It has been a while :P
Well from where i left off last time there is a lot of news to catch up on :)
We went to Chaing Mai and had a great time. Lovely city with a few older bits of Thai history thrown in. Also great adventure trekking through parts of the jungle, having fun on an elephant trekk, water rafting and falling down part of a mountain. I was the source of entertainment for the day and have a few extra scars as an ever lasting memory of events :)
We left there and went back to Bangkok for the night and then jumped on the train to Singapore. There was a 23 hour journey and a stop at customs before we successfully made it to Penang in Malaysia which was about half way, for a nights stay to break up the traveling. We found a very cheap hostel and set about exploring, mainly to see if the rumors that we had heard about were true or not with regards to how tasty the food was? We found to our delight that all was correct, the food was amazingly tasty and we took great delight in sampling as much as we could :)
Unfortunately that was where the fun ended for Penang, as that night I had my bag stolen :( My passport, cards money, everything important went. What broke my heart the most was the fact that my camera with ALL the pics of the trip also went :( with no back ups! :( my diary also got taken so i again have no records, and all the lose bits of paper and collected tickets gone :(
A trip to the police station was called for and reports made. Lots of extra hassle that was not a lot of fun. We had to make a dash to Kuala Lumpur to visit the Embassy in order for me to get an emergency passport. After going through every spectrum of the human emotions, i was left flicking between deciding whether to come home, or to continue on.
In the end the decision was pretty much made for me, as my nice and helpful bank told me in no uncertain terms that there was no physical way of me accessing my money or getting a new card send to me :( therefore home it was. I was able to access enough money to get to Singapore and Bali and after that it was a new flight bought and it would be home time.
After spending two days waiting around in KL, I was able to get the passport from the embassy and then we jumped on the first bus down the Singapore. It was AMAZING!!!!! I fell in LOVE and cannot wait to return :) We arrived at about about 8 at night, not having a clue where in the city where in the city we were, and more importantly where we were actually going?? Some very nice people tried to help us, but as we were too busy laughing at the fact we had no idea where to go, it was not a great success. After eventually picking a destination to head towards we managed to get ourselves onto the metro and find a hostel. Extremely basic with only a bed in the room and not even a window!!! but nice and comfortable and just what was needed :) Woke up the next day and walked around as much of the city as possible from morning until night, as thanks to a slightly unexpected weekend activities, the time was cut to a day in the city as the flight to Bali was the next day. Any how it was plenty of time to fall in love with the city and see a lot of the great things that it has to offer :)
Flying to Bali was nice and easy, the airport was a breeze, we where through in 20 minutes and they barely even looked at our passports to see who we where, once we had paid the $25 "airport taxes" to get in. We had a great little hotel booked thanks to Jamie and we made it into our villa at just before 11pm, where we promptly collapsed into bed and slept soundly for the night. The next morning we had a tasty breakfast, before heading onto the white sandy beach with crystal clear blue water enjoying the boiling hot sun for the day, ace :)
I spent a week and a half doing nothing but chilling out, walking round the great markets, seeing the sea every day and getting a tan that definitely got rid of my "white pasty brit" label :)
I landed back in Stansted on Sunday night with the cliche traveling look, tired, tanned, covered in bracelets, hair all over the place, huge rucksack and looking for my free ride home. I without doubt had the most amazing trip through south east Asia and I will most definitely be going again as soon as I get my hands on a new passport as it was magic. It was more than I thought it would be, and I learnt a valuable lesson in life...............ALWAYS travel wearing purple GENIE PANTS! :D xx
Tuesday, 22 March 2011
Saturday, 5 March 2011
Bangkok and beyond............
After a night in the airport, we woke up and got on our flight to Bangkok. Arrived in Bangkok with no problems and our bags actually followed us! which was an improvement to our first flight to Beijing.
The first thing we did was buy train tickets to a city in northen Thailand called Chiang Mia. So we have yet another sleepr train ahead of us :).
Made it to the hostel, however we soon found out it was fully booked! which was soooooo annoying as we were tired, hot and hungry. Luckily we met a really nice tuk tuk driver who pointed us in the direction of a river taxi.
We wandered over to the jitty and got on this Thai speed boat, which was awesome. We got to see Bangkok via the river on our way to the hostel, not bad for morning transportation. The river was jam packed with other boats either speeding up or down the river, or from one side to another. Our stop soon appeared out of the Bangkok smog and we literally jumped of the boat on to a floating jetty and wandered towards Khaosan Road :)
We soon manged to find a hostel which also ment we found a cold shower. Which is always welcome :)
We had a wander around Khaosan Road which was pretty cool, just a pernament street market. Found some awesome street food of Pad Thai Noodles, that tasted sooooo good. I swear the food out here is so much better than at home, probably because everything is fresh here.
In the evening we had a few drinks and saw Trude!!!!!!! Who decided to come up to Chiang Mia with us.
The next day we wandered out of Khaosan Road and explored the area a bit. What ever you want here you can get its mental, but so relaxed and friendly. Definatly not what i thought Bangkok would be like, this might be because we havnt got the time to really explore the city. But still i like it. In the evening i went out with Trude to this bar called " Gipsy Lips" which was literally an old vw van parked on the side of the street that had been turned into a really cool little bar, very neat. We met a couple of really nice Thai guys aswell, one was a jewellery designer an he had been everywhere. They were all really nice and friendly.
Next day up to Chiang Mia, meting Trude and Luke at the hostel. Then working out a plan from there. It took us awhile to find the hostel, as Chiang Mia is a really really old city, which meqans the street names are very confusing, all the roads lead somewhere else and no one knows what you are talking about. Anyway found the hostel and met up with Trude and Luke for something to eat, also met a english guy called Chris. Ventured towards the night market whre there was loads of random things on sale included cooked insects to eat. Cockroaches, maggots, crickets, beatles and other flying objects!!!!! Plus puppies, kittens and baby rabbits on sale in cages, i wanted to buy a rabbit and bring it home, but not sure customs would have let me.
In the evening we went for a few drinks in a roof top bar which was literally 5 floors up, and completly open plan, with no ceiling so you can see the stars. Beautifull, we ended the night with buckets and table football!
The next day Shalina went for a wander around the old city. She said it was stunning, all the old buildings merging into one. With people using any available space to set up little homes or shops. I on the other hand went via scooter to a waterfall and went swimming, i was on the back of a scooter driven by Chris. It was so much fun, even though w nearly died 4 times, and may have caused a few problems. We were driving like they do in Vietnam and China, where driving becomes a game, so much fun. Could never do it in England though, would get pulled over straight away. Eventually found the waterfall and went swimming which was really apreicated in the heat, the countryside was stunning though. No body around just us 4, awesome.
The next day Shalina and I got up early for a crazy day. We left at 8 am to go to an Orchid and butterfly farm, which was very nice, the flowers and butterflys were very pretty. After this we went bamboo rafting, which was much more fun. I got very very wet, but it was so peaceful just floating down the river looking at the beautiful green countryside, very nice and chilled. After this we went ELEPHANT RIDING!!!!!!!!! which was super cool, the elephant we had was a cheeky one and kept wandering off and doing his own thing. It was really cool though, very bumpy but very gracefull at the same time. I didnt realise how big elephants are untill you see them up close, they are massive and there was a cute lil baby one, that was running all over the place.
