To dad; with Love

Hello all

I have to admit that this wasn't exactly how I planned on writing my final blog. But at this point in time all else seems to pale in significance. Yesterday my wonderful, loving father passed away. I'm at the airport in Perth waiting for my flight home...although to be honest I cant imagine home without my dad.
I know most of my London friends never had the pleasure of meeting him so this blog is dedicated to telling you why I truly had the best dad in the world!








To say that I am a daddy's girl would be an understatement......I absolutely adored my father, for the pure and simple reason that he absolutely adored me. (Lloyd, Bruce I know you have been living in denial, but lets face facts you know I have always been his favorite!) My earliest memory of dad is of him coming home from work to our Sundridge house, picking me up, giving me the biggest hug and then letting me sit on his black brief case...I'm not to sure what it was that I loved about that case but I simply had to sit on it. A couple of years ago my dad read out an old preschool report that he had found, it went something along these lines: "Gayle is a lovely, kind child who enjoys organizing all the other children while playing. ( That's teacher code for your child is mildly bossy). She is however very proud of her daddy and enjoys telling everyone stories about him."

As we all most probably know teenagers are never easy, and I particularly had my ways. I can't count the number of times I would walk up to my father who was chatting with his friends/ family or complete strangers only to have him throw his arms around me in a massive bear hug and bellow: Isn't my daughter that most beautiful girl in the world?" Usually met with embarrassed smiles all around.....I was consistently mortified and would berate him furiously for it whenever we got home.
Once while saying good bye to me at a Bloemof camp, surrounded by all my friends...and the boy I had a massive crush on he instinctively did it again. Absolutely furious I delivered him with the look of death, and his face suddenly fell, horrified as he realized how embarrassed I was and that he had indeed done it again. It was however at this point that it suddenly dawned on me that my dad was incapable of not declaring his love for me. How lucky and blessed was I to have someone who loved me that much. Needless to say I never complained again after that.

Of course having a dad as loving as mine meant that I had to learn to share him with all my friends, he had this wonderful way of making them all feel loved....especially those who had already lost their own fathers. Kelly and Michelle it was great having you as substitute sisters.




My father of course had an amazing sense of humor..... and a great laugh.....I have so many memories of him regaling stories to his friends and laughing that loud, ever infectious, if not mildly raucous laugh. Anybody who knew him, knew that there was nothing subtle about Roland Hills laugh. As children, my brothers and I loved nothing more than putting Anna and dad in front of an old Laurel and Hardy movie....just to hear them both laugh, together!



I guess its kind of fitting that I end this blog with him.....because as far as my writing goes he has always been my number 1 fan. He has been on at me for years to write a book...although unfortunately he never got round to actually telling me what it is that I should be writing about....maybe that will come to me one day. I started this blog with him in mind......he wanted me published so in a small way this was my first mini- step.
I am obviously heartbroken that I wont be able to to talk to him about my travels in person, but one thing I do know is that he wanted me to do it and that he is proud of me. He was proud of all his children....his belief in us and our abilities never faulted.





There is nothing dad wouldn't have done for us. When I was 15 I started working at Edward Hotel every weekend. By the time we usually finished packing up it was 2-3 in the morning...a phone call home and my dad would be there to pick me up. (Wearing his PJ's, sandals and socks... I might add) It amazes me that he never ever complained....he never asked for a weekend off...he just turned up.

As amazing as my wonderful father was it pains me to have to admit he was not perfect. As loving, kind, and caring as he was , and as much as he loved my mum the darling man was just not particularly romantic.....as I got older and realized this imperfection I tried desperately, many times to reform it. Calls before mums Birthday or Valentines to inquire what he was doing for her, had he bought her a present, flowers, a card, anything? One Valentines I had made him promise me that he would take mum out for dinner. On the follow up phone call he assured me that he had and indeed taken mum out for dinner. Thrilled that he was learning I then spoke to mum and asked where he had taken her.
Mum seemingly confused asked dad when this so called dinner had been. "Last Friday came the reply"
Packing out laughing my mother said "Darling....your father took me to a fete and bought me a hot dog"
"I paid R10 for that hot dog!" came my dads reply in the background!
That was my dad....not very romantic but always able to make my mum laugh.


At this point I would like to just say a small something to my wonderful mother. Thank you....thank you from the bottom of my heart. Dad has not been well for a good couple of years now and without your love and care I doubt we would have had him for so long. We realize it hasn't always been easy as his dislike for doctors and hospitals was intense. Lets face it he could be a stubborn man, but you were also a stubborn woman and as a result of your continued persistence dad got to see one of his sons get married, he got to meet his first grandchild and we all had the pleasure of a few more happy memories with our father. I love you and am so happy that I am home to be with you now during this transitional period.

They say that loosing a parent is one of the worst things you can go through....and for the past 5 years I have lived in absolute fear and dread of this day. Now that it has actually happen I have come to realize that watching someone you love in pain and suffering is far worse. Watching them fade away and be unable to do the simple things in life that we so take for granted, like eating or drinking the food they enjoy or having to give up the things that they are most passionate about is truly more heart breaking.

So we are all at peace now dad and comforted by the fact that you are no longer suffering.....thank you for your unconditional love, thanks for your patience, and for being such an amazing role model to us all. We couldn't have asked for a better father. I know right now you are in heaven enjoying a brandy and coke, eating cashew nuts to your hearts content and teaching Uncle Michael how to play golf!

Watch out Midgit........

Hello all,

Once again I feel the need to apologize for being out of touch for sooooo long....but it seems that my body is determined to give me hell on this trip and have been sick quite a bit again. Ironically enough when you are sick you have all the time in the world to email....but not a bloody single thing you feel like emailing about.

My flight to Bali was hell....runny nose, cough, high temperature and a 5 hour wait in Malaysia ....I was definitely not at my best. There is nothing like trying to kill time while you feel like your body is trying to kill you. Of course at this point I, myself, knew that it was ALL my own fault.....it shames me to admit it, but on our Halloween night out in Vietnam my near celebrity status caused me to stumble, and I smoked 2 cigarettes. Success got to my head..... I would like to blame "Brut" my personal body guard but unfortunately I'm going to have to take FULL responsibility for that one.
3.5 months smoke free. I am ashamed...and then I was punished by my own body!

What is it about airports that make them want to put the air conditioning up so bloody high all the time. I couldn't even bare to sit next to my gate because I was so cold and decided to go and find some huddle of warmth somewhere. (It ended up being Dunkin Donuts) An hour before my departure I headed back down to wait for the boarding. I sat there for a while staring at the "boarding now sign"...wondering why it was, no one was actually boarding the plane. Eventually decided to ask if I could board, and got met with icy cold, death stare from unfriendly, evil man who informed me that my flight was already closed for boarding. My luggage apparently had already been taken off the plane and they had called me 3 times over the intercom. Seems that I had missed the fact that there was a time change between Cambodia and Malaysia. I of course did what any mature, sick and miserable Gayle
could do...burst into tears and started begging and pleading with the unsympathetic, ice man to please put me on the plane, and that I was very, very sorry!

Very pathetic......needless to say he didn't really care and informed me that they were not stopping the plane (Not even for me) and that the next flight left in an hour. And yes, I would have to re buy my ticket. He must have took some pity on the sniveling wreck in front of him because he told me the ticket would cost $60 but then only charged me $40. I could hardly complain. My newly bought ticket was however bright blue which was a clear indication to all the staff that looked at it from that point on ....that yes..."This is the girl who delayed the last plane."

Hell was not over yet as I still had to make the 5 hour flight on the cheapest airline in the world that doesn't believe in providing blankets for their customers (unless of course you want to buy one for $11- Who in their right mind would EVER want to buy an airline blanket?) and also loves having the air conditioning on full blast. And so past the 5 coldest hours of my life.

