to be patient!) and established I wasn't pregnant - if he'd just asked I could have saved him time (and water) and told him that! He gave me some pills that didn't work. So I didn't see much of the beach sadly. Well, I spent one day there. And despite factor 30 suncream and a large umbrella, I still burned!
I bid a fond farewell to Shaz and Andy - I left them splurging and enjoying the luxury of a very nice beach resort for a few days to return to Bangkok on my tod. I splurged on an air-con room to try and feel better but it was the same resort, not a swanky one.
I got the overnight bus back to Bangkok: postponed by a few days cos I still wasn't right. I had planned to be in Hong Kong for a week but I thought it best to get my head sorted out first.
The bus trip was eventful - sadly. Some bastard went through my large rucksack while everyone was asleep (altho I wasn't, ironically). They got into my Pacsafe locks and everything - fat lot of use they are! I'd sent my Pacsafe metal mesh cover home the week before too: d'oh! It was an 8kg box: at least now I can lift my backpack and that's a novel feeling I can tell you. ;)
Thankfully nothing was taken (I kept all valuables etc in a small rucksack on me at all times). There was a weird guy at one of the food stops who showed me and some other girls a piece of paper that said please keep your valuables on you as the bus co cannot be held responsible for any losses, so they obviously know what's going on. He was probably in on it. Gits. Still, at least nothing was taken. I was lucky I guess, others may not have been.
So I got back into Bangkok at 05.30am - shattered from no sleep and still feeling wobbly. I applied for my China visa and checked in when a room became available At Home. I met a lovely Canadian girl called Stephanie who hung around with me round some malls on the Tuesday - she went shopping, I went window shopping! ;) I helped her to a taxi as she had so much luggage from the trip that her boyfriend had left with her. He teaches in Japan.
I visited the hospital in Bangkok on the Monday afternoon in the hope to get my head sorted once and for all. I saw an American doctor too: you have no idea what a relief that was, I tell you. It was at Mission Hospital. They asked me my religion on the registration form. Then I spotted the lovely paintings in the waiting room depicting Western doctors treating patients, with Jesus hovering over their shoulders and telling them what the problem is! I became slightly concerned they were going to convert me so I ticked Christian rather than writing agnostic! ;)
It only took the doc 5 mins to diagnose inner ear inflammation as a result of the infection I had - Labyrinthitis again (I had it a couple of years ago). So I got some pills (ironically ones that I take when my chest gets bad, that I'd had in my bag all along!) and it seemed to clear up pretty much. That was until Flew to Hong Kong on Saturday. I saw Shaz and Andy one more time before I left Bangkok, they hadn't realised the date and came back to Bangkok to get their China visas, so that was cool.
Hong Kong was interesting. Dirtier than I imagined but lots of posh shops again (designers). I was going to see the large Buddha on Lantau island or do a city tour (I only had one day/ 2 nights there) but my head was worse than ever again on Sat night so I ended up going to yet another hospital (I'm getting to know the Asis health care system well!) - Queen Elizabeth Hospital - to get checked out as had finished my tablets. I must say that the Chinese bedside manner leaves a lot to be desired!! The doc did not seem interested - well, none of them did. It was rather more expensive than Thailand too. They did a blood test and determined that I'm not anaemic, therefore it must still be residual infection that didn't quite clear up. It was probably the flight that set my ears off again. So I got yet more tablets. It's getting better and is now bearable. If it doesn't clear up once these tabs have gone I'll take my chest tabs again and see how that goes. Still, home in less than 3 weeks!!! Yay! ;)
So I hung around Kowloon around my guesthouse for the day. The guesthouse was not bad inside: clean and cosy - very cosy - like a cell!!! It was better than the outside of the building which looked like a bomb had hit it. It was on the 12th floor, there was a skanky shopping centre on the ground floor and the internet was hanging off the wall in a little corridor between rooms. Cosy! The location was fantastic - near all the major shops and restaurants. I even found a Nici shop in one of the posh malls (very cute and gormless German soft toys that I collect) - you've no idea how much that cheered me up! ;) It's the simple things.
So now I'm in Beijing and waiting to join the Vodkatrain tour. The briefing is at 17.00 today so am waiting to check out of my guesthouse. This guesthouse is better than the last and a bit more comfy. I had an airport pick-up too which always helps. The bus system into Hong Kong was fantastic but I don't think it would have been as easy to get here.
Sadly the location is not great: had to walk an hour to get to the main shops and restaurants and then walk back in the dark and rain cos there were no taxis - it's really busy here due to festival (May Day equiv I guess) and people were literally fighting for taxis. The one taxi I did manage to get into, the guy shouted at me irately, so I got out! I have to say that so far I've found many Chinese to be rather rude.
I did a Great Wall and Ming Tomb trip yesterday. The wall was much narrower than I thought it would be. Will have to go back another time to one of the less busy areas I think and get some decent photos (at the right time of day too cos the sun was in completely the wrong place). Sadly we couldn't see inside the tomb either, just the gates and surrounding areas. We saw a tea ceremony too altho it was nowhere near as intricate or as interesting as the Japanese one. The jasmine tea was nice tho.
Anyway, I'll sign off for now. I prob won't get internet access again til I get home (on May 22) seeing as I'm off to Outer Mongolia and Russia! So until next time,
Ciao. xxx

