Hello there,
Hope everyone's doing ok in the good ol' UK - nearly the end of our trip now! J goes home in 2 days, and H and I follow her in 28... scary! We're kind of winding down now from our trip - talking about what we're going to dump out of our rucksacks before heading home (despite being home a couple of months ago, I still have managed to accumulate far too much in my bag!) and discovering lost things at the bottom of our bags - J found 2 pairs of knickers this morning that she hadn't seen for months! I think they were clean...
Anyway, we've been having a wonderful time in Chiang Mai. We're taking things slowly at the moment - not sure if it's the heat and humidity (although luckily it cools down in the evenings), or general lethargy after travelling for so long, or in my case, the effects of a 2 year old dodgy stomach, but we have been catching up on sleep and taking things slowly. Perhaps the night buses have taken more than we thought out of us, as the 2nd time we saw Map, at the travel agency, he did say that we were looking far better than the first day he saw us - and that was after a 12 hour sleep! Oh well...
We've found cheap places to eat, have attacked the markets as much as possible and have been drinking lots of delicious and fresh fruit shakes. J has a funny foot from stepping on a sea urchin in the south of Thailand - about 6 weeks ago, and Haz cut her foot while tubing, so we've not walked huge amounts around the markets with them limping about. But they're doing well and that didn't stop us from retail therapy!
Both the night bazaar and the Sunday night market were huge, with indescribable amounts of gorgeous textiles, jewellery, umbrellas in wine bottle things, dolls, and delicious foods - rotees with nutella and banana, waffles, pad thai, fresh and addictive sushi, cripsy spring rolls... I could go on! We've been quite restrained so far on the buying front, but it would be so easy to fill 2 suitcases with things!
So... on Saturday we got up early and headed out on a day trip to the countryside. We can't drive motorbikes (definitely want to learn now) so can't do it ourselves very easily, so had to go with a tour. We went with an asian couple who joined in the more sedate activities, a dutch couple and an English girl who was very hungover! First stop - butterfly farm and orchid farm. Pretty, but seen nicer ones elsewhere, so quickly moved on.
(Ooo strange guy sat next to me started singing, very weird)...
Next stop - white water rafting. Really fun for the half hour we did it, but unfortunately nothing above grades 3 really. Had a nice guy in the boat with us (just J, H and myself in one boat), and we spent most of the time trying to splash the other boat with 'Johnny Depp' or 'Jack Sparrow' in - the other guide who was slightly mental but very good fun. Unfortuantely he was also very good at splashing us! The scenery was gorgeous - lushious green trees, palm trees and plants, a brown river (typical) and the sun was shining... pretty stunning.
Next stop, seeing a tiered waterfall, which provided us with a great opportunity to jump into the water (H was the bravest, jumping from a higher position than me!) and cool down. So tranquil, and very beautiful. Onwards and upwards to elephant trekking. It was amazing - the elephants are very comfortable to sit on as we had proper seats on them, and their stride is gentle and not too jerky, apart from you have to hang on for when they go downhill! H and I were on one elephant, who had a little baby that followed us and misbehaved everywhere! J was with Fiona, the English girl, and they were walking through the river, (we couldn't go as our baby was too little), meeting us and dodging the bamboo rafts that were also in the river and couldn't stop easily - just! It was amazing being so close to the elephants. Our mahout was sat on the elephant's head and using his feet behind the elephant's ears to steer it. And a slingshot to guide the little baby when it was being naughty!
Next stop, delicious lunch, before heading down the river on a bamboo raft (even had seats so our little bottoms stayed dry!) So relaxing and peaceful, with 2 guys on the end of the raft, steering it like gondaliers in Venice. Was very chilled out and a gentle way of seeing the countryside too.
Final destination, the Karen hillside villages where we met refugees from Burma, who have set up their villages as a tourist attraction (slightly strange, kind of felt like we were visiting a zoo in a bad way, but at least they rinse us of money!) as the tribe extend their necks with brass metal rings. The full neck piece weights 7 KILOGRAMS, and they work and sleep in them. They also have brass around their calves... all very different and very illuminating. But also made me very thankful we don't do that!
So a busy day... with a lot crammed in. Would have been nicer to spend a little more time rafting and elephant riding, but it was a great day out and the cheapest way to do it as well.
And Sunday we got the most amazing taxi (a plush 4x4 car with a lovely driver called Mel), who took us to Tiger Kingdom, a tiger sanctuary. We chose to see the biggest tigers and went in and petted them. Seriously. They aren't drugged at all but dopy during their siesta time. They are well trained and looked after, and tame. They were absolutely magnificent. Although before we went in, as a joke, one of the keepers asked us where we were from, and if we had contact numbers for next of kin... just in case! Luckily we survived and had such a great experiencing being with them. They were HUGE!
So the night market yesterday and meandering around the delicious food stalls (sushi was amazing!) We are having a gentle day today as well before catching the bus to Bangkok tonight. J flies to the UK late on the 2nd September, and H and I fly to India on 3rd to Delhi. So excited about it all - the final push before home. Got a few errands to run in Bangkok before the flight, but it's nice returning to somewhere we've been before, as we know what it's like, where to eat etc. And hopefully can return to the same guesthouse we were in before, as the family were incredibly friendly and nice.
Anyway more than time to stop writing! Check out the photos again - put new tiger ones up yesterday.
Lots and lots and lots of love from us all,
Al xxxxx
Sunday, 30 August 2009
Wednesday, 26 August 2009
Tubing... and more
Hey hey there,
Well... the following day we rented out our tubes, and got a tuk tuk with the tubes attached to the roof, to the river. Started at the first bar (actually the 3rd one, Banana bar), where the family were soooooooo friendly, offering us so much food - free bananas, and asked if we wanted to join them to have lunch (probably because she was so motherly and wanted us to line our stomachs!)
We started drinking buckets (whisky and soft drinks, I think), and were given free shots at every bar. A recipe for disaster! In fact the lovely motherly lady gave us the bottle of spirits to help ourselves to shots. With a huge millipede in it. Photos to follow.
We resisted the rope swings (having just met a girl who didn't 'swing' on it, fell straight down and horribly bruised her legs!) and started floating down the river, being hauled into different bars by people with ropes. So much fun! Mud swimming pools followed, as did 'tug of war', lots of drinking, lots of chatting to fantastic people, lots of floating and general mayhem.
When we woke up the next morning we had to do an inventory of ourselves... bruises, grazes, cuts and achyness, but we survived, and had a thoroughly great day. (Well as much as I remember)... Photos from my waterproof (and mud proof) camera to follow tomorrow!
Bus to Luang Prabang... so windy and 6 hours long. So windy! Beautiful scenery and stunning mountains. Luang Prabang is such a wonderful town... so beautiful, with many temples and a strange French feel. We had great fun just chilling out watching films, and meandering around the wonderful night market and food stalls. So many sumptuous and gorgeous textiles - from placemats to scarves to quilts. Beautiful. Spent a couple of days there relaxing, especially in our lovely hotel - so pretty. We even got fresh flowers on our beds! That's better than chocolates! We never get that, they are normally reserved for 'expensive' hotels. We felt very spoilt.
So... another overnight bus to the Laos/Thailand border. Not the most comfortable, and we then had to stamp out of Laos (no problem) and get a boat across the very fast moving river to Thailand, to get stamped in (luckily no problem either). Another local bus down to Chiang Mai, where we are now, in the north of Thailand.
Chiang Mai is 10 hours bus ride north of Bangkok, and is quite huge. We feel like we've hit civilisation again, with 7/11 shops and Starbucks! We can use Starbucks' vouchers and air conditioning, very exciting. The city is renowned as a trading place between countries and tribes, and has beautiful crafts here - much is taken down to Bangkok and sold at inflated prices. We're going to check out the famous night market tonight, and grab some food in the food hall there. Can't wait - Thai food is gorgeous and so cheap! Nothing like England... Pad thai for 50p, pretty great.
So many things to do here, finances permitting. Will put up more photos tomorrow of the tubing - the rest are up. Enjoy!
Loads of love to you all, from us all,
Al xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Well... the following day we rented out our tubes, and got a tuk tuk with the tubes attached to the roof, to the river. Started at the first bar (actually the 3rd one, Banana bar), where the family were soooooooo friendly, offering us so much food - free bananas, and asked if we wanted to join them to have lunch (probably because she was so motherly and wanted us to line our stomachs!)
We started drinking buckets (whisky and soft drinks, I think), and were given free shots at every bar. A recipe for disaster! In fact the lovely motherly lady gave us the bottle of spirits to help ourselves to shots. With a huge millipede in it. Photos to follow.
We resisted the rope swings (having just met a girl who didn't 'swing' on it, fell straight down and horribly bruised her legs!) and started floating down the river, being hauled into different bars by people with ropes. So much fun! Mud swimming pools followed, as did 'tug of war', lots of drinking, lots of chatting to fantastic people, lots of floating and general mayhem.
When we woke up the next morning we had to do an inventory of ourselves... bruises, grazes, cuts and achyness, but we survived, and had a thoroughly great day. (Well as much as I remember)... Photos from my waterproof (and mud proof) camera to follow tomorrow!
Bus to Luang Prabang... so windy and 6 hours long. So windy! Beautiful scenery and stunning mountains. Luang Prabang is such a wonderful town... so beautiful, with many temples and a strange French feel. We had great fun just chilling out watching films, and meandering around the wonderful night market and food stalls. So many sumptuous and gorgeous textiles - from placemats to scarves to quilts. Beautiful. Spent a couple of days there relaxing, especially in our lovely hotel - so pretty. We even got fresh flowers on our beds! That's better than chocolates! We never get that, they are normally reserved for 'expensive' hotels. We felt very spoilt.
So... another overnight bus to the Laos/Thailand border. Not the most comfortable, and we then had to stamp out of Laos (no problem) and get a boat across the very fast moving river to Thailand, to get stamped in (luckily no problem either). Another local bus down to Chiang Mai, where we are now, in the north of Thailand.
Chiang Mai is 10 hours bus ride north of Bangkok, and is quite huge. We feel like we've hit civilisation again, with 7/11 shops and Starbucks! We can use Starbucks' vouchers and air conditioning, very exciting. The city is renowned as a trading place between countries and tribes, and has beautiful crafts here - much is taken down to Bangkok and sold at inflated prices. We're going to check out the famous night market tonight, and grab some food in the food hall there. Can't wait - Thai food is gorgeous and so cheap! Nothing like England... Pad thai for 50p, pretty great.
So many things to do here, finances permitting. Will put up more photos tomorrow of the tubing - the rest are up. Enjoy!
Loads of love to you all, from us all,
Al xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Thursday, 20 August 2009
Lovely Laos
Heylo lovelies,
- As Lonely Planet says, if countries were tuk tuks, Thailand would take you to your destination via a silk shop, Vietnam would run you down for your custom and in Laos you'd need to find the tuk tuk, wake up the tuk tuk driver and try to persuade him to do some work!
Laos is so French in feel (hardly surprising), with lovely bakeries, coffees and most importantly, the people are so nice! So gentle, friendy and helpful, such a contrast to horrid Hanoi. There is very little traffic in Vientiane or Vang Vien, so we can cross the road without praying first, we have pavements to walk on (rather than to park tuk tuks on), and accommodation and food is cheap and tasty.
Vientiane is so quiet and calming for any city, let alone a capital city. On the Mekong River, (the other side is Thailand), it is so hot it feels like 40 degrees celsius (according to yahoo weather) - no wonder we found it slightly on the sweaty side! A pleasure to be, to walk around and to sit and watch the world go by.
Unfortunately the first hotel we stayed in, in Vientiane, Syri 1, had awful bed bugs, so I hardly slept which wasn't helped by the bus ride the day before. Shattered and exhausted, we changed hotels to a beautiful one instead, and set about enjoying ourselves. The temple we saw had thousands of small niches, each with 2 Buddhas in them, (they were silver, now are clay painted gold) and was so peaceful and tranquil with its gardens, despite being in the city centre.
So this morning we took a local bus to Vang Vien. The bus was fine - for only 4 hours. Such friendly driver and ticket collector, and there were fans on the ceiling for when the bus was stopped. Haz and J were slightly confused until they realised that there were 2 chickens underneath their seat (luckily they didn't crush them!) but the journey passed without incident, although we did need to pick up the passengers from the earlier bus, which had broken down, and so was slightly squashed afterwards...
In Vang Vien at the moment, which is a small town catering for backpackers. Restaurants, bars, hotels, travel agencies and internet, - everything we could need, plus Friends playing constantly in the cafes and restaurants! (We didn't watch 3 hours of it this afternoon in the restaurant we had lunch in)...
So going tubing tomorrow - basically floating down the river, being pulled into various bars on the riverside before heading to Luang Prabang the following day. Time is getting rather tight so we're having to go relatively quickly. But Laos is gorgeous, and so much nicer to be in!
Lots of love from us all,
Al xxxxxx
- As Lonely Planet says, if countries were tuk tuks, Thailand would take you to your destination via a silk shop, Vietnam would run you down for your custom and in Laos you'd need to find the tuk tuk, wake up the tuk tuk driver and try to persuade him to do some work!
Laos is so French in feel (hardly surprising), with lovely bakeries, coffees and most importantly, the people are so nice! So gentle, friendy and helpful, such a contrast to horrid Hanoi. There is very little traffic in Vientiane or Vang Vien, so we can cross the road without praying first, we have pavements to walk on (rather than to park tuk tuks on), and accommodation and food is cheap and tasty.
Vientiane is so quiet and calming for any city, let alone a capital city. On the Mekong River, (the other side is Thailand), it is so hot it feels like 40 degrees celsius (according to yahoo weather) - no wonder we found it slightly on the sweaty side! A pleasure to be, to walk around and to sit and watch the world go by.
Unfortunately the first hotel we stayed in, in Vientiane, Syri 1, had awful bed bugs, so I hardly slept which wasn't helped by the bus ride the day before. Shattered and exhausted, we changed hotels to a beautiful one instead, and set about enjoying ourselves. The temple we saw had thousands of small niches, each with 2 Buddhas in them, (they were silver, now are clay painted gold) and was so peaceful and tranquil with its gardens, despite being in the city centre.
So this morning we took a local bus to Vang Vien. The bus was fine - for only 4 hours. Such friendly driver and ticket collector, and there were fans on the ceiling for when the bus was stopped. Haz and J were slightly confused until they realised that there were 2 chickens underneath their seat (luckily they didn't crush them!) but the journey passed without incident, although we did need to pick up the passengers from the earlier bus, which had broken down, and so was slightly squashed afterwards...
In Vang Vien at the moment, which is a small town catering for backpackers. Restaurants, bars, hotels, travel agencies and internet, - everything we could need, plus Friends playing constantly in the cafes and restaurants! (We didn't watch 3 hours of it this afternoon in the restaurant we had lunch in)...
So going tubing tomorrow - basically floating down the river, being pulled into various bars on the riverside before heading to Luang Prabang the following day. Time is getting rather tight so we're having to go relatively quickly. But Laos is gorgeous, and so much nicer to be in!
Lots of love from us all,
Al xxxxxx
The rice bus from hell
...Which leads me to our journey. It was so horrific it warrants its own entry. Sammy, you jinxed us wishing us a good journey!
Ok, here goes... Well, we were 30 minutes late leaving the hotel in a taxi, which was slightly disconcerting until we realised that we were being picked up in a full minibus with other backpackers. There was one seat left after we got on, (bags up round our ears and in the gangway), and we only needed to pick up 6 more people. Plus bags. We managed to cram everyone in (luckily) and got dropped off in a non descript muddy road somewhere in Hanoi.
My stomach fell when I saw the old, rubbishy bus, with boxes on its roof, under the bus and inside the bus, up to the ceiling, taking up half the seats. We all scrambled on, (uncomfortably), our bags were put in the aisle and we started off. With a helper guy continually smoking out of the front passenger door. The guy also continually shouted abuse at people we passed, and bribed the policemen who always pulled us over at security check points. We were convinced that there was something dodgy in the back of the bus.
A couple of hours later, with numb bums, we were all herded off the bus, our bags were put on the roof and more stuff was loaded onto the bus. Under the seats, over the seats and around the seats. Not great. Back on the bus again - at this point we were bonding well with the other passengers, who were all shocked at the 'International Transport and Freight' company we'd been shoved onto! We paid good money for these tickets! And not made any happier for seeing the plush sleeper buses passing us...
A few more stops, more things put on the bus, before we stopped again at 3am for our final major intake of goods. Wheelbarrows of rice. Literally. We now all had bags under our feet, the boxes had been readjusted (after a suitably long period of time of course), and there were so many bags of rice in the aisle, they came up to our SHOULDERS. We had to CRAWL along them to get out of the bus!
Luckily we continued pretty much straight to the border, which we managed to pass uneventfully, although because our bus looked so horrific, we were checked at every point. As soon as we got into Laos we felt much better - moving away from horrible Hanoi and at least we made it to Laos! Again, many security check; we were shouted at to get on the bus, off the bus - we were treated worse than animals. With few loo or food stops, most people extremely frustrated and angry. Such an uncomfortable bus! Also during the night, Haz had had a fat woman sit on her lap for hours and hours, despite Haz trying to get her to sit on her seat only! Not the best for a good nights sleep.
So we eventually made it onto the outskirts of Vientiane (the capital of Laos), where we were dropped off outside the city. Luckily made it into the place and got ourselves accommodation, and were very very glad to see the back of the bus!
xxxxxx
Ok, here goes... Well, we were 30 minutes late leaving the hotel in a taxi, which was slightly disconcerting until we realised that we were being picked up in a full minibus with other backpackers. There was one seat left after we got on, (bags up round our ears and in the gangway), and we only needed to pick up 6 more people. Plus bags. We managed to cram everyone in (luckily) and got dropped off in a non descript muddy road somewhere in Hanoi.
My stomach fell when I saw the old, rubbishy bus, with boxes on its roof, under the bus and inside the bus, up to the ceiling, taking up half the seats. We all scrambled on, (uncomfortably), our bags were put in the aisle and we started off. With a helper guy continually smoking out of the front passenger door. The guy also continually shouted abuse at people we passed, and bribed the policemen who always pulled us over at security check points. We were convinced that there was something dodgy in the back of the bus.
A couple of hours later, with numb bums, we were all herded off the bus, our bags were put on the roof and more stuff was loaded onto the bus. Under the seats, over the seats and around the seats. Not great. Back on the bus again - at this point we were bonding well with the other passengers, who were all shocked at the 'International Transport and Freight' company we'd been shoved onto! We paid good money for these tickets! And not made any happier for seeing the plush sleeper buses passing us...
A few more stops, more things put on the bus, before we stopped again at 3am for our final major intake of goods. Wheelbarrows of rice. Literally. We now all had bags under our feet, the boxes had been readjusted (after a suitably long period of time of course), and there were so many bags of rice in the aisle, they came up to our SHOULDERS. We had to CRAWL along them to get out of the bus!
Luckily we continued pretty much straight to the border, which we managed to pass uneventfully, although because our bus looked so horrific, we were checked at every point. As soon as we got into Laos we felt much better - moving away from horrible Hanoi and at least we made it to Laos! Again, many security check; we were shouted at to get on the bus, off the bus - we were treated worse than animals. With few loo or food stops, most people extremely frustrated and angry. Such an uncomfortable bus! Also during the night, Haz had had a fat woman sit on her lap for hours and hours, despite Haz trying to get her to sit on her seat only! Not the best for a good nights sleep.
So we eventually made it onto the outskirts of Vientiane (the capital of Laos), where we were dropped off outside the city. Luckily made it into the place and got ourselves accommodation, and were very very glad to see the back of the bus!
xxxxxx
Back to Hanoi
Hey hey there,
Another update for you, nearing the end of our trip! We loved Sapa, talking to the local villagers, whose knowledge of English was astounding. Such friendly people (if masters of the hard sell), but a beautiful area with steep mountains to walk around, and rice fields everywhere. A walk into a local village was gorgeous to look at, and we tired ourselves out for the trip back to Hanoi.
