Never knowingly taking the shorter route

Erm, so yea, its been over a month since I wrote.  I kept meaning too, but it just didn’t happen.  Ok, so what have I done?

I was on Phi Phi, as I said.  Its a really nice place.  I went diving and had a lot of fun.  However, rather than following the rest of the french guys up to the north of the country I decided to go pack to Koh Phangan, because I met some really nice Thai people, eho invited me to stay with them in their bar, and I though that this would be an interesting thing to do.  So, for the best part of the last month I’ve been staying at the Bamboo tattoo bar and tattoo/piercing parlour.  I attempted to get a visa to India so I could go off and spend a few weeks there, but the travel agent messed everything up and I ended up renewing my visa a few times and finally not being able to get the India visa due to time restraints (when the travel agent assured me it would be quick).  I was pretty annoyed about that, but I have enjoyed the extra time in Thailand.

So, oh Koh Phangan I’ve been to several different moon parties, seen the children that live in the bar become monks for three days (everyone from their school did), met loads of thai people, been invited into loads of their homes, met loads of other travellers, seen loads of beaches that people don’t go to, been in the mountains, witnessed Thai people not knowing how to use knife and fork (they use knife and spoon, so meat presents a difficulty if not cut up) and many more.  I will probably write a summary of SE asia soon.

Now I’m in Bangkok about to head off to Egypt tonight.  Hopefully I’ll blog more from there.

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.

So I’ve spent the last few days in beautiful Ha Long Bay.  Its a beautiful place with amazing islands that just rise up vertically out of the water, just massive cliffs of rock.  We went in a large set of caves, went swimming and kayaking in the sea and round the cliffs, we explored a small island called Monkey Island (it had monkey on it but no pirates), went cycling through paddy fields and spent an evening on Cat Ba island.  It was really good fun.  This morning, as we were coming back, a big storm started coming in st we got all the good weather and just missed the storm, which was really lucky.

Tomorrow I’m going to bum around Hanoi before getting a sleeper bus to Hoi An.

Beep beep!

The traffic here has the rules and regulation of China, combined with the fact that its all on two wheels.  Its like a more mental Italy.  Crossing the road takes a combination of showing no fear and closing eyes.  Mental.

So I’ve seen my third dead communist dictator.  He’s also  orange and wax-like.  I’ve seen a mental ho-ch-min museum and some other anti-american pro-viet-mihn stuff etc.  Also seem water puppets (they’re puppets in water) and drunk the world’s cheapest beer (about 5p per glass).

I’ve also hidden in the owner of the bar’s bedroom with the other bar residents trying to get round the 12pm curfew and been on a scooter with two other people, while the driver talked into his mobile.

I think that that’s pretty much the Hanoi thing, really.

So, tomorrow I go to Ha Long bay for three days to see the bay, go on a boat, swim, kayak and cycle.  Then on Tuesday I get a sleeper bus (yes, bus) to Hoi An.  So plenty going on, plenty of being a tourist and plenty of doing the local thing.  Lets see what happens, then.

So, I’m in Hanoi.  The journey was really, really simple - which was nice.  I could probably have saved a bit of money, but covering Hong Kong to a nice room in Hanoi in 30 hours, involving three trains and two buses two little golf carts and a motorbike isn’t half bad, I’d say, and shopping around would probably have meant I had to spend nights in places.

Basically, the route was metro train to a station in Kowloon, then train to Guanzhou, then sleeper train to Nanning, then waiting around for a bus to Hanoi, bus to the border, golf cart to the immigration out, golf cart to the immigration in, bus to Hanoi, motorbike to the hostel.  Phew.

So I;’m heading out to explore.

Ok, so I’ve spent just over a week in Hong Kong. In this week I’ve spent quite a bit of time in Kowloon park, reading and thinking about whats gone before and planning whats about to happen. I’ve also been to Cheung Chau island - that has no cars and brilliant seafood, Lantau to see a giant buddah, I’ve spent time shopping, getting visas and meeting people.

Probably the most surprising thing I’ve done this week is go on the roof of the building I’m staying in - Chung King Mansions. The building itself is a sprawling mess of former apartments, now turned into low-rent hostels and hotels. There are 4 sections to it, each with 17 floors. The other night, one of the peopl in my hoste, who seems to have been here forever, showed us how to get on the roof. So we did. We sat, at one point, with our feet dangling off the edge of the roof, with Nathan Road (the main road in Kowloon) 17 floors beneath us, looking at the now pretty quiet road and being able to see right from the harbour, right up into the actual main land where the street ends and turns off. It was an amazing view. It was so late that there was no traffic on the road or in the harbour, and everything was eerily still. We then went down to the harbour and looked at the still water. Something you never see in the day, ever.

So, yea, I’ve been having a brilliant time, though I guess the thing that’ll stick with me the longest isn’t in any guidebook. Incidentally, there is a film containing Chung King Mansions (though it was a 15 years ago and isn’t quite as ropey as it was) - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109424/ - Chung King Express. I’m going to have to watch it one day and see what its like.

So, what’s next?  Well, I’ve got my Vietnamese visa and I’ve booked trains as far as the border, so I’m leaving about midday tomorrow.  Hopefully I’ll be in Hanoi, Vietnam the following evening.  But that does depend on me being able to work out how to get across the border.  Should be OK, though.

I’ve been thinking about this trip.  The time I’ve spent in Hong Kong, because its been a lot longer than elsewhere, has enabled me to get to grips with the place in a way that I haven’t really managed so far on this trip.  However, I’m aiming to get to Egypt by the first of December, which only gives me about 11 weeks to do a minimum of 7 countries, so I’ve realy got to aim for a week and a half in each, so I’m going to try and limit the number of places I visit in each country and I’m going to accept that I’m only going to get a snippet of each of them.  Its a shame, I would like to spend a bit more time in each place, but I guess its just not possible.  Though, I will get that experience in Tanzania, I guess, so that offsets it a lot.

Anyway, have to sign off now, next update from Vietnam (hopefully).