After this we went trekking, which was great fun. We literally scaled down a mountain side where there was no path just sheer jungle. Shalina had a few problems and fell down a few times, she had to be helped down by a vietnamise guy. She was laughing the whole time though, which was good. She said she really enjoyed it but she came away with quite a few bruises and cuts from the jungle. I on the other hand was jumping down the mountainside pretending i was Rambo or something and didnt have a scratch on me!!! I thought i was going to end up in a ball at the bottom. We made it down to the river still smiling and laughing which was good. Despite this German girl who started to have a go at me because apperently it wasnt trekking and she wanted her money back, she threw a proper paddy! I just stepped away from her and kept my distance, angry Germans are unpredictable!
So we are at the bottom of the mountain in the river with no boat! so we wandered up stream getting passed by loads of tourists on bamboo rafts, who wouldnt give us a lift!Granted they were a bit older but still. Eventually we found some bamboo rafts of our own and boarded them and floated down stream. On the way we spotted a water snake, then all these Thai guys came out of no where ran across the river wihich massive sticks and started to hit the thing. It was very funny to see little Thai guys running whilst holding up huge sticks.
Next was white water rafting down the Mekong River. It was sooooooo much fun, we both got completly drenched but it was so worth it. Plus we were the fastest raft, beating a raft full of Japanese woooooooop.
Next was a waterfall, which was hidern away from the main place, bout 20 mins drive and in a tiny village. It was gorgeous, so calming and relaxing. Shalina just sat at the bottom happily splashing her feet in the water, while i went for and adventure and started to climb up the waterfall. I soon got told off tho as i was venturing into the private area of the village where people were sleeping so i had to return :(
In the evening we went to see the Arsenal Birmingham game, which i was not happy about after 90 mins. So we decided to stay out as it was Trudes last night before she goes to India!. We had a wicked night in Dup step clubs. I got chatting to this tuk tuk driver who was having a few drinks, he lives 40 k outside Chiang Mia and drives in every day, he has a wife and a little kid who he has named Frank, aftr Frank Lampard!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Next day we got a Train back to Bangkok as we have got quite a bit of traveling ahead of us, Bangkok then down south to Penang
Untill next time
sarah
The first thing we did was buy train tickets to a city in northen Thailand called Chiang Mia. So we have yet another sleepr train ahead of us :).
Made it to the hostel, however we soon found out it was fully booked! which was soooooo annoying as we were tired, hot and hungry. Luckily we met a really nice tuk tuk driver who pointed us in the direction of a river taxi.
We wandered over to the jitty and got on this Thai speed boat, which was awesome. We got to see Bangkok via the river on our way to the hostel, not bad for morning transportation. The river was jam packed with other boats either speeding up or down the river, or from one side to another. Our stop soon appeared out of the Bangkok smog and we literally jumped of the boat on to a floating jetty and wandered towards Khaosan Road :)
We soon manged to find a hostel which also ment we found a cold shower. Which is always welcome :)
We had a wander around Khaosan Road which was pretty cool, just a pernament street market. Found some awesome street food of Pad Thai Noodles, that tasted sooooo good. I swear the food out here is so much better than at home, probably because everything is fresh here.
In the evening we had a few drinks and saw Trude!!!!!!! Who decided to come up to Chiang Mia with us.
The next day we wandered out of Khaosan Road and explored the area a bit. What ever you want here you can get its mental, but so relaxed and friendly. Definatly not what i thought Bangkok would be like, this might be because we havnt got the time to really explore the city. But still i like it. In the evening i went out with Trude to this bar called " Gipsy Lips" which was literally an old vw van parked on the side of the street that had been turned into a really cool little bar, very neat. We met a couple of really nice Thai guys aswell, one was a jewellery designer an he had been everywhere. They were all really nice and friendly.
Next day up to Chiang Mia, meting Trude and Luke at the hostel. Then working out a plan from there. It took us awhile to find the hostel, as Chiang Mia is a really really old city, which meqans the street names are very confusing, all the roads lead somewhere else and no one knows what you are talking about. Anyway found the hostel and met up with Trude and Luke for something to eat, also met a english guy called Chris. Ventured towards the night market whre there was loads of random things on sale included cooked insects to eat. Cockroaches, maggots, crickets, beatles and other flying objects!!!!! Plus puppies, kittens and baby rabbits on sale in cages, i wanted to buy a rabbit and bring it home, but not sure customs would have let me.
In the evening we went for a few drinks in a roof top bar which was literally 5 floors up, and completly open plan, with no ceiling so you can see the stars. Beautifull, we ended the night with buckets and table football!
The next day Shalina went for a wander around the old city. She said it was stunning, all the old buildings merging into one. With people using any available space to set up little homes or shops. I on the other hand went via scooter to a waterfall and went swimming, i was on the back of a scooter driven by Chris. It was so much fun, even though w nearly died 4 times, and may have caused a few problems. We were driving like they do in Vietnam and China, where driving becomes a game, so much fun. Could never do it in England though, would get pulled over straight away. Eventually found the waterfall and went swimming which was really apreicated in the heat, the countryside was stunning though. No body around just us 4, awesome.
The next day Shalina and I got up early for a crazy day. We left at 8 am to go to an Orchid and butterfly farm, which was very nice, the flowers and butterflys were very pretty. After this we went bamboo rafting, which was much more fun. I got very very wet, but it was so peaceful just floating down the river looking at the beautiful green countryside, very nice and chilled. After this we went ELEPHANT RIDING!!!!!!!!! which was super cool, the elephant we had was a cheeky one and kept wandering off and doing his own thing. It was really cool though, very bumpy but very gracefull at the same time. I didnt realise how big elephants are untill you see them up close, they are massive and there was a cute lil baby one, that was running all over the place.
After this we went trekking, which was great fun. We literally scaled down a mountain side where there was no path just sheer jungle. Shalina had a few problems and fell down a few times, she had to be helped down by a vietnamise guy. She was laughing the whole time though, which was good. She said she really enjoyed it but she came away with quite a few bruises and cuts from the jungle. I on the other hand was jumping down the mountainside pretending i was Rambo or something and didnt have a scratch on me!!! I thought i was going to end up in a ball at the bottom. We made it down to the river still smiling and laughing which was good. Despite this German girl who started to have a go at me because apperently it wasnt trekking and she wanted her money back, she threw a proper paddy! I just stepped away from her and kept my distance, angry Germans are unpredictable!
So we are at the bottom of the mountain in the river with no boat! so we wandered up stream getting passed by loads of tourists on bamboo rafts, who wouldnt give us a lift!Granted they were a bit older but still. Eventually we found some bamboo rafts of our own and boarded them and floated down stream. On the way we spotted a water snake, then all these Thai guys came out of no where ran across the river wihich massive sticks and started to hit the thing. It was very funny to see little Thai guys running whilst holding up huge sticks.
Next was white water rafting down the Mekong River. It was sooooooo much fun, we both got completly drenched but it was so worth it. Plus we were the fastest raft, beating a raft full of Japanese woooooooop.
Next was a waterfall, which was hidern away from the main place, bout 20 mins drive and in a tiny village. It was gorgeous, so calming and relaxing. Shalina just sat at the bottom happily splashing her feet in the water, while i went for and adventure and started to climb up the waterfall. I soon got told off tho as i was venturing into the private area of the village where people were sleeping so i had to return :(
In the evening we went to see the Arsenal Birmingham game, which i was not happy about after 90 mins. So we decided to stay out as it was Trudes last night before she goes to India!. We had a wicked night in Dup step clubs. I got chatting to this tuk tuk driver who was having a few drinks, he lives 40 k outside Chiang Mia and drives in every day, he has a wife and a little kid who he has named Frank, aftr Frank Lampard!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Next day we got a Train back to Bangkok as we have got quite a bit of traveling ahead of us, Bangkok then down south to Penang
Untill next time
sarah
Got quite a bit of time to catch up on.....
