Rob and Nats living it up!

So after Siem Reap we took a boat down the mekong delta because the roads are hell and we read or got told its really scenic. I think the boat left at about 7 so had to get up way too early. Got on the boat though and i slept for about the first 2 hours but after you veer off the river down a sorta slip road bit of river the bushes aither side you are closer then the boat and your actually crashing through braches as you go. Was a bit of a laugh to start with then nats started getting hit by braches round the head (still funny for me) so we moved and went to sleep on some bags. Arrived at Battambang at about 2 and got picked up by a shared taxi and taken around a few hotels, found one that was ok and pretty cheap, but when you are waiting to get your bags out the taxi ther's these serverley disabled blokes trying to get money off you, nice welcoming like. So we didnt really do anythiong else that day just got some food in one of the Lonely Planet reccomended cafes, food took over an hour to come and we were starving, was ok when it arrived but quickly got covered in fly's, pretty off putting.

The next day after reading about what there was do do there (we have a habbit of booking to go places but not knowing if they are any good), we took a tuc tuc to a temple which was ment to be really nice out in the countryside. The driver said it was about 30km away but we read the roads wern't that great, Lonely Planet should be shot sometimes, the roads were pure shite, it was like some one took a JCB and just dugg out massive holes where ever they wanted. So after about half hour we tried to pass a farming truck which was stuck like hell down a narrow country lane but surprise surprise we nearly go in to a ditch which drops down about 3 foot, nats jumped out and i helped these 2 blokes push it out the mud that we were welded in. So got to the temple finally about another hour later, was pretty cool actually had to hyke up about ten minutes to the top because it's built in to a mountain, was pretty hot but these school kids follow you up with big fans and keep waving them in your face, was better then it sounds. Since we had just come from the temples at Angkor it wasnt that crazy up the top but good to get out the city for the day. On the way down though youcan go around the back and through somes caves where the either the government or the khmer rouge used to hide out when the war was going on, its pitch black and had to use my phone to get in ther on hands and knees, these kids showed us the way, phoned dyed though so pretty lucky they were there to show us the way out. So after we finished messing about there we took the tuc tuc back, was just as bad and felt sick and massive headace from the bumps by the time we got back. There wasn't a lot else happening in Battambang to be honest but glad we went was a break from all the tourists especially the annoying german's in Siem Reap, so we booked up the coach to Phnom Penh, but not before getting harassed by the disabled bloke who we dived out the way of on several occassions.

So the coach pulled up in Phnom Penh which was the busiest city we had been to by far
in Cambodia, bikes everwhere and every tuc tuc driver shouting the usuall stuff. Booked in at the hotel Capitol which was apparantly where all the back packers stay then dumped out bags and went for a look about. We got hold of a map and it turned out the old prison named S21 which the Khmer Rouge used to put away poeple and tourture
them wasn't very far so walked down to that. When you approach the place its looks like an old school, which it is, but its got rusty bared wire all over the outside and tall corugated sheeting to stop people escaping. So you pay your entrance fee and get given a panplet about what went on there and can pretty much roam around everywhere inside. The prison has been left pretty much as when the Vietnamese found it when they 'liberated' the city in the seventees. You can wander in and out of the cells and they have actual pictures on the walls of what was found there, its pretty horrific in some of the cells where they have the iron beds with the shackles used for the prisoners feet on the floor and a photo of a starved tourtured prisoner. In one of the blocks the top floor has had the walls knocked in to make it a big room telling the story of the Pol Pot regime and the attrocities commited by the Khmer Rouge, its sick stuff and hard to understand especially since it didn't end untill the 80's which wasn't even that long ago. When you look out of the balcony on to the forecourt, which was origionally a play ground for the school kids, you can see it was replaced with gallows to hang the prisoners, theres even still blood on the tiled floor when you walk around. So we finished looking at the exibition down-stairs dedicated to the people who died there (something like 20,000) and headed to the riverside.