Angkor what?

Well here we are in the north of Cambodia in Siem Reap.
There's one main attraction for this place and that is the temples at Angkor, just outside the town. There is a guesthouse here called Angkorland and to be honest I'm surprised they haven't called it that because when you drive up to the payment booths it's almost like entering Disneyland or something similar. Thankfully that's about as commercial as it gets, aside from the obligatory kids trying to sell bracelets, guidebooks, postcards, t-shirts, cold drinks and you name it, anything else they can think to sell to extort money from you. One popular scam (we got to know them all over the course of the 3 days) was lads hanging around the ruins and asking you where you are from. Once they get you talking they start telling you about the history of the place and then expect payment. Another one is young boys who come up to you with a flower they have just hand-picked: guess what, they want payment for that too! I told them I had hayfever and told them to go away! ;) Well, I can't give money to them all, I'd have none left for myself. You have to draw the line somewhere.
Even though they are a little bit annoying, I do kind of miss them now. They do come out with some gems. When you tell them you're from England they start sprouting facts at you like the capital is London, which countries are part of the UK and the population!! Facts I didn't eve know. You see, I'm being educated by these kids. They can even speak Japanese better than me! This little girl who can't have been more than 5 or 6 was trying to sell 10 postcards to this Japanese couple sat next to me and she was counting them out in Japanese and extolling their virtues and I understood almost every word. I was put to shame! ;)

You are thankful for the cold drinks though because it's just so hot here: on a par with Japan last August, just minus the humidity. You are also thankful that they are not as expensive as the entrance fee to the park: $20 for one day or $40 for 3 days. You can even visit for a week. We all chose the 3-day option, for which you need a passport photo - and guess what, we'd left them at the guesthouse! D'oh! Thankfully they have a webcam which they take a shot of you on and hey presto, your pass is ready.

It's a lucrative business here in Cambodia. Well, it is the national emblem on their flag, so I guess they should promote it as much as possible. Not only do you have to buy a pass, you also have to find a mode of transportation to, around and from the sites. You can hire bicycles or do tours with a bus, but the usual mode is by tuk tuk. Our driver (who was from our guesthouse, therefore a lot cheaper than other drivers) charged us $12 a day but you can pay anything up to $25 a day! Not a bad gig for mostly sleeping under the shade of some trees while your customers walk around in the blazing sun looking at ruined piles of rocks! ;)

We got there at the close of play on Tuesday (you get a free sunset if you buy tickets at 17.00 for the next day) to see the sunset at Angkor Wat, the largest temple on the complex. When we first got there I'll be honest, I was a little disappointed. I expected it to be larger. But when we got past the first gate of the temple, it was rather impressive. Sadly my useless camera is not great when it comes to low light conditions so any photos were pretty pointless, but I took a few anyway. The sunset was not the best as it was cloudy, but we figured, hey, we've got 3 more days, we have to get a good one at some point right?

So the following day we started with what turned out to be my favourite temple of the lot: The Bayon (see photos 9 & 10). The big giant heads were awesome to look at and were extremely photogenic. They don't know who the heads represent: it could be the king who built the temple or it could be a Bodhivissta. No-one is certain. We came back here the following day just after sunrise (around 7am) which was the best time to see the big giant heads: the light was fabulous. Plus there was the added bonus of a lack of pesky tourists at that time in the morning (apart from me and Shaz of course!).