I suppose it goes without saying that once I arrived in Bali my luggage was lost. Was assured by nice, friendly, airline man they would bring my bags to my hotel the next day. I didn't care....I wanted to sleep. Arriving in Kuta Bali (The most touristy part of Bali) at 11.30 pm I found the cheapest, and probably dirtiest hotel I could, just so excited about the prospect of warmth and sleep. I thought it would probably be a good idea to quickly go get some water, seen as I had hardly drunk anything the whole day. As luck would have it I got caught in a torrential downpour on my way back to my room. It wouldn't have been so bad had I actually been able to find my room....but the hotel was like a maze......so I ended up spending about 10 minutes walking around, and around, and round.....in the rain....first trying to find my room and then trying to find the front desk.......I found neither.
Eventually found the hotels Internet cafe and asked him to please call the front desk.
By the time I got back to my room, absolutely drenched, I was delighted to find, no hot water, no towels and no dry clothes to charge into. Was not a happy camper to say the least!

I spent one day in Kuta Bali and had to get out. To say I absolutely hated it would be an understatement.......it was just soooo touristy and seemed to be filled with hundreds of surfers of the non smiling variety. (or maybe that was just me? I wasn't my best)
I decided to go to one of the Gili Islands, Gili Trawangan as I had heard great things about it and it was small. And this is pretty much where I spent my next 10days ....

I ended up sharing a room with a very sweet french girl I met on the boat for my first 3 nights there. Our first night out it became very clear to me that not only can I no longer smoke anymore but now I cant even be within 10metre of any one smoking. As a result of my night out I ended up with a really bad chest infection...and then spent the next 5 days on more antibiotics...and in hiding, from the evil smoke. Its true, I have turned into a human smoke detector.....and apparently every man and his dog smokes in Gili....

So on my last night on the island finally feeling healthy and more myself I met up with an Aussie guy who was basically doing the exact same trip as me the next day...i.e he was going back to Kuta Bali, flying to Singapore on the same flight as me then waiting for 6 hours before his next connecting flight.

He only arrived quite late in the evening, said he hadn't been drinking much and seemed like a pretty decent guy so we agreed to do the last leg of Indonesia together. I needless to say was very relieved that I wouldn't have to go back to Kuta Bali alone. We had different boats booked back to Bali so we agreed to meet up in Kuta.
MMMM...what can I say about meeting this man the next day? Never in my entire life have I EVER met anyone so serious and with such an aversion to smiling. I couldn't even believe it was the same person from the night before. But never fear I had more important things to worry about as it seemed that my fever was suddenly back with avengence! It felt like every single bone in my body was aching, even my little pinky fingers and little toes were in pain)
I sure as hell didn't feel like smiling.... so my new found travel companion and I were perfect together. We went out to get something to eat that night with a guy he had met on the boat. They had a "all you can drink for $10 beer special"...and I watched in amazement as he knocked back about a pint every 10 minutes. Needless to say after pint no 4/5 he began to relax and smile a bit.....which sincerely made me doubt his claim of "not drinking much" the night before

Anyway I felt awful so took myself home straight after dinner and left "Happy" and his friend to do the partying!.
At about 2am "Happy" comes home passes out and starts snoring louder than a bloody freight train. I tried to wake him but he was out cold. What to do? I tried sleeping on the bathroom floor but the sound echoed through the walls....so eventually ended up sleeping out side on the deck chairs by the pool, till 5am when we had to get up for our taxi. I was not happy.

And then it seemed like I was stuck in the most awful 'deja vu' ever.
Airport, freezing cold air conditioning, fever, body ache.....6 hour wait for connecting flight in Singapore. In fairness to "Happy" he didn't just leave me in the airport like I told him to and he seemed to not mind having me around even though I was the most miserable person ever.....so for that I am very grateful....I think having to do it all by myself again would have been even worse.
We did end up taking a taxi into Singapore just to have a look around...although I slept through the taxi ride and then passed out in a restaurant while he went and did some exploring. So all in all I saw Zilch of Singapore. Although Midgit has assured me it is lovely!

Boarding my flight to Australia I was pretty much dreading it......but it seems that God had taken pity on me as I ended up sitting in Business class with plenty of leg room AND free blankets.....I was in heaven. Small miracles!

Arriving in Cairnes I still felt awful and decided that It would probably be a good idea to let a Western doctor have a good look at me once and for all...even though it was going to cost me $60. He kinda muttered something about ' pneumonia' and suggested that I go to the hospital to have some IV fluids. At the hospital I ended up seeing another doctor who said that he didn't think the drip would make much difference and that it would just cost me more money. He said it was probably something 'viral' that I picked up and that all I had to do was go home and just drink lots of water.

And so I left and on my way out I was handed my hospital bill............$550. (350 pounds) For him to give me a 5 minute examination and to tell me to drink water ??? I only had $900 for my entire month in Australia...and they wanted $550 of it? Over my dead body!
They called a guy to come and speak to me....and he agreed with me that I should have actually been told the price before the consultation....
I then took myself home and spent the next 5 days drinking water and spewing over what I should do about this bill. They had let me leave without paying it.....
I eventually, after speaking to loads of different locals, decided to just leave it. My fear of Karma was greatly over thrown by my fear of having absolutely no money left for Australia!

And that brings me to the end of my first week in Australia.....Cairns is absolutely beautiful.....and if you are going to be down and out somewhere then this is the place to do it. My hostel was right on the beach front which was an added bonus.

My second week in cairns and I was determined to make up for lost time....Monday and Tuesday I booked tours to some rain forests and waterfalls. Yesterday I had a snorkeling drip planned.....but I woke up feeling completely nausea's. I lay there trying to decided what to do....I knew my body was just exhausted from the last 2 day trips and I just needed to rest for a day....BUT it was the GREAT Barrier reef! How could I NOT see the great Barrier reef? (And I was flying to Melbourne that evening...so this was my last chance!)So I dragged myself to the boat. Was greeted by gorgeous, green eyed dive instructor, who immediately asked if I was ok. He suggested I take some see sickness tablets as the water was going to be very rough that day, which I did. Rest assured we were all given a detailed description on the "use of the sick bags."
I'd be dammed if I was going to puke in public, in a brown paper bag. So I sat there for about 40 minutes feeling awful.....just wishing it all to be over! Cute instructor kept coming and asking me if I wanted to move to the back of the boat as I would feel better there! Eventually I decided to move only to discover that he lied....the back of the boat was full of all the sick people throwing up into those blasted little bags. It made my job of hanging onto my breakfast that much harder. But I was determined....ESPECIALLY not with cute instructor standing there. ..after about and 1h40 minutes I called cute instructor over to ask him how much longer........he said 10 minutes and then we started chatting about other stuff.....about 3 minutes into the conversation I was over thrown by the need to throw up. Had to actually push him a way to do it. Way to go Gayle.....nothing like throwing up when you are chatting to lovely man!
So yes. its true....I threw up in one of those little brown sick bags. And then had to hand it to him to throw away for me. Charming!
But that been said.....it was worth it. The Reef was absolutely beautiful. Dad I thought of you and wished I had a water camera to take photo's for you....you would have loved it!

And that brings me up to the end of my 2 weeks in Cairns.
I would be lying if I didn't admit that I have been really upset by how much of this holiday I have spent 'recovering' from one thing or another. You take it for granted how lucky you are to have a healthy/able body that pretty much does everything you want it to. The worst I think is the complete apathy I feel for days after being sick....just no energy and no desire to do anything. I know its also got a lot to do with the fact that I haven't been eating healthy, nutritional meals....so I am really starting to look forward to coming home and kicking this thing once and for all.

Anyway that's my news....not the most informative travel blog yet...but its the best I have for now.

Love to you all.
x

Angelina Jolie Step back!

Hello all!
I would just like to start by saying that I have just realized that I have TWO followers who I don't know.....TWO COMPLETE STRANGERS!!!! How bloody cool is that? Mum, dad I'm Famous! ;-)

Ok so I am currently in Bali, land of blond, dreaded, tattooed people all walking around with no shirts on.....some of which I would prefer them to put back on...but hey its a free world...

But as usual I'm back logged....and I will have to start with my night bus leaving Ho Chi Min city! Remember how my last blog ended of with me being mildly ashamed with my behavior...well then.....I would love to say that it all ended there....but noooooo apparently not!