Sorry for the very very very very long time since our last blog update. We have been crazily busy. Right pick up where we left off, Saigon............
After we had recovered from our bus ride we had an adventure round the city, which rules!! Its full of little old alleys that take up random little streets, filled with street food and little market stalls. The motorbike system was mental, the roads were constantly awash with scooters!! No matter where you looked there was a scooter driver coming right at you.
On the first day me and Shalina spilt up for a few hours as we needed some time apart as we had been travelling constantly together for a long time. So Shalina went of to explore the culture of the city, i went of to find ........food!.
Up of the alleys near our hostel me and another girl found the most AMAZING noodles in Saigon, for only 15,ooo. Which is crazy cheap, something like 50p, with fresh noodles, fresh spring rolls everything. This lady became known for the rest of our stay as "Noodle Lady" very imaginative i know.
The next day i woke up to find one of our mates we had met previously (in Vietnam) in the bed next to me!!! I was a little bit confused as the last time we saw her was Nha Trang. Soon enough we had made a little group with Shalina, Trude(mate from vietnam),suzi(mate from vietnam),klara, angus, and a german guy who i cant remeber his name. We ventured out to the war museum, which was really cool but quite scary at the same time. As it was all about the Vietnam war and the things the vietnamise people suffered at the hands of the Americans. There were loads of photos of the conflict, a whole section on the photographers who had gone out there and lost their lives. There were make shift Tiger Cages, which is where the americans tortured the VC. It was really well set out with loads of info about the war, like in total 2 million civilians died and 1 million soldiers! It was breath taking i stood staring at a photo of an american soldier just holding up half a corpse of a vietnamise civilian!!!!!
The only down side i thought was it was completly one sided, there was no mention of the american soldiers (except as monsters), no mention of what the VC died to captured americans. But i guess what do you expect when you are in Vietnam!!!!
After this we were starving so we ventured towards the market and picked up some noodles. BIG mstake at 2 pm, inside a building, eating really hot spicy noodles. I was so hot by the end of it, i must have sweated out half my body weight!
So to cool of me a klara went on serach for something cooler, while the others returned to the hostel. We ventured towards a supermarket, but this meant you had to cross a huge roundabout.
This roundabout in question was huge!, which a constant supply of scooters and buses whizzing round it, no system of giving way and letting other people go, definatly not. It was everyone for themselves! We had to cross it holding hands very slowly with scooters whizzing past about 15 cms away from us!!!!!!! We found ice cream which was by a company called "fanny" so we had to get some.
Evening time, a few of us decided to go out into Saigon. We met up with a couple of other guys who we had met previously and decided to head to the main club in Saigon, called Apocolypse Now. Very fitting dont you think? Went in and there were prostitutes EVERYWHERE, male and female! That literally swamped us and where trying to impress us with their moves on the dance floor, which was so funny i was in tears. The club closed at 1am tho, the last song of the night was This Is The End-by The Doors!!!!! Even more fitting, very random, not sure if a line was crossed or not!
Made it back to bar street just in time for the Arsenal Barca game. For anyone who doesnt know im a Arsenal fan, to top it off we met a really nice barca fan. Whicah made the game a whole lot more interesting :). Awesome first night in Saigon.
As the next day i had a huge hangover, Shalina went for an adventure. She had a wander round the market, haggled for Sams bday present. Had a dragon fruitshake!.Whereas i was dying and returned to noodle lady:).
CU CHI TUNNELS tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Today we woke up early and had a 3 hour drive to this temple outside of Saigon. It was really beautifull, it was decorated head to toe in massive dragons, every colour of the rainbow. Painted starts on the ceiling and sparrows flying around in the rafters. It was a special temple as it contained 3 different types of religions. They all prayed together but wore 3 different colours, white,yellow and blue. Really nice to see but not sure how it would work at big celebration times, surely there would be fights over who gets the temple!
Anyway proceeded on to the thing i was soooo excited about the Cu Chi tunnels.
For anyone who doesnt kno these tunnels were the tunnel system that the Viet Cong used to defeat the Americans during the Vietnam war. They were homes underground, with the tunnels linking all the way through Vietnam. You could walk from Saigon to the Mekong delta even, underground!! The tour guid was awesome, he was so proud that the Vietnamise had won the ware. He kept saying things like "when the americans invaded MY country" and "WE fought underground" etc etc.
It completly blew my mind, we saw the booby traps the VC used to put down and they were horrible!!!! so deadly it was unbelievable!! Massive bamboo spikes. Apperently the VC used to switch round where the booby traps would be in the tunnels so the ameicans never ever knew where they could be even! There was an american tank that had been blown up by a VC landmine that was still in the same postion today. The VC used to collect any bombs that hadnt exploded take them apart and rebuild them so they could use them, often they would blow up when people were working on them.
It was then time to venture down into the tunnels (which have been widened for westerners). As orginally they were only 80 cm in diameters!!! We went down into the tunnels and i have never been so scared in my entire life! It was pitch black, boiling hot, no space at all you had to crawl!. We went down to the 3 rd level of tunnels and made it right to the end!!! 100 meters of VC tunnels and i will never be the same again. Amazing thing to do, and completly blew my mind at the same time!
It was Trudes last night in Saigon tonight so we all went out. Less we say about that evening the better i think............
We spent the rest of our time in Saigon exploring more of the city. Wandering round to the independence palace/gardens and lots of other things. Found some very radom places, returned to noodle lady quite a few times aswell :)
Off to Bangkok next :)
Sarah
After we had recovered from our bus ride we had an adventure round the city, which rules!! Its full of little old alleys that take up random little streets, filled with street food and little market stalls. The motorbike system was mental, the roads were constantly awash with scooters!! No matter where you looked there was a scooter driver coming right at you.
On the first day me and Shalina spilt up for a few hours as we needed some time apart as we had been travelling constantly together for a long time. So Shalina went of to explore the culture of the city, i went of to find ........food!.
Up of the alleys near our hostel me and another girl found the most AMAZING noodles in Saigon, for only 15,ooo. Which is crazy cheap, something like 50p, with fresh noodles, fresh spring rolls everything. This lady became known for the rest of our stay as "Noodle Lady" very imaginative i know.
The next day i woke up to find one of our mates we had met previously (in Vietnam) in the bed next to me!!! I was a little bit confused as the last time we saw her was Nha Trang. Soon enough we had made a little group with Shalina, Trude(mate from vietnam),suzi(mate from vietnam),klara, angus, and a german guy who i cant remeber his name. We ventured out to the war museum, which was really cool but quite scary at the same time. As it was all about the Vietnam war and the things the vietnamise people suffered at the hands of the Americans. There were loads of photos of the conflict, a whole section on the photographers who had gone out there and lost their lives. There were make shift Tiger Cages, which is where the americans tortured the VC. It was really well set out with loads of info about the war, like in total 2 million civilians died and 1 million soldiers! It was breath taking i stood staring at a photo of an american soldier just holding up half a corpse of a vietnamise civilian!!!!!
The only down side i thought was it was completly one sided, there was no mention of the american soldiers (except as monsters), no mention of what the VC died to captured americans. But i guess what do you expect when you are in Vietnam!!!!
After this we were starving so we ventured towards the market and picked up some noodles. BIG mstake at 2 pm, inside a building, eating really hot spicy noodles. I was so hot by the end of it, i must have sweated out half my body weight!
So to cool of me a klara went on serach for something cooler, while the others returned to the hostel. We ventured towards a supermarket, but this meant you had to cross a huge roundabout.