Down at the quayside is where we should have stayed but we'r tight arses and wanted to save money, it's where all the bars and restaurantsare and pretty much where its all happening. Went and got a pizza and had a few beers but didn't do alot else. The next day we took a tuc tuc to the killing fields which is a few miles outside the city, this is where most of the prisoners from S21 were thrown in to mass graves but also people from all over Cambodia were killed here. When you walk in to the area which is now a fenced off site there is a memorial for the Cambodians killed there, it's a glass tower about 8metres tall filled with skulls of the victims and some of their clothes. The tuc tuc driver insisted he would be our 'guide' for the day and follow us around mumbling english that wasn't really english at all, i was asking him questions then not having a clue what he was on about as he pointed at stuff, there was signs around and stuff showing what things were though which was handy. It's pretty shocking up there but not as graffic as S21, which we did'nt mind, and to be honest there was things like clothes that had been tied around a tree and bits of bone sticking outthe ground, clearly put here for the tourist side of it since the government burried all the people when they found the mass graves. After that we went to see the first Wat of Phnom Penh named Wat Penh because that the name of the woman who decided on building it, to be honest we had seen enough Wats at that stage and it was pretty rubbish, there was a monkey eating nits out a guys hair though so that was probably the highlight. Not alot else went on, got some food at the quay side, i got chicken Amok which is a cambodian curry, really nice.

Decided to go to the royal palace the next day, have not got alot to say about this apart from we wish we would have just got the pictures from outside because for about 7 dollars each it was shite. Most of the palace buildings are closed off and you get charged to take a camera in but are not allowed to take pictures in most of the buildings.The weirdest thing about Cambodia is all the holy places have donation boxes, literally everywhere, the same goes for the royal palace, as if any of the money goes to any good cause though but theyare always full, strangebecaue the country is so poor mostly you wonder why they dont spend the money on something better then Buddah, religion though i suppose. Got some food after this in an irish bar, thought surely they will have a good burger in there, doubt it. Mine didnt have a burgercause they forgot to put one in and Nat's had a squashed up bit of oniony mystery meat and a piece of spam, HA , any way decided we wouldnt be paying for that and headed somewhere else. Thought we would check out a club/bar place later although its more older non-english-speaking tourists in this city so didnt't expect to meet any one for a decent drink. Was dead in there though so didn't stick around, had booked up the coach for the next day to head to Sihanokville, the beach resort, felt we had done enough tourist stuff for a bit.

Well we decided to head to Cambodia slightly earlier than we had originally planned as much as we were enjoying Thailand we were really looking forward to getting to Cambodia. We travelled there by bus from Ko Chang which wasnt really a long journey just a bit uncomfortable stuck on a mini bus which was full to the brim with a bag pretty much anywhere it could be squeezed in!

But eventually we got to the border at Poipet which was a bit of a nightmare once we had crossed through, although we had already paid to get to siem reap we still found ourselves waiting in a bus station saying a bus would come soon. After a few hours of waiting and being pestered to death by taxi drivers we decided if we wanted to get there before midnight we would have to give in and pay for a taxi.

The road to siem reap (well if you could actually call it a road) was hell i think that is the only way to describe it! If we wernent dodging cows then we were being thrown from our seats because the roads were so bumpy, once it was past 6oClock and was dark the driver could barely see, especially because of the dust. Also we were stuck in the car with a German couple who were doing our head in, kept asking if we wanted a banana despite the fact that we said no about 10 times.

Anyway despite the not so fun journey we arrived in Siem reap which was great the Cambodian people are so friendly and suprisingly speak amazing english. We were taken to a guest house in a moto tuk tuk, couldnt believe how cheap the accomodation was in Cambodia cpmpared to Thailand, we paid $5 for a really clean room with tv air con and private bathroom which was great. We pretty much dumped our bags and headed out to the city.

We went to the Siem Reap night market, which was a really cool place not like the usual markets you dont get pestered to buy stuff as much and can just have a stroll around, rob wasnt so keen on the strolling though. We went to a really nice bar at the nice market for a cocktail and then we went to watch a Pol pot film much to my dissmay. It was ok but you know not the best!