For future reference for any one planning on traveling to Vietnam:
DO NOT: I repeat, DO NOT buy an open bus ticket! Basically you prepay all your bus tickets to the various places you are planning on going to, and they then come to you in a lovely little book. You are then 'sup-possibly' just meant to ask the hotel to call and reserve your place on the bus, whenever you would like to travel.
It all sounds so clean cut, so simply and so easy...until you discover that nooooo,
- the hotel can't phone for you and you actually have to trapes around the city trying to find the travel agent in question...
- which wouldn't be so bad if all the travel agent ticket addresses in your little book were actually correct.....
- which also wouldn't be so bad if all the the travel agents actually spoke English.
-If you are 'really lucky' the bus will be completely full for the next 2 days so you are either stuck in that particular city or have to repurchase another ticket.
-OR you end up getting some crazy women who confiscates your WHOLE open bus pass, (still with tickets in it) and refuses to give it back to you, adamant that she will re-issue you another one on the bus the next day............(trying to explain to her that SHE now had the only proof that that I had actually even bought the pass seemed to completely elude her!

And finally, you arrive for your final journey out of the country to discover that your pre-paid sleeper bus is NON existent and yes you will be sitting all the way to Cambodia, AND no you will not be refunded the extra money that you paid for the sleeper bus, because apparently you didn't buy the ticket from them.

So yes.....Open bus ticket...NOT a good idea! I ended up having to simply re buy at least 3 of the tickets just so that I could keep moving! So braced for our 6 hour ride to Cambodia (on our non-sleeper bus) we set off at 12pm. At about 2am I was aware that we had stopped driving....but thanks to my new sleeping pills...(For the record I do not advocate the use of sleeping pills....UNLESS you are traveling in UNCOMFORTABLE Vietnamese buses!! Don't worry mum I will check into rehab first thing when I am home!:-) ....I didn't wake up until 6 am. Only to discover that we were still standing still. We were meant to be arriving in Cambodia at 6am....and we had been sitting on the side of the road for the last 4 hours? I went to investigate and couldn't find the bus driver, the guide or their little helper anywhere!

Eventually someone pointed down to the luggage section......and low and behold ...there they all were fast asleep on top of our luggage snoring their heads off!!! Now far be it for me to ever make a scene.....(hhmmm;-) but it was at this point in time that my patience and frustration with this country seemed to just snap! I only had one week in Cambodia and these idiots had wasted 4 hours of my Cambodian time. Needless to say I mildly lost it and started shouting at them to wake up, demanded to know WHY we had only driven for 2 hours before they had all decided to take a FOUR HOUR NAP?......I wasn't the only disgruntled customer....but I was definitely that most vocal. 5 minutes later we were on the road again.....with me still mumbling under my breathe for at least another 10 min. (Yes Harvey it is at this point I should have been reading your favorite book, 'Dont sweat the small stuff! - BUT YOU FORGOT TO GIVE ME A COPY IN MY TRAVEL SURVIVAL KIT!;-)

At about 11.30am Nia and I finally arrived in Phnom Penh, Cambodia......and there standing outside the bus was the sweetest little man, with the biggest smile ever holding up a sign for us: Nia and Gayle!! Escaped at last, 5.5 hours late but we were finally in Cambodia!



And the best thing ever....this lovely little man called Peter OFFERED to carry our bags. Nia and I were both in shock. Not once in the entire time I was in Vietnam (or Laos , for that matter) did anyone offer to carry our bags) As far as I'm concerned feminism is dead and I was in heaven!

Ok I realize that I have only spent one week in Cambodia.....so its not really enough time to make an overall judgment of the entire country's population. (but I'm going to do it anyway) ... I absolutely loved all the people we met there. 98% of the time you are guaranteed to always get a smile. They are just such lovely, kind, friendly, sweet people....still so untainted by the tourist industry. Again men on bikes all over the place (Asking you for rides but there is never any pressure and they usually just end up making some sort of joke when you say no.)
Bike ride?
Aeroplane?
Helicopter?

Very cute!

So Nia and I decided to just spend 1 day in Phnom Penh and then move onto Siem Riep...as all I have ever heard about Cambodia is how amazing Siem Riep is!! Our lovely driver, Peter then spent the rest of the day driving us around. I was amazed at how good his English was, compared to so many of the Vietnamese we met, not to mention his hospitality....he was an absolute legend!

(Now Midget I know you don't like the historical parts of my blog...but unfortunately there are cultural people reading this as well so have kindly starred all the next section for you so that you can quite easily tune out and then back in at your leisure! This is also a little Gruesome.....so Irina babe....you might want to skip this too;-)

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OK so I personally had never heard of The Khmer Rouge before coming to Cambodia, but I picked up a book by called 'Stay Alive my Son' by Pin Yathay, while I was in Vietnam, which was absolutely amazing. Its basically about this man and his family that got forced out of their homes along with the 18 members of his family, and the rest of the entire city of Phnom Penh. He was the only one to survive. Its so mind boggling how many world wide atrocities there are that just never seem to be heard of. (well not by me anyway) Basically the Khmer Rough where an extreme communist guerrilla party led by Pol Pot that took over Cambodia from 1975- 1979. Pol Pots genocidal plans included arresting, torturing and eventually executing anyone suspected of belonging to several categories of supposed "enemies":
-Ethnic Vietnamese, Chinese,Thai and other minorities
-Cambodian Christians, Muslims and the Buddhist monks
- Professionals and intellectuals, (almost everyone with an education), or even people wearing glasses (which, according to the regime, meant that they were literate.)
- Anyone with connections to the former government or with foreign governments.

He basically turned Khmer Rouge into an efficient and ruthless killing machine of murder, and Cambodia into the "killing Fields".

In his book Pin doesn't talk about witnessing any murders or atrocities....but simply talks about how people where loaded onto trucks and taken away for "Re-education" or how people simply just disappeared in the night. What he did have to endure though was watching all his family members die from malnutrition and disease.

In Phnom Penh, Nia and I visited two places the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (also known as S-21)and the Choeung Ek killing filed, I still can't decide which one was more heart breaking.

The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum occupies the former grounds of a high school, turned into a prison camp. Classroom upon , classroom filled with a single metal bed, no mattress and chains. On each wall is a blown up black and white photo of the prisoners that were kept in there. Literally all you can see is mangled bodies covered in blood, chained to these beds. It seemed like each photo was more gruesome then the next. Some 17,000 people passed through this center to be tortured, including woman and children and of those only 12 have been known to survive!.....the Khmer Rogue were meticulous at photographing each and ever victim....so you have a whole ground floor of the school filled with photo's of the their victims. Also included in the museums was the the various methods of torture that they used.

After their time at S-21 was up the prisoners where then taken to sites outside Phnom Penh(also known as The Killing Fields), where they were executed (mainly by pickaxes to save bullets) and buried in mass graves.

At the Choeung Ek killing Field that we went to, there is a monument that has been built called the Memorial Stupa that contains the skulls and bones of 8985 of the victims they found in the mass graves. Although the graves have all been dug up, and most of the remains exhumed, incoming rains always wash up clothes, pieces of bone and even teeth. I think the worst thing there was "The killing tree" The Khmer Rouge executioners would hold babies by the their legs and then beat them to death on it.

It is just absolutely horrific what human beings can do to each other.

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So Nia and I returned back to our hostel pretty exhausted and mildly revolted only to discover that we then had the pleasure of sharing a room with the most INsaNE man (boy) on earth. Neither of us could remember his name afterwards, which in hind sight is probably a good thing. He came across just like a normal, friendly American and lulled into a safe sense of security so we invited him for dinner. How to explain this lunatic of a man?

The best I can do is give you a brief out line of his general beliefs.

He had just got back from spending time in South African and made the point of mentioning a couple of times how very "afraid" so many people living there were. When asked to elaborate, he simply stated that he can see it in our eyes, the eyes of course being the window of our souls.......blah, blah, blah....
But no that wasn't the REAL reason. You see on further discussion we learnt how the entire universe is wrapped up in the cryptic meanings hidden in words. (English words mind you...because according to him english is the most spoken language in the world......HA ...even I knew that wasn't true (its Mandarin Chinese).....AND IM BLOND!!!! Anyway...Im digressing....