Spent another day in Hanoi waiting to catch our bus to Laos, and made use of our local knowledge to eat pasta buffets, and had a pizza evening in front of the TV (special deal!) chilling out in the air conditioning. Hanoi was sooooo hot and busy! Was very grateful to leave the city, (with many bought DVDs)...
xxx
Another update for you, nearing the end of our trip! We loved Sapa, talking to the local villagers, whose knowledge of English was astounding. Such friendly people (if masters of the hard sell), but a beautiful area with steep mountains to walk around, and rice fields everywhere. A walk into a local village was gorgeous to look at, and we tired ourselves out for the trip back to Hanoi.
Spent another day in Hanoi waiting to catch our bus to Laos, and made use of our local knowledge to eat pasta buffets, and had a pizza evening in front of the TV (special deal!) chilling out in the air conditioning. Hanoi was sooooo hot and busy! Was very grateful to leave the city, (with many bought DVDs)...
xxx
Friday, 14 August 2009
Sapa
Hey hey,
Just thought (as I'd written this in an email) - that I might as well put this up. We weren't having a great time in Hanoi but luckily in Sapa now and it is lovely! Worth the overnight bus...
The bus company came 30 minutes earlier than we were expecting (well 2 hours earlier than the original time) so we ended up sitting in the bus terminal for 1 hour waiting for the wretched bus. But... the bus itself was looooovely. Three seats across, very comfortable, and managed to sleep well despite the crazy crazy driving and the winding roads! Even slept through the military coming on board to check passports etc... apparently they took a look at us and decided not to bother! (Although don't think H or J slept as well as I did as they told me about this!)
Had to wait 2 hours instead of the specified 10 minutes in Lao Cai town to transfer to a smaller bus for the hour journey up the mountainside to Sapa, but we eventually arrived and found a lovely hotel for $4 each a night. The climate here is soooo nice - we actually need jumpers even during the day, and the humidity is virtually nil. Hanoi at the moment is about 35 degrees celsius with 85% humidity, which feels kind of unbearable. So this is such a welcome for us, we keep on sinking back into bed and sleeping very heavily!
Sapa is so much nicer than Hanoi. The people here are friendly and helpful, and the traffic is much less. It is a little town in the mountains - we were 3km away from China when we switched buses in Lao Cai, and we can see mountains and rice terraces from our room, which is beautiful, clean and the beds (and DUVETS!) are wonderful too. Everything is easy here, shops sell souvenirs, as do the markets, there are lots of restaurants and internet, and we are going to walk to a village, Cat Cat, tomorrow morning sometime, as it's only 3km away.
The villagers here are wonderful and speak excellent English. They are dressed so crazily (to our eyes!) - really look incredibly different. I took some photos today of us with them, and they are very friendly (of course wanting you to buy their wares!). I will eventually put photographs up when we get back to Hanoi on Sunday.
So far happier in Sapa, where it is beautiful, easy, clean, friendly and we can sleep well. We will be around Hanoi for a day and a half before we go to Laos on Monday night on a 20 hour bus. Nice.
Lots and lots of love from us all,
Al xxx
Just thought (as I'd written this in an email) - that I might as well put this up. We weren't having a great time in Hanoi but luckily in Sapa now and it is lovely! Worth the overnight bus...
The bus company came 30 minutes earlier than we were expecting (well 2 hours earlier than the original time) so we ended up sitting in the bus terminal for 1 hour waiting for the wretched bus. But... the bus itself was looooovely. Three seats across, very comfortable, and managed to sleep well despite the crazy crazy driving and the winding roads! Even slept through the military coming on board to check passports etc... apparently they took a look at us and decided not to bother! (Although don't think H or J slept as well as I did as they told me about this!)
Had to wait 2 hours instead of the specified 10 minutes in Lao Cai town to transfer to a smaller bus for the hour journey up the mountainside to Sapa, but we eventually arrived and found a lovely hotel for $4 each a night. The climate here is soooo nice - we actually need jumpers even during the day, and the humidity is virtually nil. Hanoi at the moment is about 35 degrees celsius with 85% humidity, which feels kind of unbearable. So this is such a welcome for us, we keep on sinking back into bed and sleeping very heavily!
Sapa is so much nicer than Hanoi. The people here are friendly and helpful, and the traffic is much less. It is a little town in the mountains - we were 3km away from China when we switched buses in Lao Cai, and we can see mountains and rice terraces from our room, which is beautiful, clean and the beds (and DUVETS!) are wonderful too. Everything is easy here, shops sell souvenirs, as do the markets, there are lots of restaurants and internet, and we are going to walk to a village, Cat Cat, tomorrow morning sometime, as it's only 3km away.
The villagers here are wonderful and speak excellent English. They are dressed so crazily (to our eyes!) - really look incredibly different. I took some photos today of us with them, and they are very friendly (of course wanting you to buy their wares!). I will eventually put photographs up when we get back to Hanoi on Sunday.
So far happier in Sapa, where it is beautiful, easy, clean, friendly and we can sleep well. We will be around Hanoi for a day and a half before we go to Laos on Monday night on a 20 hour bus. Nice.
Lots and lots of love from us all,
Al xxx
Thursday, 13 August 2009
Halong Bay
Hello hello,
How are things with you all? How's the good ol' UK at the moment? We are sheltering from the rainy season in an internet cafe filled with boys playing computer games.
So........ we left our hotel in Hanoi and after walking around a LOT with our rucksacks, finally ended up at the agency's office where we booked our Halong Bay tour. The guy was walking around collecting lots of different people, and when we realised this we said we'd meet him there. Three hours on a bus, and got to Halong City to get our boat. The boat itself was lovely, and we were met with a delicious lunch on board. The boat was wooden, and had a restaurant on it, with rooms underneath, and an open deck on top to sunbathe on the broken sun beds. We were doing three days and 2 nights, the first on Cat Ba island in a hotel, the 2nd on board the boat. Unfortunately the way the agency worked, we were constantly being transferred between boats and islands, so whenever we made friends with people we were shunted onto another boat without having a chance to say goodbye which was annoying.
Anyway the bay is filled with over 3,000 islands, that are very tall and very grey and silvery. The sun wasn't out when we were there, and it could often be quite misty, so it took on a kind of magical air. We stopped and saw 2 caves - the first was lit with multicoloured lights and very pretty, although reminiscent of Disney. This wasn't improved by our guide making up the stories as he went along! Still pretty cool though. We were convinced that one natural fountain in the cave was actually a hose pipe under the rock. The second cave was hardly lit and hardly filled with tourists, very natural and pretty.
Back on the boat and went to Cat Ba island. It started POURING down at this point, so unfortunately we could see nothing of the 28km drive through Cat Ba island to our hotel in Cat Ba town. The hotel was lovely - huge rooms and a TV that was getting no signal due to the storm and rubbish Vietnamese wiring! But if I could do cartwheels, I would've done. Loved staying there, although 2 hornets lost the right to live in our room after they flew back in after Haz released them through the window. She also fell off the bed onto her arse, which was funny for us, not so much for her...
Couldn't really go out that night as had little money and it was raining, and unfortunately it was raining the following day too. So we couldn't do the 3 hour trek up the top of the mountain for the view of Halong Bay. Our guide was still trying to get us to go up the mountain, but we refused as we wouldn't have seen anything! We did walk 2km to the beach to enjoy the sea in the rain, - which really cooled us down luckily. Cat Ba town was bigger than we expected and seemed to have most things, including beautiful and cheap pearls. Gorgeous!
Back on the boat in the afternoon, went kayaking in the evening (watching H and J in a kayak is hilarious, you should do it sometime) and chilled out on the boat that evening. The company, Love Planet, had overbooked the boat and so we offered (well H offered for us) to share the 3 of us in a 2 person room. Slightly close and hot, but we managed. Some people on the boat were absolutely lovely, and we just relaxed, watching the islands go by. The following day we sailed a bit more before heading back to Hanoi.
So back in Hanoi today before heading to Sapa this evening. The hotel we are staying in, while vastly better than our first one in Hanoi, is very annoying as we were woken up at FIVE FORTY-FIVE this morning by the staff, wanting to know when we were checking out, when we had already told them the night before! Absolutely ridiculous. They then knocked on our door at 7.20am wanting us to come down for breakfast. We were fuming. We made a bit of a stink this morning so they're letting us use their shower before the bus this evening. Hanoi is dirty, stinky and some people aren't very nice, so we're looking forward to going to Sapa. We've been threatened with wooden poles and metal sticks, and have been disturbed in our hotel, not really things to endear us to the place!
Saw Ho Chi Minh this morning - (Madame Tussaud's?!) He's preserved and looks very strange, and it's very weird how people are soooooooo reverential towards him. So many rules and regulations in the complex, was quite strange for us. Need to read up more about him!
So off to Sapa this evening, - tried uploading photographs but the computer crashed and so gave up! Will try another day when have more patience.
Lots of love from us all,
Alice xxxx
How are things with you all? How's the good ol' UK at the moment? We are sheltering from the rainy season in an internet cafe filled with boys playing computer games.
So........ we left our hotel in Hanoi and after walking around a LOT with our rucksacks, finally ended up at the agency's office where we booked our Halong Bay tour. The guy was walking around collecting lots of different people, and when we realised this we said we'd meet him there. Three hours on a bus, and got to Halong City to get our boat. The boat itself was lovely, and we were met with a delicious lunch on board. The boat was wooden, and had a restaurant on it, with rooms underneath, and an open deck on top to sunbathe on the broken sun beds. We were doing three days and 2 nights, the first on Cat Ba island in a hotel, the 2nd on board the boat. Unfortunately the way the agency worked, we were constantly being transferred between boats and islands, so whenever we made friends with people we were shunted onto another boat without having a chance to say goodbye which was annoying.
Anyway the bay is filled with over 3,000 islands, that are very tall and very grey and silvery. The sun wasn't out when we were there, and it could often be quite misty, so it took on a kind of magical air. We stopped and saw 2 caves - the first was lit with multicoloured lights and very pretty, although reminiscent of Disney. This wasn't improved by our guide making up the stories as he went along! Still pretty cool though. We were convinced that one natural fountain in the cave was actually a hose pipe under the rock. The second cave was hardly lit and hardly filled with tourists, very natural and pretty.
Back on the boat and went to Cat Ba island. It started POURING down at this point, so unfortunately we could see nothing of the 28km drive through Cat Ba island to our hotel in Cat Ba town. The hotel was lovely - huge rooms and a TV that was getting no signal due to the storm and rubbish Vietnamese wiring! But if I could do cartwheels, I would've done. Loved staying there, although 2 hornets lost the right to live in our room after they flew back in after Haz released them through the window. She also fell off the bed onto her arse, which was funny for us, not so much for her...
Couldn't really go out that night as had little money and it was raining, and unfortunately it was raining the following day too. So we couldn't do the 3 hour trek up the top of the mountain for the view of Halong Bay. Our guide was still trying to get us to go up the mountain, but we refused as we wouldn't have seen anything! We did walk 2km to the beach to enjoy the sea in the rain, - which really cooled us down luckily. Cat Ba town was bigger than we expected and seemed to have most things, including beautiful and cheap pearls. Gorgeous!
Back on the boat in the afternoon, went kayaking in the evening (watching H and J in a kayak is hilarious, you should do it sometime) and chilled out on the boat that evening. The company, Love Planet, had overbooked the boat and so we offered (well H offered for us) to share the 3 of us in a 2 person room. Slightly close and hot, but we managed. Some people on the boat were absolutely lovely, and we just relaxed, watching the islands go by. The following day we sailed a bit more before heading back to Hanoi.
So back in Hanoi today before heading to Sapa this evening. The hotel we are staying in, while vastly better than our first one in Hanoi, is very annoying as we were woken up at FIVE FORTY-FIVE this morning by the staff, wanting to know when we were checking out, when we had already told them the night before! Absolutely ridiculous. They then knocked on our door at 7.20am wanting us to come down for breakfast. We were fuming. We made a bit of a stink this morning so they're letting us use their shower before the bus this evening. Hanoi is dirty, stinky and some people aren't very nice, so we're looking forward to going to Sapa. We've been threatened with wooden poles and metal sticks, and have been disturbed in our hotel, not really things to endear us to the place!
Saw Ho Chi Minh this morning - (Madame Tussaud's?!) He's preserved and looks very strange, and it's very weird how people are soooooooo reverential towards him. So many rules and regulations in the complex, was quite strange for us. Need to read up more about him!
So off to Sapa this evening, - tried uploading photographs but the computer crashed and so gave up! Will try another day when have more patience.
Lots of love from us all,
Alice xxxx
Sunday, 9 August 2009
Hanoi (and healthy!)
Hello all,
Well we went diving with Octopus diving, and they were absolutely fantastic. A beautiful boat, we had a dive master for the 3 of us (so many DMs and instructors, we were the largest group), and such a professional yet friendly service too. Even free coffee/hot chocolate and a chicken curry, can't beat that! It was fantastic to be back in the water again, and really enjoyed seeing a few things like the porcupine fish. Not as many fish as in some of our other dives, but great being underwater again.
Spent the afternoon asleep (shattered all the time at this point!) before waking up with a temperature of over 40 degrees celsius. Not good, incredibly sweaty before being ill! Haz and J were brilliant, bringing me back chocolate, water and coca cola (well I had to keep up my strength and not able to eat much!) Unfortunately I woke up with a temperature of 40 degrees again the following day, so we decided to brave the hospital. Didn't want to travel if I was contagious with swine flu.
So, the hospital was about 50 years behind. It was like a small medical centre, and I got ushered in to see the doctor. H very kindly came with me, and as soon as I was asked what was wrong promptly started crying, oops! He took my pulse, heart too fast so gave me an ECG. Not joking. I was strapped in by leather straps to my ankles, arms and funny poppers on my chest. Great. Then they gave me an ultra sound of my spleen, kidneys, liver etc. I now have a lovely photograph of my liver. Not that I was understanding what was really happening! The doctor saw me again... and looked in my throat. I had tonsilitis. Well, I don't think so as my throat wasn't sore, but very likely an ear infection. Brilliant! It wasn't swine flu/dysentry/malaria/any other tropical disease. And I could travel...
H and J were great, letting me stay on in Nha Trang for an extra day to recoup properly, and the magic tablets the doctor gave me were working well. They even brought me ice cream in bed, so kind of them! Luckily I wasn't actually feeling very ill in myself, just very drained, hot, cold and a very bad tummy. Managed to walk to the pagoda in Nha Trang the following day, we went to a great photography gallery, and chilled out on the beautiful beach, watching the locals come and cool down and play after a hot day working.
Night bus to Hoi An - sleeper bus again, yay! Hoi An a beautiful little town that we walked round in about 2 hours. Full of people making clothes of any kind, crafts, lanterns, - very crafty. A river flowing through contained huge models of a lotus flower, a dragon, and a strange cow with a flowerpot on its back. Life is strange here! We were staying in a beautiful hotel, very friendly, with a POOL! So lovely after being so hot for so long, and only costing us $4 a night. We also found a great little cafe, called Cafe 43, that did half pints of beer for 10p, beautiful food and a fraction of the price we normally pay. Great service, and we only wished we could stay the next day too!
Unfortunately ever onwards, we visited Hue for about 5 hours, and walked around the mainly demolished citadel. Not much to see in the city itself, we just meandered around the ruins and the newly renovated buildings (renovations usually 10 years old so not too impressive), before our night bus to Hanoi.
And we arrived today, eventually sorted out accommodation and avoided a little incident with some nasty hotel people in the city. We were with 2 guys at this point and they were really friendly and helpful. Been walking around the Old Quarter today, eating delicious Fanny ice cream, sorting out tickets and generally getting our bearings. Hanoi seems hectic, quite frenetic, and not quite as beautiful as we were hoping. Not actually that much to see, we only want to see the embalmed Ho Chi Minh's body before we leave here. Should be interesting!
So... off to Halong Bay tomorrow, and visiting Cat Ba island at the same time. For $45, it's a 3 day trip with a boat ride on the bay, staying overnight on the boat the first night, then the 2nd night we're staying on Cat Ba Island. So will be returning to Hanoi for a night on Wednesday night.
Hope all's well at home,
Loads of love from us all,
Al xxxxxxxxx
Well we went diving with Octopus diving, and they were absolutely fantastic. A beautiful boat, we had a dive master for the 3 of us (so many DMs and instructors, we were the largest group), and such a professional yet friendly service too. Even free coffee/hot chocolate and a chicken curry, can't beat that! It was fantastic to be back in the water again, and really enjoyed seeing a few things like the porcupine fish. Not as many fish as in some of our other dives, but great being underwater again.
Spent the afternoon asleep (shattered all the time at this point!) before waking up with a temperature of over 40 degrees celsius. Not good, incredibly sweaty before being ill! Haz and J were brilliant, bringing me back chocolate, water and coca cola (well I had to keep up my strength and not able to eat much!) Unfortunately I woke up with a temperature of 40 degrees again the following day, so we decided to brave the hospital. Didn't want to travel if I was contagious with swine flu.
So, the hospital was about 50 years behind. It was like a small medical centre, and I got ushered in to see the doctor. H very kindly came with me, and as soon as I was asked what was wrong promptly started crying, oops! He took my pulse, heart too fast so gave me an ECG. Not joking. I was strapped in by leather straps to my ankles, arms and funny poppers on my chest. Great. Then they gave me an ultra sound of my spleen, kidneys, liver etc. I now have a lovely photograph of my liver. Not that I was understanding what was really happening! The doctor saw me again... and looked in my throat. I had tonsilitis. Well, I don't think so as my throat wasn't sore, but very likely an ear infection. Brilliant! It wasn't swine flu/dysentry/malaria/any other tropical disease. And I could travel...
H and J were great, letting me stay on in Nha Trang for an extra day to recoup properly, and the magic tablets the doctor gave me were working well. They even brought me ice cream in bed, so kind of them! Luckily I wasn't actually feeling very ill in myself, just very drained, hot, cold and a very bad tummy. Managed to walk to the pagoda in Nha Trang the following day, we went to a great photography gallery, and chilled out on the beautiful beach, watching the locals come and cool down and play after a hot day working.
Night bus to Hoi An - sleeper bus again, yay! Hoi An a beautiful little town that we walked round in about 2 hours. Full of people making clothes of any kind, crafts, lanterns, - very crafty. A river flowing through contained huge models of a lotus flower, a dragon, and a strange cow with a flowerpot on its back. Life is strange here! We were staying in a beautiful hotel, very friendly, with a POOL! So lovely after being so hot for so long, and only costing us $4 a night. We also found a great little cafe, called Cafe 43, that did half pints of beer for 10p, beautiful food and a fraction of the price we normally pay. Great service, and we only wished we could stay the next day too!
Unfortunately ever onwards, we visited Hue for about 5 hours, and walked around the mainly demolished citadel. Not much to see in the city itself, we just meandered around the ruins and the newly renovated buildings (renovations usually 10 years old so not too impressive), before our night bus to Hanoi.
And we arrived today, eventually sorted out accommodation and avoided a little incident with some nasty hotel people in the city. We were with 2 guys at this point and they were really friendly and helpful. Been walking around the Old Quarter today, eating delicious Fanny ice cream, sorting out tickets and generally getting our bearings. Hanoi seems hectic, quite frenetic, and not quite as beautiful as we were hoping. Not actually that much to see, we only want to see the embalmed Ho Chi Minh's body before we leave here. Should be interesting!
So... off to Halong Bay tomorrow, and visiting Cat Ba island at the same time. For $45, it's a 3 day trip with a boat ride on the bay, staying overnight on the boat the first night, then the 2nd night we're staying on Cat Ba Island. So will be returning to Hanoi for a night on Wednesday night.