My other favourite place was Ta Prohm (pic 2), the location where they shot some of the first Tomb Raider film. Yes we were (unwittingly) walking in the footsteps of Angelina yet again! The large tree roots taking over the place were a sight to behold. They were all over the temple like giant fingers gripping it. It was a mighty sight to see the jungle claiming the ruins. It was just such a shame that many of the walls had crumbled. The company who owns the sites are carrying out reconstruction work, however, there are very few barriers preventing tourists from clambering over things. There are, thankfully waste paper bins though so at least there isn't much litter (unlike the rest of Cambodia).

Talking of following in the footsteps of the stars, apparently Anthony Edwards was in Siem Reap last week, yes 'Dr Green' from ER and 'Goose' from Top Gun has been backpacking with his wife and kids (and children's tutor) - nice work if you can get it! ;)

We set off at 5am on the Thursday to get to Angkor Wat for sunrise. Sadly it was cloudy again but I still got some nice shots (see pic 3) of a pink(ish) sky with the small tripod I hastily bought the previous evening. The tripod could have done with being a little larger for a better reflection methinks, but considering my camera hates low light, the results weren't too bad.

Shots 1, 4 and 5 are of various lovely stone work we came across in some of the walls. There were some incredibly intricate carvings. Shots 7 & 8 are me in front of Angkor and of a nun (yes the person is female: they were a little scary actually and not as approachable as the monks - plus they wanted paying and the monks never do, probably because they're not supposed to accept things from women). So nuns are on the scam too! Not only do they want money for incense to burn infront of the Buddha statues (which this one pocketed by the way), they also want paying for a photo! Honestly, what is the world coming to...?! ;)

Ironically, the last day was the best day for the sunset and I was in a tuk tuk on my way back from some temples further out. Ah well. Save it for when I return with much better camera equipment. And I WILL return, that's a promise.

The 6th photo is a shot of a lovely Cambodian delicacy which they like here. Upon first glance it looks like some sort of insect and you'd be right. Look closely though, it's glazed spiders! Mmmmmmmmmmmmm! I can hear your lips smacking together with anticipation right now: just as mine did with revulsion when I saw them. I didn't get too close as they started to freak me out and I didn't want to see if any were still alive (the fish and chickens in the market in Phnom Penh were). Nice.

We're off to Battambang tomorrow - our last stop in Cambodia before returning to Thailand. It will only get hotter apparently too. Phew - scorchio! ;)

Til next time! x

Walking in the hallowed footsteps of Brangelina

Sowsadee (hello in Cambodian)!
Seeing as we were in SEA we thought we'd walk in the footsteps of celebrities and do what seems to be fashionable at the moment: visit a local orphanage.
Well, seeing as the stars seem to be following us around, why not follow them for a change? ;) So we clubbed together and bought a 50kg sack of rice for $25 (yes $25!!!) and told our trusty driver Jade to take us to an orphanage. We didn't want to take any kids home with us you understand, like Angelina, we just wanted to help them out and maybe brighten the children's day (although I'm sure Shari would have left with an armload if she could have). ;)
We were taken to the Light House Orphanage on the outskirts of Phnom Penh. It's home to 50-odd children, only a handful of which were there when we were (I presume the rest were in school). They were a happy bunch, considering they didn't seem to have much. There were various age ranges from 4 or 5 up to 12 or 13 (although Shaz and Andy went back later in the week and said there was a 23-year-old living there!). As soon as we got there the kids crowded round us and were eager to hold our hands and play (pics 2 & 3).
One 11-year-old girl called Muay Kear was such a poser! She always wanted her photo taken and whenever she looked at the images on screen she always said 'beautiful!'. Bless. Six-year-old Tola (pic 5) was the star of the show: she was an excellent dancer and loved to show off her skills. A very talented little girl with a heart of gold.
A couple of the girls took my and Shari's hands and showed us their living quarters (separated into boys and girls dormitories with two double bed bunks in each. Apparently there are 5 kids to a bed! Poor things. They do have a classroom though for school and medical supplies etc. There were even pigs and chickens out the back: admittedly close to a cesspool, but I guess it was better than nothing!
Most visitors seem to donate rice or toys. They are always grateful for anything. Although, if they get so many tourists visiting, why did they only seem to have one ball to play with?
Srey Chan seemed to latch onto me and I bought a bracelet and necklace that she had made. She had a winning smile, as did most of the kids there. Many of them are orphans but some are street kids too. It's very sad but they seem happy for the company when tourists visit. The only slightly disturbing thing is that they were all too eager to hug you and hold your hand: surely there should be some boundaries taught to the kids as not everyone is as nice as us guys!
So what else have I done during my week in Phnom Penh? Well, we collected our Russian visas this morning with nowhere near as much hassle as we thought it would be. We are off to Siem Reap tonight and the Angkor temples. I'm looking forward to that.
I did a half day travel photography course with Nathan Horton, which was very useful and informative. Refreshed my memory and taught me some tips about digital cameras which should come in very handy. Photos 1 and 6 were the product of some shooting we did around the local market afterwards. It was not for the faint-hearted: animals being butchered left, right and centre. Lovely. It's amazing how far a smile goes when you want to take a photo of someone. They are very obliging if you just show a little interest in them. I learned some useful techniques. Visit www.nathanhortonphotography.com to see his work.
Jade took Shaz and I to Mekong Island for an afternoon. We got a motorbike escort for the ride from the ferry to the beach! We then realised it was people wishing to sell us things: namely silk scarves. So in order to get some peace we had to buy one. Then we spent a lazy afternoon in hammocks by the water, which was supposedly clean enough to bathe in but by the looks of the greeny sludge around the edges the last thing I wanted to do was dip any part of my body in it! ;)