FOR EXAMPLE:
- South Africans come from South Africa therefor they are very AFRaid.
- Nia comes from Whales.....so Welsh people, as a nation, wail a lot.
- For some reason American means "love I" taken from the word Amour? we couldn't quite follow that one.....
- We should never beLIEve in anything because its all a LIE
and then my all time favourite....his BeLIEf in Reincarnation ( Isn't he contradicting himself there????).....its all in the word reincarNATION. People are reincarnated into different Nations according to how good you are. On inquiring what Nation would then be deemed so unlucky as to to be on the lowest rung of the ladder...his answer was the SoMALians.....because MAL comes from the word MALicious! Thereby making all Somalians Malicious!

OOOOOOH and lets not forget that the world is going to end in 2012 ....(for those of you that don't already know.) (Kelly babe, we better get married quick!) Because there is going to be a NEW CLEAR war!
Honest to God that man had, without a shadow of a doubt, the Wierdest, most deluded theories that I have heard.....a couple of times he tried to goad me into a debate on religion, challenging my beLIEf in God, which I simply was not interested in.....as far as I am concerned God speaks for himself and he doesn't need me arguing his existence! Never the less Nia and I had loads of fun laughing at his website the next day....which is as insane as he is. (Bruce you might find this pretty funny......it even has star wars clips in it!;-)
( http://www.circusoflife.com/ )

So happy to say good buy to him the next morning (and cheekily promising to send him an email in 2013;-) Nia and I left for Siem Riep, where we have been for the last 4 days. I have to admit we didn't really do much here except go to the temples of Angkor Wat. Ever since I have been in South East Asia all I have heard about is Angkor Wat! How amazing, How beautiful, how breathtaking! Lonely Planet suggest doing these temples over 3 days, and actually says : "If you only have 1 day to do it in, what a shame!" So Nia and I were toying with the idea of 1 or 2 days....until of course we heard the price, $20 a day, and the decision was very quickly made for us... we would cram it all into one whole day.
It would be tiring
It would be tough....but we could do it!

So 5am we set off with our trusty new driver, Same (a friend of Peters ) all ready to catch this breathtaking Angkor Wat Sunrise. We stood around for about an hour with all the other sunrise junkies....waiting...um.....(im)patiently. We took a zillion pictures and then went for a much deserved breakfast. At about 7am we set off to see the various temples that are spread over a 17 km area. (Same driving us to each site of course)





3.5 hours later Nia and I were finished the entire lot! (Yes Aunty Stella its true! -apparently Nia is a 'scanner' too:-) Honestly though how people spend 3 DAYS there is beyond me......yes, its beautiful, but everything just seemed to be exactly the same. In our defense, I wasn't feeling to well, and Nia was still wounded from her near death /bike mugging experience, AND we couldn't afford a guide (another $25) But yes we were pretty pitiful....hell we were passed by old men with walking sticks and a women in a wheelchair! Maybe its the fact that everyone had bigged it up so much, but I just didn't feel that overwhelmed by the sights. I mean I remember going to Tikal, the ancient Mayan sights in Guatemala and been absolutely 'blown away' by that.
Of course Nia and I still had a an absolutely great time, it kind of felt like the more time we spent together the funnier we became. (Now I know that's hard to believe, cause I'm already pretty funny...but its the truth!) Ironically enough we always seemed to wake up in the mornings at pretty much exactly the same time...open our eyes look at each other and just pack out laughing. Its pretty great when you meet someone who just finds the same things as you funny, so much so that you don't even have to verbalize it. So yes my 'BIG Quarter Pounder double mac with cheese' travel mate and I had loads of fun at the temples. I swear people must have thought we were drunk the entire time with the amount of giggling and falling over ourselves we were doing. (Very mature I know....but so much fun!)

Take it from Nia's and Gayle's Lazy Travel book.....you only need 3.5 hours for Angkor Wat!


I have to say something about the street children in Siem Riep. I had heard that they could be pretty full on, but I figured, if I could survive India then I sure as hell could cope with Cambodia......once again I was wrong. Most of the stuff being sold on the street here, are sold by children. Pretty much most of our Angkor Wat experience was marred with children from as young as 4 years old holding up bangles, postcards all shouting! ONE DOLLAR! ONE DOLLAR! ONE Dollar!! (in ever so cute American Accents) Apparently there are as many as 1500 street children in Siem Riep alone. Those that are selling stuff are absolutely relentless, often demanding to know 'why' you wont buy their stuff?' Their faces are also absolutely heart breaking as they plead with you to buy something...but as soon as they realise it isn't going to work they walk away furious muttering and swearing under their breath. We had one boy that continuously came up to us during dinner and at times would just stand there watching us eat. When we firmly asked him to go he walked away pulling a zap sign at us. The sad thing is that most of these children who sell stuff have actually been sold by their parents to pay off gambling depts, or because they simply cant afford to keep them.
We found that the absolute worst time with these children was when we came out of a clubs. (Ummm yeh the other thing we did in Siem Riep) 2am, 3am...these kids are always there. They simply run up to you and jump into your arms, clinging onto you for dear life. The hugging I didn't mind but then the begging for food starts. One night Nia and I had 13 children around us aged from 3-11 including two babies being held by 5/6 year olds. We each had a child in our arms, while all the others where clinging onto various bbody parts, all begging for food. Its just heart breaking......(even Nia, who is less of a sap with the kids than I am seemed to wane) We planned to sit down and eat at our regular little stall and we decided to just buy a couple of fried rices for the children to eat.....but no sooner had we said we would get them something did the children start pulling us towards another stall insisting we buy from there.
At that point we both came to our senses and realized that we were just being scammed. We watched as a couple of another tourists came out of the shop and handed out some bread to the children, only to over hear one of the older boys snap: "We don't want bread!"
The next night, ( one would think I would have wised up by now) , the exact same thing happened, except this time it was just a 6 year old girl, holding a screaming baby and an empty bottle begging for milk. Being wise on this 'milk scam' I went into the shop to buy the 'milk' and not the $20 formula that she wanted. I bought her a some fresh milk and some bread...and she was absolutely fuming....quite clearly that was not what she had wanted and she wouldn't even let me put the milk in the bottle for the baby! She could barely bring her self to even look at me as she mumbled thanks and stormed out of the shop.

Once again I realize that giving in to their begging and demanding only makes matters worse......I thought I had learnt that lesson in India already? Clearly not!

On arriving in Siem Riep, Nia and I soon discovered that there was going to be a Hallaween Party... and neeedless to say we were both determined to put in the effort. Trying to decide what we wanted to go as was most doubtably the hardest part due to the fact that Siem Riep had a limited number of fancy dress shops. i.e NONE!
So we had a quest....we set ourself a budget of $20 for both of our costumes (everything is dollars here) and began rummaging through the markets for ANYTHING that vaguely represented blood, or anything else that might be deemed 'mildly' scary! Eventually we decided to go as 'Suicide Brides' - Grooms MIA (of course!).....due to the fact that I wanted to wear a bloody wedding dress and Nia...well being the Goth that she already is just wanted to wear black!!!
I can't imagine what the women in the market must have thought as she watched us measure and size up black bin bags against our bodies, but if she was confused she certainly didn't show it.....us foreigners are a weird bunch you know.
So armed with our black bags and 7 meters of black lace netting that we bought for $12 we set about designing our wedding dresses. Mum I think you would have been proud!



The night before our 'big day' we met some friends that we had shared a hostel with in Ho Chi Minh and they decided to join us the next night, subsequently becoming our body guards.



Now sad as it is for me to admit this ...I think October 31st 2010 is probably the closest I will ever get to being famous. As it turns out this Halloween party is quite the event in Siem Riep with the locals turning out in hoards to take photographs, and some of them even in costumes themselves. The party starts as a pub crawl going through the town, stopping at various bars for about 30min. So many of the costumes were amazing...which makes me think some travellers actually put some thought into this 'before' they left home. (sad, sad people;-) Anyway every time we stepped out of a pub there were people every where waiting to take our photo's! It was like having our very own Paparazzi!!!
The whole night was just so much fun ........and yes....it was at this point that I realized that yes, indeed, I was born to be the center of attention.....unfortunately God with all his wisdom (and humor) forgot to give my 'attention seeking soul' a single talent worthy of the adoration of millions. ....I plan on having words with him in 70 years or so!