Hope all's well at home,
Loads of love from us all,
Al xxxxxxxxx
Monday, 3 August 2009
Vietnam - Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) to Nha Trang
Hello hello,
Now in Vietnam, and how different it is! Cambodia was great - nicer than Thailand as less touristy, more 'raw' and fascinating. Vietnam is even better. The transport system works better here - well the roads are mainly tarmac, but this doesn't necessarily make them smoother... the people are friendly, their very fast jump into the technological and Western culture means that relatively fast internet is everywhere (very useful for us!) Many counterfeit products (Billabong boardshorts for less than 3 quid), Diesel jeans for next to nothing, whole series of TV shows for less than a fiver... they estimate that about 90% of products here are counterfeit, although many companies are trying to change that.
Ho Chi Minh City - HCMC - or still Saigon to people who live here - is great. Bustling, friendly, a little raucous, we stayed in the main backpacker area and were within walking distance of the Fine Arts Gallery (great exhibition, fantastic building), the Notre Dame Cathedral (seemed out of place in the middle of a busy road, no stained glass at all), the Reunification Palace (where tanks drove through the gates when Saigon was seized) and the War Remnants Museum. We had a busy day on Saturday walking around, (dodging the traffic on the roads, extremely difficult!)
The most harrowing experience was the War Remnants Museum (formerly called the Museum of Chinese and American War Crimes.... objectivity didn't really feature here!) I understand that the international media pretty much focused on the US perspective, and that horrific things happened here, but it was such a one sided museum, it detracted from its message. Especially difficult to stomach were the stories and photographs of the new generation of Vietnamese people who are growing (and dying) with incredible deformities, (allegedly?) caused by Agent Orange. Awful to see, it was a sobering experience.
The backpacker area is full of cheap accommodation - we were offered accommodation by a guy who met the bus (a lot of business is done by touts that way) - for $4 each, we had a lovely room with a TV, fridge(!!!), our own en-suite bathroom, and the loveliest family who looked after us extremely well. Lots of delicious and relatively cheap restaurants around too, and many tourist agencies and shops. (Not tried the snake wine yet - scared of the actual bottle which contains a preserved little cobra and scorpion in it)...!
So yesterday we went to see part of the 200km network of the Cu Chi tunnels. A bus for the 2 hour ride there and back, we had the best guide. Chister regaled us with information delivered in a very engaging way, jokes, - generally lots of things that helped us understand the country and people more. Asked how the Vietnamese think of the Americans and the war, he says:
a) the war never happened (for the young generation who have embraced Westernism and popular culture, and who are focused on the future)
b) the war never finished (for those who are scarred or traumatised, mentally or physically, without adequate healthcare or mental healthcare). Very illuminating.
The tunnels housed the Viet Cong for 20 years (in Vietnam, they say the war lasted for 20 years against the Americans, very different to the American version). These tunnels were so cramped you cannot walk upright in them. They slept, cooked, washed, went to the loo, everything - down these tunnels. Saw a tiny foxhole and spider hole, and passed up the chance to shoot an AK47 as it was rather expensive, loud, and I got scared when we got closer to the gun shots! A fascinating day, we finished it off with a coffee in a lovely cafe, chilling out for a couple of hours until we got our overnight bus to Nha Trang (only 10 hours away).
Last night we were waiting for our bus when a 'sleeper' bus arrived - with about 30 seats that go nearly flat. Somehow, we managed to get on the bus! Because there was space, they put us on the bus and we were at the very back where the seats went back even further! We hadn't paid for this luxury! It was absolutely great, and meant that we actually managed to sleep at night, until we arrived in Nha Trang at 6am.
Again, lovely accommodation - fan, TV, fridge, ensuite - $4 each. About 100m from the beach, we sorted our diving out first before getting very red on the beach. We're taking doxycycline antimalarial drugs again now, which makes us very sensitive to the sun. We forgot. I put sun tan lotion (factor 30) on 4-5 times over a couple of hours, and still got burnt! Next time the factor 50 comes out...
So going diving tomorrow morning, seems to be a great company (rather than a couple of other companies in the area who are having issues with PADI) with good dive shop banter, always a must! I'm going to do a 3rd and 4th dive (for only $10 each! Bargain!) on Wednesday before we head up overnight on Wednesday night to Hoi An.
Anyway lots of love from us all,
Alice xxxxxxxxxxx
Now in Vietnam, and how different it is! Cambodia was great - nicer than Thailand as less touristy, more 'raw' and fascinating. Vietnam is even better. The transport system works better here - well the roads are mainly tarmac, but this doesn't necessarily make them smoother... the people are friendly, their very fast jump into the technological and Western culture means that relatively fast internet is everywhere (very useful for us!) Many counterfeit products (Billabong boardshorts for less than 3 quid), Diesel jeans for next to nothing, whole series of TV shows for less than a fiver... they estimate that about 90% of products here are counterfeit, although many companies are trying to change that.
Ho Chi Minh City - HCMC - or still Saigon to people who live here - is great. Bustling, friendly, a little raucous, we stayed in the main backpacker area and were within walking distance of the Fine Arts Gallery (great exhibition, fantastic building), the Notre Dame Cathedral (seemed out of place in the middle of a busy road, no stained glass at all), the Reunification Palace (where tanks drove through the gates when Saigon was seized) and the War Remnants Museum. We had a busy day on Saturday walking around, (dodging the traffic on the roads, extremely difficult!)
The most harrowing experience was the War Remnants Museum (formerly called the Museum of Chinese and American War Crimes.... objectivity didn't really feature here!) I understand that the international media pretty much focused on the US perspective, and that horrific things happened here, but it was such a one sided museum, it detracted from its message. Especially difficult to stomach were the stories and photographs of the new generation of Vietnamese people who are growing (and dying) with incredible deformities, (allegedly?) caused by Agent Orange. Awful to see, it was a sobering experience.
The backpacker area is full of cheap accommodation - we were offered accommodation by a guy who met the bus (a lot of business is done by touts that way) - for $4 each, we had a lovely room with a TV, fridge(!!!), our own en-suite bathroom, and the loveliest family who looked after us extremely well. Lots of delicious and relatively cheap restaurants around too, and many tourist agencies and shops. (Not tried the snake wine yet - scared of the actual bottle which contains a preserved little cobra and scorpion in it)...!
So yesterday we went to see part of the 200km network of the Cu Chi tunnels. A bus for the 2 hour ride there and back, we had the best guide. Chister regaled us with information delivered in a very engaging way, jokes, - generally lots of things that helped us understand the country and people more. Asked how the Vietnamese think of the Americans and the war, he says:
a) the war never happened (for the young generation who have embraced Westernism and popular culture, and who are focused on the future)
b) the war never finished (for those who are scarred or traumatised, mentally or physically, without adequate healthcare or mental healthcare). Very illuminating.
The tunnels housed the Viet Cong for 20 years (in Vietnam, they say the war lasted for 20 years against the Americans, very different to the American version). These tunnels were so cramped you cannot walk upright in them. They slept, cooked, washed, went to the loo, everything - down these tunnels. Saw a tiny foxhole and spider hole, and passed up the chance to shoot an AK47 as it was rather expensive, loud, and I got scared when we got closer to the gun shots! A fascinating day, we finished it off with a coffee in a lovely cafe, chilling out for a couple of hours until we got our overnight bus to Nha Trang (only 10 hours away).
Last night we were waiting for our bus when a 'sleeper' bus arrived - with about 30 seats that go nearly flat. Somehow, we managed to get on the bus! Because there was space, they put us on the bus and we were at the very back where the seats went back even further! We hadn't paid for this luxury! It was absolutely great, and meant that we actually managed to sleep at night, until we arrived in Nha Trang at 6am.
Again, lovely accommodation - fan, TV, fridge, ensuite - $4 each. About 100m from the beach, we sorted our diving out first before getting very red on the beach. We're taking doxycycline antimalarial drugs again now, which makes us very sensitive to the sun. We forgot. I put sun tan lotion (factor 30) on 4-5 times over a couple of hours, and still got burnt! Next time the factor 50 comes out...
So going diving tomorrow morning, seems to be a great company (rather than a couple of other companies in the area who are having issues with PADI) with good dive shop banter, always a must! I'm going to do a 3rd and 4th dive (for only $10 each! Bargain!) on Wednesday before we head up overnight on Wednesday night to Hoi An.
Anyway lots of love from us all,
Alice xxxxxxxxxxx
Wednesday, 29 July 2009
Angkor Wat, Sihanoukville, the Killing Fields...
Hello there,
Well we dragged ourselves out of the gorgeous beds at 4am and walked around Angkor Wat. We saw Ta Phrom first, where they filmed Indiana Jones and the temple has been given to the jungle. Slow restoration is happening here, but we walked into the forest a little while to get to the jungle while it was still dark (we forgot torches!), tripping over tree roots (well it was better than when I stubbed my toe and tripped over elephant poo the evening before!) and delving into the ruins until we got to the centre. Angkor Wat is the biggest religious place in the world, and it has inevitably been damaged by past fighting and the weather. Nevertheless, it was an enchanting place to watch the sun rise from. And so big!
Bayon Temple - 216 faces all staring at you! Fifty four towers (the amount of provinces Cambodia used to have, but is now 22) host the faces of Buddha, which are absolutely beautiful. This temple was tiered so we climbed up into the centre and rested a little on the cool stone. It was about 8am by this point and starting to get quite hot. Onto the elephant terrace where pillars are elephants' trunks, and into a temple where, doing reconstruction work, they dismantled the whole thing, painstakingly making a note of where every piece went. (Think it was the French). Then they lost the paperwork. Typical! The world's biggest jigsaw puzzle - Corinne you would love it! Ten years after starting to sort out the mess and they have only done a part of the temple, with a lot of new bricks. Very sad but also quite funny in a way...
Angkor Thom was massive holding these temples, and we ended up at Angkor Wat. It is huge - the width across is well over 2km, and surrounded by a substantial moat. We loved walking around looking at the murals, the reliefs on the stone walls, generally loved walking around it. It was a great day, with Johnny our tuk tuk driver doing a great job - he left us to look around it, and snoozed in hammocks surrounded by his female admirers! Unfortunately at 1pm (after EIGHT HOURS of sightseeing) we decided we'd had enough of the heat and the walking around and decided to siesta back at the hotel... beautiful.
Next day was spent reading books in a comfy cafe about Pol Pot and the Killing Fields, until our 'Luxury bus' in the evening. Not so luxurious really! Hopelessly overcrowded, a very kind US navy guy offered his seat (for the 10 hours) to a breastfeeding mother. The seats were uncomfortable (luckily ours weren't broken) and small. We got chatting to the navy guys and ended up having a few drinks the following night with them in Sihanoukville. Really interesting people and great to listen to more 'grown up' people - a nice change from 18-20 year old backpackers! They were fascinating as they were divers, so we were very intrigued, and were just really nice, normal guys. Such a pleasure to meet them.
Sihanoukville - lovely seaside town on Cambodia's southern coast (well the town is in 3 parts, annoyingly), really geared for the tourist. Stayed in an alright hostel with delicious food, about 10 minute walk from the beach. The beach was side to side restaurants and bars, with beds/chairs outside under umbrellas, free to use. We ended up eating down there anyway as found a cheap place to have banana shakes, or fruit salads and it was so comfy! Dove into the water to clean off every now and then - not very clear water and ominous brown stuff oozing into it, but very refreshing anyway! I enquired about diving there, only to be told that the visibility was poor due to the rain and that they've eaten all the sharks and big fish in the area. Decided to give it a miss, so sad!
Had the most amazing massage in my life in Sihanoukville. Run by the Starfish Project which helps disabled people who don't get any assistance lead sustainable lives, we were massaged by a blind woman and another lady who might have been partially sighted. Being blind might heighten other senses - anyway, this was sensational. J and H had reflexology, and I had a neck and shoulder and back massage. It was sensational, and $3.50 for 30 minutes. Bargain! Never wanted to leave that place, absolutely incredible, cannot really describe it! And that was followed by a pedicure on the beach for me, which was desperately needed and a bargain at $4 - needed to pay her a little more to sort out my hooves! But now my feet look beautiful. So hard travelling!
Onwards to Phnom Penh yesterday morning on a leaking bus, and we arrived in this sprawling city where few buildings are more than a couple of stories high. Flanking a river, it is chaotic but friendly, bustling but relaxing, although crossing the road is a little dicey. Unfortunately sometimes you have to do it. Seeing as they drive on the right, but driving on the left is ok too, they don't stop now for pedestrians after a couple of traffic lights were put in the city. Actually, they don't stop for these lights either. So crossing the road takes a little prayer, a little blind faith, a little timing and a little sprint. Or to follow a local, putting them in the way of the car/motorbike/tuk tuk/lorry/elephant instead.
And the elephant... imagine walking along London during rush hour, when the most humoungous elephant just strides past with its keeper. HUGE! It was incredible, tuk tuks and cars dodging it, it was serenely meandering past. Photos will come of that! It made my day and made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside! Also visited a coffee shop here - beautiful - with comfy seats where the proceeds go to street children. Much better than handing out money on the streets is to give it to certain organisations, and we certainly enjoyed our coffee and massages!
So today, we went to the Tuol Sleng Museum and the Killing Fields. The Tuol Sleng museum was a school (think of an army barracks school - pretty much the same) where S-21 was housed under Pol Pot's regime of 1975-1979. We were so glad we had read up on this, as out of 20,000 prisoners here, only SEVEN survived. They were tortured (we saw the instruments) and housed worse than animals, before being sent to the Killing Fields 15km away. When S-21 was discovered there, 14 corpses were discovered too and there are graphic photographs in the rooms where they were found. Words cannot describe this place, but imagine Auschwitz with graphic photographs. Not for the faint hearted, but almost vital to see, to learn from.
At the Killing Fields you first see the stupa (monument) when you first enter. This monument contains over 8,900 skulls. And bones. And clothes found at about 85/126 mass graves here. Not a huge area, one grave contained over 450 bodies, another over 100 headless people, another mainly women and children... and we saw the tree where babies were thrown against to kill them. Bones abound here, and it is such a strange, sobering, horrific atmosphere. Yet, as when J and I visited Auschwitz, it was a beautiful day and the sun was shining.
So... back for a siesta and just woken up over 3 hours later! Think we'll need a beer to assimilate the day we had here. Hopefully heading to the Russian market or the animal sanctuary tomorrow, but not in a rush to leave here as our room is gorgeous! Flushing loo, cable TV with multiple films... absolute heaven, plus not too hot.
Can't put photos up until get to Vietnam as internet here is horrific! Going to Vietnam probably on Saturday, to Ho Chi Ming city (Saigon), so will put photos up after that hopefully. Mobile phone's a bit temperamental here in Cambodia - not all messages are getting sent/received, but will check emails every couple of days.
Anyway, lots of love to all,
from us girlies,
love Alice xxxxxxxx
ps met 2 awesome Italian middle aged ladies - so friendly, so now we have a Laos guidebook in italian! Score! So funny, they admit they're not great with the boutiques, and not great with money...!
Well we dragged ourselves out of the gorgeous beds at 4am and walked around Angkor Wat. We saw Ta Phrom first, where they filmed Indiana Jones and the temple has been given to the jungle. Slow restoration is happening here, but we walked into the forest a little while to get to the jungle while it was still dark (we forgot torches!), tripping over tree roots (well it was better than when I stubbed my toe and tripped over elephant poo the evening before!) and delving into the ruins until we got to the centre. Angkor Wat is the biggest religious place in the world, and it has inevitably been damaged by past fighting and the weather. Nevertheless, it was an enchanting place to watch the sun rise from. And so big!
Bayon Temple - 216 faces all staring at you! Fifty four towers (the amount of provinces Cambodia used to have, but is now 22) host the faces of Buddha, which are absolutely beautiful. This temple was tiered so we climbed up into the centre and rested a little on the cool stone. It was about 8am by this point and starting to get quite hot. Onto the elephant terrace where pillars are elephants' trunks, and into a temple where, doing reconstruction work, they dismantled the whole thing, painstakingly making a note of where every piece went. (Think it was the French). Then they lost the paperwork. Typical! The world's biggest jigsaw puzzle - Corinne you would love it! Ten years after starting to sort out the mess and they have only done a part of the temple, with a lot of new bricks. Very sad but also quite funny in a way...
Angkor Thom was massive holding these temples, and we ended up at Angkor Wat. It is huge - the width across is well over 2km, and surrounded by a substantial moat. We loved walking around looking at the murals, the reliefs on the stone walls, generally loved walking around it. It was a great day, with Johnny our tuk tuk driver doing a great job - he left us to look around it, and snoozed in hammocks surrounded by his female admirers! Unfortunately at 1pm (after EIGHT HOURS of sightseeing) we decided we'd had enough of the heat and the walking around and decided to siesta back at the hotel... beautiful.
Next day was spent reading books in a comfy cafe about Pol Pot and the Killing Fields, until our 'Luxury bus' in the evening. Not so luxurious really! Hopelessly overcrowded, a very kind US navy guy offered his seat (for the 10 hours) to a breastfeeding mother. The seats were uncomfortable (luckily ours weren't broken) and small. We got chatting to the navy guys and ended up having a few drinks the following night with them in Sihanoukville. Really interesting people and great to listen to more 'grown up' people - a nice change from 18-20 year old backpackers! They were fascinating as they were divers, so we were very intrigued, and were just really nice, normal guys. Such a pleasure to meet them.
Sihanoukville - lovely seaside town on Cambodia's southern coast (well the town is in 3 parts, annoyingly), really geared for the tourist. Stayed in an alright hostel with delicious food, about 10 minute walk from the beach. The beach was side to side restaurants and bars, with beds/chairs outside under umbrellas, free to use. We ended up eating down there anyway as found a cheap place to have banana shakes, or fruit salads and it was so comfy! Dove into the water to clean off every now and then - not very clear water and ominous brown stuff oozing into it, but very refreshing anyway! I enquired about diving there, only to be told that the visibility was poor due to the rain and that they've eaten all the sharks and big fish in the area. Decided to give it a miss, so sad!
Had the most amazing massage in my life in Sihanoukville. Run by the Starfish Project which helps disabled people who don't get any assistance lead sustainable lives, we were massaged by a blind woman and another lady who might have been partially sighted. Being blind might heighten other senses - anyway, this was sensational. J and H had reflexology, and I had a neck and shoulder and back massage. It was sensational, and $3.50 for 30 minutes. Bargain! Never wanted to leave that place, absolutely incredible, cannot really describe it! And that was followed by a pedicure on the beach for me, which was desperately needed and a bargain at $4 - needed to pay her a little more to sort out my hooves! But now my feet look beautiful. So hard travelling!
Onwards to Phnom Penh yesterday morning on a leaking bus, and we arrived in this sprawling city where few buildings are more than a couple of stories high. Flanking a river, it is chaotic but friendly, bustling but relaxing, although crossing the road is a little dicey. Unfortunately sometimes you have to do it. Seeing as they drive on the right, but driving on the left is ok too, they don't stop now for pedestrians after a couple of traffic lights were put in the city. Actually, they don't stop for these lights either. So crossing the road takes a little prayer, a little blind faith, a little timing and a little sprint. Or to follow a local, putting them in the way of the car/motorbike/tuk tuk/lorry/elephant instead.
And the elephant... imagine walking along London during rush hour, when the most humoungous elephant just strides past with its keeper. HUGE! It was incredible, tuk tuks and cars dodging it, it was serenely meandering past. Photos will come of that! It made my day and made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside! Also visited a coffee shop here - beautiful - with comfy seats where the proceeds go to street children. Much better than handing out money on the streets is to give it to certain organisations, and we certainly enjoyed our coffee and massages!