This roundabout in question was huge!, which a constant supply of scooters and buses whizzing round it, no system of giving way and letting other people go, definatly not. It was everyone for themselves! We had to cross it holding hands very slowly with scooters whizzing past about 15 cms away from us!!!!!!! We found ice cream which was by a company called "fanny" so we had to get some.
Evening time, a few of us decided to go out into Saigon. We met up with a couple of other guys who we had met previously and decided to head to the main club in Saigon, called Apocolypse Now. Very fitting dont you think? Went in and there were prostitutes EVERYWHERE, male and female! That literally swamped us and where trying to impress us with their moves on the dance floor, which was so funny i was in tears. The club closed at 1am tho, the last song of the night was This Is The End-by The Doors!!!!! Even more fitting, very random, not sure if a line was crossed or not!
Made it back to bar street just in time for the Arsenal Barca game. For anyone who doesnt know im a Arsenal fan, to top it off we met a really nice barca fan. Whicah made the game a whole lot more interesting :). Awesome first night in Saigon.
As the next day i had a huge hangover, Shalina went for an adventure. She had a wander round the market, haggled for Sams bday present. Had a dragon fruitshake!.Whereas i was dying and returned to noodle lady:).
CU CHI TUNNELS tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Today we woke up early and had a 3 hour drive to this temple outside of Saigon. It was really beautifull, it was decorated head to toe in massive dragons, every colour of the rainbow. Painted starts on the ceiling and sparrows flying around in the rafters. It was a special temple as it contained 3 different types of religions. They all prayed together but wore 3 different colours, white,yellow and blue. Really nice to see but not sure how it would work at big celebration times, surely there would be fights over who gets the temple!
Anyway proceeded on to the thing i was soooo excited about the Cu Chi tunnels.
For anyone who doesnt kno these tunnels were the tunnel system that the Viet Cong used to defeat the Americans during the Vietnam war. They were homes underground, with the tunnels linking all the way through Vietnam. You could walk from Saigon to the Mekong delta even, underground!! The tour guid was awesome, he was so proud that the Vietnamise had won the ware. He kept saying things like "when the americans invaded MY country" and "WE fought underground" etc etc.
It completly blew my mind, we saw the booby traps the VC used to put down and they were horrible!!!! so deadly it was unbelievable!! Massive bamboo spikes. Apperently the VC used to switch round where the booby traps would be in the tunnels so the ameicans never ever knew where they could be even! There was an american tank that had been blown up by a VC landmine that was still in the same postion today. The VC used to collect any bombs that hadnt exploded take them apart and rebuild them so they could use them, often they would blow up when people were working on them.
It was then time to venture down into the tunnels (which have been widened for westerners). As orginally they were only 80 cm in diameters!!! We went down into the tunnels and i have never been so scared in my entire life! It was pitch black, boiling hot, no space at all you had to crawl!. We went down to the 3 rd level of tunnels and made it right to the end!!! 100 meters of VC tunnels and i will never be the same again. Amazing thing to do, and completly blew my mind at the same time!
It was Trudes last night in Saigon tonight so we all went out. Less we say about that evening the better i think............
We spent the rest of our time in Saigon exploring more of the city. Wandering round to the independence palace/gardens and lots of other things. Found some very radom places, returned to noodle lady quite a few times aswell :)
Off to Bangkok next :)
Sarah
Friday, 18 February 2011
South Vietnam
Well we have successfully made it to Sai Gon, with a few detours along the way :) after spending two nights in Hoi An, which was a very beautiful beach side town, that had a wonderful buzzing market, nothing like England, but a 100 times better :) we decided to spend a few days in Nha Trang, a town further south in Vietnam. The trip on the coach was not nearly as fun, we did not have a sleeper coach, just a regular one this time, for a 12 hours trip though the night :S Sarah and I did not get much sleep, if any. What we did find it amusing however was how the coach managed to stop 5 times in the space of half an hour!!!! and pick people up from the side of the road. The word 'road' being used in the loosest sense as it was more like a pot hole filled dirt track that happened to have been carved out of the landscape, and whether you were going the same way as any one else on it did not seem to matter. The fact that we were in a coach though, made us feel totally secure :S lol. Any way, there were far to many people on the bus than there were seats, which meant people chose the sit right next to me and Sarah on the floor, and put their bags in our foot wells, making what little space we already had, shrink! lol. We got off the bus at 6am, not even close to rested, or in the mood for talking, and set off to find the hostel. This trip was compensated for by seeing the beach at 6 in the morning, just as the sun was starting to rise in the sky, that made up for everything :) We almost got led astray by a guy on a bike, who told us he would give us directions to our hostel, when we got there however we realised it was the wrong one and the women who met us was not remotely friendly towards us once she realised that we already had bookings elsewhere. After finding the correct hostel, we went straight to the beach and did not move for several hours :) The town was a bit more developed than Hoi An had been. The beach itself was much longer and the sea was a beautiful blue color, having a tan in February, who would have thought it???? :P We stayed an extra night there in order to check out the night life. I managed not to pay for a drink all night, yet was still drunk by the end of it, score :)
We came by bus to Sai Gon, thankfully on a sleeper bus this time, which was much better, minus the bugs that ate my ankle all night :S The hostel we are at this time is owned by a crazy lady who has no idea and can't speak English, it is making it very entertaining lol. We are here for a week, then flying to Bangkok, so there is plenty of time to explore and see what the city has to offer :)
We came by bus to Sai Gon, thankfully on a sleeper bus this time, which was much better, minus the bugs that ate my ankle all night :S The hostel we are at this time is owned by a crazy lady who has no idea and can't speak English, it is making it very entertaining lol. We are here for a week, then flying to Bangkok, so there is plenty of time to explore and see what the city has to offer :)
Tuesday, 8 February 2011
The events of the evening....
Starting from the top.... one thing that Shalina forgot to mention in her blog was the swimming!! As there was quite a large group of us that already knew each other from the hostel i knew the night was going to be an unforgettable one. When we got back from the caves the tour guide asked everyone if they wanted a swim. He expected everyone to say no as it is winter here in Vietnam after all, oh no! There was a definate answer of yes, therefore we then all rushed to get changed. Unfortunatly or fortunatly (depending the way you look at it) Shalina didnt have a bikini with her so she didnt take part. Me on the other hand thought that it just had to be done...... therefore we all jumped of the highest point of the deck into the FREEZING waters below! I couldnt get back onto the boat quick enough, but of course the guys that we were with who were from Denmark had to be manly and go again! Definatly glad i did it as i was never going to have the chance again, anyway after we dried off the drinking started.....
After having a few drinks on our boat, we soon discovered that the other boat containing the other people from our group was next to us. Therefore we thought it was a great decidion to become pirates and attempt to board their boat! For the greater good of international relations, but also to see what their boat was like.
We soon discovered that climbing from one boat to another at night time, after a few drinks and following a Danish guy was not one of our greater moments! It took us about 30 mins of climbing up the back end of their boat to find out we could simply walk through the kitchen!!! Word of advice never follow a Christiano Ronaldo lookalike from Denmark attempting to board another vessel!
We soon made it up to the other boat, to find Vietnamise karoke in full swing! so we joined the party. It was all going so well untill we discovered the danes and the english have identical senses of humor at the result of two americans at the table. Who we proceeded to offend in every shape possible, i swear americans seriously just DONT get irony at all!!!!!!!!!I have never laughed so much in my life, my face was aching and i was in tears! So we made some friends for life there. After they had left their own boat and gone to bed, it was just our group left on their boat, unable to pay for own drinks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Therefore as a result the bar was raided, the vodka drunk (by one of the Danes) and a hell of alot of beer consumed. Then we went onto making our own drinks which definatly reminded me of uni :).