Oh and I got attacked by a monkey. Little shit! I'm no longer a fan of the little critters. I was walking around the gardens of a wat and saw some monkeys. One of them came towards me but I stayed well back and decided to take a quick snap. Next thing I knew it launched at me and clamped itself around my ankle!! I don't think it bit me - although I have no idea cos I was too busy trying to get away. Needless to say I have a few nasty gashes on my leg now. It hurt. It felt like it was just squeezing the life out of my leg!?! I visited a local pharmacist to get it checked and see if I needed to go to a doctor but she said it looked like it was healing ok and gave me some iodine solution to clean it with. That's the last time I take a photo of a monkey: obviously camera shy! ;)

I also managed to get that elusive shot of a monk on a moped before we left (see photo 4). Now all I need is one with MP3 earphones in.... Monk Watch is officially on again.. ;)

See ya. x

The true face of South East Asia

Hello from Cambodia.

Yes we made it over the border.... it cost $5 each more than we bargained on paying, but at least it was trouble free (apart from us arguing the toss with the bus 'guide' and insisting that the visa should be $20, not $25: $3 went to him and his co, while $2 went to the police, oh and the bus would not wait for us if we decided to do it ourselves!). The air con on the bus was thankfully excellent, however, there was no toilet on-board, regardless of claims to the contratry made by the company we booked through.

Cambodia is probably the poorest place we've visited so far in SEA. And one with possibly one of the saddest histories (not taking into account the American War in Vietnam of course).

This was the home of Pol Pot: a dictator far worse than even Adolf Hitler! He wanted a Socialist revolution in Cambodia but decided the best way to do that would be to kill off anyone who might disagree, ie the educated people (he even went as far as targeting people with glasses!) and anyone else who stood in his way. He carried this out via the Khmer Rouge, who gained more recruits thanks to the Americans' bombing of Cambodia during the Vietnam War.

You kind of feel sorry for the Cambodian people because during the 1950s they managed to gain independence from the French, only to become occupied by the Americans (Phnom Penh was taken over) after the Northern Vietnamese began smuggling arms and soldiers through the part of the country bordering Vietnam (via part of the Ho Chi Minh Trail). Of course the Americans used the same excuse that seems to be on the tip of invading presidents' tongues: 'we are doing it to help the people' - yeah right. America needs to turn the record over. Then when the Americans left, the Khmer Rouge took over and the country descended into civil war. These last 25 years or so have been the only years of peace these people have seen in a long time.

There is still debate as to how many Cambodians Pol Pot's genocide wiped out: a conservative guess is between 2 and 3 million. The Khmer Rouge were vicious: we saw photographic evidence of their attrocities in S-21, a high school-turned detention and torture centre. The 's' stood for 'security' and the '1' stood for Brother 1 (ie Pol Pot - there were 5 main people in control). At one stage up to 100 prisoners a day were taken to Cheung Ek Killing Fields outside Phnom Penh and exterminated. The brutal methods by which they did this included bludgeoning them to death with a pickaxe handle blow to the back of the neck before slitting their throats. Music was played loudly so other prisoners could not hear the death moans of their inmates. Lovely. It never fails to astound me how truly grotesque Mankind can be. It seems we never learn from the past.