So today, we went to the Tuol Sleng Museum and the Killing Fields. The Tuol Sleng museum was a school (think of an army barracks school - pretty much the same) where S-21 was housed under Pol Pot's regime of 1975-1979. We were so glad we had read up on this, as out of 20,000 prisoners here, only SEVEN survived. They were tortured (we saw the instruments) and housed worse than animals, before being sent to the Killing Fields 15km away. When S-21 was discovered there, 14 corpses were discovered too and there are graphic photographs in the rooms where they were found. Words cannot describe this place, but imagine Auschwitz with graphic photographs. Not for the faint hearted, but almost vital to see, to learn from.
At the Killing Fields you first see the stupa (monument) when you first enter. This monument contains over 8,900 skulls. And bones. And clothes found at about 85/126 mass graves here. Not a huge area, one grave contained over 450 bodies, another over 100 headless people, another mainly women and children... and we saw the tree where babies were thrown against to kill them. Bones abound here, and it is such a strange, sobering, horrific atmosphere. Yet, as when J and I visited Auschwitz, it was a beautiful day and the sun was shining.
So... back for a siesta and just woken up over 3 hours later! Think we'll need a beer to assimilate the day we had here. Hopefully heading to the Russian market or the animal sanctuary tomorrow, but not in a rush to leave here as our room is gorgeous! Flushing loo, cable TV with multiple films... absolute heaven, plus not too hot.
Can't put photos up until get to Vietnam as internet here is horrific! Going to Vietnam probably on Saturday, to Ho Chi Ming city (Saigon), so will put photos up after that hopefully. Mobile phone's a bit temperamental here in Cambodia - not all messages are getting sent/received, but will check emails every couple of days.
Anyway, lots of love to all,
from us girlies,
love Alice xxxxxxxx
ps met 2 awesome Italian middle aged ladies - so friendly, so now we have a Laos guidebook in italian! Score! So funny, they admit they're not great with the boutiques, and not great with money...!
Thursday, 23 July 2009
Cambodia... and Siem Reap
Hey hey there,
Well we eventually left Bangkok after my Vietnam visa came through on Tuesday. H and J were very kind in waiting until it was processed, despite them hanging around for ages! Nevertheless, we had great fun in visiting the floating markets, experiencing some of the social scene and spending countless hours in Starbucks...! (We had lots of vouchers which meant it wasn't too expensive, and a real treat to be out of the heat and in the air conditioning)...
So yesterday we got on a bus horribly early and arrived in Siem Reap in Cambodia yesterday evening. Spending our nights in a gorgeous hotel with pristine white tiled rooms, 3 huge beds (small doubles), our own bathroom and also cable TV, such luxury! Siem Reap is quite tatty looking, and not as great as the LP makes it out to be, but we managed to find ourselves a nice cafe to park ourselves for a couple of hours. Also went to watch the sunset in Angkor Wat this evening but unfortunately the weather wasn't great and so didn't spend huge amounts of time there. We have our tickets ready now for tomorrow so are leaving at 4.30am to catch the sunrise there... quite painful!
Anyway hope everyone's ok, will write again soon,
Much love,
Alice and the girlies xxx
Well we eventually left Bangkok after my Vietnam visa came through on Tuesday. H and J were very kind in waiting until it was processed, despite them hanging around for ages! Nevertheless, we had great fun in visiting the floating markets, experiencing some of the social scene and spending countless hours in Starbucks...! (We had lots of vouchers which meant it wasn't too expensive, and a real treat to be out of the heat and in the air conditioning)...
So yesterday we got on a bus horribly early and arrived in Siem Reap in Cambodia yesterday evening. Spending our nights in a gorgeous hotel with pristine white tiled rooms, 3 huge beds (small doubles), our own bathroom and also cable TV, such luxury! Siem Reap is quite tatty looking, and not as great as the LP makes it out to be, but we managed to find ourselves a nice cafe to park ourselves for a couple of hours. Also went to watch the sunset in Angkor Wat this evening but unfortunately the weather wasn't great and so didn't spend huge amounts of time there. We have our tickets ready now for tomorrow so are leaving at 4.30am to catch the sunrise there... quite painful!
Anyway hope everyone's ok, will write again soon,
Much love,
Alice and the girlies xxx
Sunday, 19 July 2009
3 weeks later... in Bangkok!
Hello all,
First of all, thank you so much to people I managed to meet up with in the UK. It was absolutely marvellous to see you (albeit very briefly!) My 4 or 5 days ended up being very cram packed with trying to see as many people as possible in between running errands. So apologies to everyone else who I didn't get to see! We'll be back for good at the end of September... not long now!
So spent a few weeks at home helping out. Not going to say too much about that here apart from it was absolutely incredible seeing Mum again. A pleasure spending time with her, listening to her and realising that she had come back to us. My Mum as I knew her had returned, plus she is very funny! She had us in stitches multiple times, and it was harder leaving this time round after spending such a magical time with her.
So... after continually bawling my eyes out in LHR (I blame the hormones, only took me about 4 hours to stop crying!!!) I flew to Bangkok on Thursday. After a little hitch up with the timetable (I misread my flight arrival time and so H and J were expecting me 12 hours before I actually arrived. Luckily I had managed to email them to let them know this so they picked it up in the morning after getting a little concerned that I might have got quarantined for swine flu!)
Bangkok is far cleaner and organised than I expected. The people are a mixture of very sweet and helpful people, to the most convincing con artists around! It's a daily battle not to get scammed too much, but I think we do alright. H and J have been great in sussing out the best places to go, where to buy things, what to do, and had accommodation ready for when I arrived, which was much appreciated.
We are staying in Khao San Road, which is basically designed for backpackers, with 24 hour bars (not tried those yet), stalls, food stalls on the street, little supermarkets, internet, travel agencies... basically everything you need. It's a little intense with all the bright lights and crowds of people, not to mention the music blaring out of stereo systems until 3am. (I know, I was awake then last night. Luckily I managed to 'borrow' a few face masks and ear plugs from the plane which have come in extremely useful since). A very cool place but very overwhelming, especially with the high population here of 'gringo' tourists (Western tourists). The Irish bars are always full!
Today we got up at 5.30am (yes I know, very painful), to taxi and bus our way 105km out of the city to go to the floating markets. It was such an experience - we paid for a little boat (similar to a gondala but with an outboard motor) to drive us around the canals, and to pull up at the stalls on stilts or stalls on boats. So weird! We were driving around, as were lots of other tourists (luckily we got their quite early when it was quite quiet), and pulled up and grabbed the stalls or other boats selling food or goodies. The water was looking quite murky, but it was such a great system of getting around, and they were very used to dealing with the boats, and their subsequent traffic jams. Very very different to shopping in the UK! We just let our driver take us to the next stall or boat to have a look at what they were selling. Luckily we were restrained and only bought breakfast (I ate 16 mini bananas) and a little elephant pouch. It's nicer than it sounds!
Yesterday H and J recommended I went to visit Wat Pho (think that's the right name) - basically a Buddhist palace with a 46m long, 15m high reclining Buddha in gold leaf. You know the type of typical Asian photos in travel programmes with pointy gold and red roofs? Well pretty much exactly like that! Huge palace (got lost in it) but finally managed to find Buddha. He was very impressive, but kinda claustrophobic in a building very small for him, and pillars obstructed a lot of the views of him. However photographs to follow! Really feel as though I've arrived in Asia now. And it's exhausting (jetlag), not as dirty as I was expecting, completely surreal and noisy and chaotic. But somehow very fun.
Absolutely lovely to see the girlies again. They were very kind and waited until I arrived to go and see the floating markets, which I really appreciated as it wouldn't have been half as fun by myself. And they have been very kind in waiting until I get my Vietnam visa in Bangkok before we move on, despite there not being that much to do on a limited budget, especially as the main thing to do in the evenings is to drink. So we're getting expert now at finding things to do to keep ourselves entertained.
Anyway, must dash, but love to all, from us all again!
Al xxxxxxxx
First of all, thank you so much to people I managed to meet up with in the UK. It was absolutely marvellous to see you (albeit very briefly!) My 4 or 5 days ended up being very cram packed with trying to see as many people as possible in between running errands. So apologies to everyone else who I didn't get to see! We'll be back for good at the end of September... not long now!
So spent a few weeks at home helping out. Not going to say too much about that here apart from it was absolutely incredible seeing Mum again. A pleasure spending time with her, listening to her and realising that she had come back to us. My Mum as I knew her had returned, plus she is very funny! She had us in stitches multiple times, and it was harder leaving this time round after spending such a magical time with her.
So... after continually bawling my eyes out in LHR (I blame the hormones, only took me about 4 hours to stop crying!!!) I flew to Bangkok on Thursday. After a little hitch up with the timetable (I misread my flight arrival time and so H and J were expecting me 12 hours before I actually arrived. Luckily I had managed to email them to let them know this so they picked it up in the morning after getting a little concerned that I might have got quarantined for swine flu!)
Bangkok is far cleaner and organised than I expected. The people are a mixture of very sweet and helpful people, to the most convincing con artists around! It's a daily battle not to get scammed too much, but I think we do alright. H and J have been great in sussing out the best places to go, where to buy things, what to do, and had accommodation ready for when I arrived, which was much appreciated.
We are staying in Khao San Road, which is basically designed for backpackers, with 24 hour bars (not tried those yet), stalls, food stalls on the street, little supermarkets, internet, travel agencies... basically everything you need. It's a little intense with all the bright lights and crowds of people, not to mention the music blaring out of stereo systems until 3am. (I know, I was awake then last night. Luckily I managed to 'borrow' a few face masks and ear plugs from the plane which have come in extremely useful since). A very cool place but very overwhelming, especially with the high population here of 'gringo' tourists (Western tourists). The Irish bars are always full!
Today we got up at 5.30am (yes I know, very painful), to taxi and bus our way 105km out of the city to go to the floating markets. It was such an experience - we paid for a little boat (similar to a gondala but with an outboard motor) to drive us around the canals, and to pull up at the stalls on stilts or stalls on boats. So weird! We were driving around, as were lots of other tourists (luckily we got their quite early when it was quite quiet), and pulled up and grabbed the stalls or other boats selling food or goodies. The water was looking quite murky, but it was such a great system of getting around, and they were very used to dealing with the boats, and their subsequent traffic jams. Very very different to shopping in the UK! We just let our driver take us to the next stall or boat to have a look at what they were selling. Luckily we were restrained and only bought breakfast (I ate 16 mini bananas) and a little elephant pouch. It's nicer than it sounds!
Yesterday H and J recommended I went to visit Wat Pho (think that's the right name) - basically a Buddhist palace with a 46m long, 15m high reclining Buddha in gold leaf. You know the type of typical Asian photos in travel programmes with pointy gold and red roofs? Well pretty much exactly like that! Huge palace (got lost in it) but finally managed to find Buddha. He was very impressive, but kinda claustrophobic in a building very small for him, and pillars obstructed a lot of the views of him. However photographs to follow! Really feel as though I've arrived in Asia now. And it's exhausting (jetlag), not as dirty as I was expecting, completely surreal and noisy and chaotic. But somehow very fun.
Absolutely lovely to see the girlies again. They were very kind and waited until I arrived to go and see the floating markets, which I really appreciated as it wouldn't have been half as fun by myself. And they have been very kind in waiting until I get my Vietnam visa in Bangkok before we move on, despite there not being that much to do on a limited budget, especially as the main thing to do in the evenings is to drink. So we're getting expert now at finding things to do to keep ourselves entertained.
Anyway, must dash, but love to all, from us all again!
Al xxxxxxxx
Wednesday, 24 June 2009
Still in KL... and watching the rain.
Hey hey there again,
Well am sat at the internet cafe again during my last night in Malaysia... feels very very strange! Had a great couple of days here - went to the Batu caves this afternoon which were pretty cool, although we gave the aggressive monkeys some much needed room! Spent the afternoon chilling out as it was just too hot, but unfortunately it really started raining which wasn't great this evening. Huge thunder and lightening storm, the first time it's rained on us in ages - but hopefully the humidity will clear.
So... heading home again tomorrow for 3 weeks. Flying from KL to United Arab Emirates, then to London Heathrow, then an 8 hour stopover before heading to Dusseldorf on Friday... (if anyone happens to be around LHR terminal 5 during Friday daytime before 2pm, feel free to come say hi!) Not sure when am moving to the UK during the 3 week period, and money will be very very tight after shelling out hundreds of pounds for this air ticket, but hopefully will be able to see a few people, before heading back on the 16th July to Bangkok...
Feeling happy and sad about leaving Malaysia and the girlies, and happy and sad about going home too. Will be nice to not live out of a rucksack too for a while, and to drink red wine again. At least I can leave again after 3 weeks and meet up with the girls again...
Anyway, hope you're all doing well and enjoying the UK summer,
Loads of love,
Alice xxx
Well am sat at the internet cafe again during my last night in Malaysia... feels very very strange! Had a great couple of days here - went to the Batu caves this afternoon which were pretty cool, although we gave the aggressive monkeys some much needed room! Spent the afternoon chilling out as it was just too hot, but unfortunately it really started raining which wasn't great this evening. Huge thunder and lightening storm, the first time it's rained on us in ages - but hopefully the humidity will clear.
So... heading home again tomorrow for 3 weeks. Flying from KL to United Arab Emirates, then to London Heathrow, then an 8 hour stopover before heading to Dusseldorf on Friday... (if anyone happens to be around LHR terminal 5 during Friday daytime before 2pm, feel free to come say hi!) Not sure when am moving to the UK during the 3 week period, and money will be very very tight after shelling out hundreds of pounds for this air ticket, but hopefully will be able to see a few people, before heading back on the 16th July to Bangkok...
Feeling happy and sad about leaving Malaysia and the girlies, and happy and sad about going home too. Will be nice to not live out of a rucksack too for a while, and to drink red wine again. At least I can leave again after 3 weeks and meet up with the girls again...
Anyway, hope you're all doing well and enjoying the UK summer,
Loads of love,
Alice xxx
Monday, 22 June 2009
Perhentian Islands, Redang Island and back to KL...
Hey hey there,
Well we made it to Kuala Besut on the bus (not very comfortable, but we survived), and managed to pick up the speedboat to the Perhentian Islands. We went to the bigger island first, but as accommodation was all booked up with the Malaysian school holidays - they have a kind of 'spring break' or our 'summer break' here on the islands - we went to the smaller island by taxi. Managed to find some very basic accommodation but about half the price and nicer than the next more expensive hotel. So we were happy, especially when the dive shop let us use their showers...
It was soooo hot on the beach. Almost unbearable even under the umbrella we hired out. Jumped into the clean water occasionally, but really suffered in the heat. So decided to go diving with Turtle Bay dive company the following day. They were absolutely brilliant - great banter, friendly service, really kind and very professional. What more could we want?! We went diving around the Pinnacle off the Perhentian Islands first of all, which is basically a huge pointy rock that sticks out of the water. The base is quite wide, and loads of fish and coral live there, including a 3 legged turtle nicknamed 'Tripod'... a huge mass of fish, was something really special, and reminded me of a bigger version of Julian Rocks in Australia. Saw loads of boxfish, pufferfish and porcupine fish, which made my day. They are my favourite fishes of all, and absolutely love them. They make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside!
Second dive was on the Sugar wreck, which went down 10 years ago and is about 88m long. It took 2 days to sink, and fortunately no one was killed. It has grown lots of coral already, and we saw 3 baby coral cat sharks asleep under a blanket there. Had great fun swimming around the mast, and in and around the wreck. There is an air pocket made by divers' bubbles during the season, so we could stick our head into it and talk to each other (although not breathe the air in, as the air itself isn't very safe). But a really surreal experience! Was quite difficult navigating around the wreck when there were so many sea urchins with their long spikes on the floor, and lots of barnacles and sharp shells stuck to the ropes and the wreck... but was brilliant fun.
So much so, that we decided to go diving on Redang Island, as it's meant to be the best dive site in Malaysia, and better than the majority of Thailand. One hour away by speedboat, Redang Island is where the rich Malaysians come for weekends away from KL, with the white sands, clear seas, beautiful snorkelling and diving, and the resort hotels monopolise the island, charging exorbitant fees. There is a campaign to do the same for the Perhentian Islands, so we were very glad to get there before the backpacker scene becomes priced out, and not many people can enjoy the natural beauties Malaysia has to offer.
Anyway, we went diving and both times it was brilliant. Again, the coral was different to other places - very flat against the sea floor, but then huge rocks towered over us, creating chasms we could swim through. Sometimes the current was awfully strong, so we had to turn back, but the volume of fish was marvellous - as soon as we jumped into the water and descended, we were greeted by many many schools of fish. We also saw a couple of disgustingly ugly (and scary) moral eels - (look up on youtube about the moray eel that bites off a diver's thumb).... but lots of beautiful blue spotted fantail rays - so graceful. And managed to see a puffer fish, so I was very excited. Hired out the dive company's camera for this day, and you can see the photographs on picasa. Loved having a camera down there... someday I'll have my own!
So the Perhentian Islands were very small and remote, and had glorious beaches and tropical forests. We stayed on Longbeach, which had a few shops, reasonable places to eat, a couple of dive companies, and our accommodation. So everything within about 100m - brilliant to have things so nearby! We loved our time there, and enjoyed the balance between falling asleep on the beach, and having something structured to do like diving. The weather was beautiful, the food was good (we managed to get some western style food for a reasonable amount of money, which was greatly appreciated after our time in Chinatown)...
So took the boat back yesterday morning, and had to change speedboats half way through as our boat had a 'problem' and we needed to get the bus very quickly... 9 hours later we were back in KL, and settled down to relax for the evening. Got up horribly early this morning (6.30am), to go up the skybridge in the Petronas Twin Towers (it's the same towers they filmed in 'Entrapment') before coming back to the hostel for some food...
So maybe going to the market this afternoon, but having a few days in KL chilling out. I have to fly home to the UK on Thursday (will have an 8 hour stopover in Terminal 5 on Friday if anyone is desperately bored!) arriving in Germany on Friday, so just seeing a few last sights.
Anyway, hope all is well in the UK,
Loads of love,
Alice xxx
Well we made it to Kuala Besut on the bus (not very comfortable, but we survived), and managed to pick up the speedboat to the Perhentian Islands. We went to the bigger island first, but as accommodation was all booked up with the Malaysian school holidays - they have a kind of 'spring break' or our 'summer break' here on the islands - we went to the smaller island by taxi. Managed to find some very basic accommodation but about half the price and nicer than the next more expensive hotel. So we were happy, especially when the dive shop let us use their showers...
It was soooo hot on the beach. Almost unbearable even under the umbrella we hired out. Jumped into the clean water occasionally, but really suffered in the heat. So decided to go diving with Turtle Bay dive company the following day. They were absolutely brilliant - great banter, friendly service, really kind and very professional. What more could we want?! We went diving around the Pinnacle off the Perhentian Islands first of all, which is basically a huge pointy rock that sticks out of the water. The base is quite wide, and loads of fish and coral live there, including a 3 legged turtle nicknamed 'Tripod'... a huge mass of fish, was something really special, and reminded me of a bigger version of Julian Rocks in Australia. Saw loads of boxfish, pufferfish and porcupine fish, which made my day. They are my favourite fishes of all, and absolutely love them. They make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside!
Second dive was on the Sugar wreck, which went down 10 years ago and is about 88m long. It took 2 days to sink, and fortunately no one was killed. It has grown lots of coral already, and we saw 3 baby coral cat sharks asleep under a blanket there. Had great fun swimming around the mast, and in and around the wreck. There is an air pocket made by divers' bubbles during the season, so we could stick our head into it and talk to each other (although not breathe the air in, as the air itself isn't very safe). But a really surreal experience! Was quite difficult navigating around the wreck when there were so many sea urchins with their long spikes on the floor, and lots of barnacles and sharp shells stuck to the ropes and the wreck... but was brilliant fun.