After many more drinks, 2 of the danish guys decided to do a bit more swimming and jumped of the top of the boat back into the freezing sea! In the pitch black and heavily under the influence!This would have been fine but they soon discovered that there was no way back onto the boat! after much confusion and laughing, they found a way up by literally climbing up the side of the boat where people were sleeping! It was at this point we were told to leave the boat and return to our own :)
It was back to bed for everyone, after we made sure all of our group had made the return journey in one piece. Only to find in the morning the americans had joined our boat and refused to talk to anyone! classic anglo american relations will never be the same :)
After having a few drinks on our boat, we soon discovered that the other boat containing the other people from our group was next to us. Therefore we thought it was a great decidion to become pirates and attempt to board their boat! For the greater good of international relations, but also to see what their boat was like.
We soon discovered that climbing from one boat to another at night time, after a few drinks and following a Danish guy was not one of our greater moments! It took us about 30 mins of climbing up the back end of their boat to find out we could simply walk through the kitchen!!! Word of advice never follow a Christiano Ronaldo lookalike from Denmark attempting to board another vessel!
We soon made it up to the other boat, to find Vietnamise karoke in full swing! so we joined the party. It was all going so well untill we discovered the danes and the english have identical senses of humor at the result of two americans at the table. Who we proceeded to offend in every shape possible, i swear americans seriously just DONT get irony at all!!!!!!!!!I have never laughed so much in my life, my face was aching and i was in tears! So we made some friends for life there. After they had left their own boat and gone to bed, it was just our group left on their boat, unable to pay for own drinks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Therefore as a result the bar was raided, the vodka drunk (by one of the Danes) and a hell of alot of beer consumed. Then we went onto making our own drinks which definatly reminded me of uni :).
After many more drinks, 2 of the danish guys decided to do a bit more swimming and jumped of the top of the boat back into the freezing sea! In the pitch black and heavily under the influence!This would have been fine but they soon discovered that there was no way back onto the boat! after much confusion and laughing, they found a way up by literally climbing up the side of the boat where people were sleeping! It was at this point we were told to leave the boat and return to our own :)
It was back to bed for everyone, after we made sure all of our group had made the return journey in one piece. Only to find in the morning the americans had joined our boat and refused to talk to anyone! classic anglo american relations will never be the same :)
Sun, Sea and Sand..........................................
Hello all, firstly thanks for the comments, it is ace to hear from you, it makes home seem slightly less distant :P
well we have had a pretty crazy few days, but they have been ace :) after celebrating chinese new year, we have a few relaxing days in the city as everything was shut, so there wasn't much choice, but it made up for the non stop trip so far. we decided we would go on a trip to Hai Long Bay, two days one night, staying on a ship. we were ment to get a rested nights sleep on Saturday in preparation, this however did not happen. there was a lovely Vietnamise crazy lady that managed to keep the entire hostel awake all night, apparently screaming at the voives in her head. as non of us spoke vietnamise we could not tell exactly what she was screaming, but it did not sound like she was asking them round for coffee.
it was an early start on a bus, where everyone was slightly more sleepy than anticipated, and then there was a three hour drive there. we conviently stopped at a service station about half way, where there just happened to be every type of souvaner going. other than a chocolate fix, they did not get much business from us. we arrived on the boat around 12, started walking towards this huge beautiful boat, all shiny and new, before being told that we were going the wrong way....................................our boat in fact was a lot smaller, a lot older and had a huge question mark hanging over it of whether it could flaot or not???? luckily it did, and after a delicous lunch we set sail. it has to be one of the most breathtaking views in the world, to say it looks like paradise would not be far from the truth. we sailed for around an hour before transfering to a smaller baot so that we could go canoeing around the floating villiages. for the sake of mine and sarah's friendship we will NEVER EVER EVER!!!! be doing that again :)
we got back from that................just and continued on the small boat to some caves. these again were beautiful and huge!!!! it never seemed to end. as we got bacl to the boat the sun was beginning to set, and even me with my heart of ice could appreciate it was a very beautiful and romantic place :) we enjoyed another delicious meal and watched the sun set over the many islands :) Sarah will tell you what happened next :)
the next morning we sailed around some more before returing to dry land. we had a 4 hour bus ride back to the hostel, with an hour to spare before we got on our overnight sleeper bus. a sleeper bus i hear you ask, what is that???? well, it is as bad as it sounds. it was a coash like england, however instead of seats, there were three rows of bunbeds, all with varying degrees of seat belts on them. there was no space for a western person, and no guranteed way of staying in your bed for the entire journey, especially with the coach driver having questionable skill at driving. we did however make it in one piece, if lacking greatly in sleep and some nerves :S we are now in Hoi an, about half way down vietnam, and have spent the afternoon chilling on the beach.................................bliss :)
well we have had a pretty crazy few days, but they have been ace :) after celebrating chinese new year, we have a few relaxing days in the city as everything was shut, so there wasn't much choice, but it made up for the non stop trip so far. we decided we would go on a trip to Hai Long Bay, two days one night, staying on a ship. we were ment to get a rested nights sleep on Saturday in preparation, this however did not happen. there was a lovely Vietnamise crazy lady that managed to keep the entire hostel awake all night, apparently screaming at the voives in her head. as non of us spoke vietnamise we could not tell exactly what she was screaming, but it did not sound like she was asking them round for coffee.
it was an early start on a bus, where everyone was slightly more sleepy than anticipated, and then there was a three hour drive there. we conviently stopped at a service station about half way, where there just happened to be every type of souvaner going. other than a chocolate fix, they did not get much business from us. we arrived on the boat around 12, started walking towards this huge beautiful boat, all shiny and new, before being told that we were going the wrong way....................................our boat in fact was a lot smaller, a lot older and had a huge question mark hanging over it of whether it could flaot or not???? luckily it did, and after a delicous lunch we set sail. it has to be one of the most breathtaking views in the world, to say it looks like paradise would not be far from the truth. we sailed for around an hour before transfering to a smaller baot so that we could go canoeing around the floating villiages. for the sake of mine and sarah's friendship we will NEVER EVER EVER!!!! be doing that again :)
we got back from that................just and continued on the small boat to some caves. these again were beautiful and huge!!!! it never seemed to end. as we got bacl to the boat the sun was beginning to set, and even me with my heart of ice could appreciate it was a very beautiful and romantic place :) we enjoyed another delicious meal and watched the sun set over the many islands :) Sarah will tell you what happened next :)
the next morning we sailed around some more before returing to dry land. we had a 4 hour bus ride back to the hostel, with an hour to spare before we got on our overnight sleeper bus. a sleeper bus i hear you ask, what is that???? well, it is as bad as it sounds. it was a coash like england, however instead of seats, there were three rows of bunbeds, all with varying degrees of seat belts on them. there was no space for a western person, and no guranteed way of staying in your bed for the entire journey, especially with the coach driver having questionable skill at driving. we did however make it in one piece, if lacking greatly in sleep and some nerves :S we are now in Hoi an, about half way down vietnam, and have spent the afternoon chilling on the beach.................................bliss :)
Thursday, 3 February 2011
Nanning to Vietnam....Shalina tells the story.
well.......................we have made it to Vietnam, Hanoi successfully, but it took some doing :P lol
we left our hostel in Nanning as the owner made us feel about as welcome as mold would be in his hostel, it was not great. we got ourselves sorted and found the train without any problems. we were on the train with the understanding that it would take around 14 hours, a hard sleeper, so we had prepared ourselves. this however was our first mistake........................