When the Khmer Rouge were finally defeated, 11 bodies were found at the camp with only 7 survivors. The bodies were the Khmer Rouge's hasty effort to get rid of the evidence before help arrived. There were graphic photos on the walls of the aftermath in each room where bodies were found.

The torture was also brutal: prisoners' fingernails were ripped out; they were repeatedly dunked in water; they were strung up and hung by feet and hands from a 'gallows' outside. This was to name but a few. The really disturbing thing about this was that many of the perpetrators within the Khmer Rouge were only in their mid to late teens. But if they didn't do it, they probably faced the same fate.

Each prisoner was photographed (most of which were mounted on display around the museum) and torture was carefully recorded. Many of the prisoners were young children: there were even mothers and babies. The Khmer Rouge believed they were all traitors when in actual fact many were peasants or farmers. How anyone survived mentally in the tiny dingey cells (I guess you were lucky if you had a window in your cell - see photos 3 & 4) I've no idea.

Pol Pot believed in extreme Communism: he wanted to develop a country without money or material things where everyone was equal and earned their living from the land with Lords in charge - kind of like the ancient Feudal system in the UK. That's why the Khmer Rouge drove everyone out of Phnom Penh and into the fields. We saw a documentary here in the Mekong River Cafe about Pol Pot and it showed footage of Phnom Penh completely deserted: hard to believe when you look at it today. Needless to say it failed.

It's yet another sad testament to the horrors of war. At least there is still life living there: I saw nesting birds (see photo 5) and also hanging bats who were right at home in the rafters - not like other prison camps I've heard about (Shari said at Auschwitz there is no life at all, not even birds singing).

We then went to the Killing Fields and saw the shallow graves where the people were exterminated. Among the graves was one for the bodies of decaptitated women and children. You get the idea. There is now a large memorial stupa there which contains 8000 skulls of the dead. There are even clothing tatters still left on the ground as a reminder of what it once was. It used to be a place of new life: an orchard. But it turned into a place of death. At S-21 someone has written on a wall:' When this was a prison, no-one learned; when it was a school, no-one died'. Very fitting I thought.

Hence that is probably why Cambodia seems to have so much poverty: much more than any we've seen elsewhere. There are beggars all over the streets: many landmine victims and even entire families. Some children are enterprising and sell photocopied books or daily newspapers, but they don't seem to be as badly off as those actually sleeping on the streets. There are literal slums: there's one right next door to the Russian Embassy where we dropped off our application form for our Russian visas yesterday. There is also one directly opposite the British Ambassador's very swanky house with its high gates and post Colonial exterior. I find this simply shocking and unaccaptable. How do these people live there and not do anything?!

I have seen a little taste of home here though: a fair few Nissan Micras (same shape as my little motorcar)! There are more cars here than in Vietnam but still plenty of motorbikes, tuk tuks and cyclos. The ironic thing is that among the poverty, the most popular brand of car here is a Lexus! The mind boggles...

The capital city also has frequent power cuts: there's one at 22.50 every night. It's not uncommon to go into a restaurant and have to feel your way to the toilet because there's no power. Toilet by candlelight is a surreal experience (see photo 6).

There are, yeat again, some very nice restaurants and cafes here. Again, I thought we'd be entering the middle of nowhere, but no. You'd have thought I would have learned by now that there aren't many places that haven't been touched by civilisation! There is even an Irish bar: not called Sheridan's though (pic no 2 is the one we found in Saigon by the way), it's called Rory's and is quite small. Most shops here are open again, ie no doors during opening hours, subsequently you get all the kids trying to sell their wares at you while you're eating (like Laos).

Apparently there are a lot of guns here too. That didn't alarm me in the slightest when Shaz and Andy highlighted that fact to me. What did alarm me was the sound of gunfire somewhere on the streets when I was sat in my hotel room the other night... remind me not to argue with any cyclo drivers here! ;)

The tuk tuk driver who took us to S-21 and the Killing Fields is called Jade and he's a top bloke (see photo 1). He does a cracking Geordie accent - so good that you can't understand a word he says and having lived in Darlo and that area, I'd say that was spot on! ;)

He knows everything there could ever be to know about football. He even knows where Hull is because he knows about Hull City! That is how he knows the geography of the UK, from his knowledge of football teams! I guess football can't be all that bad.....

His catchphrase is 'You're taking the piss mate' and he cracks us all up. He took us to an orphanage too for a few hours, of which I'll tell you more in my next entry.

Til then, ciao for now! ;0)