So much so, that we decided to go diving on Redang Island, as it's meant to be the best dive site in Malaysia, and better than the majority of Thailand. One hour away by speedboat, Redang Island is where the rich Malaysians come for weekends away from KL, with the white sands, clear seas, beautiful snorkelling and diving, and the resort hotels monopolise the island, charging exorbitant fees. There is a campaign to do the same for the Perhentian Islands, so we were very glad to get there before the backpacker scene becomes priced out, and not many people can enjoy the natural beauties Malaysia has to offer.
Anyway, we went diving and both times it was brilliant. Again, the coral was different to other places - very flat against the sea floor, but then huge rocks towered over us, creating chasms we could swim through. Sometimes the current was awfully strong, so we had to turn back, but the volume of fish was marvellous - as soon as we jumped into the water and descended, we were greeted by many many schools of fish. We also saw a couple of disgustingly ugly (and scary) moral eels - (look up on youtube about the moray eel that bites off a diver's thumb).... but lots of beautiful blue spotted fantail rays - so graceful. And managed to see a puffer fish, so I was very excited. Hired out the dive company's camera for this day, and you can see the photographs on picasa. Loved having a camera down there... someday I'll have my own!
So the Perhentian Islands were very small and remote, and had glorious beaches and tropical forests. We stayed on Longbeach, which had a few shops, reasonable places to eat, a couple of dive companies, and our accommodation. So everything within about 100m - brilliant to have things so nearby! We loved our time there, and enjoyed the balance between falling asleep on the beach, and having something structured to do like diving. The weather was beautiful, the food was good (we managed to get some western style food for a reasonable amount of money, which was greatly appreciated after our time in Chinatown)...
So took the boat back yesterday morning, and had to change speedboats half way through as our boat had a 'problem' and we needed to get the bus very quickly... 9 hours later we were back in KL, and settled down to relax for the evening. Got up horribly early this morning (6.30am), to go up the skybridge in the Petronas Twin Towers (it's the same towers they filmed in 'Entrapment') before coming back to the hostel for some food...
So maybe going to the market this afternoon, but having a few days in KL chilling out. I have to fly home to the UK on Thursday (will have an 8 hour stopover in Terminal 5 on Friday if anyone is desperately bored!) arriving in Germany on Friday, so just seeing a few last sights.
Anyway, hope all is well in the UK,
Loads of love,
Alice xxx
Thursday, 18 June 2009
KL - Perhentian Islands - and my 100th post!
Hey hey there,
We've enjoyed our stay in KL so far, sorting out visas on Tuesday, and then taking the tourist bus on Wednesday to sightsee the city. Brilliant to unusually see a general view of the city with minimum effort from us! Managed to see the orchid garden, I saw the butterfly garden, and general lovely things around the place.
We are staying around Chinatown which is great, as it means the food is cheap and we have lots of little shops selling everything. Have to admit, we had a lazy day today and watched hours (well 4.5hrs) of Grey's Anatomy. Wonderful to chillout and not rush around like headless chickens, as have been spending mornings sorting things out.
We leave on the bus today to go to Kuala Besut, to get the speedboat (yay, no slow boat for us!) to go the big Perhentian island tomorrow morning. Hopefully arrange diving tomorrow for Saturday or Sunday, then will have to travel back to KL to the same hotel again all Monday. Loving having a room to ourselves, rather than sharing a dorm - we are 'so over' dorms! Perhentian looks amazing, so excited, although very tired already! Fancy relaxing and sleeping on the white sands... but first of all we need to get there. Hopefully the bus isn't too bad. Going to find a non-Chinese place to eat at this evening - so sick of greasy Chinese food!
So back to KL on Monday to hopefully sort out our Indian visas, and have already planned our sightseeing for next week - hopefully we'll be able to do it! We wanted to leave some things to do around KL for when we came back again, before I fly home on THURSDAY... drawing ever nearer....
- Fly from KL to UAE then to London Heathrow for 7 hr stopover then to Germany - arrive 26th June
- Fly from LHR to UAE then Bangkok on 16/17th July to meet the others in Bangkok.
Anyway, not sure how much the internet will be working on the Perhentian Islands, or my mobile signal, but just wanted to update you on where we are when. Will log in again to the blog when I next get a chance.
Loads of love to you all,
Alice xxx
ps hopefully see some of you very soon!!!
We've enjoyed our stay in KL so far, sorting out visas on Tuesday, and then taking the tourist bus on Wednesday to sightsee the city. Brilliant to unusually see a general view of the city with minimum effort from us! Managed to see the orchid garden, I saw the butterfly garden, and general lovely things around the place.
We are staying around Chinatown which is great, as it means the food is cheap and we have lots of little shops selling everything. Have to admit, we had a lazy day today and watched hours (well 4.5hrs) of Grey's Anatomy. Wonderful to chillout and not rush around like headless chickens, as have been spending mornings sorting things out.
We leave on the bus today to go to Kuala Besut, to get the speedboat (yay, no slow boat for us!) to go the big Perhentian island tomorrow morning. Hopefully arrange diving tomorrow for Saturday or Sunday, then will have to travel back to KL to the same hotel again all Monday. Loving having a room to ourselves, rather than sharing a dorm - we are 'so over' dorms! Perhentian looks amazing, so excited, although very tired already! Fancy relaxing and sleeping on the white sands... but first of all we need to get there. Hopefully the bus isn't too bad. Going to find a non-Chinese place to eat at this evening - so sick of greasy Chinese food!
So back to KL on Monday to hopefully sort out our Indian visas, and have already planned our sightseeing for next week - hopefully we'll be able to do it! We wanted to leave some things to do around KL for when we came back again, before I fly home on THURSDAY... drawing ever nearer....
- Fly from KL to UAE then to London Heathrow for 7 hr stopover then to Germany - arrive 26th June
- Fly from LHR to UAE then Bangkok on 16/17th July to meet the others in Bangkok.
Anyway, not sure how much the internet will be working on the Perhentian Islands, or my mobile signal, but just wanted to update you on where we are when. Will log in again to the blog when I next get a chance.
Loads of love to you all,
Alice xxx
ps hopefully see some of you very soon!!!
Monday, 15 June 2009
Bali to Singapore to Kuala Lumpur... in under 12 hours
Hey there,
The flight was amazing! Definitely made up for the early start. In fact, we were so early to the airport, check in hadn't started, and neither had the departures lounge opened... Singapore Airlines was brilliant, huge breakfast (the size made up for the taste), films... big chairs... unfortunately the flight was only 2.5 hrs long so didn't get to watch too many films.
Singapore was so nice, (all that we saw of it in 1 hour), - so clean, everything works - drivers kept to their own lanes and it was so clean, (so cliche). But lovely and friendly and helpful. Managed to get a bus for 6 hours up to Kuala Lumpur, going through immigration so easily and customs too. Actually, that was because no one was manning the station, but oh well! The bus was big and empty, and the seats were comfortable and even had massagers in the back of them, such luxury.
So arrived in KL, and are staying in the Backpackers Travellers Inn in Chinatown, as it is cheap. We splurged an extra 50p per night to stay in our own room, rather than the rather bleak and dismal dorm rooms. It's absolutely fine, although the lights when walking through Chinatown are rather too much for me, and am feeling rather dazed...! Oh well, I'm sure we'll get accustomed... Anyway, trying to sort out our visas here in KL at the moment, so might get stuck here for rather a long time, at least a week if we have to do our Indian visa, and it looks like we'll have to.
So hope all's ok in the UK,
Lots of love from us all,
Alice xxx
The flight was amazing! Definitely made up for the early start. In fact, we were so early to the airport, check in hadn't started, and neither had the departures lounge opened... Singapore Airlines was brilliant, huge breakfast (the size made up for the taste), films... big chairs... unfortunately the flight was only 2.5 hrs long so didn't get to watch too many films.
Singapore was so nice, (all that we saw of it in 1 hour), - so clean, everything works - drivers kept to their own lanes and it was so clean, (so cliche). But lovely and friendly and helpful. Managed to get a bus for 6 hours up to Kuala Lumpur, going through immigration so easily and customs too. Actually, that was because no one was manning the station, but oh well! The bus was big and empty, and the seats were comfortable and even had massagers in the back of them, such luxury.
So arrived in KL, and are staying in the Backpackers Travellers Inn in Chinatown, as it is cheap. We splurged an extra 50p per night to stay in our own room, rather than the rather bleak and dismal dorm rooms. It's absolutely fine, although the lights when walking through Chinatown are rather too much for me, and am feeling rather dazed...! Oh well, I'm sure we'll get accustomed... Anyway, trying to sort out our visas here in KL at the moment, so might get stuck here for rather a long time, at least a week if we have to do our Indian visa, and it looks like we'll have to.
So hope all's ok in the UK,
Lots of love from us all,
Alice xxx
Saturday, 13 June 2009
Kuta, Bali (again)...
Hey hey there,
We finally made it back to Bali again, on the slow boat (it takes 5 hours to go 20-25km across the 3000m deep stretch of water between Bali and Lombok). We were a little stiff after all the travelling, but survived it well enough. So just hanging around Kuta today and yesterday, doing a little shopping and chilling out on the beach when we get too hot and bothered. We managed to move into a basic hotel, which was much cheaper than the one we were originally in when we returned to Kuta.
So heading off to Singapore tomorrow morning, and then hopefully will manage to get all the way up to Kuala Lumper the same day. Really fancy treating myself to a massage and pedicure today, hopefully will be able to get them both for 4 uSD - so not really that expensive! The bed did nasty things to my back last night...
Anyway, love to all, and will email again when hit an internet cafe in Malaysia.
Alice xxx
We finally made it back to Bali again, on the slow boat (it takes 5 hours to go 20-25km across the 3000m deep stretch of water between Bali and Lombok). We were a little stiff after all the travelling, but survived it well enough. So just hanging around Kuta today and yesterday, doing a little shopping and chilling out on the beach when we get too hot and bothered. We managed to move into a basic hotel, which was much cheaper than the one we were originally in when we returned to Kuta.
So heading off to Singapore tomorrow morning, and then hopefully will manage to get all the way up to Kuala Lumper the same day. Really fancy treating myself to a massage and pedicure today, hopefully will be able to get them both for 4 uSD - so not really that expensive! The bed did nasty things to my back last night...
Anyway, love to all, and will email again when hit an internet cafe in Malaysia.
Alice xxx
Wednesday, 10 June 2009
Gilly Air Island, Indonesia
Hey hey again,
Well we managed to get a great ride over to Gilly Air with the diving company, Lombok Dive, and got ourselves a basic but fine bungalow looking over the turquoise sea. The island itself is small, with limited facilities, but idyllic in its relaxation! We found a gorgeous cafe/restaurant with large wooden plinths with cushions to sit on and watch the sun set. The food was cheap and delicious (when the electricity was on, the milkshakes were brilliant), and when we ate somewhere else on our last night, we regretted it!
Unfortunately there was quite a lot of rubbish floating around, which the Indonesian government needs to sort out with tourism increasing, but it was still beautiful. Went snorkelling (saw a sea snake and turtle), and also played in the divers' bubbles - a cheap spa! Very fun. Went diving twice, and saw turtles, lots of fish, lion fish, and a shark... a white tipped reef shark. It looked so evil and menacing and sly in its eyes, and we got a little too close for it... H and J were fine, but I was a little (hugely) scared! Luckily J let me hold her hand for a while until it swum by, and we swam slowly away... gotta remember that we are in its world, and it probably wouldn't harm us at all, but it just looked so evil! However, the dive company was horrific (Dive Lombok), and the tour agency that sold us the dives (Smile Tours in Senggigi) wasn't much better. Five days later, and stranded for 24 hours in Senggigi, we have finally sorted things out and are complaining to PADI about them. It all turned out alright, and we are now certified PADI Advanced divers, but it wasn't an easy process.
So going to watch the sunset in Senggigi harbour tonight (we missed it by 10 minutes when we were here on the way to Gilly Air), before heading back to Kuta in Bali tomorrow.
Lots of love to you all,
From us all,
Alice xxx
Well we managed to get a great ride over to Gilly Air with the diving company, Lombok Dive, and got ourselves a basic but fine bungalow looking over the turquoise sea. The island itself is small, with limited facilities, but idyllic in its relaxation! We found a gorgeous cafe/restaurant with large wooden plinths with cushions to sit on and watch the sun set. The food was cheap and delicious (when the electricity was on, the milkshakes were brilliant), and when we ate somewhere else on our last night, we regretted it!
Unfortunately there was quite a lot of rubbish floating around, which the Indonesian government needs to sort out with tourism increasing, but it was still beautiful. Went snorkelling (saw a sea snake and turtle), and also played in the divers' bubbles - a cheap spa! Very fun. Went diving twice, and saw turtles, lots of fish, lion fish, and a shark... a white tipped reef shark. It looked so evil and menacing and sly in its eyes, and we got a little too close for it... H and J were fine, but I was a little (hugely) scared! Luckily J let me hold her hand for a while until it swum by, and we swam slowly away... gotta remember that we are in its world, and it probably wouldn't harm us at all, but it just looked so evil! However, the dive company was horrific (Dive Lombok), and the tour agency that sold us the dives (Smile Tours in Senggigi) wasn't much better. Five days later, and stranded for 24 hours in Senggigi, we have finally sorted things out and are complaining to PADI about them. It all turned out alright, and we are now certified PADI Advanced divers, but it wasn't an easy process.
So going to watch the sunset in Senggigi harbour tonight (we missed it by 10 minutes when we were here on the way to Gilly Air), before heading back to Kuta in Bali tomorrow.
Lots of love to you all,
From us all,
Alice xxx
Saturday, 6 June 2009
Senggigi, Lombok, Indonesia
Hey hey there,
What a wonderful place Indonesia is! We travelled (late as always) up from Kuta to Ubud 2 days ago, and had a lovely time wandering around. The hotel we were staying in - well 2 bungalows really, were run by a very friendly family, with a beautiful 7 year old girl called Tiara, who had a certain obsession with playing with a little chicken... surprised she didn't accidentally ring its neck, seeing as that is how she was often holding it... not surprisingly, it was rather loud! Breakfasts were delicious - tea/coffee, fruit salad and banana pancakes to set us up for the day, the mother even getting up early despite my protestations, in order to make us our breakfast before we caught the bus... the room was lovely and large, and the fan worked well. We really enjoyed relaxing for a few hours in the afternoon when it was too hot to do anything else - lots of reading done.
Ubud is lovely, although quite difficult to walk along the pavements which often have holes in, are uneven, have steep inclines to let cars through, and are scattered with daily offerings they seem to make here (very difficult not to inadvertently tread on one when walking along)... plus continuous offers of 'transport' or 'taksi' wear a little thin. But the town itself was lovely, and we discovered a brilliant little restaurant which did delicious food, and very very cheaply too. So meandered around the market until we were too hot and bothered and hassled, before heading to the monkey sanctuary. They were really cute, macaques, with lots of babies. The little ones looked so wrinkly they actually looked old - reminded me of the Benjamin Button film. The males were quite aggressive, and they weren't backward about jumping on you, or in Hayley's case, on her head. Very entertaining for me, also entertaining was when a wet monkey (he had been swimming) climbed up J's leg... but the best part was when a monkey pickpocketed J. He undid her bag (albeit not zipped up, but had a popper on it), and dug around for her purse, before scooting up on the entrance wall. Hilarious for Hayley and me, not so much for J. Bananas thrown at him were only caught and he put the purse between his feet to catch more bananas. Luckily a slingshot appeared and he dropped the thing. Very very funny to watch...
Yesterday we went diving on the SS Liberty. It was a US cargo ship that was sunk by the Japanese in WW2, but was actually sunk below the water when the volcano exploded, raining rocks down on it in 1963. It was a brilliant day. G'day, our guide and dive master, collected us from our hotel at 7.45am, and put us into a comfy car/van thing to take us to the site, 2 hours away. We found boxes of cakes on our seat, - this was after eating the delicious banana pancakes for breakfast and had unlimited bottles of soft drinks. Such luxuries for us, as we only normally drink water, and can't afford to buy cakes, as they don't fill us up for long enough. The drive was gorgeous, through rice paddy fields, and along roads which always seem to have some sort of building on their side. We had a very nice hotel as our base for the dive, and it was beautiful, with palm trees overhead. The boat is 20 metres from the beach, so we were able to walk down off the beach and dive like that, rather than using a boat. The dive itself was lovely, seeing a stingray, garden eels, lots of nemos, groper the size of me, stonefish... the wreck is growing its own coral reef system on it, and give it another few years, it will only improve. For me I much preferred the Yongala, but this was also fantastic, and so relaxing as the water was 31 degrees celsius, and G'day was such a professional, competent, friendly and helpful person. Also fantastic because we were the only people in the group! We also managed to go inside the wreck (wonder how much longer people will be able to do that), and fed some fish bananas. They weren't small fish, and it was really funny to feed them, especially when G'day put a banana down my BCD (inflatable jacket) and they surrounded me... But I especially loved the HUGE school of silvery bluey fish swirling past, they were 10 inches long, and amazing to see them swimming in formation... such a perfect day.
We travelled for about 11 hours today to get to Senggigi in Lombok. It is fine, but nothing spectacular, although the sunset in the harbour/beach was beautiful. There were lots of funny boats on it, and we finally realised that we had arrived in Asia. We are heading to Gilly Air tomorrow morning (where the internet is slow and expensive, so don't worry if we don't check in for a couple of days, although my mobile is still working. Unfortunately I cannot retrieve voicemails on it if I miss your call, but texts work fine). We are being taken on the dive boat, (missing out running the gauntlet in a very hectic port with lots of annoying men), and will do 2 dives, finishing our PADI Advanced training (hopefully). Not sure how long we will spend there - long enough until we get bored of beautiful beaches and want to get back to Kuta. Will be nice to be away from the traffic! Although grabbing a lift on the back of a scooter was fun today...
Anyway, will be in contact soon, but lots of love,
Alice xxx
What a wonderful place Indonesia is! We travelled (late as always) up from Kuta to Ubud 2 days ago, and had a lovely time wandering around. The hotel we were staying in - well 2 bungalows really, were run by a very friendly family, with a beautiful 7 year old girl called Tiara, who had a certain obsession with playing with a little chicken... surprised she didn't accidentally ring its neck, seeing as that is how she was often holding it... not surprisingly, it was rather loud! Breakfasts were delicious - tea/coffee, fruit salad and banana pancakes to set us up for the day, the mother even getting up early despite my protestations, in order to make us our breakfast before we caught the bus... the room was lovely and large, and the fan worked well. We really enjoyed relaxing for a few hours in the afternoon when it was too hot to do anything else - lots of reading done.
Ubud is lovely, although quite difficult to walk along the pavements which often have holes in, are uneven, have steep inclines to let cars through, and are scattered with daily offerings they seem to make here (very difficult not to inadvertently tread on one when walking along)... plus continuous offers of 'transport' or 'taksi' wear a little thin. But the town itself was lovely, and we discovered a brilliant little restaurant which did delicious food, and very very cheaply too. So meandered around the market until we were too hot and bothered and hassled, before heading to the monkey sanctuary. They were really cute, macaques, with lots of babies. The little ones looked so wrinkly they actually looked old - reminded me of the Benjamin Button film. The males were quite aggressive, and they weren't backward about jumping on you, or in Hayley's case, on her head. Very entertaining for me, also entertaining was when a wet monkey (he had been swimming) climbed up J's leg... but the best part was when a monkey pickpocketed J. He undid her bag (albeit not zipped up, but had a popper on it), and dug around for her purse, before scooting up on the entrance wall. Hilarious for Hayley and me, not so much for J. Bananas thrown at him were only caught and he put the purse between his feet to catch more bananas. Luckily a slingshot appeared and he dropped the thing. Very very funny to watch...