And so all in all a great end to a wonderful time with my Gorgous Nia (AKA K.K). 11 whole days with the same person and I never once wanted to kill her....there is hope for me yet!
I have been in Indonesia for 5 days now...and I miss her like crazy....but I think thats for the next blog!

I cant believe I only have a month and a half left...but I am so excited about seeing family and friends again, that it hardly seems to matter!

Lots of love

x







The morning after photo's and the first words out of Nia's mouth were:
"Where our grooms?"

Where indeed? Where indeed? ;-)

North vs South

Hello all

I’m so sorry its taken me so long to get back in touch but life in Vietnam has been pretty hectic. I don’t think I have ever been to a country that has stirred up so many conflicting emotions in me. I started my blog over 3 weeks ago when I arrived in Hanoi in the South...and reading some of what I wrote then almost seems alien to me now. Obviously Im leaving it all in here, because its true to how I felt at the time.....but right this minute...I’m looking forwards to leaving the country tomorrow.

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Can I just start by saying.....I absolutely LOVE Vietnam! Lonely planet describes it as one of the most intoxicating destinations on earth and I would have to completely agree!
Out of all the places I have been to, Vietnam is without a doubt my absolute favorite!!

I arrived in Hanoi after a 24 hour bus ride from Vientiane. To sum up the journey; let me to quote some of the inscriptions "scratched" by passed travelers onto the back of the bus.

"Welcome to the bus ride from Hell."
" Vientiane to Hanoi longest 47hours of my life"
"Prepare to be left in the bus for 6 hours without air conditioning"

I had heard before I booked the journey that the bus ride was horrendous...but being the 'seasoned traveler' That we ALL know that I am...I made the mistake of thinking..."Really!! How bad can it be?"

(Never think those words!)

Each person is assigned a bed that basically looks like a narrow dentist chair. Your feet then have to go into a plastic box that is about 1/2 a meter long. The box then narrows down to a height of about 15cm. ....so unless you are a size 3 shoe (Midget you would have been fine) you are unable to put your feet upright while sleeping on your back. Of course if sleeping like a ballerina, in first position, is comfortable for you then you would have loved this bus.


Unfortunately not putting your feet in the box is just not an option as there is simply no where else to put them. Each bed is also not completely horizontal which means that you can't lie flat either!
Lets just say its not a comfortable ride...and yes we did stop for 6 hours without air conditioning. I however was very lucky to have one more emergency sleeping pill on hand which worked like a bomb...so I slept through it all!

All that been said though...the bus was clean and once again nothing brings people together like mutual shared discomfort! I still don’t know which is worse...the comfortable, filthy, noisy buses in India or the clean, bone crushingly uncomfortable buses in Vietnam??

I have to admit I was a bit apprehensive about coming to Vietnam. After the numerous, less than favorable descriptions I have heard about the Vietnamese people, I was a bit dubious as to what I should actually expect. Compared to the Laos people...they always seem to come off second best. Now I have to agree that the Laos people are lovely, gentle and sweet....but on a whole I found them to be a little a bit bland. (especially after India) Yes they are incredibly honest and would never try and trick you out of your money...but they also very seldom interested in any form of conversation with 'Fa lang' (foreigners). I realize that this is due to the fact that so few of them don't actually speak any English and that Laos as a country is a lot poorer than Vietnam but never the less , I still found it all a little insipid. The Vietnamese on the other hand have been described as rude, overly persistent and cheats who are generally just after your money.

No sooner was I off my bus in Vietnam and ordering my first meal did the waitress attempt to over charged me 3 times the price for my meal. With one : "What the hell, are you bloody crazy look from me????" she then literally fell over herself in an absolute fit of giggles. Shouting to all co-workers who also seemed to find it just hilarious and then graciously accepted the correct amount of money from me.
If I were to sum up the Vietnamese people I would say that they are just plain cheeky. And I absolutely love it. My first day in Hanoi....I literally spent the whole day laughing. From the taxi driver who tried to overcharge me and that then wanted me to get a room with him, to the rotten teethed old man who tried to pull me in for a kiss when I shook his hand....what normally would have been a mildly uncomfortable situations always seems to be diffused by their ability to laugh at themselves and you. For a nation that has spent thousands of years fighting off the Japanese’s, French and Americans their vitality and love for life is just amazing!
I would have to say indisputably that the Vietnamese just 'get' my sense of humor! I can be sarcastic, cheeky and over dramatize things to my hearts content and always be guaranteed to get a laugh. (Granted 1/2 of the time they probably don’t know what this white women is going on about...but never the less they pack out laughing anyway. In Vietnam I am the funniest person in the world! What’s not to love!;-)

Hanoi itself if absolutely beautiful. Thanks to the French, every single shop has the street name on it which makes it an absolute joy to walk around. I was very lucky to have arrived in time for the 1 week celebration of Hanoi's 1000 birthday! The entire city was absolutely heaving and buzzing with smiling, happy people. Similar to India I had many people coming up to me wanting to have their photograph taken with me, except here.... they don’t simply stand next to you. They throw their arms around you and cuddle right in.
After I spent a day in Hanoi I took a 3 day boat trip to Halong Bay, which was absolutely beautiful.




For me one of the best things about traveling are the friends you make along the way. It's a given fact that you are continuously making and meeting new friends....but inevitably you will meet some one that you just absolutely 'click' with, that uber, crème de la crème, "BIG Double mac with large fries" travel mate. Within a couple of hours you are best friends and you feel like you have known each other for years. Its these travel mates that make all the frustrations of traveling alone just sooooo worth it! Its these travel mates that you will always remember even if you only spend one day with them.
Over the last week God has been smiling and I was sent 3 such amazing friends.
Laura, Jessica and Micah! (All American....I might add)


Laura and I only really had a couple of hours together because they had put her and her boyfriend on the wrong boat. Needless to say when they tried to remove them later on that evening we did everything within our human possibilities to keep them with us....we begged , we pleaded, we preformed and we offered money (well she did that) ..but inevitably they had to leave and I think we were both mildly heartbroken. Then however I started chatting to Jessica and we pretty much spent the next two days in Halong Bay swimming, canoeing, (Well....sitting in the canoe and talking) sun tanning and more talking..... you would have thought we would have run out of things to talk about but we never did! It never ceases to amaze me how many gorgeous , intelligent single women there are out there! Jessica is definitely one of them!


On the trip back to Hanoi City, where I was preparing myself to have to say good buy to my gorgeous NBF Jessica, I then met Micah.

A 19 year old American that is more mature than most 30 year old men I have ever met. From the moment we met...you guessed it...we didn't stop talking. Its hard to believe a 19 year could have done so many things with his life already. Last year he went to Uganda to help with the child victims suffering under "the Lords Army " run by Joseph Coney. The stories that he told me were pretty gruesome and for the sake of the weak hearted I don't think I am going to repeat them. But have included a blog I found that pretty much summed up what I heard from him.
http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=3580397&blogId=239671799

(Just in case anyone is interested!)

Needless to say I found talking to him fascinating!



We had arrived back in Hanoi just in time for the final night of the Celebrations. We had a fantastic evening and I am convinced that Micah was sent to remind me that the kind of man I am looking for "Does exist"!
All I need to do now is to find the 16 year older model.... who isn't already hopelessly in love with his girlfriend!! ;-)

The following day I set off on the night bus for Hue! (Pronounced: Who - ay) I had booked my ticket 3 days before, so imagine my frustration when I arrive at the travel agent only to be told:
"OOOOOOOH sowweeee but sleeping bus full booked. You go sitting bus!" I was livid to say the least, but what can you do? SO sitting bus it was. I watched in dismay as all the other travelers crammed into the very uncomfortable sleeping bus and I got put into the equally uncomfortable sitting bus with all the locals.
2 hours into the journey, our lovely sitting bus broke down and we where left sitting on the side of the road for 3 hours while they tried to fix it!
I have to admit I absolutely marveled at the calmness of everyone.....I could only imagine the anger and moaning had this been a bus in a Western country....but everyone filed out of the bus settled down and waited.
At 1am another bus was sent and we were finally on our way!