we left at 6.45 and the first train stop was at 10.30. an angry sounding Chinese man got on the train and was inspecting everyones passports. he seemed to take great offence to mine and Sarahs passports being all correct and with the right visa, even though he spent a good 10 min going through it determined to find a mistake. we were then told to get off the train with our bags so that they could be inspected, because apparently when they did it at Nanning station, it was not good enough???? this took about half an hour before we were allowed back on the train. the train however did not move again for nearly 2 hours!!!! by which time we were both in great need of sleep and starting to get slightly concerned that we may never see our passports again??? they did however return in one piece and we were on our way. not for long though..............roughly an hour later we were again stopped at a station, told to get off the train and take our passports with us. this was made even more entertaining by having to walk across the train tracks in order to get to where we needed to be, and with Sarah not having her contacts in, she was stupidly relying on me to guide the way???? this time we just handed our passports over for around 20 min to get it stamped, so roughly 1.30 we were on our way. we were woken up again though at 4.30 by the man telling us we had arrived???? only 4 hours before we were ment to :P we got off the train, not at all well rested and looked around to see how we were going to get to the hostel? a taxi was called and we were dropped straight outside the hostel :)
we had one further issue to overcome yet though........................when we rocked up at 5 in the morning, we found ourselves locked out of the hostel, and no clear way of how to get in??? lol. we found two other girls trying to get in also, and the street outside was covered in backpackers, so we did not feel that bad and could do nothing other than laugh. we did manage to get in after realising that the bell we had been pressing was not our hostel, but in fact a house!!! :P thankfully we did not have to deal with an irate Vietnamise person screaming at us at 6 in the morning, as we would not have been able to appologise successfully in Vietnamise :S so maybe they were out??? lol. anyway we eventually got some sleep before waking up again at 9 for our free breakfast. not the easiest starts, but it has been ace since arriving, so well worth it :)
we were dead all day, just wondered round near the hostel, but last night was Chinese new year, so we had the luck of celebrating two new years within a month!!! awesome! :)
they had free beer at the hostel, free champaign, (which looked strangely like snakebite?????) free shots of vodka (it was not nice vodka :S) free fireworks display and celebrations on a very international scale with the people inn the hostel :) it was an ace night, and well worth the hassle of getting here :) the city is dead today as everyone is at home with family, but that is a good thing as it means we can clear our heads without feeling guilty about missing anything :P
hope you are all well :) xxxxxxxxxx
we left our hostel in Nanning as the owner made us feel about as welcome as mold would be in his hostel, it was not great. we got ourselves sorted and found the train without any problems. we were on the train with the understanding that it would take around 14 hours, a hard sleeper, so we had prepared ourselves. this however was our first mistake........................
we left at 6.45 and the first train stop was at 10.30. an angry sounding Chinese man got on the train and was inspecting everyones passports. he seemed to take great offence to mine and Sarahs passports being all correct and with the right visa, even though he spent a good 10 min going through it determined to find a mistake. we were then told to get off the train with our bags so that they could be inspected, because apparently when they did it at Nanning station, it was not good enough???? this took about half an hour before we were allowed back on the train. the train however did not move again for nearly 2 hours!!!! by which time we were both in great need of sleep and starting to get slightly concerned that we may never see our passports again??? they did however return in one piece and we were on our way. not for long though..............roughly an hour later we were again stopped at a station, told to get off the train and take our passports with us. this was made even more entertaining by having to walk across the train tracks in order to get to where we needed to be, and with Sarah not having her contacts in, she was stupidly relying on me to guide the way???? this time we just handed our passports over for around 20 min to get it stamped, so roughly 1.30 we were on our way. we were woken up again though at 4.30 by the man telling us we had arrived???? only 4 hours before we were ment to :P we got off the train, not at all well rested and looked around to see how we were going to get to the hostel? a taxi was called and we were dropped straight outside the hostel :)
we had one further issue to overcome yet though........................when we rocked up at 5 in the morning, we found ourselves locked out of the hostel, and no clear way of how to get in??? lol. we found two other girls trying to get in also, and the street outside was covered in backpackers, so we did not feel that bad and could do nothing other than laugh. we did manage to get in after realising that the bell we had been pressing was not our hostel, but in fact a house!!! :P thankfully we did not have to deal with an irate Vietnamise person screaming at us at 6 in the morning, as we would not have been able to appologise successfully in Vietnamise :S so maybe they were out??? lol. anyway we eventually got some sleep before waking up again at 9 for our free breakfast. not the easiest starts, but it has been ace since arriving, so well worth it :)
we were dead all day, just wondered round near the hostel, but last night was Chinese new year, so we had the luck of celebrating two new years within a month!!! awesome! :)
they had free beer at the hostel, free champaign, (which looked strangely like snakebite?????) free shots of vodka (it was not nice vodka :S) free fireworks display and celebrations on a very international scale with the people inn the hostel :) it was an ace night, and well worth the hassle of getting here :) the city is dead today as everyone is at home with family, but that is a good thing as it means we can clear our heads without feeling guilty about missing anything :P
hope you are all well :) xxxxxxxxxx
Wednesday, 2 February 2011
Chuc Mund Nam Moi
HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! year of the rabbit :)
Ok from the beginning.......... Due to our massive journey and lack of sleep Shalina and I were having serious problems staying awake, however we soon found an answer to this problem.............Free beer at the hostel!! All our sleepyness soon disappeared and we were ready to bring in the year of the rabbit. On the way we had made ourselves a lil group of people, consisting of someone from Brazil, Poland, Canada, Germany, Australia, Denmark, New Zealand and of course we were representing England :). We went out for drinks after happy hour at the hostel then went to see fireworks over the lake...
The fireworks were AMAZING, the show went on for about 30 mins, nothing like what you get in Britain! With people packing the streets full drinking and cooking on open fires. It was at this point we realised the guy from Australia was having serious issues holding his drink, he was only 18 after all bless his lil cotton socks!
After the fireworks had finished we proceeded to find more bars, and the way to travel was by human train! By Human train i mean people holding onto each others waists from behind and running as fast as you can down a packed street. Perople soon get out the way, however after Denmark lead us into the middle of the road surrounded by mopeds we decided to stop the silly idea!
On the way we bought some sugar cane, which i decided to skin with a very sharp kitchen knife on the street unsupervised. When Shalina found me she shouted (im not going to lie i was scared for the first time). (I was not going to be held responsible for any loss of limb that Sarah may/was highly likely to recieve as a result of her actions! :P lol ) Anyway i did a magnficent job of skinning the cane. I hear you asking why sugar cane? Well its because its a traditional symbol of good luck for Chinese New year. You buy 2 eat one and keep the other one for good luck, and buy eat it i mean just take a massive bite then suck out all the sugar water.
Another traditional which was happening EVERYWHERE was burning the decorations and money on streets which brings you good luck.
Anyway we made it to the bar and at this point Shalina left me as she was sleepy, therefore Buckle was left unattained yet again!!!!!!!
The night was a blur from then, i would try to remeber it but its not really possible. I remeber drawing a massive Britsh flag on the wall of the bar (it was quite a master piece). It was ok tho because loads of other backpackers had previously drawn on the wall. Also i spent a while looking after the girl from Canada who proceeded to throw up EVERYWHERE! and i had to get the guys at the hostel to help us bring her back. I woke up with Marker on my face! plus a HUGE hangover!
Bring on the year of the Rabbit :)
Bucklexxx
Ok from the beginning.......... Due to our massive journey and lack of sleep Shalina and I were having serious problems staying awake, however we soon found an answer to this problem.............Free beer at the hostel!! All our sleepyness soon disappeared and we were ready to bring in the year of the rabbit. On the way we had made ourselves a lil group of people, consisting of someone from Brazil, Poland, Canada, Germany, Australia, Denmark, New Zealand and of course we were representing England :). We went out for drinks after happy hour at the hostel then went to see fireworks over the lake...