Didnt do an awful lot the next day just had a bit of a wander really trying to find a decent internet cafe which doesnt really exist in siem reap! Me and Rob discovered the best thing in the world when we were in Koh Samui swensens american ice cream, it was amazing and i mean amazing!!! We were absolutley exstatic to find out they had it in Siem Reap aswell so we spent a good hour in there eating ice cream...it was the best!!!

We had arranged to go to the sunset trip at Angkor Wat that night and that was good although we thought the sunset behind it so were a bit shocked when the gaurds kicked us out before dark, and it wasnt lit up like on the postcard, but it was still really great to see.

The next day we had to get up ridiculously early to watch the sunrise at angkor Wat taking Lauras advice and didnt get drunk the night before but it was still hard work getting up! Was great to see though and the temples around Angkor are really cool, one of the temples cant rembember the name but it was where tomb raider was set, and this was so good it had trees growing out of it and the trees were huge...probably see the photos.
Temples were wicked but the only thing that let it down was the kids that are begging and asking for money all the time, following you around the temples got a bit annoying but I suppose its part of the experience. I think we offended a women slightly in one of the temples, was quite funny actually, she wanted money to light an insense stick in a shrine we had litterally lit about 5 that day so were sick of giving all our money away. So rob gives the women 100 riel which is about 2pence if that, she actually gave it back to him and said she didnt want it!! It was hilarious!

I think Siem Reap is pretty much all about the temples not much else to do unless you travel further out, so we headed on to battambang the next day....rob will tell you all about it....

Well i thought since we have been away 6 weeks today i thought i would maybe get around to writing something........finally. So as you can imagine we have done a fair bit since Natalie wrote on here so decided to keep it fairly brief because cant actually remember everything, i suppose that's what all the pictures are for tho. Anyway we arrived at Phi Phi and got and headed towards the Oasis guest house that Loz and Em stayed at when they were there, is was a really handy location but seriously C D Collins could have thrown together better sound proofing in a couple of hours, any slight movement or pneumatic drilling from the builders opposite was fairly horrendous when you were sober and trying to go to sleep, and because we got a bit ill that happened far too much! But anyway i took some Imodium and thought sweet no toilet trip for over an hour, unfortunately when i tried to get to sleep a few hours later it started coming out the other end and was up getting sick for a few hours. But any way the next day felt loads better so spent some time on the beach which was pretty rammed but was quite nice, water bit shitey though so opted to stay under a umbrella and doze or read a book, Natalie was having a paddle then lying down for a bit then moaning she had sand all over here, classic love hate relationship with sand.

So we headed out that night to some joint called Tiger Bar which was pretty good, cheap buckets and few people were steaming already, so looked like a good starting point. I ended up getting chatting to an Irish lad in the toilet Cahall who was away with a few other boys for around Ireland. Ended up having a good night with a load of buckets, some wrestling on the beach then eventually decided to head home. Didnt get up to too much in Phi Phi just a fair bit off chilling out but was different to Railay because loads more young people and lot more going on, especially at night. So after Phi Phi (i think) we headed to Ko Samui which was intended to be a stop off before going to Ko Pagnan for the full moon party, which didn't happen. Arrived at Ko Samui at about 8 at night and went to the quieter but cheaper beach area, supposed to be more for backpackers. So we stayed the night in a beach hut but decided the next day that there wasn't much happening so headed off to the other busier part which i cant remember the name of. So from the time we arrived at Ko Samui until we left which was two days later it poured rain non stop, decided the full moon party would be a wash out and booked flights to Bangkok. We found out later that the Irish boys that were heading to Ko Pagnan for the same full moon had a mint time and it actually stopped raining, ah well maybe next time.