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In the last 14 days or so I have pretty much spent my time traveling down from Hue , to Hoi An, Nha Trang and now Ho Chi Min City. Which is where I currently find myself sitting. At the movement It feels like every inch of my body is absolutely seething with frustration! To be fair I have had an amazing 3 weeks.....there has not been a single minute where I have been alone and I have met some absolutely lovely people. I have been to the most amazing water Park ever, did a Vietnamese cooking class and even did some parasailing! (Kinda like parachuting except you are harnessed to a speed boat!) I have no doubt I will look back and remember all the great times I have had....but at this point in time there seems to be a massive shift in how I feel about Vietnam. And this is where I find myself now....confused and not to sure what to make of the country that I declared my undying love for a couple of weeks ago. I think it all started on my trip from Hoi An to Nha Trang. Once again I was on one of the wonderful sleeper buses. I remember lying there listening to this German girl who has lived in Vietnam for 2 years go on and on about how much she hated the Vietnamese people.
I lay there listening to her...wondering why I seemed to have such a completely different perception of them. I distinctly remember thinking how I seemed to be in this little "I love Vietnam " bubble....that was just so the contrary to what most people seemed to think. I decided then and there that it was simply her negative attitude and chose not to listen to her any more.

Later that night while I was sleeping I kept feeling something touching me....I thought it was just the guy who was asleep on the floor next to me bumping into me by accident. At one point I definitely felt fingers on my back trying to pull my blanket off ....I turned around and it was the Vietnamese guy on the top bunk leaning over me. Needless to say there was no way I was going to sleep after that so I spent the next 2 hours just lying there. Him watching me. Me watching him. At one point he leant over and started trying to touch the girl on the top bunk above me, at which point I screamed at him and hit him with my pillow. (GIRL POWER!)
It wasn’t anything to hectic...but I have to admit it was the most uncomfortable I have ever felt traveling...even in India non of the men would ever have dared touch you! I always felt reasonably safe and respected!
Thank goodness the bus arrived in Nha Trang about 20 minutes after that at about 5 am in the morning. I arrived at my hostel exhausted, only to be told by the grumpy guy working there that he only starts work at 6 am so I would just have to wait for an hour. Never in my travelling life has that ever, ever happened......hotels and hostels are usually only to pleased to go out of their way to make you comfortable and welcome you! In frustration and defiance I walked away....declaring I would go somewhere else ......only to return an hour later, hot sweaty and miserable with my tail between my legs because I couldn't find any other hostels in the area!

Nha Trang is the beach / party town of Vietnam and the attention you get here is simply relentless. From the moment you step out of the hostel and onto the street you are followed by taxi men on bikes and women selling sunglasses, books, jewelry...you name it they will probably have it!
Where you go?
Where you from?
What’s your name?
You want sunglasses?
You want massage?

A quite day at the beach? Think again. A peaceful dinner for 2....not on your life....these people actually come into the restaurant to try and sell you their stuff. It absolutely amazes me that they are never, ever sent away.

Now the women sellers I have to admit I actually quite warmed to after a while....they are always smiling and pretty eager to have a chat, even if its spurred on by the hope that you will eventually buy something. (which I did;-)But the men down this end of Vietnam.....mmmm...not to sure about them. They are just so different from the jovial, non threatening men in the North (massive generalizing going on here I know....but bare with me) I supposed the fact that we were walking around in beach wear didn't help much but you just feel letched at all the time. Its the sordid winks, the cat whistles, the way they looked you up and down when they talk to you and the constant harassment for lifts. In Hanoi...they simply sat on their bikes and called to you...in Nha Trang they follow you. I just didn't like it. My last night there I was out with a couple of friends from the hostel. We came out of a club at about 2 am and within seconds we were surrounded by 3 guys on a motor bikes and 4 Vietnamese girls. The girls were simply laughing and trying to hug us....a couple of seconds later after yelling at them to leave us alone...I discovered that my camera was gone and so was my friend Pete's wallet!

Trust me to be mugged by the "hugging" gang!!!

Yesterday I arrived in Ho Chi Min city (Saigon) and ended up spending that day with a very lovely Welsh girl called Nia. In the morning we went to the War Remnants Museum which was absolutely heart breaking. So many shocking photo's of the Vietnamese people killed during the war. There was also a whole section devoted to the victims of Agent Orange (a chemical that the Americans used to kill the dense forest that the Viet Kong where hiding in. ) The birth defects of so many thousands of children as a result of this chemical are just unbelievable. (Vietnames and American)

In the afternoon we set off to buy me a new camera...mmmmmmmmmmm...that in itself was an experience and a half. It seems that in the streets you are continuously bombarded by sellers trying to get you to buy ANYTHING and EVERYTHING.....but no sooner than you walk into many of the shops, are you totally ignored. We would walk in...wait...and then watch as other Vietnamese customers got served before us. They simply did not seem interested in helping us and would often just walk away to the back of the shop. It got to the point were we couldn't help but laugh at how completely insignificant we were to them!

I have to admit Nia was an absolutely angel and spent a good 3 hours walking around patiently with me. While we were with drawing money from an ATM there were about 5 street children at the machine next to us trying to get money out with a card. They gave us the card and wanted us to get money for them. We looked at the card and the name on it was of a Dutch/or may German Doctor so it definitely wasn't theirs. We decided to walk over to a police man and hand the card to him...he spoke to the children and agreed that it wasn’t their card but didn't seem to want to take it. (Clearly he knew better than to anger little Vietnamese kids....we unfortunately were not so knowledgeable.) We made the executive decision to simply take the card and destroy it!!! Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeg mistake. We then spent the next 30 minutes been stalked by 4-7 bloody angry little Vietnamese terrorists. (they seemed to gather more friends as they walked) The scariest being a little 6 year old that kept running up to me hitting me. I did my best teacher yell and he seemed to back off for a bit...but they just would not go away. We went into a camera shop only to have them all waiting outside for us yelling and screaming. We eventually walked out but the oldest one cornered Nia and wouldn't let her pass. I literally had to pull the child out of Nia's way. Eventually we decided the only way to get rid of them was to get on a bike taxi. In hind sight I realize that all they are thinking is that we were going to use the card to get the money that they so desperately wanted. They had no concept that the card itself was useless without a pin.

And thus brings me to this morning. There is only one word to describe the traffic in Saigon. Insane. Like most Vietnamese cities the motorbikes rule the road and trying to cross safely is always a bit of a 'life and death situation' That been said most of the bikes do slow down and allow you to weave through them....
This morning as we were crossing the road this guy was coming at us at about 3 times the speed of all the other bikes. I jumped forward in front of him but he went straight into Nia. She had a massive 3 cm cut under her eye and on her leg which were just pouring with blood. It all happened so fast. A couple of people went to help the guy on the bike, who promptly climbed back on and rode away. I helped Nia up only to have the taxi's and cars hooting at us to move off the road. A couple of people came to help from the side of the road but in all honesty I was absolutely appalled at the lack of concern by the other drivers. We then went into a restaurant and they were quite helpful. Nia doesn't have any travel insurance so she was really reluctant to go to hospital....she however wasn't looking at the gaping, bloody, gushing eye that I was, and I managed to persuade her to go. We spent the next 4 hours getting her sorted out. She had to have stitches on her face and leg and has hairline fracture on her wrist. I have to admit it wasn't the best of experiences, especially since the guy who did her leg started stitching before the anesthetic had kicked in, so she could feel everything. She came out almost in tears. I just really hope that they sewed her face up properly....it would be so awful for her to have a massive scar there!! We later discovered that her bag was broken and on talking to a couple of local people it seems that the guy was most probably after her bag.