The fireworks were AMAZING, the show went on for about 30 mins, nothing like what you get in Britain! With people packing the streets full drinking and cooking on open fires. It was at this point we realised the guy from Australia was having serious issues holding his drink, he was only 18 after all bless his lil cotton socks!
After the fireworks had finished we proceeded to find more bars, and the way to travel was by human train! By Human train i mean people holding onto each others waists from behind and running as fast as you can down a packed street. Perople soon get out the way, however after Denmark lead us into the middle of the road surrounded by mopeds we decided to stop the silly idea!
On the way we bought some sugar cane, which i decided to skin with a very sharp kitchen knife on the street unsupervised. When Shalina found me she shouted (im not going to lie i was scared for the first time). (I was not going to be held responsible for any loss of limb that Sarah may/was highly likely to recieve as a result of her actions! :P lol ) Anyway i did a magnficent job of skinning the cane. I hear you asking why sugar cane? Well its because its a traditional symbol of good luck for Chinese New year. You buy 2 eat one and keep the other one for good luck, and buy eat it i mean just take a massive bite then suck out all the sugar water.
Another traditional which was happening EVERYWHERE was burning the decorations and money on streets which brings you good luck.
Anyway we made it to the bar and at this point Shalina left me as she was sleepy, therefore Buckle was left unattained yet again!!!!!!!
The night was a blur from then, i would try to remeber it but its not really possible. I remeber drawing a massive Britsh flag on the wall of the bar (it was quite a master piece). It was ok tho because loads of other backpackers had previously drawn on the wall. Also i spent a while looking after the girl from Canada who proceeded to throw up EVERYWHERE! and i had to get the guys at the hostel to help us bring her back. I woke up with Marker on my face! plus a HUGE hangover!
Bring on the year of the Rabbit :)
Bucklexxx
Monday, 31 January 2011
Guilin to Nanning... Sarah tells the story.
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh made it in one piece JUST from Guilin to Nanning on a 6 hour train. The journey was made a lil more taxing than first intended for reasons i will explain....
1) finding our platform!! well.....to start with we had no idea where to go, we were herded (and yes i mean herded!!!) into the waiting area. Then the magical gates to the platform opened, and this was when chaos started!!! The end wasn't to Narnia but instead it was a mad Chinese rush to make it to the platform alive! as the Chinese seem to think the end of the world is coming and they must make it to the platform at all costs!!!!! (human or animal)
2) finding our seat!........right so we have made it to the platform, located our carriage (number 3) soon to find out the train was in fact a double decker. This added further confusion as we had to work out whether we were upstairs or downstairs. After much guess work and Shalina getting trapped in an aisle (unable to move forwards or backwards) we located our seat. Luckily i managed to convince a nice Chinese young man to help us store our luggage above and below.... so we are all set for take off
3) after putting up with each others confined company for about 4 hours we thought things couldn't get worse.........oh no how wrong we were!! Every half an hour we had some very excited sales people come into the carriage and try to sell there products. When i mean selling the products i mean...shouting, taking an age to say or demonstrate what their AMAZING gadget does. These products varied from "fashionable socks", "magic blanket","playing cards" and lastly, what made EVERYONE want to kill themselves on the train, a lil yoyo thing that went up a string, flashed and played happy birthday over and over and over and over and over and over and oh yes OVER!!!!!! again. Which a lovely child opposite decided to purchase. Therefore for the next 2 hours we were serenaded by the annual classic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
4) buying our ticket to Ha noi and leaving the station!!................after finding the ticket office, Shalina decided to behave very British like and politely queued in the right line, only to be laughed at and pointed to move down the other ended of the office. I then returned to find Shalina quite shaken and confused to say the least. We managed to get our tickets after I had proven to the ticket man i had a legit passport and Vietnam visa, we exited happy customers. Even though we have no bloody idea what is written on our ticket, or where we have to go tomorrow......yay
we got the bus outside the station fine and got off at what we thought was the right stop, at this stage i thought Shalina was wrong and we had got off too late, but i was to tired to care and just let Shalina think she was right. Which was probably the best course of action as my mind had been melted by "happy birthday" so what use i was is worthless to know. Anyway we did get off at the wrong stop, but luckily found a really nice Chinese man to show us the way to the hostel. Bless him, he was walking in the other direction and hardly spoke any English but walked us to the hostel. When he left he said in broken English that it looked like we needed help and it wasn't safe for us both to be walking aimlessly around Nanning (which i think he was probably right).
So yeah we have made it to Nanning and currently appreciating the beer which is 50p may i add :). Recharging ready for Vietnam tomorrow, wooooooop didddddi woooop wooooop
so catch up then
peace out
Sarah aka Buckle xxx
1) finding our platform!! well.....to start with we had no idea where to go, we were herded (and yes i mean herded!!!) into the waiting area. Then the magical gates to the platform opened, and this was when chaos started!!! The end wasn't to Narnia but instead it was a mad Chinese rush to make it to the platform alive! as the Chinese seem to think the end of the world is coming and they must make it to the platform at all costs!!!!! (human or animal)
2) finding our seat!........right so we have made it to the platform, located our carriage (number 3) soon to find out the train was in fact a double decker. This added further confusion as we had to work out whether we were upstairs or downstairs. After much guess work and Shalina getting trapped in an aisle (unable to move forwards or backwards) we located our seat. Luckily i managed to convince a nice Chinese young man to help us store our luggage above and below.... so we are all set for take off
3) after putting up with each others confined company for about 4 hours we thought things couldn't get worse.........oh no how wrong we were!! Every half an hour we had some very excited sales people come into the carriage and try to sell there products. When i mean selling the products i mean...shouting, taking an age to say or demonstrate what their AMAZING gadget does. These products varied from "fashionable socks", "magic blanket","playing cards" and lastly, what made EVERYONE want to kill themselves on the train, a lil yoyo thing that went up a string, flashed and played happy birthday over and over and over and over and over and over and oh yes OVER!!!!!! again. Which a lovely child opposite decided to purchase. Therefore for the next 2 hours we were serenaded by the annual classic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
4) buying our ticket to Ha noi and leaving the station!!................after finding the ticket office, Shalina decided to behave very British like and politely queued in the right line, only to be laughed at and pointed to move down the other ended of the office. I then returned to find Shalina quite shaken and confused to say the least. We managed to get our tickets after I had proven to the ticket man i had a legit passport and Vietnam visa, we exited happy customers. Even though we have no bloody idea what is written on our ticket, or where we have to go tomorrow......yay
we got the bus outside the station fine and got off at what we thought was the right stop, at this stage i thought Shalina was wrong and we had got off too late, but i was to tired to care and just let Shalina think she was right. Which was probably the best course of action as my mind had been melted by "happy birthday" so what use i was is worthless to know. Anyway we did get off at the wrong stop, but luckily found a really nice Chinese man to show us the way to the hostel. Bless him, he was walking in the other direction and hardly spoke any English but walked us to the hostel. When he left he said in broken English that it looked like we needed help and it wasn't safe for us both to be walking aimlessly around Nanning (which i think he was probably right).