Yesterday we went diving on the SS Liberty. It was a US cargo ship that was sunk by the Japanese in WW2, but was actually sunk below the water when the volcano exploded, raining rocks down on it in 1963. It was a brilliant day. G'day, our guide and dive master, collected us from our hotel at 7.45am, and put us into a comfy car/van thing to take us to the site, 2 hours away. We found boxes of cakes on our seat, - this was after eating the delicious banana pancakes for breakfast and had unlimited bottles of soft drinks. Such luxuries for us, as we only normally drink water, and can't afford to buy cakes, as they don't fill us up for long enough. The drive was gorgeous, through rice paddy fields, and along roads which always seem to have some sort of building on their side. We had a very nice hotel as our base for the dive, and it was beautiful, with palm trees overhead. The boat is 20 metres from the beach, so we were able to walk down off the beach and dive like that, rather than using a boat. The dive itself was lovely, seeing a stingray, garden eels, lots of nemos, groper the size of me, stonefish... the wreck is growing its own coral reef system on it, and give it another few years, it will only improve. For me I much preferred the Yongala, but this was also fantastic, and so relaxing as the water was 31 degrees celsius, and G'day was such a professional, competent, friendly and helpful person. Also fantastic because we were the only people in the group! We also managed to go inside the wreck (wonder how much longer people will be able to do that), and fed some fish bananas. They weren't small fish, and it was really funny to feed them, especially when G'day put a banana down my BCD (inflatable jacket) and they surrounded me... But I especially loved the HUGE school of silvery bluey fish swirling past, they were 10 inches long, and amazing to see them swimming in formation... such a perfect day.
We travelled for about 11 hours today to get to Senggigi in Lombok. It is fine, but nothing spectacular, although the sunset in the harbour/beach was beautiful. There were lots of funny boats on it, and we finally realised that we had arrived in Asia. We are heading to Gilly Air tomorrow morning (where the internet is slow and expensive, so don't worry if we don't check in for a couple of days, although my mobile is still working. Unfortunately I cannot retrieve voicemails on it if I miss your call, but texts work fine). We are being taken on the dive boat, (missing out running the gauntlet in a very hectic port with lots of annoying men), and will do 2 dives, finishing our PADI Advanced training (hopefully). Not sure how long we will spend there - long enough until we get bored of beautiful beaches and want to get back to Kuta. Will be nice to be away from the traffic! Although grabbing a lift on the back of a scooter was fun today...
Anyway, will be in contact soon, but lots of love,
Alice xxx
Wednesday, 3 June 2009
Bali! We have arrived...
Hey hey there,
Hope all's well in good ol' England, and hope it's a little cooler there...! We spent a (lovely) day flying yesterday, from Cairns, which was alright but nothing spectacular, to Darwin, which was very hot - yes we are qualified to say we've seen it, as we stepped outside the airport for all of about 7 minutes...! We had a stopover there of about 5 hours, and didn't really want to spend much money, so had a delightful time hanging around the airport. Only an hour delayed leaving to Bali, as they couldn't start one of the engines (I think Jetstar is a bit like Ryanair or Easyjet), but the bonus was that we did get a free meal on the flight. Delicious, but, as always, not enough.
So we landed yesterday, and had a bit of a culture shock as it was about 1am our time, and we were used to easy Australia! But we managed to find a lovely guy called Sultan on the Poppies 1 Road, who helped us find a cheap hotel. (He worked in a tourist office, which was still open at 11pm, he wasn't a random off the street!) So we are staying in a very friendly place for a total of 10 US dollars a night for the 3 of us, with a huge double bed, another big single bed, and an adequate fan for the heat, plus our own bathroom. Such a hard life! It even includes an egg and tomato toastie with tea or coffee in the morning, loving this...
So Bali... well we are staying in Kuta, instead of grey Denpasar. It is wonderful - a maze of alleyways with people selling all sorts of things, and the most gorgeous clothes. Reminds me a little of the medinas in Morocco. The locals are so friendly! (and small) - things are thankfully very cheap here. We can eat a tuna steak with vegetables for a pound, or a fresh juice for 27p which was huge)... and for a little more money you get a lot.
The beach here is the main focus, with lots of people on it, and enjoying the water, as it gets very humid and hot during the day. There are a lot of people hassling us to buy stuff, but they do it in such a nice way, it doesn't feel too bad. They are incredibly friendly and helpful. We walked around Kuta today a little, and bought a dress or two (for all of 4.5 USD), and also saw the memorial to the Bali bombings in 2002, which were around this area. Very sobering, and a fitting monument to all who died. Lots of English names up on the board.
We gave up walking around and headed for the beach, where I had a 2 hr private surfing lesson for 12USD - for a little more I could've got a free massage, a date and soft drinks, but I passed that up. He, Rizzle (his friends were called Tiger and Oraz), was a fantastic teacher and managed to get me standing up on the board on my 3rd attempt. Far better than the lesson I had in the Outer Banks in the US when I was younger. What can I say? I am now a pro. Surfing on the board all the way in, managing to change its direction, even got an injury. (Unfortunately it wasn't gushing blood, so not very impressive, just clonked myself on the back of the head with the board like a slight retard)...
So we are all a little full now after our veggie curries and tuna steaks, but just wanted to say that we arrived safely and are very content here. Luckily it is also very safe (as long as you're not male, single and stupidly drunk) which is more relaxing that South America, however we are aware that we are at most risk when we think we are the safest - so we're not letting our guard down. However, the atmosphere here is wonderful, and I think we've talked to most of the population in Bali already!
The roads are VERY narrow, barely letting a small car through, and add in 2 million scooters to the 4 million humans, lots of pedestrians and the odd horse, and life becomes very entertaining! We were walking down a narrow alley last night finding a hotel, when 3 scooters came roaring towards us... we shrieked and jumped out of the way, only for the guy in front to say, laughing, 'Don't worry, take your time'... and for the 3rd guy to say 'I'm going to kill you!' Luckily he was joking (or so we like to believe)... we did meet him again today and he was lovely, - the phrases they have picked up here are hilarious. Reminds me a lot of Morocco - again, 'Charlies Angels!', 'Looking is free', 'Hello darling', 'Hello treacle'... plus all the footie talk.
Anyway, we are heading into the middle of Bali tomorrow (all of about 45km away), to see some monkeys and do some 'culture', before swinging onto the north coast, and then down to do the Liberty ship wreck in Tulamben on the East Coast, which is also in some people's top 10 dive sites globally. Two dives there coast 45 USD - a fraction of the price in Australia. We will then head to Padangbai to maybe dive there, before heading over to the island of Lombok (to Senggigi) and then the Gilli islands, before flying to Singapore on the 15th. Internet is pretty hard to find in some places, so may not be able to check in as much, but at the moment my UK mobile (07877 421 666) is working, so in emergencies feel free to call it. As much as I'd love to hear from you in non-emergencies, it costs me a fortune to receive calls and messages!
Anyway, better dash and find a fan, but love to all, from us all,
Alice xxx
Hope all's well in good ol' England, and hope it's a little cooler there...! We spent a (lovely) day flying yesterday, from Cairns, which was alright but nothing spectacular, to Darwin, which was very hot - yes we are qualified to say we've seen it, as we stepped outside the airport for all of about 7 minutes...! We had a stopover there of about 5 hours, and didn't really want to spend much money, so had a delightful time hanging around the airport. Only an hour delayed leaving to Bali, as they couldn't start one of the engines (I think Jetstar is a bit like Ryanair or Easyjet), but the bonus was that we did get a free meal on the flight. Delicious, but, as always, not enough.
So we landed yesterday, and had a bit of a culture shock as it was about 1am our time, and we were used to easy Australia! But we managed to find a lovely guy called Sultan on the Poppies 1 Road, who helped us find a cheap hotel. (He worked in a tourist office, which was still open at 11pm, he wasn't a random off the street!) So we are staying in a very friendly place for a total of 10 US dollars a night for the 3 of us, with a huge double bed, another big single bed, and an adequate fan for the heat, plus our own bathroom. Such a hard life! It even includes an egg and tomato toastie with tea or coffee in the morning, loving this...
So Bali... well we are staying in Kuta, instead of grey Denpasar. It is wonderful - a maze of alleyways with people selling all sorts of things, and the most gorgeous clothes. Reminds me a little of the medinas in Morocco. The locals are so friendly! (and small) - things are thankfully very cheap here. We can eat a tuna steak with vegetables for a pound, or a fresh juice for 27p which was huge)... and for a little more money you get a lot.
The beach here is the main focus, with lots of people on it, and enjoying the water, as it gets very humid and hot during the day. There are a lot of people hassling us to buy stuff, but they do it in such a nice way, it doesn't feel too bad. They are incredibly friendly and helpful. We walked around Kuta today a little, and bought a dress or two (for all of 4.5 USD), and also saw the memorial to the Bali bombings in 2002, which were around this area. Very sobering, and a fitting monument to all who died. Lots of English names up on the board.
We gave up walking around and headed for the beach, where I had a 2 hr private surfing lesson for 12USD - for a little more I could've got a free massage, a date and soft drinks, but I passed that up. He, Rizzle (his friends were called Tiger and Oraz), was a fantastic teacher and managed to get me standing up on the board on my 3rd attempt. Far better than the lesson I had in the Outer Banks in the US when I was younger. What can I say? I am now a pro. Surfing on the board all the way in, managing to change its direction, even got an injury. (Unfortunately it wasn't gushing blood, so not very impressive, just clonked myself on the back of the head with the board like a slight retard)...
So we are all a little full now after our veggie curries and tuna steaks, but just wanted to say that we arrived safely and are very content here. Luckily it is also very safe (as long as you're not male, single and stupidly drunk) which is more relaxing that South America, however we are aware that we are at most risk when we think we are the safest - so we're not letting our guard down. However, the atmosphere here is wonderful, and I think we've talked to most of the population in Bali already!
The roads are VERY narrow, barely letting a small car through, and add in 2 million scooters to the 4 million humans, lots of pedestrians and the odd horse, and life becomes very entertaining! We were walking down a narrow alley last night finding a hotel, when 3 scooters came roaring towards us... we shrieked and jumped out of the way, only for the guy in front to say, laughing, 'Don't worry, take your time'... and for the 3rd guy to say 'I'm going to kill you!' Luckily he was joking (or so we like to believe)... we did meet him again today and he was lovely, - the phrases they have picked up here are hilarious. Reminds me a lot of Morocco - again, 'Charlies Angels!', 'Looking is free', 'Hello darling', 'Hello treacle'... plus all the footie talk.
Anyway, we are heading into the middle of Bali tomorrow (all of about 45km away), to see some monkeys and do some 'culture', before swinging onto the north coast, and then down to do the Liberty ship wreck in Tulamben on the East Coast, which is also in some people's top 10 dive sites globally. Two dives there coast 45 USD - a fraction of the price in Australia. We will then head to Padangbai to maybe dive there, before heading over to the island of Lombok (to Senggigi) and then the Gilli islands, before flying to Singapore on the 15th. Internet is pretty hard to find in some places, so may not be able to check in as much, but at the moment my UK mobile (07877 421 666) is working, so in emergencies feel free to call it. As much as I'd love to hear from you in non-emergencies, it costs me a fortune to receive calls and messages!
Anyway, better dash and find a fan, but love to all, from us all,
Alice xxx
Monday, 1 June 2009
Thank you!
A massive thank you to everyone we met who made our time in Australia so special. We loved every minute of it, and were amazed at how kind and generous people were. Thank you for everything, we had a fantastic time!
Off to Bali today (hopefully the plane will arrive there!)
Lots of love from us all,
Alice xxx
Off to Bali today (hopefully the plane will arrive there!)
Lots of love from us all,
Alice xxx
Sunday, 31 May 2009
Diving! The SS Yongala and the Great Barrier Reef, (Opal Reef).
Hey hey there,
We made it up to the Yongala on Thursday, and had an absolutely amazing time. We didn't have to speak to the super cow who did the bookings for us (and was rude to Haz), and the rest of the staff and boat were lovely people.
The SS Yongala went down about 100 years ago, and wasn't found until after WW2 when divers were searching for mines. All 121 people died on the vessel when it hit a cyclone. Unfortunately, it was on its way to collect a radio in Cairns that would have notified it about the cyclone. The boat is intact, still has the skeletons in it and is now a protected area. You cannot penetrate the wreck diving, as the bubbles from the divers exhaling will encourage the rusting of the boat, but you can still peer in and see the loos, bathroom and anchor. It was a very rough ride out there and back again (and when we were moored up 11 miles out to sea), so had to lie down for most of it. H and J were very kind and accommodating for me, and helped me with my equipment so I wouldn't join the vomiting women!
The dive itself is rated by some as the best dive in the world. The amount and variety of fish you see is difficult to describe. We saw sea snakes, a turtle, clown fish (nemo), massive gropers, and lots and lots and lots of other weird and wonderful stuff. The day afterwards they saw some sharks. You could pretty much do the dive from the descent line as the fish always swim around you, but we decided to have a look around anyway. The people on the boat were great fun to talk to, so we ended up going to an area where we could park up for the night (and use lady bushes), and chatting until we were so exhausted we went to bed. The dive company also gave us a huge BBQ when we got back - luckily my stomach had settled by this point, and I was able to make a dent in the pile of meat. Delicious.
So we realised that we needed to get up to Port Douglas pretty quick on Friday (well needed to get there), so we hit the road and stopped briefly in Townsville (pretty city) and Mission Beach (nice beach, but cold, can't go in the water and lots of people). Eventually got up to near Port Douglas which was a relief... so we headed into the town on Saturday, and asked what the prices were like to dive. Because the weather wasn't great, and the markets are on on Sunday, so there are fewer people actually wanting to go out on the boats, only 1 boat was going to an outer reef, and not really the one we wanted to go on. We managed to get a discounted price from 330 to 245 dollars for the boat (full gear hire and 3 dives), but wanted to speak to an instructor before booking it up with Calypso, as the receptionist didn't really know anything about diving. To cut a long story short, Gary our instructor, put 2 of our dives towards our Advanced PADI certification, and took us on 3 dives on the gorgeous boat for only 215 dollars! Bargain...
We were parked up in the car park waiting to go diving on Sunday, when 3 guys came and started chatting to us, and laughing about us doing our diving 'homework' for the following day. They were interesting, but had a spare room in a 5 star hotel in Port Douglas. So... we took it. Absolutely beautiful! A TV, BATH! (with hot water), a huge double bed... they even stole us towels etc... a very random night, and we spent a couple of hours making use of the room before dropping off to sleep, in our $250/night accommodation... we loved those guys.
So headed out with Calypso company on 'Pure Dive', a beautiful, brand spanking new boat. She had a proper loo (amazing), hot showers, and only 29 people on board. She was a catamaran, and was wonderful to be on. (Luckily the sea sickness tablets worked). We went diving 3 times, so now we have 4 of our required 5 adventure dives to get Advanced certification. Only need to do 1 more and purchase the dive instructions book, and then we will be qualified! It means we can go down to 30m instead of merely 18m, and can dive in more places globally. Gary our instructor was awesome - a real laugh and a great teacher, and showed us a white tipped reef shark, a huge turtle, many many weird and wonderful sea cucumbers, and even took my fins off me when I was kicking up the sand a little too much for his liking.
Walking back to the van afterwards, a random guy stopped us and asked us where we were going, and then gave us 1kg of cooked fresh prawns, as his wife had bought them and he couldn't be bothered to carry them around! I worked out that the total money we had saved in the previous 24 hours was nearly $700... we loved Port Douglas, it was an expensive place, but the locals were so friendly, they kept on helping us out and showing where to go for cheap. So ended up having a drink with Gary and his friend last night, before heading down to Cairns this morning. Really recommend looking at the photographs on picasa as the diving ones are really good! (Not taken by me, but by Gary and an underwater photographer with $4000 worth of equipment... one day I'll do that!)
Dropping the van off this afternoon at Wicked, and then flying to Denpasar in Bali tomorrow... so will message when we get there.
Loads of love,
Alice xxx
We made it up to the Yongala on Thursday, and had an absolutely amazing time. We didn't have to speak to the super cow who did the bookings for us (and was rude to Haz), and the rest of the staff and boat were lovely people.
The SS Yongala went down about 100 years ago, and wasn't found until after WW2 when divers were searching for mines. All 121 people died on the vessel when it hit a cyclone. Unfortunately, it was on its way to collect a radio in Cairns that would have notified it about the cyclone. The boat is intact, still has the skeletons in it and is now a protected area. You cannot penetrate the wreck diving, as the bubbles from the divers exhaling will encourage the rusting of the boat, but you can still peer in and see the loos, bathroom and anchor. It was a very rough ride out there and back again (and when we were moored up 11 miles out to sea), so had to lie down for most of it. H and J were very kind and accommodating for me, and helped me with my equipment so I wouldn't join the vomiting women!
The dive itself is rated by some as the best dive in the world. The amount and variety of fish you see is difficult to describe. We saw sea snakes, a turtle, clown fish (nemo), massive gropers, and lots and lots and lots of other weird and wonderful stuff. The day afterwards they saw some sharks. You could pretty much do the dive from the descent line as the fish always swim around you, but we decided to have a look around anyway. The people on the boat were great fun to talk to, so we ended up going to an area where we could park up for the night (and use lady bushes), and chatting until we were so exhausted we went to bed. The dive company also gave us a huge BBQ when we got back - luckily my stomach had settled by this point, and I was able to make a dent in the pile of meat. Delicious.
So we realised that we needed to get up to Port Douglas pretty quick on Friday (well needed to get there), so we hit the road and stopped briefly in Townsville (pretty city) and Mission Beach (nice beach, but cold, can't go in the water and lots of people). Eventually got up to near Port Douglas which was a relief... so we headed into the town on Saturday, and asked what the prices were like to dive. Because the weather wasn't great, and the markets are on on Sunday, so there are fewer people actually wanting to go out on the boats, only 1 boat was going to an outer reef, and not really the one we wanted to go on. We managed to get a discounted price from 330 to 245 dollars for the boat (full gear hire and 3 dives), but wanted to speak to an instructor before booking it up with Calypso, as the receptionist didn't really know anything about diving. To cut a long story short, Gary our instructor, put 2 of our dives towards our Advanced PADI certification, and took us on 3 dives on the gorgeous boat for only 215 dollars! Bargain...
We were parked up in the car park waiting to go diving on Sunday, when 3 guys came and started chatting to us, and laughing about us doing our diving 'homework' for the following day. They were interesting, but had a spare room in a 5 star hotel in Port Douglas. So... we took it. Absolutely beautiful! A TV, BATH! (with hot water), a huge double bed... they even stole us towels etc... a very random night, and we spent a couple of hours making use of the room before dropping off to sleep, in our $250/night accommodation... we loved those guys.
So headed out with Calypso company on 'Pure Dive', a beautiful, brand spanking new boat. She had a proper loo (amazing), hot showers, and only 29 people on board. She was a catamaran, and was wonderful to be on. (Luckily the sea sickness tablets worked). We went diving 3 times, so now we have 4 of our required 5 adventure dives to get Advanced certification. Only need to do 1 more and purchase the dive instructions book, and then we will be qualified! It means we can go down to 30m instead of merely 18m, and can dive in more places globally. Gary our instructor was awesome - a real laugh and a great teacher, and showed us a white tipped reef shark, a huge turtle, many many weird and wonderful sea cucumbers, and even took my fins off me when I was kicking up the sand a little too much for his liking.
Walking back to the van afterwards, a random guy stopped us and asked us where we were going, and then gave us 1kg of cooked fresh prawns, as his wife had bought them and he couldn't be bothered to carry them around! I worked out that the total money we had saved in the previous 24 hours was nearly $700... we loved Port Douglas, it was an expensive place, but the locals were so friendly, they kept on helping us out and showing where to go for cheap. So ended up having a drink with Gary and his friend last night, before heading down to Cairns this morning. Really recommend looking at the photographs on picasa as the diving ones are really good! (Not taken by me, but by Gary and an underwater photographer with $4000 worth of equipment... one day I'll do that!)