And this is were I find myself now......I cant help think about how different this whole situation would have been had we been in India. The indifference that we seemed to be treated with today was just quite heart breaking. At one point we walked up 6 flights of stairs at the hospital trying to find someone, anyone to help us.
I cant figure out what I feel for Vietnam anymore. I feel frustrated that I have felt so, so angry and jaded these last couple of days....because this is definitely not who I am.

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Last day in Vietnam today and 40 minutes till Nia and I leave for Cambodia....so I have to finish this blog. I have been thinking a lot today about Vietnam and how hard it is to figure out!
There definitely seems to be a massive difference between the North and the South. I find it quite ironic that the North were the communists in the Vietnam war and the south were the Republicans supported by the Americans. It makes you wonder why we try so hard to bring Western culture to other countries. I clearly loved it in the North.......but at the same time I definitely don’t want to over generalize and completely discredit the South. I have to admit its very easy to allow negative events to taint your perceptions and I do honestly feel like that has been a big part of my frustrations these last couple of days. I left India feeling calm, centred and good about myself as a person.....but I leave Vietnam feeling ever so slightly ashamed that I have allowed myself to be sucked into all the negatism that so many of the foreigners seem to dwell on here! Its so easy to follow the pack! Maybe its been a good reminder of how easy it is to be positive when all is well.....and how much harder we need to work at it the rest of the time!

And that brings me to the end. Nia and I had a fantastic day today crossing the road like two little old women, and following Midgets advice by hiding behind locals.

So all is well and happy and I have a TAN!!

I miss you all and apologize for the severe lack of emailng this month......but rest assured...it was only because I was out having too much fun!;-)

Lots of love
x

I have friends you know!

This morning I picked up an english\loa childrens book called Bangkok Bob!
Its about this little monkey that lives in the jungle who over hears two children talking about how, if you float down the river you will end up in Bangkok. The one little girl said Bangkok was the most exciting place ever, and that she loved visiting there. The other little girl said it was the noisiest, scariest place she had ever been to, and she hated it! And so little Bob decided to build a raft and go find out for himself, because he just had to know!
Well to cut the story short the whole book is about his different experiences and how he veers from loving Bangkok to hating it!! I thought it was quite an appropriate read for me because it pretty much summed up what it feels like to be travelling alone, in your mid-30's.

About a week ago I headed off to Vang Vieng, famously known to back backers as the place to go tubing. Lonely planet describes it as a 'sullied Eden or a hedonistic paradise' that you either love or hate. Renown as the Party Town of Laos....I was positive I WAS GOING TO LOVE IT!

LOVE IT....

The 5 hour bus trip there was the most entertaining bus trip ever...namely due to a 50 something India\American man called Ashok. MMMMMmmmmmm how to describe Ashok......from the moment we got in that minivan, the man did not shut up. The conversation started with him throwing 101 general knowledge questions at us and then progressed to other more sordid details about his life!
Like:
1. A couple of years ago he had an accident and was in a comma. The doctor had to do an operation whereby they replaced a large section of his brain with a piece of a dogs brain. Hence the reason he now howls like a dog most nights...(at which point he proceeded to show us his dog howling skills).
2. He is a pimp and a hustler...on his way to do some 'hustling' in Vang vieang....(not true....later on found out that he was a limo and bus driver!)
3. He continuously told us about his exploits with the 'honeys'...to the point that I had to remind him that he was in a car with ladies and that maybe he could leave out some of the distasteful details.
4. His mum doesn't know he is traveling...and if she finds out where he is she is going to shoot him with a shotgun!
5. He never wants to get married to one honey, and he implore us many, many, many times with his Louis Armstrong voice: "Who in their right mind would EVER want to get married!!! Buy a house have kids...Who on earth would EVER want to do that???????? Hey??? (To which I repeatedly replied: Me!!! Me!!! MEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!)

There is nothing like being stuck in a confined space with a raving lunatic for 5 hours to make you bond with your fellow travel companions. (A Brother and sister from Minnesota, Carl and Rachel, and a chinses couple! ) We had the best time, talking and laughing, and no journey has ever gone so fast. We however learnt very quickly that Ashok was literally incapable of listening to other people talk. Honestly, he was like a 5 year old! (infact thats being a bit unfair to most 5 year olds) So with the help of the trusty bell on my backpack (see Midget....I knew my bell would come in handy! And you MOCKED the bell!!!!!) we started a timing system whereby Ashok had to be quiet for 5 minutes, to allow someone else time to speak. ( I think the most he managed was 3 minutes) I have to admit my heart warmed to poor Ashok and you very soon realize that he probably did have that motor bike accident and has definitely suffered some form of brain damage! I think we all managed to see past his weirdness and bravado , and have fun with him...but I'm pretty sure not all his travel companions would be as patient or sympathetic as we were.

Of course that been said, when we arrived at Vang Vieng, I am very ashamed to admit that most of us in the bus, scattered with the speed of light, myself and the Americans included! And yes, I felt awful about that, but at the same time, with someone as intense and demanding as that...you just do not want to be staying in the same quest house. (especially if he is going to be howling like a dog ever night!)

So, well bonded with Carl and Rachel, (my new found 'posse';-) we headed off for a hostel called The Spicy Loa. (Basically just a big barn with massive bunks in it!) I sensed that Carl and Rachel would have preferred to go somewhere a bit more up market...but I convinced them it would be a great way to meet people...especially as we were going to go tubing the next day and would need a 'strooooooooooooooooong posse!
Vang Vieng is beautiful, with stunning mountains and gorgeous river veiws! Many of the restaurants play back to back episodes of 'Friends'...its the perfect place to just chill. (assuming you like 'Friends' that is!) After dinner and a couple of drinks we headed back to the Spicy Loa determied to get a good nights sleep, ready for our next days tubing!

Ha Ha Ha!

HATE IT:
Now it so happened that my bunk was situated right next to the 'outside communal area' where all the teen\twenties congregated after coming aback from their night out! From 12 - 2am I lay listening to deep, (NOT) drunken conversation, with an overhead light shining directly in my eyes! Eventually I got up and decided to go and watch a video in the mosquito and smoke filled TV room. At 4am I crawled back into bed, just in time to hear the tail end of another drunken story that ended at 5.30am! Had about an hour and a half's sleep and then the morning shift was up and talking! I spent most of the night lying there cursing at myself, for being old enough to know better! Sleep is way more important than 'posse' hunting!!!

The next morning while discussing with Carl and Rachel what to do, one of the fellow Spicy Loasians commented: "You mean you went to bed without self medicating??? Bad move dude!!"
Um yes clearly. We left right after breakfast.

Realization: I'm not twenty any more, and I like AND need my sleep!!!


LOVE IT:

After I had settled in to my new gorgeous, clean guest house with panoramic views,



I headed off to meet Rachel and Carl. Was minding my own business when all of a sudden I hear Louis Armstrong, um sorry, Ashok bellowing my name. He was having breakfast and insisted that I have some thing to drink with him. I was still feeling quite guilty about deserting him the day before so I thought it was the least I could do. He insisted on buying me a drink and then even wanted to share his sandwich with me....bless, so sweet. I made a comment about him having a good heart to which he promptly replied: "I do not...Im a bad boy!" The conversation then went back to the "Honeys" and all the hustling he was going to do that night! Needless to say it was really hard to actually have a normal conversation with him, and with out the backup of my 'posse';-) I felt a bit uncomfortable. Neurotic Angel was having a field day of course, berating me for not trying 'HARDER' but after about 10 minutes I just had to leave.

Now as fascinating as Laos is as a country, for so MANY, MANY people that come here the tubing is the main attraction. In fact when I was in Thailand last year that was the ONLY reason to come to Laos!

Well to be honest its not so much the tubing that is the huge pull, but the 10 bars situated on the river bank that you visit on route down the river! (For those 'veterans' who aren't too sure what 'tubing' is...you basically get given a tire tube, sign a piece of paper that says you wont hold them liable if you loose an arm, a leg, or die....and then you float down the river!) So basically its a pub crawl on water!( Apparently a foreigner dies ever year, needless to say because the are simply to inebriated!)