So next stop was Bangkok, the last time we were there we couldn't be arsed with the madness but to be honest we were glad to back to cheap food, drink, and accommodation. In the capital we did a few Wats and the MBK but only stayed for 4 days because was pretty eager to get back to beach life. We had a night out on ko San road when we was there though and met some girls from Rotherham which were sound,good night was had but the hotel we were staying at didn't have windows so didn't wake up till about 3, ah well.

From Bangkok we headed on down to Ko chang, were the mother em and laura stayed together this year. The trip down was a fair mission with the usual promises of no stopping buses air con blah blah, bus stopped bout 6 times, changed at least once and it actually went via Patayya which was pretty annoying, but what do you do. Got to Ko chang any way and headed to Lonely beach instead of the white sands which is more popular but looked a bit package-holiday-ey and we was looking for cheap and cheerful with a bit of night life and that. We aimed to actually do some stuff in Ko Chang since we had been doing loads of chilling but on the second day a bit of a motorcycle accident stopped me doing anything physical, for a change it wasn't because i was messing about the guy couldn't speak English and didn't explain the gears, I'll live though. We went out that night for some food to a place called the tree house which has like a jetty which goes out over the sea, nice food but Natalie couldn't handle the chillies and was pretty much crying for about it for about half an hour, ha ha. So we bumped in to the girls we met in Bangkok a few nights previous, which was random because they didnt plan to go there,and had a few drinks. Had a couple more days on the beach and did an elephant treck, which was cool. The guy got bit snap happy, think he took over thirty pics of us on it but great to do! All in all, really liked it there.

Moving on to the next country..........

Hey everyone,

Eventually set up a site, thought it was about time we kept everyone informed!

So the story so far is.....

Bangkok and Railay

We arrived at Bangkok airport made our way to banglamphu in Bangkok centre near Koh san Road stayed in bangkok for a night and a day looked round a it Wat Po after walking around for 45 minutes thinking we were capable of finding everything oursleves by foot! We werent!! Went to Grand Palace but not actually into the palace as we are being really tight and it cost 300 baht!

After a day walking around bangkok we went for our coach to krabi it left at 6pm and it took about 16 hours to get there it actually wasnt that bad though because it was night time and its much better travelling through the night, although a bit gutted when we found that we were missing 300quid! Think it may have got stolen from our room because forgot that we had left it in one of the bags! Never mind we have forgotten now suppose not a lot we can do!

When we got to Krabi we got a long tail boat to Railay its really nice, was raining for the first day or 2 on and off but at least we had a nice hotel room to stay in food was lovely but bit more expensive, by expensive I mean about 4pound a meal so not really expensive but bangkok is 3pound a meal for 2 people plus a drink!

After the rain had stopped well actually when we thought it had stopped we decided to go kayaking round the caves because its supposed to be really beautiful, however after being in the kayak approximatly 5 mins it started to pour down and the kayaking was not so much fun for Natalie, Rob was loving it saying its more fun! Not so sure myself! But it was good beacuse it stopped and had a better look round!

We arranged to go on a snorkelling trip where we visited 4 Islands, Poda Island, Chicken Island, Tup Island and Phranang. Was really good fun, although rob was eager to get scuba diving as he says its much better!
Went into an underground caves which was really good and we all had the option to jump off the cliff, I straight out said no, rob was wanting to do it, and it was pretty high up, looked good but way to scary for me!

There is a lagoon in Railay which u have to climb up to get to which decided to go there at around half 4 forgetting the sun sets at half 6, a man had told us the night before that it was easy to get to...not entirely true. After climbing up a hill pulling onto a rope with sweat dripping off us we made it to the top only to find some people saying its really hard to get down to the lagoon as you have to use a rope to get down a cliff!!! I wasnt having any of it, as it was dark and i could hear noises and it was scary, rob said it was little insects but it sounded like a cross between a bear and a cow! Needless to say we made our way back down with bats wizzing past our heads, not the best but I suppose it was quite amusing after the event!

We booked a boat for the next day to head to Koh Phi Phi and that was it for Railay now we have to hit the guest houses!.....