So yeah we have made it to Nanning and currently appreciating the beer which is 50p may i add :). Recharging ready for Vietnam tomorrow, wooooooop didddddi woooop wooooop
so catch up then
peace out
Sarah aka Buckle xxx
A train journey, Rice terraces and a Roast Pig...It's got to be Guilin
hey everyone,
well you will be pleased to know that we survived the train journey, Sarah nearly didn't, through a mixture of her own doing and me ready to kill her........but all worked out well in the end :) we did think at one point that we would just be dropped in a field in the middle of nowhere, as that is all we were passing for most of the trip, but we made it into a small city safe and sound :)
Guilin is VERY different from both previous cities, but it is amazing. it is surrounded by hills and then flat lands with lakes, it is very strange but very beautiful. it is a lot less westernised here, but they are more accepting and friendly, so all is good. we walked all over the city on the first day and got well and truly lost!! my internal compass had totally broken, and when i had pretty much given up the will to live, Sarah took over and got us on the bus back to the hostel, where six hours after leaving we got back and ran straight for some food, pretty good day in all :P
Today we have been to the rice fields, where we saw some of the most beautiful scenery either of us had ever seen. we walked pretty much to the top of the huge hill/small mountains before our legs packed up on us, before slowly making our way back down through the villages, where they were preparing for the new year celebrations. this involved roasting a huge pig.......while it was still alive!!!! not something we had planned on seeing, but there wasn't much choice when it was on the path in front of us :S we made it to the bottom off the hill OK, if smelling slightly of smokey bacon, where Sarah was harassed by a little old lady to buy a scarf which she did, with my money as she had conveniently not got any small notes on her????? :P lol we practically fell asleep on the way back, before racing to get food as we were both starving! now we are not moving as it is too cold and I'm too tired lol. hope you are all well :) xxxx
Monday, 24 January 2011
Shanghai comes to an end!
hey guys, hope you are all well. Sarah and i have nearly come to the end of our stay in Shanghai. we leave tomorrow, of a train that will last 23 hours!!!!! it will be tough being that close for so long, but i'm sure we will cope :P we have had an ace time here though. after a rocky start with sarah having food poisoning and me some kind of strange bug? we were able to successfully cure both with a few games of international shithead (card game) international drinking games, and then a lovely early start to a temple for some sunday morning clensing of the soul...........not sure it really worked on us but at least we gave it a go :P sarah found a bakery and was more than a little bit excited at the prospect of eating bread again, so we were officially cured of bugs :) we aren't going to hong kong any more as the spring festival and our visas have got in the way of those plans, but instead to a city in the south called Guilian. It should be good, less westernised apparently. Any way hope you are all good, will update you if we manage to survive the train journey without getting cabin feaver :P hehe xxxxx
Thursday, 20 January 2011
Shanghai.
Hey guys, we are both in shanghai. We took a sleeper train from Beijing, it was the most comfortable nights sleep ever!!! we both fell in love with Beijing, but were happy to leave and get on with the trip. We have just had a wonder round the city atm, it is great, i love it. you can tell there is a lot of western influence here, more so than Beijing. we aren't sure how long we will be staying as it is the Chinese spring break atm, making transport difficult and more expensive. we are not stuck, just have a few options to consider. very grateful for Sam putting these messages on the blog for us as we only have email access. hope you are all good, will keep you as updated as we can and hope to here from you soon xxx
From Shalina
Tuesday, 18 January 2011
Train Tonight.
Hey guys, all good here. We have been very busy since arriving, done it all, the wall, summer palaces, olympic stadium and been eaten to death by bugs! lol
we are off on a sleeper train to shanghai tonight, should make for an interesting attempt at sleeping. hopefully will manage to get some sleep in our cramped probably smelly cabin :P
it is ace how cheap everything is here, especially the beer, it tastes a bit strange, but not complaining for about 35p a bottle!! lol
hope you are all good, the internet is rubbish here so off now before the money runs out. keep you updated along the way, hopefully be able to get on the blog in hong kong and not send these messages all via Sam, although totally appreciate it, thank you soo much. catch up with you all soon xxxx
we are off on a sleeper train to shanghai tonight, should make for an interesting attempt at sleeping. hopefully will manage to get some sleep in our cramped probably smelly cabin :P
it is ace how cheap everything is here, especially the beer, it tastes a bit strange, but not complaining for about 35p a bottle!! lol
hope you are all good, the internet is rubbish here so off now before the money runs out. keep you updated along the way, hopefully be able to get on the blog in hong kong and not send these messages all via Sam, although totally appreciate it, thank you soo much. catch up with you all soon xxxx
Nightlife in Beijing-
(FROM SARAH)
I swear he was playing in every club that we went to. Anyway the fact that you can still smoke in clubs here is mental and also there are poles everywhere!! The beer is relatively weak here, so the Americans that i went out with got pretty drunk pretty sharpish. Anyway had a wicked night out and braved the mental system of the traffic on the way home. Got back to the hostel and figured it was a good idea to break onto the roof of the hostel!! I would like to add at this point it wasn't my fault i was led astray, anyway the Beijing skyline is amazing at night from such a height!
Im guessing that Shalina has probably mentioned about all the sites we have been to see, all of which were completly breath taking. Im starting to fall in love with this city, with the street venders selling amazing noodles at 40p!!!! its great.
sleeper train to shanghai tonight !!!!!!!
Monday, 17 January 2011
Shalina called.
Hey it's Sam
I got a call from Shalina yesterday. Both the girls are well and having a great time.
This time of year is busy on trains and they were worried they were not going to get tickets and have to fly, but managed to find some overnight train tickets to Shanghai for Tuesday. From there they hope to be in Hong Kong by Friday but can only book train tickets five days in advance.
I'll let the girls tell you all what they've been up to whenever they get on-line next.
This was just travel news :)
Sam
Wednesday, 12 January 2011
First few days!
hey everyone,
We made it in one piece. The baggage got lost in Moscow, which meant we had a very uncomfortable, slightly smelly night sleeping in clothes we had worn for days, no new underwear is not fun!!!! lol
All is good now though as we have our bags, clean cloths and the best shower ever!!!
The hostel is clean, friendly and has great cheap beer, always good ;)
We have seen the forbidden city and walked our asses off all round the city. Still have the wall to do.
It's very cheap and hard to get our heads round the fact that we are not paying 30 pounds for 2 cups of tea lol
Hope you are all well, will post as soon as able to. We both say hey to you all, hugs and kisses, catch up soon :) xxx
All is good now though as we have our bags, clean cloths and the best shower ever!!!
The hostel is clean, friendly and has great cheap beer, always good ;)
We have seen the forbidden city and walked our asses off all round the city. Still have the wall to do.
It's very cheap and hard to get our heads round the fact that we are not paying 30 pounds for 2 cups of tea lol
Hope you are all well, will post as soon as able to. We both say hey to you all, hugs and kisses, catch up soon :) xxx
From Shalina
Friday, 7 January 2011
Wednesday, 5 January 2011
First blog of many.....
5 days to go, and I have managed to pack my bag for the first time, how very exciting hehe.
I have most of what I need sorted, minus a few things like money and organisation :-S but i'm sure it will be fine :-)
Starting to get a bit excited, although it is mainly fear atm lol
We will keep you updated as much as possible along the way, feel free to comment and keep in touch as much as you wish, i'm sure we will both appreciate any messages as it will make home feel not quite so far away :P
i'm going to get back to the packing now, will blog next time something more interresting happens hehe xxx
I have most of what I need sorted, minus a few things like money and organisation :-S but i'm sure it will be fine :-)
Starting to get a bit excited, although it is mainly fear atm lol
We will keep you updated as much as possible along the way, feel free to comment and keep in touch as much as you wish, i'm sure we will both appreciate any messages as it will make home feel not quite so far away :P
i'm going to get back to the packing now, will blog next time something more interresting happens hehe xxx
Tuesday, 4 January 2011
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