Island life

Brisbane was our next stop and I liked what we saw of the city, but on the advice of an ex-Brissy we only stayed one night. We walked through the uni on the South Bank of the river, messed around on a manmade beach and lagoon, I scared myself half to death by walking through a Whale Mall (huge model whales hanging over a walkway), and we ended the day with a trip to the Brisbane Museum where there were dinosaurs, turtle displays and similar childish exhibitions!

Then came the best part of Australia so far - the beautiful Fraser Island. It's the largest sand island in the world and we went on a 3 day self-drive 4WD camping trip with 9 other people who we got on really well with. The roads (bumpy sand tracks!) were impossible, the spiders were massive, the catering was interesting and we all got bitten by flies and mossies, but the lakes and beaches were gorgeous to look at, the water was beautiful and cool to swim in, the drinking games were hilarious and we all had so much fun. We saw a lot of cool wildlife including dingos and eagles, but unfortunately no sharks, whales or turtles as hoped. It made a nice change to go camping as well, right by the sea on the sandy beaches, although Candi and I had to share with an Irish guy who tried to go sleep walking (in a tent!) and kept draping himself over us in his sleep!

Now we're in Airlie Beach preparing for a 3 day sailing trip (that's right Dad!) around the Whitsunday Islands and word on the street is the sun's just gonna keep on shining, woohoo!

Surfin AUS

If these posts have been making you jealous, you'll be happy to hear that it's raining today :( We're at Glastonbury-On-Sea, officially named Byron Bay, which is full of hippies, dred locks, tie died t-shirts and the smell of incense. It's a really cool place with a very chilled astmosphere and the waves are spigging awesome. We hired body boards from the hostel yesterday and caught some really big waves and a lot of sand in places we never knew we had! The weather has put a hold on our beach activities but we still have a pool to swim in, and plan to hit the bars tonight before a short bus trip to Brisbane tomorrow. Cocomangas serves its cocktails in jam jars so we're definitely going back there! They have a free breath testing machine which we thought was a really good idea, until it told me I was over the limit after one small drink while Candi was safe to drive after five!

Sydney

After a hideously long but surprisingly bearable 18 hour coach journey from Melbourne (we slept for about 14 of them!) we are now in Sydney. Melbourne was really nice though I feel a bit bad because all we seemed to do was go souvenir shopping! We went to the Exhibition for the Moving Image and an Art Gallery (admission free!), and sat by the river for a while watching the boats and jellyfish go by. We had some good nights out as well with Dave, our kiwi travelling friend, and some Aussie Air Force pilots who started work at 4am but stayed out until 3am anyway! Paul you were right, they do like their drink here. I got some cider in me two nights ago which I was uber happy about :)

We've done the typical touristy things in Sydney, going to the Opera House, Harbour Bridge, The Rocks and Summer Bay (for those not as enthused as Candi, this is where they film the Aussie soap Home and Away). I keep looking up for an IHT building Kristen but so far I've been unlucky. We met my uni friend Marcus and his girlfiriends for drinkies two nights ago and quickly realised we are staying in a very dodgy red light district - prostitutes everywhere! Last night we found some awesome channels on our tv so we stayed in with some drinks and snacks to watch Prison Break, our viewing later interrupted by the fire alarm and an engine of fire fighters. No fire though!

We're going to the infamous Bondi beach today to throw a frisbee and boomerang about and inline skate, and the Sydney Aquarium too, then tomorrow we're spending the day bushwalking through the Blue Mountians where I'm hoping kangaroos will be roaming free. We thought we found a koala the other day but it turned out to be a bird, doh! We did find some parrots though - thought of all you bird lovers!

G'day mate

Candi and I are in Australia! We landed this morning and found a groovy little backpacker's hostel which is right opposite an Aldi - kaching! - where we're staying for three nights as we discover the many goings on in Melbourne. I'm still a bit miffed that customs gave me a grilling about my biscuits while Candi was standing next to me with enough drugs to set up a pharmacy to rival Boots! We're meeting up with a travelling friend tonight for drinkies and again tomorrow for some Baileys/Guiness guzzling. Happy St Patrick's Day to you all! Hopefully we will still be able to enjoy the museums, parks and markets etc through our hangovers.

Anything you can do I can do better

So said the Kings of Cambodia past as they designed and built temples to better those of their predecessors through the Angkor period. Thanks to this healthy competition we now have the Temples of Angkor which I spent 2 days looking around this week and blew me away. I still can't believe it's allowed but we touched and climed all over the historic buildings, cheating death as we scaled stupidly steep flights of steps and meandering in and out of the mazes of corridors. The old stone buildings were so much more attractive than the perfectly polished Grand Palaces, with their lichen, cracks and even tree roots threading between them. It was kind of satisfying to see the forests reclaiming what the Cambodians once took away from them. I also can't believe how some of the buildings are standing up as there is nothing cementing the bricks together, just air and a lot of balancing acts. Or not in some cases where it has all come tumbling down!

A long day's bus journey on the shoddiest road I have ever travelled (if you can call it a road) in the tiniest bus ever took us to the Thai border, where we caught some nicer coaches to good old Bangkok. We met up with Ryan's friend Tom who is travelling with him now and went out for some much missed Chang beer. Koh San Road is an interesting place to be after closing time, with its cuddly toys, lady boys, passed out drunks and underground club touts. I'm going to miss the quirks and disorganisation in Asia.