Dropping the van off this afternoon at Wicked, and then flying to Denpasar in Bali tomorrow... so will message when we get there.
Loads of love,
Alice xxx
Tuesday, 26 May 2009
Airlie Beach and the Whitsundays...
Hey hey there,
I write a blog about 4 days ago saying about our trip up from Byron Bay to Airlie Beach, but unfortunately it hasn't come up on the website - looks like something went wrong there down the wires! Very very annoyed as it took me a little while...
Anyway, not going to bore you with every little detail that's happened, but we have just arrived back from the Whitsunday Islands. We arrived in Airlie Beach a couple of days before, and had fun just relaxing and finding Cedar Falls - a beautiful couple of waterfalls in a small pool a bit away from the town (and the bus loads of backpackers that seem to dominate areas like this!) We also enjoyed hanging around the lagoon, which is filled with beautiful water, where you can swim - jellyfish free. Lots of facilities, - bbq, loos, showers, lots of shops nearby... really really nice to escape the heat.
So we got onto Pegasus, our boat, on Sunday and sailed out to the Whitsundays, where we had a great time. Unfortunately the weather wasn't brilliant, so we didn't get to see Whitehaven beach, which was rated as number 2 in the world this year, (our skipper was stupid and didn't bother sailing us there as it was choppy), so we spent the time diving and snorkelling. The company wasn't good about preserving the coral, and it was horrible to see how much devastation there is and how much of it is dead. There were very few fish, much of the coral was dead, and generally very sad. Our dive instructor was exacerbating the problem by picking things up (if you touch coral you kill it). But we had a couple of dives to practise before diving in Yongalla - the ship wreck - tomorrow.
The boat was alright, loos horrible, food great (and lots of it too - and meat!) but the people were fantastic, and a real laugh. We stayed up socialising, and I stayed up a lot both nights getting over 300 bed bug bites. Hayley counted. I itch and scratch like a diseased thing. Horrible! Couldn't believe it - apparently they have super bed bugs here, from Indonesia (they think). I just think that they don't really scour the boats properly! But we had a great time on the boat anyway, and met some awesome people.
So came back last night, collected our van and ran a few errands (like going to the pharmacy for antihistamine tablets too). Met up with the others for a free pizza and a drink last night, so running errands again today before heading off to Ayr this afternoon. Diving the Yongala tomorrow morning, and then not really sure what we are doing! Probably heading up to Port Douglas, just north of Cairns, pretty quickly.
Anyway, hope you are all ok, with lots of love from us all,
Alice xxx
I write a blog about 4 days ago saying about our trip up from Byron Bay to Airlie Beach, but unfortunately it hasn't come up on the website - looks like something went wrong there down the wires! Very very annoyed as it took me a little while...
Anyway, not going to bore you with every little detail that's happened, but we have just arrived back from the Whitsunday Islands. We arrived in Airlie Beach a couple of days before, and had fun just relaxing and finding Cedar Falls - a beautiful couple of waterfalls in a small pool a bit away from the town (and the bus loads of backpackers that seem to dominate areas like this!) We also enjoyed hanging around the lagoon, which is filled with beautiful water, where you can swim - jellyfish free. Lots of facilities, - bbq, loos, showers, lots of shops nearby... really really nice to escape the heat.
So we got onto Pegasus, our boat, on Sunday and sailed out to the Whitsundays, where we had a great time. Unfortunately the weather wasn't brilliant, so we didn't get to see Whitehaven beach, which was rated as number 2 in the world this year, (our skipper was stupid and didn't bother sailing us there as it was choppy), so we spent the time diving and snorkelling. The company wasn't good about preserving the coral, and it was horrible to see how much devastation there is and how much of it is dead. There were very few fish, much of the coral was dead, and generally very sad. Our dive instructor was exacerbating the problem by picking things up (if you touch coral you kill it). But we had a couple of dives to practise before diving in Yongalla - the ship wreck - tomorrow.
The boat was alright, loos horrible, food great (and lots of it too - and meat!) but the people were fantastic, and a real laugh. We stayed up socialising, and I stayed up a lot both nights getting over 300 bed bug bites. Hayley counted. I itch and scratch like a diseased thing. Horrible! Couldn't believe it - apparently they have super bed bugs here, from Indonesia (they think). I just think that they don't really scour the boats properly! But we had a great time on the boat anyway, and met some awesome people.
So came back last night, collected our van and ran a few errands (like going to the pharmacy for antihistamine tablets too). Met up with the others for a free pizza and a drink last night, so running errands again today before heading off to Ayr this afternoon. Diving the Yongala tomorrow morning, and then not really sure what we are doing! Probably heading up to Port Douglas, just north of Cairns, pretty quickly.
Anyway, hope you are all ok, with lots of love from us all,
Alice xxx
Saturday, 23 May 2009
Airlie Beach
Good evening everyone,
We spent a little time in Mackay and headed off to see some platypuses in the Eungella national park. Luckily our van, Pinky, just about made it up the mountain ranges and we did see one platypus (we think - could have been a turtle), before we got lost heading back for the hotel... but we did eventually make it, and the hot shower in the morning was still absolutely brilliant.
Stopped off at Cape Hillsborough - absolutely stunning. Rainforest comes down onto a deserted beach with white sands and clear waters. Unfortunately still the threat of poisonous jellyfish and we didn't have stinger suits, so couldn't cool off in the water, but it was absolutely beautiful. Very rare to find such a gorgeous beach like that - and practically deserted too! We stopped off at Seaforth to go swimming in the nets so safe from jellyfish... but unfortunately the tide was out and the nets are stationary. So no water in them. Oops.
We headed along and made it to Airlie Beach yesterday afternoon. It's not a great place, but nice enough. Basically one main road with loads of tourist offices for trips to the Whitsunday islands, internet cafes, restaurants, bars... but we actually paid for a campsite last night, and it was brilliant. Proper loos, hot showers (whenever we want them!) and somewhere to wash up our pots and pans... heaven. Lucky with the weather too...
Today we went to Cedar Falls - a beautiful couple of waterfalls into a turquoise pool of clear water in the middle of a forested area. Stunning, and small. Only a couple of people there - was gorgeous swimming in the water and generally relaxing before making our way back to Airlie...
Tomorrow we head off to see the Whitsunday Islands on Pegasus - a boat. We will be on the boat for 2 nights, so will return early Tuesday. Got a dive booked up for Thursday in Ayr, so will hopefully get a chance to check in sometime on Tuesday or Wednesday again. Don't worry if we're not in contact for a bit, we'll be busy snorkelling and diving on the Great Barrier reef... such a hard life! (Still got Oz phone on us though for emergencies or general happy text messages, but not sure about reception at sea...)
Anyways, loads of love to you all,
Alice xxx
We spent a little time in Mackay and headed off to see some platypuses in the Eungella national park. Luckily our van, Pinky, just about made it up the mountain ranges and we did see one platypus (we think - could have been a turtle), before we got lost heading back for the hotel... but we did eventually make it, and the hot shower in the morning was still absolutely brilliant.
Stopped off at Cape Hillsborough - absolutely stunning. Rainforest comes down onto a deserted beach with white sands and clear waters. Unfortunately still the threat of poisonous jellyfish and we didn't have stinger suits, so couldn't cool off in the water, but it was absolutely beautiful. Very rare to find such a gorgeous beach like that - and practically deserted too! We stopped off at Seaforth to go swimming in the nets so safe from jellyfish... but unfortunately the tide was out and the nets are stationary. So no water in them. Oops.
We headed along and made it to Airlie Beach yesterday afternoon. It's not a great place, but nice enough. Basically one main road with loads of tourist offices for trips to the Whitsunday islands, internet cafes, restaurants, bars... but we actually paid for a campsite last night, and it was brilliant. Proper loos, hot showers (whenever we want them!) and somewhere to wash up our pots and pans... heaven. Lucky with the weather too...
Today we went to Cedar Falls - a beautiful couple of waterfalls into a turquoise pool of clear water in the middle of a forested area. Stunning, and small. Only a couple of people there - was gorgeous swimming in the water and generally relaxing before making our way back to Airlie...
Tomorrow we head off to see the Whitsunday Islands on Pegasus - a boat. We will be on the boat for 2 nights, so will return early Tuesday. Got a dive booked up for Thursday in Ayr, so will hopefully get a chance to check in sometime on Tuesday or Wednesday again. Don't worry if we're not in contact for a bit, we'll be busy snorkelling and diving on the Great Barrier reef... such a hard life! (Still got Oz phone on us though for emergencies or general happy text messages, but not sure about reception at sea...)
Anyways, loads of love to you all,
Alice xxx
Wednesday, 20 May 2009
Brisbane, avoiding national disasters, lots of cows and finally sun!
Hey hey there,
So we left Byron and headed up to Brisbane. We went through Surfers Paradise - oh my goodness, what a culture shock! Like a mini Las Vegas on the water's edge - full of money and beautiful skyscraper apartments. But also quite tacky in places. Could only afford to fill up with petrol so we decided to find somewhere to park up for the night on the way up to Brisbane.
Unfortunately there aren't many rest stops in Queensland, so we had to double back on ourselves the following morning to go into Brisbane to sort out our van. Yes, again. Luckily she still goes - just, but wouldn't recommend the company to anyone else! Just needed a new aerial (they wouldn't replace it, even though we didn't break it), a new gearbox (wouldn't give us one either), and the handbrake needed tightening (they didn't tighten it much). Still, we stole yet more stuff from the free table!
(Very glad to have left Brisbane, as now the floods are a national disaster - someone has died, many are stranded and roads are blocked. It's sunny here and 26 degrees - what a hard life! But well out of all the rain now, very luckily.)
So headed up and drove to Tairo on Monday. Had a brief stop at the Big Pineapple, then stopped for a couple of hours at Noosa Heads - meant to be like Byron Bay, but it was raining so we couldn't tell if it was or not. The place was quite pretentious and full of money (we much prefer hippy places!) and the beaches weren't appealing in the rain. Yes, it was still pouring, so we decided to head north again and ended up stopping in Tairo. It was a brilliant campsite with hot showers and loos - for free! Unfortunately it was pouring down with rain most of the time, so spent quite a while huddled in our new van, Pinky (Pink Panther themed). Quite annoying needing the loo when the rain is pouring down on the top of the van, making a right racket!
Anyway, we headed north - again, to Maryborough, which was running for the capital of Queensland against Brisbane a few years ago. It is now a really cute little town, with gorgeous coffee shops, second hand book shops, charity shops (Op shops - Opportunity shops) - and little strange and weird shops. But, we had to see the house where the author of Mary Poppins lived, and I took pictures of Mary Poppins characters on plinths, and her statues.
Jetted on to Childers, which is where the Palace Backpackers Hostel burnt down a few years ago. It has been renovated into an art gallery and a memorial for the 15 people who died - it made UK news. The man who intentionally started the fire is behind bars, (he was chucked out of the hostel for his behaviour), and it was a very sobering experience for us. The community really seemed to rally round, and really helped the 69 backpackers who did survive. The memorial was beautiful, but what was more touching was a folder full of cards and letters left from friends and family who had lost loved ones. I'm not good enough with words to really write about this. I'll just say that what happened was horrific beyond belief, but they have made something beautiful out of the mess.
Next stop, Town of 1770. Not a town at all, just a piece of land where Captain James Cook landed on Australia! Drove quite a while just to see the sea again. Oh well, we can say we have been cultural! We did get to see a few boats and some hostels...
Stopped for the night in a random town - well in a layby by a random town with free loos and cold showers. Spent the evening listening to a German guy play his guitar beautifully as he was cooking supper. A little bit of card playing and goon, before turning in for the night (late at about 8.30pm!)
So yesterday we drove through Rockhampton - 66,500 residents, and MILLIONS of cows in the 250km radius. Lots of cow models (see the photos), an interesting art gallery, and some surprisingly pretty buildings. Quite nice for a little rest stop. We then drove for hours up to Mackay, which is where we are now. Ended up sleeping in a rest area - a car park - out the back of a hotel and pub just south west of Mackay. Quite a strange pub, full of locals, but free camping, loos and cheap showers, bliss. Woke up this morning to find the sun shining, and we had parked near sugar cane fields, sooooo pretty. It's a hard life here!
So this evening going to find some platypuses, then head up to the northern beaches tomorrow. Maybe hit Airlie Beach tomorrow or the next day, for a 3 day boat trip Sunday - Tuesday around the Whitsunday Islands, snorkelling and diving on the reef. Dashing up to Ayr on Tuesday night to dive the Yongala ship wreck (top 10 wreck dives in the world) on Wednesday morning... so will desperately try to email sometime in between all that, but please don't worry if we don't get a chance - internet not very common here!
Anyway, love to all from us all, and will write again when we can next.
Love Alice xxx
So we left Byron and headed up to Brisbane. We went through Surfers Paradise - oh my goodness, what a culture shock! Like a mini Las Vegas on the water's edge - full of money and beautiful skyscraper apartments. But also quite tacky in places. Could only afford to fill up with petrol so we decided to find somewhere to park up for the night on the way up to Brisbane.
Unfortunately there aren't many rest stops in Queensland, so we had to double back on ourselves the following morning to go into Brisbane to sort out our van. Yes, again. Luckily she still goes - just, but wouldn't recommend the company to anyone else! Just needed a new aerial (they wouldn't replace it, even though we didn't break it), a new gearbox (wouldn't give us one either), and the handbrake needed tightening (they didn't tighten it much). Still, we stole yet more stuff from the free table!
(Very glad to have left Brisbane, as now the floods are a national disaster - someone has died, many are stranded and roads are blocked. It's sunny here and 26 degrees - what a hard life! But well out of all the rain now, very luckily.)
So headed up and drove to Tairo on Monday. Had a brief stop at the Big Pineapple, then stopped for a couple of hours at Noosa Heads - meant to be like Byron Bay, but it was raining so we couldn't tell if it was or not. The place was quite pretentious and full of money (we much prefer hippy places!) and the beaches weren't appealing in the rain. Yes, it was still pouring, so we decided to head north again and ended up stopping in Tairo. It was a brilliant campsite with hot showers and loos - for free! Unfortunately it was pouring down with rain most of the time, so spent quite a while huddled in our new van, Pinky (Pink Panther themed). Quite annoying needing the loo when the rain is pouring down on the top of the van, making a right racket!
Anyway, we headed north - again, to Maryborough, which was running for the capital of Queensland against Brisbane a few years ago. It is now a really cute little town, with gorgeous coffee shops, second hand book shops, charity shops (Op shops - Opportunity shops) - and little strange and weird shops. But, we had to see the house where the author of Mary Poppins lived, and I took pictures of Mary Poppins characters on plinths, and her statues.
Jetted on to Childers, which is where the Palace Backpackers Hostel burnt down a few years ago. It has been renovated into an art gallery and a memorial for the 15 people who died - it made UK news. The man who intentionally started the fire is behind bars, (he was chucked out of the hostel for his behaviour), and it was a very sobering experience for us. The community really seemed to rally round, and really helped the 69 backpackers who did survive. The memorial was beautiful, but what was more touching was a folder full of cards and letters left from friends and family who had lost loved ones. I'm not good enough with words to really write about this. I'll just say that what happened was horrific beyond belief, but they have made something beautiful out of the mess.
Next stop, Town of 1770. Not a town at all, just a piece of land where Captain James Cook landed on Australia! Drove quite a while just to see the sea again. Oh well, we can say we have been cultural! We did get to see a few boats and some hostels...
Stopped for the night in a random town - well in a layby by a random town with free loos and cold showers. Spent the evening listening to a German guy play his guitar beautifully as he was cooking supper. A little bit of card playing and goon, before turning in for the night (late at about 8.30pm!)
So yesterday we drove through Rockhampton - 66,500 residents, and MILLIONS of cows in the 250km radius. Lots of cow models (see the photos), an interesting art gallery, and some surprisingly pretty buildings. Quite nice for a little rest stop. We then drove for hours up to Mackay, which is where we are now. Ended up sleeping in a rest area - a car park - out the back of a hotel and pub just south west of Mackay. Quite a strange pub, full of locals, but free camping, loos and cheap showers, bliss. Woke up this morning to find the sun shining, and we had parked near sugar cane fields, sooooo pretty. It's a hard life here!
So this evening going to find some platypuses, then head up to the northern beaches tomorrow. Maybe hit Airlie Beach tomorrow or the next day, for a 3 day boat trip Sunday - Tuesday around the Whitsunday Islands, snorkelling and diving on the reef. Dashing up to Ayr on Tuesday night to dive the Yongala ship wreck (top 10 wreck dives in the world) on Wednesday morning... so will desperately try to email sometime in between all that, but please don't worry if we don't get a chance - internet not very common here!
Anyway, love to all from us all, and will write again when we can next.
Love Alice xxx
Sunday, 17 May 2009
Byron Bay, a broken van, diving and sharks!
Hey hey there,
Well, just managed to jump into the free internet so can't waffle on for ages (you'll be heart broken I know). Basically just wanted to give you an update in case we don't get to an internet cafe in the next few days...
So Friday we got up after watching The Reader on Thursday night - very good - and got ready to head into Byron. But this plan was foiled by Candy's radiator fluid running all over the layby. Fluorescent green. Not so pretty. I managed to jump into a van with 2 Spanish guys (one was very good looking) to hitch a ride into Byron, as I needed to do a session in the dive pool in the afternoon. H and J were fantastic and sat with the van for 4 hours until the tow truck arrived. Unfortunately the van was not able to be mended in time for us, so we switched that afternoon to Pinky (Pink Panther themed). She's not as pretty as Candy, and we do miss Candy terribly, but Pinky is bigger. But she's an automatic and her gear choosing is questionable at best. Still, at least we have a new set of wheels and the company was very grateful we hadn't overheated her at all (we knew that 2 litres of water daily was a lot!) So drove to Nimbin that night and paid for a campsite (I know, wow!)
Nimbin is a strange placed, with much touristy stuff based around hemp etc. The pictures of the Nimbin museum have to be seen to be believed - advertised with '2 dollar donation if you can, but come in anyway'. The back had 'Nimbin Museum - refugees welcome'. Such a hippy town, absolutely fantastic, loads of alternative shops etc... really I'm afraid you'll have to wait until the pictures come out! (Maybe in the next few days I'll get them on)...
So it was back to Byron for a very difficult time relaxing on the beach, sunning ourselves and cooking food in our van again. H and J have been really kind in hanging around Byron for longer, as today I went diving twice and got SSI Open Water certified! It was absolutely amazing... was absolutely terrified before I got into the water at 7.50am - went to the loo 3 times - but once was in the water it all came back again which was great. In case you fancy a gander, I spotted -
SHARKS! Many of them - Hale's wobbegongs. Up to about 3m long.
A huge white spotted eagle ray (huge stingray)
White spotted guitarfish (looks very shark like)
Moorish idol
Eastern blue groper
Southern fusilier
Estuary cod
Black spotted porcupine fish (look very funny) - www.julianrocks.net/fish
It was absolutely fantastic, I survived, and really enjoyed it too. Met the girls on the beach again and we treated ourselves to huge fruit salads and paninis as was end of day discount. We're heading north for about an hour tonight to find another layby with toilets that smell nicer than the ones we have been using. Then driving through Surfers Paradise tomorrow, and heading onto Brisbane for a couple of hours to get our van serviced, before heading north again tomorrow night. So will be in contact soon when possible!
Anyway, loads of love to all,
chat again soon,
Alice xxxx
Well, just managed to jump into the free internet so can't waffle on for ages (you'll be heart broken I know). Basically just wanted to give you an update in case we don't get to an internet cafe in the next few days...