Every bar has its own theme, with water slides, swings, zip slides, mud baths, music blaring and load of free Loa Whisky shots! (free booze with teen\twenty somethings....probably not the wisest move) All the Whisky come in bottles filled with, bees, snakes, scorpions... When I heard that, I swore blind I would never drink any of them......but you do! When in Loa.
(not too many of course, wonderful, understanding parents!;-)



Well I had a GREAT day deluding myself that I was 20 something again;-) I absolutely loved all the water swings. The first time I tried one however I kinda had a small problem with actually 'letting go'. I held on sooo long that I ended up getting tangled up in the cord...the entire time screaming: "Carl, I cant let go! I cant let go!" (its dam high you know!;-) Carl has very kindly put the video on you tube (yes I am mildy mortified....so if anyone wants to have a good laugh at my expense http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ns32GgHRHE)

In the evening a group of us went out for dinner and at about 8.30, when all the other 'Teen \twenty somethings' went out Loa clubbing....the 'delusion' finally shattered as I literally dragged my aching bones home.

Realization: I'm not 20 any more!

HATE IT:

The next morning I woke up in the exact same position I had fallen asleep in, and in exactly the same amount of pain, I could barely move my neck or arms!(and the mild hang over didn't help either!)
I stumbled over to Carl and Rachel's place to say goodbye but they had already left! So 'posse-less' and alone I walked around lovely Vang Vieng wondering what I should do with myself for the whole day. I had planned on doing some caving but that was definitely out of the question! The problem with traveling alone is that you get used to being by yourself. Then all of a sudden you meet amazing people, have an incredible couple of days...and then just as quickly; they are gone. Now, what use to be the simple enjoyement of 'ME time" turns into sheer and utter loneliness! The void just seems so much bigger!
None of this was made any better by the fact that Ashok moved in 2 guest houses away from me and kept calling me over, every time I walked past....demanding I sit down. I didn't want to be rude, and I definitely didn't want to hurt his feelings but I just did not have the energy to deal with him or his never ending cigarette smoke!
And so with not much else to do, and still in pain I spent most of the day watching the final series of friends...feeling incredibly miserable for myself! I decided that as much as I had wanted to do the caving...I just could stand another day of trying to avoid Ashok again...and it would probably be best if I just moved on ASAP!

The following morning on my way out to Phonsovan Ashok was sitting in his usual place, outside the quest house! When I told him I was going to see the Plain of Jars (ancient giant stone jars that are believed to have been used for burials) he bellowed: "Why? Whats whats wrong with you man!!! Don't you like any fun stuff like sex???"
My answer was short and sweet...."Goodbye Ashock, it was lovely meeting you!"

Love it!


The Plain of Jars is dated to the Iron Age (500 BCE to 500 CE)and during the bombing of Laos, (in the VIETNAM WAR;-) the Plain of Jars was unfortunately one of the most bombed areas. There are more than 90 different sights within the province of Xieng Khouang. Each site ranges from 1 up to 400 stone jars.



Excavations by archaeologists lead to the discovery of human remains, burial goods and ceramics around the stone jars supporting the general consensus that it was once a burial ground.
Lao local legend however claim that there was once a race of giants who inhabited the area. Their ancient king called Khun Cheung, fought a long, victorious battle against his enemy and then supposedly created the jars to brew and store huge amounts of lao lao rice wine to celebrate his victory.

Mmmmmm....I'm going to go with the burial sight theory!
As of yet only 7 of the sights have been cleared of UXO for tourist visits. The jars were absolutely incredible to see....


We also went to look at cave that was used as medical hospital during the war.....it is literally littered with old medicine vials.....a very sad reminder of what sort of conditions so many Loa people had to live with.


Phonsavan itself is a rather plain, and dusty town....but the evidence of all the left over UXO throughout was fascinating!





Laung Prabaung........HATE IT!!! LOVE IT!!!

I arrived in Laung Prabaung 4 days ago and I have a vague recollection of being pretty, bloody miserable. I was still struggling to meet people and still plain lonely .....as beautiful and gorgeous as this city is its often the most chilled out spots...that you struggle the most in. I did a tour the first day I arrived, with the hope of meeting some people.....and for the entire 4 hour boat ride to Pak Ou Caves....no one said a word! I sat there trying to convince myself to say 'something'.... 'anything'....but sometimes you simply get tired of always initiating conversation...of feeling like you are this desperate lone traveler looking to latch on to anyone who will have them. The tour also included a trip to the Kuangi Si waterfall which was absolutely incredible.






Of course I was surrounded by groups of travelers laughing, swimming and having the best time as I sat there trying to look happy and NOT to look like 'Billy no mates" Frustration then well up in me and I felt like yelling: "I have friends you know....lots of them....they aren't here right now...but they DO EXIST!!!"
Frustration was folowed by 'near teariness' due to the fact that I had NOOOOOOO ONE to take a photo of me ....(Incredibly lame I know, but in the hight of my "whow is me mood"....asking a stranger take a photo of me, was paramount to wearing a T-Shirt that said...."LOOK I have no friends."
Eventually, defiance set in and I snuck off and took a bloody photo of myself! Yes I did! (Dad I think you will be proud)




My mierable mood was then put on hold for the evening...because I had met a couple of Aussie boys the night before and we had agreed to meet up for dinner. ( I washed my hair and everything!!!) After waiting for 30 minutes at our suggested meeting point....I had to concede that maybe I had been stood up!
It was at this point that "Billie no mates" dragged herself home and started this blog! I also managed to have a wonderful chat to Kels on skype.....(my skype angel who alway manages to be there when I need her! She assured me I was loved and yes as I suspected I do have friends!)
I woke up the following morning cried my eyes out for and hour......and then snapped right out of it!

The last 4 days have been amazing! As always, no sooner than you give up on something it magically come you! The day after my "self pity meltdown" I went to another water fall, Tad Sae, which was equally as beautiful as the one before.





Here I bumped into 2 english boys who I had seen at the Kuangi Si water fall the day before. We spent the afternoon together and then agreed to meet for drinks that evening. Laung Prabaung has an extensive night market, from about 5pm -10 pm. Its pretty amazing how these people set set up, and take down, their stalls..every single day! I can't imagine how they make a living though...because there is just so much of everything. Im pretty sure if they sell one or two things a night that would be a lot. On my way out that evening I decided to eat at one of the local food stalls and I ended up meeting a really lovely 42 year old American man, Scott. He joined me and the English boys for a drink and it was a great night filled with 'actual grown up conversation'.

Yesterday I went to place called The Big Brother Mouse. It basically runs book programmes whereby they try and get Loa children reading. For two hours every day "fa lang" (The Loa nickname for all foreigners- because apparently we are tall, have big noses and are white!) are invited to come and read story books to children. Imagine my surprise when I arrive there to discover not children.....but a room full of 16 - 23 year old boys...all wanting to learn English! I ended up speaking to 3 boys, and just my luck one of them was a 23 year old medical student who had his medical textbook with him. He wanted me to help with some of the translations. I did my best but lets just say trying to explain the meaning of words like; symptoms, urine, diagnosis, palmanory, venereal disease and hemorrhoids was definitely not easy, but entertaining as hell! ( to say the least!) I absolutely loved every minute of it! Working with adults is just so different from kids.....it got me thinking that maybe I might do a TEFLA Course (Teaching english as a foreign language) when I get home...and then come back and teach in Loas.

(Only joking mum and dad....Im staying in SA!)

Last night I had dinner with Scott again.....more great conversation and absolutely 'Incredible' food! It was probably the most expensivbe meal I have had in Loas...but soooo worth it!
(No Melissa...I know what you are thinking....nothing romantic!;-)






Laung Prabang is just absoltely stunning, I planned on staying here for 2 days and ended up staying for 5! I absolutely love the gorgeously built guest house\hotels\villa's (Most made with wood) and the stunningly, beautiful streets, I love the picturesque sunsets, and the children playing every where....I love the scenic Mekong river and the monks dressed in bright orange that seem to be every where! But most of all I have loved getting back to 'me' time and remembering that I don't need people around me 24\7 just to be happy.

Realization: Im so glad Im not 20 any more!

Thanks for reading, I love you all!
x

PS Mum if you double click on the pictures you can enlarge them!