Don't let the bed bugs bite

Unfortunately we don't have much choice in these pound a night rooms - you should see Candi's and my legs. We're hoping they will let us into Oz without subjecting us to some serious cleansing and debugging procedures! We've upgraded to one pound fifty in the hope of avoiding the wee mites. The standard of accommodation isn't the only thing different about Cambodia. The recent struggles were instantly obvious this side of the border and development can be seen everywhere, but unfortunately so can poverty. All towns and cities are rife with beggars and children pester you all night to buy books and bracelets and gamble with them in a game of noughts and crosses. Still, it's a great and interesting place and the people are very welcoming.

Phnom Penh has a lot of touristy things on offer. I went to the Royal Palace which was nice but not as grand as its counterpart in Bangkok. The Tuol Sleng museum was probably the best thing, even though it left me filling sick to the stomach and totally speechless. It was originally a school, which the Khmer Rouge turned into a prison called S-21 where they committed torture and genocide on a terrific scale. The site has hardly been changed since those days which added to the experience in a huge way. The buildings have been set up with a lot of information and photographs of the people who were brought and killed here, and items such as insturments of torture and original cell foundations. On a happier note, I saw some monkeys and an elephant at Wat Phnom where there was an exhibition about Australia and the support it gives to Cambodia. I managed to gash my hand on some steps and was worried I may have caught mad monkey disease , but I seem to be ok. I was also blessed by a monk at Wat Ounalom in a tiny little shrine thing (could have done with that before the hand incident!) which was quite cool. We've had some good night out in PP too, meeting lots of people from England (even some guys from Seaton and Beer Dad!), eating Banoffee Pie (a few lucky people will understand) and trying to cope with the owner of our Hotel who was very touchy feely with me and Ryan. Candi was trying to work out who he wanted more!

We've spent the last few days in Sihanoukville on the South Coast. The water wasn't great and it was cloudy a lot of the time (still managed to get burnt!) but we had fun. The beach was full of handicapped men begging for money, ladies offering hair removal, manicures and pedicures - or in my case obsessing over my legs and begging me to let them work their magic! - and children selling all sorts of goodies. I made friends with a few of them and bought a picture from Wathy - supposedly a portrait but the girl has black skin and hair bless him! Again we had some good nights out, meeting up with some guys we know, eating a Khmer Fondue (shark, baracuda fish, prawns, veggies and noodles in a clay pot sitting on a gas stove in the middle of the table - a sort of DIY job and all you can eat for only one pound fifty!), drinking 25p beers and Ryan staying out until 7am this morning!

We're going to Siem Reep tomorrow which is our doorway to the Temples of Angkor. See you on the other side!

Happy ending

I have spent the most wonderful day in Saigon. This morning I went to the Cu Chi Tunnels where I learned all about the Guerilla force, how they lived and why they were so successful at attacking the Americans who dared to come their way. Then this afternoon I spoke to some really nice Vietnamese ladies who wanted to practice their English with me. I also asked a policeman what a bunch of stages and things were all about and he said their was a chinese party thing going on tonight, so I took myself along and ended up being something of a feature! I ate some local delicacies with chopsticks which everyone had a good laugh about, everyone who passed me said hello and smiled, and loads of people came to sit with and talk to me, again wanting to practice their English. A bunch of kids took loads of photos of me with them too giving the peace sign to the camera. The Vietnamese are so nice! A perfect end to a lovely country.

Put your hands up for Saigon, I love this city!

Another pleasureable journey later, I arrived in Saigon (official name Ho Chi Minh City) tonight and what a place! It's like a perfect blend of London and Paris, with some neon lights added, where the Vietnamese have been invited to live. The boulevards are lined with hundreds of art galleries, shops and cafes and there are various small parks where the locals go running, speed walking, play badminton and even do aerobics to a stereo at night! I'm off to see the Cu Chi Tunnels tomorrow and the Reunification Hall and Gardens before I see Candi and Ryan again on Saturday, hopefully armed with some good hangouts for us to...hang out in.

Due South

Our journey out of Sapa was one of the worst so far. We had hard seats instead of soft beds (which we had paid for and only got a measley little refund back) which meant Ryan kipped on the floor, Candi slept on me and I lay head to head with a Vietnamese man on my bag! We laugh about it now , and the way the men opposite Candi and I watched our games of backgammon as if their lives depended on it, and unstealthily took photos of me on their camera phone (Paul W - it was just like the bag photo, flash and everything!). Wearing my pink frilled stripey eye mask probably didn't help!

After seeing the dead man, the Fine Arts Museum and some stomach churning market food (pigs trotters anyone? How about some snouts??) we headed South and stopped first of all in Hue. Here we walked around the Imperial City (chinese style buildings, gardens and courtyards where the emperor and co. used to live), Candi and Ryan went on the DMZ tour and I went on a boat cruise with some Aussie girls. And I may have hijacked a cyclo one night and pedalled Candi and the cyclo boy around the city! Hoi An was our next stop where Candi had some clothes tailor made and we found another hotel with a pool - bliss. Nha Trang followed this - Vietnam's only proper seaside resort which has a lovely beach and lots to see in the city. I climbed a mountain to see a 10m tall Buddha on't top, and visited a man called Long Thanh who showed me around his studio of black and white photgraphy. The pictures were amazing, showing lots of wrinkly old ladies and many different ways of vietnamese life.

I headed to Dalat next leaving Candi and Ryan behind. It was a bit disappointing but the drive there alone made it worth going, it looked just like home! People were farming in their wellies, sheep were taking up the road moving from one place to the next and there were cows absolutely everywhere. They were even playing "She really loves my tractor" in the first cafe I went in! Not a song I know mind you, I'm not that dedicated to the homeland, but appropriate nonetheless!