So Friday we got up after watching The Reader on Thursday night - very good - and got ready to head into Byron. But this plan was foiled by Candy's radiator fluid running all over the layby. Fluorescent green. Not so pretty. I managed to jump into a van with 2 Spanish guys (one was very good looking) to hitch a ride into Byron, as I needed to do a session in the dive pool in the afternoon. H and J were fantastic and sat with the van for 4 hours until the tow truck arrived. Unfortunately the van was not able to be mended in time for us, so we switched that afternoon to Pinky (Pink Panther themed). She's not as pretty as Candy, and we do miss Candy terribly, but Pinky is bigger. But she's an automatic and her gear choosing is questionable at best. Still, at least we have a new set of wheels and the company was very grateful we hadn't overheated her at all (we knew that 2 litres of water daily was a lot!) So drove to Nimbin that night and paid for a campsite (I know, wow!)
Nimbin is a strange placed, with much touristy stuff based around hemp etc. The pictures of the Nimbin museum have to be seen to be believed - advertised with '2 dollar donation if you can, but come in anyway'. The back had 'Nimbin Museum - refugees welcome'. Such a hippy town, absolutely fantastic, loads of alternative shops etc... really I'm afraid you'll have to wait until the pictures come out! (Maybe in the next few days I'll get them on)...
So it was back to Byron for a very difficult time relaxing on the beach, sunning ourselves and cooking food in our van again. H and J have been really kind in hanging around Byron for longer, as today I went diving twice and got SSI Open Water certified! It was absolutely amazing... was absolutely terrified before I got into the water at 7.50am - went to the loo 3 times - but once was in the water it all came back again which was great. In case you fancy a gander, I spotted -
SHARKS! Many of them - Hale's wobbegongs. Up to about 3m long.
A huge white spotted eagle ray (huge stingray)
White spotted guitarfish (looks very shark like)
Moorish idol
Eastern blue groper
Southern fusilier
Estuary cod
Black spotted porcupine fish (look very funny) - www.julianrocks.net/fish
It was absolutely fantastic, I survived, and really enjoyed it too. Met the girls on the beach again and we treated ourselves to huge fruit salads and paninis as was end of day discount. We're heading north for about an hour tonight to find another layby with toilets that smell nicer than the ones we have been using. Then driving through Surfers Paradise tomorrow, and heading onto Brisbane for a couple of hours to get our van serviced, before heading north again tomorrow night. So will be in contact soon when possible!
Anyway, loads of love to all,
chat again soon,
Alice xxxx
Thursday, 14 May 2009
Diving!
Hey hey there,
Just a quickie - again - we are still in Byron Bay and having a wonderful time sunning ourselves on the beach, going around the quirky boutique shops (I resisted - very difficult - having my fairy portrait done!) We have booked up the Whitsundays tour and have forgone the Fraser Island, as it seems pretty similar to fantastic places we saw in central and south America. And also we can't put up with too many people drinking all night!
But... we realised that I need to dive pretty quickly, so we stayed in Byron Bay for another couple of days, and I had a checkup with the doctor - ears are now absolutely fine! Also chest, wee, lungs, eyesight etc etc is all perfectly healthy. So I am going in the pool for a practise with the instructor tomorrow (J and Haz are also allowed to come along and use their hot showers!) and then will join a lovely group of only 3 others for their finals dives on Sunday - the same dives that I missed. So then should be qualified! The only thing is that the instructor forgot to renew his PADI membership, so he cannot certify me with PADI, but can with SSI - which is identical (pretty much) - and I can still dive in exactly the same places and depth as I would with PADI. So we are going to head to the cinema tonight, then I'll go swimming tomorrow.
Heading to Nimbin on Saturday quickly, - it's only 40 minutes away - but then will return to Byron Bay for Sunday diving. Very exciting!
Gotta go and eat scrummy kebabs and falafel now (the nice kind, not the donner variety)
Lots of love to you all,
from us all,
Alice xxx
ps is having to refill our van with 2 litres of water daily after only driving about 200km worrying? We think we might have a leak around the radiator...!
Just a quickie - again - we are still in Byron Bay and having a wonderful time sunning ourselves on the beach, going around the quirky boutique shops (I resisted - very difficult - having my fairy portrait done!) We have booked up the Whitsundays tour and have forgone the Fraser Island, as it seems pretty similar to fantastic places we saw in central and south America. And also we can't put up with too many people drinking all night!
But... we realised that I need to dive pretty quickly, so we stayed in Byron Bay for another couple of days, and I had a checkup with the doctor - ears are now absolutely fine! Also chest, wee, lungs, eyesight etc etc is all perfectly healthy. So I am going in the pool for a practise with the instructor tomorrow (J and Haz are also allowed to come along and use their hot showers!) and then will join a lovely group of only 3 others for their finals dives on Sunday - the same dives that I missed. So then should be qualified! The only thing is that the instructor forgot to renew his PADI membership, so he cannot certify me with PADI, but can with SSI - which is identical (pretty much) - and I can still dive in exactly the same places and depth as I would with PADI. So we are going to head to the cinema tonight, then I'll go swimming tomorrow.
Heading to Nimbin on Saturday quickly, - it's only 40 minutes away - but then will return to Byron Bay for Sunday diving. Very exciting!
Gotta go and eat scrummy kebabs and falafel now (the nice kind, not the donner variety)
Lots of love to you all,
from us all,
Alice xxx
ps is having to refill our van with 2 litres of water daily after only driving about 200km worrying? We think we might have a leak around the radiator...!
Monday, 11 May 2009
... and all the way up north to Byron Bay.
Hey hey again,
Sorry the last entry was so rushed - it was very difficult when my money was running out! Oh well, these things happen... anyway, just wanted to say again really how great it was seeing our friends, and catching up with them. Katy and Ross were so kind in putting us up - we felt thoroughly spoilt, and it was a nasty shock again when we opened the van doors to find out that Candy wasn't smelling her sweetest... these things happen!
So anyway, we headed on the road after Newcastle, and went through many different places. We saw a very windy Old Bar beach - miles and miles of greyness (the weather wasn't great that day!), passed through Taree, and ended up in Port Macquerie. Unfortunately, it was a Sunday and the weather was terrible! Really heavy rain, - in fact we didn't feel up to doing anything that day. Unfortunately, when the weather is bad, and it is a Sunday, there is practically nothing to do in Port Macquerie. So we spent time writing in journals, finishing books, and just generally chilling out. We didn't feel like cooking supper so ended up driving back to where J had seen a meal deal at a pub down the road. She didn't mention it was about 30 minutes backtracking where we had been! So we braved the weather again, only to eventually find it in a very random place called North Haven, in the Bowling and Recreation Club. It was as awful as it sounded! But somehow delightfully tacky... bright neon lights, the average age was about 60, and lots of gambling machines... but we braved it out (had to sign on as a visitor), and had the hugest roast dinner for $8.50 (4.25 quid). The amount of meat I got was fantastic! Huge portions, and well worth it...
So we battled on into the night, and Haz had found a campsite with showers (that you had to pay for), 13km away from a little town called Crescent Head. So we tried to find it... after going 5km down a horrifically potholed road (and filled with muddy water - yes it was still raining!) The road was terrible - it was virtually impossible to avoid the potholes. And we are not allowed to drive down the unsealed roads according to the Wicked contract... so if we broke down we were in trouble! We decided, eventually, that a hot shower was not worth this fuss, so we ended up turning back and heading up the Pacific Highway for a little longer, until we found a rest area with toilets. Still, it was quite an experience, and one that we didn't really feel like repeating! The waves looked awesome though, and there were a lot of surfers hanging around, waiting for dawn.
So we headed on up the road the following day, stopping off to see a beautiful lighthouse at Smoky Cape. It was gorgeous, really elegant all in white, and looked out to the turbulent waters below. Next stop, Old Trial Gaol, in Old Trial Bay. It was built to house prisoners to work on a breakwater for the bay. Unfortunately, the breakwater never really worked out (it cost far too much in time and money), and was ravaged by a storm. So it was really an easy prison for 'aliens' during the first world war. They were allowed to walk along the beach, play games, form a theatre group, and so on and so on. We had great delight in walking around and looking into the cells.
Next stop, Nambucca Heads, - meant to have great views of the coast, and was quite pretty, but we unfortunately didn't manage to find the right lookout! It was pretty anyway, although the town was pretty average. But what it did have was the V-Wall. One of the only truly democratic pieces of artwork I've ever seen. The wall of stones that protects the town against the sea was coloured in with paints, stones, shells and mosaics. Anyone could write on it, and some of them were great. It wasn't interfered with by the authorities (as far as I know of), and people were very respectful of other works there. Not many people vandalised paintings on the rocks, and it was fantastic in that families painted a picture of themselves on a beach for example, and painted down each year they returned to Nambucca Heads. It was so bright and colourful - I loved it.
We carried onwards, and arrived at Coffs Harbour. The town was nice enough, but the weather was slightly too cold to go swimming in the beach. We did see the 'Big Banana' though - you really have to look at the picasa photos to see for yourself! It started the craze for the 'Big Things' that are mainly along the East Coast. So we sniggered and took a photo or two, before heading to the 'Surf Legends Museum'. Run by Scott Dillon (we didn't realise how famous he was until afterwards), - he was absolutely mental! We turned up and there were 3 policemen and 2 police cars looking for his 'wayward grandson' - he also invited us to jump in his hot tub. Very tempting (we hadn't had showers in a day or more), but instead declined as we needed to head on. He was so interesting to talk to - obviously a very famous surfer, who also made lots of surfboards. He showed us many photographs of shark attacks, people having their photo taken underwater, and a HUGE shark is in the photograph behind them - they were completely unawares! The surfboard collection was massive, as was his collection of photographs and memorabilia as well. He had collected many things from his times in Bali, Hawaii etc surfing, and his museum (house) was very strange. But fantastic to see - and great to chat to Scott.
So we felt as though we had done Coffs Harbour, and headed north to find ourselves a (free and HOT!) shower in a service station. Drove near to Grafton last night, and entertained ourselves with wine and card playing until we finally fell into bed, at 8.30pm. It was a late night! Then up at a fair time today to drive to Grafton (a couple of nice buildings, but not that special really), before stopping off to see the Scottish town Maclean and the Witzig art Gallery, showing Papau New Guinea artwork and surf artwork too. They have painted telegraph poles different colours according to the clan - absolutely brilliant! A few photos on Picasa...
And then to be cultural again and to see the Big Prawn. Brilliant. Such a great advert against nuclear stuff (agreeing here with the Lonely Planet (plonker)). A quite disturbing sight! And we finally made it to Byron Bay, which is where we are for the next couple of days. It is full of natural remedy stuff (you can have your aura photograph done, and have your portrait done as a fairy... need I say more?!) The upshot is that the food here is great, and very cheap. The beach looks beautiful (full of surfers) - but there are a lot of campervans! Because we were in the Outback, and then around a lot of unvisited areas, plus we have been sleeping in laybys on the side of the roads (they always have toilets - we make sure of that!) we are unused to being around other travellers, tourists, people in general really. It is quite disconcerting, but we have to be brave and go out and enjoy ourselves. It is a hard life! We are very unused to it though, especially here as there are so many campervans! But at least it is off peak season...
So currently I have been on the internet for over 3 hours, have burnt 7 CDs (put photos on them, not setting them on fire), and still have 4 to do...
So love to all, and will write again soon.
Loads of love from us all,
Alice xxx
Sorry the last entry was so rushed - it was very difficult when my money was running out! Oh well, these things happen... anyway, just wanted to say again really how great it was seeing our friends, and catching up with them. Katy and Ross were so kind in putting us up - we felt thoroughly spoilt, and it was a nasty shock again when we opened the van doors to find out that Candy wasn't smelling her sweetest... these things happen!
So anyway, we headed on the road after Newcastle, and went through many different places. We saw a very windy Old Bar beach - miles and miles of greyness (the weather wasn't great that day!), passed through Taree, and ended up in Port Macquerie. Unfortunately, it was a Sunday and the weather was terrible! Really heavy rain, - in fact we didn't feel up to doing anything that day. Unfortunately, when the weather is bad, and it is a Sunday, there is practically nothing to do in Port Macquerie. So we spent time writing in journals, finishing books, and just generally chilling out. We didn't feel like cooking supper so ended up driving back to where J had seen a meal deal at a pub down the road. She didn't mention it was about 30 minutes backtracking where we had been! So we braved the weather again, only to eventually find it in a very random place called North Haven, in the Bowling and Recreation Club. It was as awful as it sounded! But somehow delightfully tacky... bright neon lights, the average age was about 60, and lots of gambling machines... but we braved it out (had to sign on as a visitor), and had the hugest roast dinner for $8.50 (4.25 quid). The amount of meat I got was fantastic! Huge portions, and well worth it...
So we battled on into the night, and Haz had found a campsite with showers (that you had to pay for), 13km away from a little town called Crescent Head. So we tried to find it... after going 5km down a horrifically potholed road (and filled with muddy water - yes it was still raining!) The road was terrible - it was virtually impossible to avoid the potholes. And we are not allowed to drive down the unsealed roads according to the Wicked contract... so if we broke down we were in trouble! We decided, eventually, that a hot shower was not worth this fuss, so we ended up turning back and heading up the Pacific Highway for a little longer, until we found a rest area with toilets. Still, it was quite an experience, and one that we didn't really feel like repeating! The waves looked awesome though, and there were a lot of surfers hanging around, waiting for dawn.
So we headed on up the road the following day, stopping off to see a beautiful lighthouse at Smoky Cape. It was gorgeous, really elegant all in white, and looked out to the turbulent waters below. Next stop, Old Trial Gaol, in Old Trial Bay. It was built to house prisoners to work on a breakwater for the bay. Unfortunately, the breakwater never really worked out (it cost far too much in time and money), and was ravaged by a storm. So it was really an easy prison for 'aliens' during the first world war. They were allowed to walk along the beach, play games, form a theatre group, and so on and so on. We had great delight in walking around and looking into the cells.
Next stop, Nambucca Heads, - meant to have great views of the coast, and was quite pretty, but we unfortunately didn't manage to find the right lookout! It was pretty anyway, although the town was pretty average. But what it did have was the V-Wall. One of the only truly democratic pieces of artwork I've ever seen. The wall of stones that protects the town against the sea was coloured in with paints, stones, shells and mosaics. Anyone could write on it, and some of them were great. It wasn't interfered with by the authorities (as far as I know of), and people were very respectful of other works there. Not many people vandalised paintings on the rocks, and it was fantastic in that families painted a picture of themselves on a beach for example, and painted down each year they returned to Nambucca Heads. It was so bright and colourful - I loved it.
We carried onwards, and arrived at Coffs Harbour. The town was nice enough, but the weather was slightly too cold to go swimming in the beach. We did see the 'Big Banana' though - you really have to look at the picasa photos to see for yourself! It started the craze for the 'Big Things' that are mainly along the East Coast. So we sniggered and took a photo or two, before heading to the 'Surf Legends Museum'. Run by Scott Dillon (we didn't realise how famous he was until afterwards), - he was absolutely mental! We turned up and there were 3 policemen and 2 police cars looking for his 'wayward grandson' - he also invited us to jump in his hot tub. Very tempting (we hadn't had showers in a day or more), but instead declined as we needed to head on. He was so interesting to talk to - obviously a very famous surfer, who also made lots of surfboards. He showed us many photographs of shark attacks, people having their photo taken underwater, and a HUGE shark is in the photograph behind them - they were completely unawares! The surfboard collection was massive, as was his collection of photographs and memorabilia as well. He had collected many things from his times in Bali, Hawaii etc surfing, and his museum (house) was very strange. But fantastic to see - and great to chat to Scott.
So we felt as though we had done Coffs Harbour, and headed north to find ourselves a (free and HOT!) shower in a service station. Drove near to Grafton last night, and entertained ourselves with wine and card playing until we finally fell into bed, at 8.30pm. It was a late night! Then up at a fair time today to drive to Grafton (a couple of nice buildings, but not that special really), before stopping off to see the Scottish town Maclean and the Witzig art Gallery, showing Papau New Guinea artwork and surf artwork too. They have painted telegraph poles different colours according to the clan - absolutely brilliant! A few photos on Picasa...
And then to be cultural again and to see the Big Prawn. Brilliant. Such a great advert against nuclear stuff (agreeing here with the Lonely Planet (plonker)). A quite disturbing sight! And we finally made it to Byron Bay, which is where we are for the next couple of days. It is full of natural remedy stuff (you can have your aura photograph done, and have your portrait done as a fairy... need I say more?!) The upshot is that the food here is great, and very cheap. The beach looks beautiful (full of surfers) - but there are a lot of campervans! Because we were in the Outback, and then around a lot of unvisited areas, plus we have been sleeping in laybys on the side of the roads (they always have toilets - we make sure of that!) we are unused to being around other travellers, tourists, people in general really. It is quite disconcerting, but we have to be brave and go out and enjoy ourselves. It is a hard life! We are very unused to it though, especially here as there are so many campervans! But at least it is off peak season...
So currently I have been on the internet for over 3 hours, have burnt 7 CDs (put photos on them, not setting them on fire), and still have 4 to do...
So love to all, and will write again soon.
Loads of love from us all,
Alice xxx
Friday, 8 May 2009
Sydney (again), Palm Beach and Newcastle
Hey hey there,
Well we eventually managed to meet up with our friend, Beth, in Wollongong, and had a great night out (student night so we felt very old), dancing away to some great tunes. We've been beaching it up the coast since then - only got 7 mins left on internet so trying to type fast!)
Ok, quick summary -
Bondi Beach - my favourite, water beautiful, sand clean, huge beach, and waves warm and great to play in. Bondi area fantastic - great little cafes and boutique shops.
Manly Beach - colder water, smaller beach, loads of surf shops and cheap places to eat. But still beautiful beach.
Palm Beach - Home and Away!!! We saw the surf club, (run by A. Stewart as notified on the sign outside), - stunning watching the sun come up. Not such a wide beach, but beautiful water again, loads of yummy surfers and the beach was so clean.
Nobby Beach at Newcastle - 'most friendly beach' (we can't wait to see what that means!) with loads of surfers, hotter sun (brilliant), clean sands and beautiful water.
Also seen Simon - lovely catching up on Bondi Beach and drinking coffee, Katy and her brother Ross who very kindly put us up (and let us shower!) in their beautiful apartment in Newtown - also ate delicious supper at Thai Tanic restaurant, and Thierry who met us for a natter, some fish and chips and retail therapy around Manly Beach. So it has been fantastic seeing everyone, bumming around on the beach, and drinking goon (boxed wine).
Must dash, but love to all and will write again soon.
Alice xxx
ps we are wearing lots of suncream!
Well we eventually managed to meet up with our friend, Beth, in Wollongong, and had a great night out (student night so we felt very old), dancing away to some great tunes. We've been beaching it up the coast since then - only got 7 mins left on internet so trying to type fast!)
Ok, quick summary -
Bondi Beach - my favourite, water beautiful, sand clean, huge beach, and waves warm and great to play in. Bondi area fantastic - great little cafes and boutique shops.
Manly Beach - colder water, smaller beach, loads of surf shops and cheap places to eat. But still beautiful beach.
Palm Beach - Home and Away!!! We saw the surf club, (run by A. Stewart as notified on the sign outside), - stunning watching the sun come up. Not such a wide beach, but beautiful water again, loads of yummy surfers and the beach was so clean.
Nobby Beach at Newcastle - 'most friendly beach' (we can't wait to see what that means!) with loads of surfers, hotter sun (brilliant), clean sands and beautiful water.
Also seen Simon - lovely catching up on Bondi Beach and drinking coffee, Katy and her brother Ross who very kindly put us up (and let us shower!) in their beautiful apartment in Newtown - also ate delicious supper at Thai Tanic restaurant, and Thierry who met us for a natter, some fish and chips and retail therapy around Manly Beach. So it has been fantastic seeing everyone, bumming around on the beach, and drinking goon (boxed wine).
Must dash, but love to all and will write again soon.
Alice xxx
ps we are wearing lots of suncream!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)