Never knowingly taking the shorter route

So I went to the full moon party.  It was fun and busy, though I’m not sure its the sort of thing I’d want to do every day of the week.  I’ve been travelling with some french guys for the last few days, and we decided to head over to Koh Phi Phi, so thats where I am now.  Its amazing just how easy everything is in Thailand.  Its a similar country to Cambodia and Vietnam, in many ways, but everything here seems pretty much geared up to the tourest.

Anyway, Koh Phi Phi is an island on the other coast - one of the ones hit by the Tsunami.  A lot was destroyed, and you can see that in the buildings - a lot of them are new or slightly temporary.  There are also things like Tsunami escape routes and things.  The most surprising thing, though, is that there are no cars or motorbikes or anything on the island - all bikes.

So I’m having fun.  Thailand is a nice place and, as I said, very easy.

Later.

Hello, one and all.

Since my last post I spent 5 days on Koh Chang, relaxing on a beach, visiting a waterfall and learning to dive.  It was a really nice island, I met up with a couple of people on the boat over and we went to stay in a part called lonely beach.  It wasn’t that lonely, but it was quieter than the main drag, and a really nice place to hang out.   I got my scuba diving certification there, because Emily’s always said how fun it is, really.  And it is, though its no the cheapest sport in the world.

So from there I spent about 30 hours on several buses and a ferry traveling to Koh Phanga, where I currently am.  This is the home of the famous full moon parties, one of which is on Friday (tomorrow).  These, as recommended by my brother, seem to be basically a massive beach party (allegedly the worlds biggest) going on pretty much all night.  My plan is, if I’m up to it, to go to Koh Tao the next day, which is supposed to be really nice and fairly unspoiled (not even got 24 hour electricity), and go diving and relaxing there.

So, all going well.  I’ve also noticed a couple of things:

1) I’m actually starting to get used to the heat - I’m coping with accommodation with just fans in it easily and generally not finding it all unbearable - we’ll see how that lasts into India and Africa, though.

2) I’m not thinking in terms of pounds or local currency, but dollars - Vietnam and particularly Cambodia use dollar and local currency intertwined so I’ve been using it for a while now and as its 2:1 with the pound its been pretty easy to get into.

Anyway, I’ll let you all know how the party goes.

Right, as promised, a bit of an update.

So, last time I did this properly I was in Saigon, just about to go to the Chu chi tunnels.  These are a small section of the hundreds of miles of tunnels that the Viet Cong built to live in, work in, infiltrate US army bass, get around unseen etc.  They are about a foot and a half wide and about four foot tall.  They are also a really good example of why the US was never going to win it.  I mean if people are so determined to build a crazy tunnel system and run 5 miles through it bent double every day then I think they’re pretty much going to do whatever it takes, really.  The guide we had was Vietnamese, but had been born in the US and had fought for the US then the South Vietnamese then been re-educated for 4 years.  He was really interesting.

I then spent another day wandering around Saigon.  I went to visit China town, which was interesting, and took it easy.  I didn’t manage to upload my photos, and the connection here is too poor to even try, really.

Then I went to Cambodia, via a boat up the Mekong river.  This was a two day thing, the first day we spent cruising round the Mekong delta, seeing people making things and floating markets and just people’s everyday existence on the river, then on the second day we went up into Cambodia, to Phenom Phen.  This was a really good introduction to the country and a good way to see something different about it all.  People literally live in house boats on the river, and it seems to pretty much be the lifeblood of the region.

On the way into Cambodia I met a dutch couple Lous and Peter (http://louskluin.waarbenjij.nu/ - though only Hanko will be able to read it I guess) and an Australian girl called Mel.  The four of us travelled round Cambodia together, mainly.

So we did a day in Phenom Phen, which was interesting - we saw the killing fields and some pagodas, then we went up to Siam Reap, where we saw the Angkor temples - these were pretty amazing in total - me and Mel cycled round them all in one day and seemed to manage to see more than Peter and Lous did in two in a tuk-tuk.  Then we went to Battenbang, where we saw a load of temples being used by loads of people, because it was a festival day and everyone was off work.

From Battenbang, Lous and Peter went to Thailand, while myself and Mel went to Sianoukville.  This is a sort of sea-side resort.  Its been fun here, just relaxing on the beaches and snorkeling and stuff.  Mel went off this morning, to begin her long travels back to Australia, I’m going to stay here today and see about going to Ko Chang, in Thailand, tomorrow.

So, I’m having a good time, I’ll be heading into Thailand next, probably heading down through the south of the country, before heading up to the north, then to Bangkok, then flying to India.  Excellent.

Ok, I’ve been pretty busy for the last few days, me up with a bunch of people on the boat up the Mekong and stuck with them through Phenom Phen, up so Sian Reap to see Ankor stuff, Battenbang (not battenburg), Sianoukeville.  They were all on a shorter deadline then me so we went pretty quicker, so not really had time for much else.

Next I’ll be in Thailand, but I’ll hopefully post a bigger update before then.

Ok, I’ve been a bit busy to blog for the last few days or week or something.

Firstly I’ve made another decision about what I’m going to do for the next couple of months. A weeks ago I was wouldas saying that I was going to spend a week or so in each country, but I was concerned things would happen like having to wait a long time for the visas into Iran and Saudi, and that there is now no chance of getting into Burma and stuff like that.  These wouldn’t be a problem if I had no real time limit, but I do, I need to be in Egypt on the 5th December, so I have decided to only go to Cambodia, Thailand and India in the next two months - this gets me two and a half to three weeks in each rather than oneish.  As it was pointed out to me by a wise person, its weather the whole thing is about the journey or about the places.  I was sort of thinking it was about the journey, but it would be a real pity to miss out on the amazing places.  So thats my latest decision.  I’ll then fly from India to Egypt and from Egypt to either Kenya or Tanzania for Christmas, then get to Kiteto for the middle of January.  Excellent.

So what have I been up to?  I was in Hoi An, a former major trading center turned total tourist trap.  Probably a really good place to go to get clothes and shoes made, and had some really nice bits, but was definitely aimed squarly at tourists.  It was nice enough, and I went to see some ancient towns in My Son, and I had a good time wandering around, an I met some nice people, but it would only really be a good place to linger if you either wanted clothes making or wanted to spend a week or two on the beech and in the bars.

Next I got a night train to Saigon (or Ho Chi Minh city), where I am now.  This was less eventful than the night bus (where the window broke and had to be covered with a tarp), thankfully.

Saigon is OK, its pretty busy and either the street hawkers/motorbike taxi men are more rude and persistent, or my tolerance for them is slipping. Yesterday I looked around a musium about the American war (what we know as the Vietnam war) - it was pretty interesting to see things from another point of view, though I do feel that the information in the west about these things is a bit more balanced.

Tomorrow I’m going to the Chu Chi tunnels, a pert of the massive tunnel complex that the Viet Cong used to launch surprise attacks on the US and South Vietnamese.  I’m probably going to take a trip to China town here too.

Then on Thursday I intend to take a boat to Cambodia - this takes two days and goes via the Mekong delta, which is supposed to be a pretty interesting place.

So, all told, been up to quite a bit.  Also trying to upload some more photos, but the internet connections here seem pretty slow, but I aim to catch up before I leave the country.  Hopefully.

Anyway, hope thats assured you all that I’m still alive.